Hong Kong: 294 people receive honours

Chief Executive John Lee today presented honours and awards to 294 people on the second day of the 2022 Honours & Awards Presentation Ceremony at Government House.

Among the recipients, 101 received the Medal of Honour and 193 received the Chief Executives Commendation for Community Service.

The 2022 Honours List was issued on July 27.

This story has been published on: 2022-11-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Sunday, November 6, 2022 at 8:00AM

by Eurocheese

Director/Writer Jafar Panahi is currently sitting in an Iranian prison cell. By way of introduction at the AFI Fest, currently taking place in Los Angeles, our audience was reminded of this. That's not all. We were also informed that he has told his wife that this prison stay has been his most difficult  a shocking statement considering his arrest in 2010 led to him to a hunger strike. This set the backdrop perfectly, as the film portrays Panahis take on the current state of affairs in his country.

Within the first few minutes, the fourth wall is broken as we learn Panahi (playing himself) is using a stand-in director to film his new feature, presumably because he is not allowed to direct himself. Meanwhile, he is staying close to his cast and crew in a small town close to Iran's border for a few days...

This begs the question: Is he seeking escape? As someone who views the world behind his camera lens, he begins to take a few photos around town. Even though his options are limited, he has found a way to explore the things he loves as he considers what he may want to do next.

There are early warnings that drawing attention isnt a good thing in this small town, and soon there are questions about a picture that has been taken. The film balances what starts as a kind of comedy of errors with a building concern that eventually ties the storylines together. Innuendo and assumptions quickly turn into assumed facts, and miscommunications become accusations. With a deft hand, the storyline guides the audience through questions without directly spelling out their themes, highlighting the importance of freedom and truth.

The circular nature of spiraling questions being asked is clearly dangerous. In reference to the films title, one character references bears as a threat when walking around at night to pull Panahi in for a conversation. The same character later assures him he is fine to walk alone because no bears are around, and he shouldnt believe such stories! So  which is it? Does the truth still matter when we are being manipulated? Do perceived threats become real as we speak them into existence? The film points out how easily any situation can be reframed. When the just system has no interest in being just, everything is (potentially) at risk.

One thread that continues to reveal itself is characters claiming they are good people trying to do the right thing. This often happens as they are excusing themselves for an action they are about to take. The detachment this allows is upsetting. As these justifications happen, No Bears heads towards its climax.

The final images are simple and powerful, bold statements underlining Panahis willingness to have his voice heard, no matter the cost. The film draws you in close and though it might not be a movie viewers eagerly revisit, that first encounter leaves you with a lot to process. This is a labor of love from a man who knows this could be the last time the world hears his voice. We only hope that isnt the case. A-

No Bears is currently on the festival circuit and will eventually be released in the US by Janus Films. It opens in the UK on November 11th from Picturehouse.
HYDERABAD: The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) has every reason to smile as it could keep its core voter base more or less intact irrespective of the party winning or losing in the five bypolls that the state witnessed after the 2018 Assembly elections.

The voting pattern has also punctured the oppositions claims of a strong anti-incumbency. On the other hand, the bypoll outcomes have been increasingly highlighting what the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) needed to do to stake a claim to being the TRS principal rival for 2023 - have a recognisable face in more than 90 per cent of the Assembly segments.

State BJP president Bandi Sanjay on Sunday described the Munugode result as a reflection of the partys position as the TRS principal rival. In reality, the saffron party could win Dubbak and Huzurabad and missed Munugode narrowly because the candidates were strong. The individuals added strength to the party rather than making gains out of it, pointed out a BJP leader, who has become popular in recent times.

With hardly one year to go for the Assembly polls, the BJP would have to poach strong leaders from the TRS and the Congress to remain in the fray and avoid the drubbing as in Huzurnagar and Nagarjunasagar.

Significantly, the party leaders, notwithstanding the alleged poachgate scandal, have been openly declaring that the party would force more bypolls, which was the strategy that the TRS boss K. Chandrashekar Rao had adopted before the states bifurcation.

In Munugode, K. Prabhakar Reddy polled 97,000 votes for the TRS in the bypoll as against the 74,687 the party secured in the 2018 state election. The additional vote the TRS got is considered to be mainly from the Left parties, which backed it this time.

Had Rajgopal Reddy not been a candidate, the BJPs score would have remained at 12,000-odd it got in 2018, TRS leader Dasoju Sravan pointed out.

In the Huzurnagar bypoll the TRS improved its vote tally from 85,530 in 2018 to 1,13,094 a year later and in Nagarjunasagar the votes the TRS polled went up from 83,743 to 88,982. In both places, the BJP lost its deposit, securing 1.31 per cent and four per cent of the vote respectively.

In Huzurabad, Eatala Rajendar got 1.04 lakh votes in 2018 and just 2,000 more in the fiercely contested 2021 bypoll against the 80,000 votes secured by the TRS candidate. Analysing the voting pattern, the TRS leaders claimed that the partys vote base remained more or less intact and that Rajendar could only win with the Congress vote. In Dubbak alone, the partys performance was on downslide in the bypoll but the percentage of drop in votes was less than 30 per cent.
Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province and elsewhere in Saudi Arabia
This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices.
The National Guard will be activating cybersecurity teams in 14 states ahead of the midterm elections on Tuesday to counter any potential interferences, Politico and StateScoop reported on Friday.

The decision to have teams ready for support has become a familiar one over the past few elections after the reports of Russian interference operations during the 2016 presidential election.

"Cybers that new domain. Its a man-made domain," said Air Force Maj. Gen. Rich Neely, head of the Illinois National Guard, according to media outlet StateScoop. "Our goal is to make sure we have as secure elections as possible. We are at the really beginning stages of this."

National Guard Cyber Forces provided support in eight states during primary elections earlier this year and are reportedly prepared to protect the integrity of the midterms if necessary.
This article was funded by paid subscribers of The Dissenter Newsletter. Become an annual paid subscriber to help us continue our coverage of whistleblowers.

A National Security Agency whistleblower unearthed a hot-shot analysts unauthorized project that targeted the communications of citizens or persons in the United States, according to a top secret inspector general report from 2016.



The project, or experiment, was not approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the attorney general, the NSA director, or the director for the division that handles signals intelligence. It was also not vetted by the analysts chain of command or any NSA officers responsible for oversight.



Journalist Jason Leopold obtained a highly censored version of the 2016 report through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit and co-authored a paywalled article about what that report revealed for Bloomberg.



On March 18, 2013, only a few months before NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden exposed several of the NSAs mass surveillance programs, a whistleblower stumbled upon a colleague who was collecting or attempting to collect a large volume of telephone numbers without any foreign intelligence purpose.



The whistleblower, or source, who was a global network analyst, complained to several offices tasked with oversight. They then shared what they found with the inspector generals office in May, and on June 18, while the NSA reeled from the unprecedented scrutiny brought about by Snowdens disclosures, they contacted the Office of General Counsel, which is the NSAs legal office.



A group of management officials at the NSA considered the whistleblower complaint in several meetings and email exchanges, but even with the fallout from Snowden, they largely maintained that the concerns were unfounded.

The unauthorized project started collectingor attempting to collect datathat included US persons communications as early as 2012.



According to the whistleblower, multiple people in NSA oversight positions lacked the technical expertise to understand what the analyst was doing with their project. They did not understand why the analysts collection was in violation of clear procedures.



The inspector general concluded, Although [the analyst] was told by different supervisors, oversight officials, and attorneys that his activities were acceptable, he was told by others to stop immediately.



[The analyst] acted with reckless disregard of the regulations, policies, and procedures that governed the use of the SIGINT system, the inspector general added, which essentially means he abused his access to programs that enabled mass surveillance.

It is unclear if the analyst who acted recklessly suffered any consequences. He obviously was not prosecuted for engaging in misconduct.



When I said in 2013 that while I was at the NSA I could pull the communications of anyone who passed through our netincluding Americansofficials hotly contested the claim and a lot of folks believed them, Snowden told Bloomberg. But it was true, as the NSA itself secretly acknowledges.

Snowden continued, Defenders of broad surveillance authorities always insist that Americans dont have to worry because our intelligence agencies are tightly constrained by law and policy. But time and again weve seen that when laws are violated and powers are abused, no one is held legally accountable.



In fact, as Leopold highlighted, on April 21, 2014, a year into the investigation by the inspector general, the whistleblower contacted the office again to allege that the analyst was still targeting US communications.



I wasnt sure whether to report it or wait till he actually gets collection (if any), the whistleblower wrote. Also wasnt sure whether to send the information to you or file a new report with the IG hotline.



The NSA employee who abused his access was interviewed for the inspector generals investigation and asserted that his project fell under Executive Order 12333, which is a toothless presidential order that US security agencies have invoked to justify the expansion of mass surveillance.



Asked about the foreign intelligence purpose of the project, the analyst told the inspector general that it was to make the collection system healthier, the analytic powers richer, and the system more efficient. (Part of his response was censored in the declassified report.)



One official claimed that the analyst had not asked for permission to pursue the project and had been told to stop the project. At least a few NSA employees saw it as an experiment.



There was no audit mechanism for ensuring the project was compliant with NSA procedures. The inspector generals report said, He was the only person working on the project, and each day he did not know what he might try to do, what made sense, was easily sustainable, repeatable, and defensible. He proceeded [kind of] by the seat of his pants.

As Demand Progress, an advocacy organization which has challenged abuses of power that threaten civil liberties, noted, the investigation pointed to Title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that contains Section 702, which the US government has abused for years to knowingly access Americans communications without a warrant.

The congressional intelligence committees have claimed to be robust overseers of intelligence agencies. If accurate, this inspector general report should not only be known to them, but also the subject of serious investigation, declared Sean Vitka, a senior policy council for Demand Progress. We call on the House and Senate intelligence committees to release what they know, including how many people this illegal activity impacted, what punishments the people involved faced, and what the committees have done to ensure this never happens again.



The government has abused its surveillance powers for too long and blatantly disregarded the privacy rights of the American people. Like the FBIs recent wrongful spying on business, religious, civic, and community leaders, this adds to the mounting evidence that Title VII is simply too dangerous to reauthorize, Vitka concluded.
Seven years after former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the mass surveillance of Americans telephone records, an appeals court has found the program was unlawful  and that the U.S. intelligence leaders who publicly defended it were not telling the truth.

In a ruling handed down on Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said the warrantless telephone dragnet that secretly collected millions of Americans telephone records violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and may well have been unconstitutional.

Snowden, who fled to Russia in the aftermath of the 2013 disclosures and still faces U.S. espionage charges, said on Twitter that the ruling was a vindication of his decision to go public with evidence of the National Security Agencys domestic eavesdropping operation.

I never imagined that I would live to see our courts condemn the NSAs activities as unlawful and in the same ruling credit me for exposing them, Snowden said in a message posted to Twitter.

Evidence that the NSA was secretly building a vast database of U.S. telephone records  the who, the how, the when, and the where of millions of mobile calls  was the first and arguably the most explosive of the Snowden revelations published by the Guardian newspaper in 2013.

Up until that moment, top intelligence officials publicly insisted the NSA never knowingly collected information on Americans at all. After the programs exposure, U.S. officials fell back on the argument that the spying had played a crucial role in fighting domestic extremism, citing in particular the case of four San Diego residents who were accused of providing aid to religious fanatics in Somalia.

U.S. officials insisted that the four  Basaaly Saeed Moalin, Ahmed Nasir Taalil Mohamud, Mohamed Mohamud, and Issa Doreh  were convicted in 2013 thanks to the NSAs telephone record spying, but the Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday that those claims were inconsistent with the contents of the classified record.

The ruling will not affect the convictions of Moalin and his fellow defendants; the court ruled the illegal surveillance did not taint the evidence introduced at their trial. Nevertheless, watchdog groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, which helped bring the case to appeal, welcomed the judges verdict on the NSAs spy program.

Todays ruling is a victory for our privacy rights, the ACLU said in a statement, saying it makes plain that the NSAs bulk collection of Americans phone records violated the Constitution.
Deception, lying, and hiding the truth are nothing new. Whenever there was a struggle for power, influence, money, or dominance, there was a conspiracy Countless conspiracies turnout out to be true and today we will explore some examples.

As it turns out many of them hail from the United States, the land of the brave and the free (just kidding). So, lets check out some of the theories peddled across multiple sites over the last couple of decades.

TUSKEGEE SYPHILIS STUDY

According to Buzzworthy, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study has been one of the most talked about conspiracy theories in recent times. This was a series of extremely infamous clinical studies that cemented its place in American history. The studies were conducted between the years 1932 and 1972. The studies are a big indicator of the racism that was rampant in rural America. The tests observed the natural growth of syphilis in black men in rural Alabama. What makes this even more deplorable is that the people who were involved in the study were actually not aware of the tests done on them- they simply thought they were receiving free health care from the American government.

OPERATION NORTHWOODS

This conspiracy theory- which was later proven to be correct- was done at the height of the Cold War. During this tumultuous period in world history, Fidel Castro- the leader of Cuba was quite a thorn in the American side. After failing to oust the Communist leader of the country during the Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961, the US government drew up Operation Northwoods. The plan was to lob mortars in Guantanamo Bay initially, but it took a far more deadly turn as they then decided to bomb boats that carried Cubans to Florida and other cities in the south of the USA. The proposals called for CIA operatives to both stage and actually commit acts of violent terrorism against American military and civilian targets, blaming them on the Cuban government. You can see the official report here.

DURING THE PROHIBITION PERIOD, THE US GOVERNMENT ROUTINELY POISONED ALCOHOL

There have been several claims that the government once poisoned alcohol to stop people from drinking during Prohibition. While we would never be able to judge the verisimilitude behind this statement, it goes without saying that the federal government did take quite a few steps to ensure that the citizens didnt drink. Now- although the government might not have gone so far as to poison the alcohol, they certainly ensured that toxic chemicals were involved in industrial alcohols. USAToday claims that it was absolutely true that the government had been adding toxic chemicals to industrial alcohol which effectively polluted most of the future supplies of bootleg liquor.

MK ULTRA  CIAS MIND CONTROL EXPERIMENTS

One of the most famous conspiracy theories that actually turned out to be true is MK Ultra. During the early part of the Cold War, the American government was convinced that their enemies had possession of a drug that led to mind control. As a response to that, the CIA started developing its own program called MK-Ultra. This was said to be a drug for mind control that could potentially be weaponized against the enemies of the nation. One such journalist that captured the entire program, Stephen Kinzer, called this operation the most sustained search in history for mind control techniques. Further, the journalist mentioned that the process to control the mind was two-fold. Firstly, one had to blast the existing mind. When this created a void- the program would be inserting a new mind. Sadly, Sidney Gottlieb- the main chemist for the program- couldnt really add a new mind to a patient. But he had fun removing shreds of ones existing memory.

OPERATION MOCKINGBIRD

Another conspiracy theory that grew amidst the turmoil of the Cold War was Operation Mockingbird. In this program, the CIA approached quite a few leading journalists in the country in an attempt to sway public opinion while gathering information. This program apparently went on for three decades. Carl Bernstein, a journalist who wrote for Rolling Stone in 1977, stated that the relationship of journalists with the Agency wasnt straightforward. Some journalists had a tacit relationship with the Agency while others had something explicit. These journalists did provide a whole range of services for the CIA- sometimes they gathered intelligence, while on other occasions they served as a mediator between the CIA and the spies in Communist countries.

So, which of the conspiracy theories made you think? Write in the comments below.

Image credits: Archives of Ontario, C.H.J. Snider fonds, Reference Code F 1194 S 15000, I0015265., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, 123RF
Photos: Twitter\YouTube

It was a grim month on the African continent with the death of five journalists in Chad, Kenya and Somalia.

These deaths took place just a month before media freedom advocates from across the globe were gearing up to meet in Vienna, Austria, to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists (IDEI) and commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the United Nations Plan of Action for the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity (UNPA).

Sadly, Somalias reputation for being one of the riskiest places for media remains intact, as two journalists were killed within the space of a month and several others harassed with arbitrary arrests and detentions.

It began with the death of Somali National Television (SNTV) journalist and camera operator Ahmed Mohamed Shukur, who was killed by a landmine explosion, while he was covering a counter-terrorist operation by security forces on 30 September.

Four weeks later, in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in the country in five years, two car bombs exploded at Somalias education ministry next to a busy market intersection, killing at least 121 people and wounding 333 more. As Universal Somali TV journalist Mohamed Isse Koonaa was reporting on the first explosion, a second blast took his life and those of dozens of others. Reuters photojournalist, Feisal Omar and M24TVand Voice of America freelancer, Abdukadir Mohamed Abdulle were seriously injured in the same incident.

In addition to coping with reporting from a country prone to lethal militant attacks, as well as retaliatory measures by Al Shabaab, Somalias media has to contend with restrictive policies, arbitrary arrests, and prolonged detentions.

A recent directive issued by the government in their attempt to fight militant attacks offline and online contains a blanket ban and suspension on what it describes as dissemination of extremist and terrorist ideology.

Concerned organisations held a joint press conference, during which they issued a statement describing the policy as a vaguely-worded directive, which might be used to silence the legitimate critics of the government and its security forces including journalists, human rights defenders, independent researchers, analysts and others.

On 10 October, just two days after the press conference, Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, the founder and secretary general of the Somali Journalists Syndicate, was arrested at Mogadishus Aden Adde International Airport. He was granted bail on 16 October, only to be arrested two days later, while he was on his way to seek medical treatment in Kenya. He was then granted bail for a second time, but has been blocked from leaving the country.

Aside from the persecution of Mumin, Galmudug police in Southern Galkayo detained journalist Sadaq Said Nur, and intelligence officers arbitrarily detained Horn Cable TV journalist and SJS press freedom coordinator Abdullahi Hussein Kilas, in the port city of Kismayo. Both reporters were asked to remove news stories the authorities objected to. Another Horn Cable TV reporter, Farhan Abdi Isse, was arrested after he covered a news conference by opposition party members of Waddani, who called for the Somaliland government to recognize Gabiley as a region instead of a town.

In Somalias semi-autonomous region of Somaliland, the government ordered the shutdown of private broadcaster CBA TV, on questionable grounds. The broadcaster, which covers news and analysis about the Horn of Africa region, refuted authorities claims that it was operating under an expired licence and aired content that threatened the peace of the region. Hussein Jama Haji Hasan, the director general of CBA TV, said that its reporting is balanced; that the permits allowing it to operate, issued in 2018 by the ministry of information and attorney generals offices, do not expire; and that it has complied with local tax requirements.

Journalist shot while covering protests

The precarious political and security situation in Chad, which in turn puts media workers at risk, was brought to the fore with the death of radio journalist Oredje Narcisse.

Defying a government ban issued on 9 October, protestors took to the streets on 20 October, marking the 18-month anniversary of a takeover by military leader Mahamat Deby, the son of former head of state Idris Deby who was shot and killed in 2021 during clashes with rebels in the north of the country. Citizens were protesting the postponement of the proposed handover of power to a civilian government and the rescheduling of elections to 2024.

The International Federation for Journalists (IFJ) reported that Narcisse was shot while covering a protest in the capital NDjamena  when Chadian armed forces opened fire on protesters.

According to a press release issued by the Office of the Commission for Human Rights: UN and African Union independent experts today condemned the lethal repression of peaceful protests over Chads extended political transition period and called for de-escalation of tensions.

Police inconsistencies fuel speculation over Pakistani journalists death

Kenyan investigative journalist John Allan Namu says misinformation and disinformation about the death of prominent Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif has been fuelled by gaping holes and inconsistencies in police statements around the fatal shooting.

The news of Sharifs death reverberated across both countries, shocking both Kenyans and Pakistanis. Amidst the political storm that erupted in Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appointed a three-member commission of inquiry to investigate the murder.

Sharif was not only the popular host of the programme Power Play on Pakistans TV channel ARY News, but also a strong supporter of former prime minister Imran Khan and an outspoken critic of the current government.

The initial report of the fatal shooting of Sharif  at a roadblock in Nairobi  was described by the police as an accident and a case of mistaken identity. Global Voices reports that this has raised more questions than answers.

Museveni assents to controversial amendment bill

A month after Ugandas legislature passed the controversial Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill, President Yoweri Museveni has signed it into law, despite submissions from numerous civil society organisations around the contentious clauses. Rights groups and a section of online communities are worried the law might be abused by regimes, especially the current one, to limit free speech and punish persons that criticize the government, reports CIPESA.

Regional media organisations rally CSOs

Responding to the growing decline in media freedom, freedom of expression, and digital rights in their respective regions, the Media Institute of Southern Africa and the Media Foundation for West Africa each held conferences in October to address these critical issues, while building stronger alliances.

MISA-Regionals Spaces of Solidarity meeting brought together regional partners from neighbouring countries, who resolved, among many other things, to develop a new support mechanism for collaborative campaign work on the basis of the Spaces of Solidarity meeting to highlight attacks on free speech and media freedom.

MFWAs Press Freedom and Democratic Recession in West Africa conference brought together representatives of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, media freedom advocates, and governance experts to discuss increased violations of freedom of expression and press freedom.

Delegates ended the two-day meeting with a commitment to engaging, collaborating, and supporting ECOWAS to mainstream issues of press freedom in its democratic governance interventions and agreed that ECOWAS must work closely with the media to roll out a comprehensive strategy to curtail the recession.

Work on Nigerias Freedom of Information Act recognized

In recognition of its body of work around implementing Nigerias access to information law, Media Rights Agenda was honoured with an award for its contribution to journalism through over two decades of work advancing the use of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act for public interest reporting. The award was presented by the Africa Centre for Development Journalism (ACDJ) during the inaugural World Development Information Day Lecture, on 22 October.

In brief

Angola: Last month, Ludmila Pinto, the wife of Angolan opposition broadcaster Claudio Pinto, was savagely attacked by two masked men, who broke into their home. The two men also threatened to kill their one-year-old son. She says that she overheard them saying her husband was close to the boss, knows a lot, and that they might need to finish the job if he doesnt shut up, reports CPJ.

Also in Angola: Borralho Ndomba was harassed and arrested by Angolan police while covering a students protest, despite wearing a vest that clearly identified him as a journalist.

Guinea: Journalists belonging to the Guinean Union of Press Professionals (Syndicat des Professionnels de la Presse de Guinee, SPPG) were stopped from staging their sit-in, a protest against restrictive decisions being made by the countrys regulatory body  the High Authority for Communication (HAC).

Central African Republic: An alarming decline in the media landscape in the country, including a wave of arrests, physical attacks and threats against journalists, has been further aggravated by a proposed bill that could criminalise journalism.

Zimbabwe: As the country draws closer to the 2023 elections, privately owned media are bearing the brunt of increasing intolerance, with numerous instances of journalists being prevented from reporting on state and ruling party events.
6. 11. 2022

cas cteni < 1 minuta

Russia continues to bring death to NW #Syria.

Today, the regime forces and Russia committed a horrible massacre in Idlib, resulting in six deaths including two children and a woman and more than 75 injuries. pic.twitter.com/JcKtoysJ81
A supposedly well-trained pitbull gave a young mother a shock when she saw the head of her baby daughter in the clamped jaws of the house pet. The terror of this horrific mauling that injured the baby girl, with a gash on the head from the dog's teeth,

Well-Trained Pitbull Clamped Jaws on Toddler Girl

Shasian Houia, 22, living in Perth, went on TikTok last Sunday, October 30. She wanted to tell the whole world the horror of the dog attack on her child, reported in the Daily Star.

Included in the shocking video was Houia screaming while calling her neighbor for assistance, soon after the dog locked its jaws around the baby's head. Despite what transpired, which could have taken the child's life, she still said the pet was well-behaved. It was also revealed that she was there when the terrible incident occurred.

According to MailOnline, while the savage attack was happening, her husband was desperately trying to get the animal's clamped jaws off his baby daughter's gashed head.

Houia reveals the well-trained Pitbull and its savage attack happened during the festive period, about three days prior to Christmas. Details arose indicating that the fierce animal had caused a gash on the baby girl's head, and treatment involved stitches and plastic surgery to repair the damage of the wounds sustained.

Read Also: Prince Andrew Net Worth 2022: How Much Wealth Does Queen Elizabeth II's Child Has Amid Jeffrey Epstein Issue?

These wounds were four punctures on the scalp and a fractured arm due to the wild attack, citing Perth now.

Mom Bashed as Neglectful as Pet Pitbull Attacks Daughter

According to the Houia, her daughter, as a result of the attack, is now terrified and traumatized from the pitbull attack. She remarked that the victim can relate to small fluffy dogs but fears bigger dogs.

Based on the flow of events that transpired, part of the video showed the mom running to neighbors for help as the baby was getting attacked. The mom tried to pry the dog off of her baby girl with her spouse's help to free their daughter; that's when she ran for help to get the neighbors' assistance.

Furthermore, she added the dog was well trained. She stated the child was in front of them as the dog was patiently waiting for food, then the child fell on the dog.

This attempt to assuage the trauma of the attack via the TikTok platform did not sit well with some. A few instead got around to telling the young mom how bad her parenting was.

One comment would say that it was good that the child was okay. But some asked how sane it was to even consider leaving a baby close to a dog unsupervised.

Another remark got brutally frank about what kind of parenting leads to such accidents, stating that how can any parent leave a child with a pitbull. With many reports of attacks on children, what parent could be so negligent?

Another opinion asked if she was paying close attention to her daughter when the dog was close by. But some just said they were happy the baby was safe.

The mother claimed they had a well-trained pitbull but it unfortunately attacked their baby daughter and clamped its jaws on the child's head in a horrific incident days before Christmas.

Related article: Eight-Footer Crocodile Enters Home, Looks for Something To Eat Whiles Family Sleeps

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Welcome to Quick Q  Monday Medias weekly Q&A series dedicated to finding out more about the personalities that matter most in the media landscape.

Every week, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age ask key figures across corporate media, business, sport, federal politics, radio, television and culture to answer questions about their lives, careers, hobbies and news habits.

This weeks conversation is with Will McMahon, co-host of KIIS FM National Drive Show, which runs on weekdays from 4pm to 6pm.

Will McMahon (left) and Woody Whitelaw host the KIIS FM drive show.

How did you get your big break?

I wish I had a more glamorous story. But Monash Comedy Law Revue. Sketch comedy show in Richmond. Steve Vizard and my now manager Mark Klemens were in the audience that night. Afterwards, they just walked up to us and said, you know you boys could do that for a living? and thats all she wrote.
It takes a lot of energy to make the briefest of outfits. Budgy Smuggler owner Adam Linforth said the monthly power bill at its factory in St Peters in Sydneys inner west, where the company makes swimwear and accessories, had risen 40 per cent in the past year.

Linforth said rising energy prices were costing the company an additional $1000 a week.

If youre making stuff, you need power, he said. This is unavoidable and a compounding challenge that were having to manage as it comes.

Budgy Smuggler owner Adam Linforth believes his company will navigate upcoming challenges such as the threat of recession thanks to its loyal customer base. Credit:Wolter Peeters

Spiralling energy costs are just one of the challenges faced by small business owners following the COVID-19 crisis, which continues to have lingering effects through supply chain disruptions, skills shortages and deferred debts.
Orzech crawls stiffly around the edge of the stage like Blakes aged Nebuchadnezzar while Feldman fights off imaginary pirates with a gardening sickle. And this is how it goes on. The sickle is not exactly a symbol for the Grim Reapers scythe but the connection is there to be made. Its the same with the other props: their possible significances are never made explicit. Choreographer Jo Lloyd has created a series of thrusting, loose-limbed dances that link the enigmatic interactions and intermittently energise the space with James Pauls eerie sound design. This is a spare and weirdly serious theatrical fantasy. And its somehow comforting simply to sit in the dark and observe and contemplate the arrangement of objects and the rituals that surround them.

Reviewed by Andrew Fuhrmann MUSICALS

Stranger Sings 

Salty Theatre, North Melbourne Meat Market, until November 19

As a kid in the 1980s, I was imaginative enough  not to mention unpopular enough  to be obsessed by Dungeons & Dragons. Mainstream culture at the time largely ignored the emergence of role-playing games, save for dark whispers of participants being lured into a satanic cult. Then, of course, the internet came along and, with the world turned upside down, a cultural revenge of the nerds began. A scene from Stranger Sings. Credit:Angel Leggas  3 Fates Media Its since become an unstoppable force. The immense popularity of TV series Stranger Things  that luxe and Lovecraftian comedy horror drenched in nostalgia for all things 80s  took it a giant step closer to world domination. The show is ubiquitous. You cant go anywhere without Kate Bushs Running up that Hill ringing in your ears. On a recent trip to Paris, I passed an official pop-up store with hundreds queuing along the Champs-Elysees to get in. And the size of the throng at the opening night of parody musical Stranger Sings is one of the largest Ive seen at an indie musical theatre of its kind. Is the musical any good? Not really. Will that stop superfans from rocking up or having a good time? Probably not.

As parody, this is often lazy and uninspired fare. Much of the comedy is infected by the sort of dire American obviousness  corny and basic, as one song describes the characters  thatll make you want to exist in another dimension. A scene from Stranger Sings. Credit:Angel Leggas  3 Fates Media And Jonathan Hogues music rarely rises above a slurry of undifferentiated showtunes. Sonic porridge. Just sit there trying to destroy things with your mind. Worked for me. Notwithstanding the aesthetic insult, Salty Theatre has staged an exuberant and technically assured production, with sporadic highlights to entertain and amuse Stranger Things tragics. Theres a dancing Demogorgon and a droll ballad from telekinetic heroine Eleven (Jess Ridler), lamenting her childhood. (Ridler also plays Nancy, and she isnt the only performer onstage with acting and singing talents superior to the material.) Stacey-Louise Camilleri nails a roof-raising jazz number framed as revenge for Barb, the frumpy best-friend killed off early in season one as a plot device, her fate bewailed mightily by legions of online fans.

A scene from Stranger Sings Credit:Angel Leggas  3 Fates Media And the rest of the cast have the impersonation skills (and costumes) to effectively caricature the beleaguered residents of Hawkins, Indiana  from Liam J. Kirkpatricks lisping Dustin to Stephanie Johns chain-smoking Joyce (who mounts a mad mock-tribute to Winona Ryder featuring Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and the evil queen bee from Heathers as back-up dancers). Stranger Sings does set itself the insurmountable challenge of attempting to parody something thats already a parody of itself, but if you cant get enough of the series, this musical lampoon might just draw you in anyway.

Reviewed by Cameron Woodhead MUSIC

Macklemore 

TLC 

Fridayz Live, Rod Laver Arena, November 4 The travelling, star-studded club show Fridayz Live is this year headlined by Macklemore and TLC. Earlier in the evening, weve seen sets from former chart toppers Shaggy, Craig David, Ashanti and Akon.

TLC perform at Fridayz Live in Melbourne. Credit:Rick Clifford Lisa Left Eye Lopes  the L in TLC  died in 2002. Tionne T-Boz Watkins and Rozonda Chilli Thomas continue to tour, and with a catalogue that includes 90s pop/R&B staples No Scrubs and Waterfalls, why wouldnt they? But Left Eyes absence is conspicuous. For one thing, her verses are neither omitted nor performed by a stand-in MC. Rather, in songs such as Aint 2 Proud 2 Beg, Left Eyes original vocal track beams through the PA and everyone else carries on as though its just another day at the office. T-Boz and Chilli play all the hits, but the duos lacklustre display of energy feeds the impression that theyre simply going through the motions. When No Scrubs finally comes  preceded by Chillis warning that the men who inspired the song are like cockroaches, they dont die, they multiply  the audience reaction is one of united delight. Waterfalls is next, and while it hits the spot in a way that feels familiar and comforting, its hard to shake the perception that T-Boz and Chilli mightve lost some enthusiasm for the song.

Macklemore performs at Rod Laver Arena for Fridayz Live. Credit:Rick Clifford Following on from TLC is Macklemore, and theres nothing odd about seeing the rapper preside over a full-house Rod Laver Arena. Thrift Shop, his 2012 single with former collaborator Ryan Lewis, not only topped the ARIA singles chart but also triple js Hottest 100. Given this ubiquity, its curious to see Macklemore topping the bill of an ensemble show rather than headlining his own. And he mightve missed a trick  the opening bars of Chant get the crowd standing at attention in a manner that makes this feel less like a Friday night at the RSL and more like a genuine spectacle. Chant, released in July 2022, features chorus vocals from internationally recognised Australian pop star Tones and I, whos on hand to give it all the skin and bones she can muster. Though, by approximately the 16th utterance of the vocal hook Are you alive yet? you begin to pine for some velour jumpsuits and broken keyboards. Thrift Shop comes second, perhaps a hint that the Seattle rapper has moved on to more artistically satisfying pastures. And with lyrics such as Walk up to the club like, what up? I got a big cock, youd hope so.

Loading The crowd loses none of its zeal for the man of the moment as the show goes on, but the idea that Macklemore has risen above the goofy-come-earnest frat-boy style of his breakout 2012 LP The Heist is quashed by said albums domination of the set list. Despite Macklemores prevailing success and the crowds enthusiasm for his kitbag of decade-old hits, as we move onto songs like Same Love and Downtown, his shtick begins to feel somewhat vapid and tuneless. And perhaps this explains the Fridayz Live tour option  its hard to outstay your welcome when youve only got 45 minutes to fill.

Reviewed by Billy Burgess MUSIC

Beethoven Fives 

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Hamer Hall, November 4 Beethovens two famous fifths  the Emperor Piano Concerto and his Symphony in C minor  made monumental bookends for an Australian premiere in this thought-provoking musical encounter.

Under Jaime Martin, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and American pianist Jonathan Biss crafted a serene account of the Emperor where lyrical beauty precluded any suggestion of bombast; soloist and orchestra being evenly musical matched partners. An astutely judged air of nostalgic reverie in the middle movement tugged at the heart strings. Contrasting with the artful simplicity of the Beethoven came Gneixendorf Music  A Winters Journey by Australian composer Brett Dean. An MSO co-commission, this piano concerto was conceived as a companion piece to the Emperor. Referring to the village of Gneixendorf, where Beethoven spent two months towards the end of his life, the work is cast in three sections  Arrival, Departure, Epilogue  and features two pianos: an upright located in the orchestra and the usual central concert grand, between which the soloist races several times. This complex, often frenetic music refracts snippets of the Beethoven through Deans unique compositional lens, attempting to convey something of the turmoil of Beethovens final year; the muted upright piano used as a symbol of the masters deafness. Despite the Epilogue outwearing its welcome and the intended differences between the pianos seeming minimal in performance, the work presents some fascinating soundscapes. Loading
Early Childhood Education Minister Dr Anne Aly said a new ability for childcare workers to use strike action as a bargaining chip in multi-employer deals is crucial leverage in the fight for better pay.

The controversial wages bill Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke wants to ram through the lower house this week gives workers in low-paid, female-dominated jobs such as early learning and aged care the right to launch industrial action across several employers to help secure higher incomes.

Minister for Early Childhood Education Dr Anne Aly empowering childcare workers to strike is crucial. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Academics and union leaders hosed down the prospect of multi-employer bargaining leading to widespread strikes during a parliamentary inquiry into the governments Secure Jobs, Better Pay bill last week following outcry from business leaders over the economic impact of the reforms.

After a roundtable with the Independent Education Union in Sydney on Friday, Aly told this masthead the new right for childcare workers to undertake industrial action in multi-employer bargaining was incredibly crucial.
Poker machine use in NSW has bounced back strongly after the disruptions of COVID-19, with profits from gaming machines at clubs and pubs hitting a record $3.8 billion in the first half of 2022.

During the first six months of the year electronic gaming machine profits, which equate to player losses, were almost double that in the five months to November 2021, figures published by NSW Liquor & Gaming show. (Figures for December 2021 were not included in biannual reporting.)

But an investigation by the NSW Crime Commission into money laundering via poker machines, released last month, has triggered fresh calls for poker machine reforms. It found billions of dollars of annual electronic gaming machine turnover was probably the proceeds of crime. The industry is also being pressured to provide more effective protections for problem gamblers.

This month Premier Dominic Perrottet committed to mandatory cashless gaming cards in NSW clubs and pubs, although he has not yet outlined details of the plan or a timeline for implementation.

Here are six charts that show the scale of poker machine use in NSW.
Had such a program been properly assessed and developed with the input of relevant experts from the governments Health Department, it might have helped protect hospital workers against the violent outbursts by patients and family members which peaked during the COVID crisis. Instead, IBAC is investigating the circumstances which led to the program being approved against the advice of the department and abandoned due to COVID restrictions after only a handful of workers were trained. How did this happen? The full story will not be clear until IBAC tables its final report but so far, this is what The Age has been able to establish from people with knowledge of the matter. The Age has been told that after Asmar pitched her idea to government in the lead-up to the 2018 election, her proposal was placed in the hands of two political advisers, rather than bureaucrats with specialist knowledge of health programs. Loading A Labor source described one of the advisers, who worked for Hennessy and has since left government, as a proactive, smart and impeccably connected political operative who got things done. In this instance, she lived up to her reputation. The problem is that health department bureaucrats appear to have been bypassed along the way.

This is symptomatic of how the Andrews government works. Nearly every significant decision taken by the government and every public communication issued originates from within the Premiers Private Office. When Ted Baillieu was premier, 20 people worked in PPO. It now employs 90 staff and a further 287 ministerial advisers. Redlich in his lecture described a symbiotic relationship between the premiers personal staff and ministerial staff. In Victoria, there is constant movement and communication between the two and their demarcations and professional and political allegiances are blurred. The effect is that senior public servants and even Cabinet ministers can be frozen out of government decisions. Sources familiar with awarding of the HSU contract say it is unclear how much Hennessy knew about it. Was the political adviser taking directions from her nominal boss or the premiers office? Either way, Hennessy and Andrews are likely to have plausible deniability. It is an affront to traditional notions of ministerial accountability, but chances are we will never know for certain. Where bureaucrats tend to keep copious notes, political advisers prefer not to put things in writing. Advisers can be questioned by IBAC but they cant be called before parliamentary inquiries and are difficult to capture through Freedom of Information requests. None of this is an accident. It allows some of the most powerful people in government to operate beyond the normal accountability and scrutiny of government.

Yee-Fui Ng, a former adviser to the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Australian Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet who now lectures at Monash University, has written extensively about how the influence of advisers is reshaping Australian politics and other Westminster systems around the world. We have got a new class of very powerful advisers that were not envisaged by the legal or constitutional system or the political system, she says. They can be used as scapegoats and blamed for anything that goes wrong but they can also act as a filter between a minister and the public service and block advice from the public service. It increases the risk of corruption in government decision-making if ministers are able to evade accountability. It means that government decisions may not be made on merit, but pushed into more partisan or political considerations. It means the public service is not able to give frank and fearless advice, which means we are not having good quality decision-making on the whole. She says Victoria and other jurisdictions need a code of conduct for political advisers, overseen by an independent commissioner, as happens in Canada and Britain. The review into the Australian Public Service chaired by David Thodey adopted this as one of its recommendations. Centralisation of political power is not limited to Victoria but Australian National University honorary professor Colleen Lewis, an associate of the Centre for Public Integrity, has particular concerns about the scale of what is happening here. I cant understand how a state premiers office needs 80 advisers, she says. It is out of all proportion.

I go back to the mindset that got us into the red shirts affair (directing electorate officers to do campaign work). It seems to me that the Labor Party spends a lot of time trying to work out and scheme ways in which it can use the public purse for its own party political matters. Loading What was the party political matter the Andrews government needed to address by approving the HSU training scheme? Diana Asmar. Asmar is a vocal, highly influential figure in the Victorian Labor Party, to which her union pays $80,000 a year in affiliation fees. Like the United Firefighters Union boss Peter Marshall, she is also difficult to keep happy. When Andrews called a press conference in October 2018 to announce the HSU training program, he had a strong interest in placating Asmar. In the lead-up to the 2018 election, Adem Somyurek was cementing his factional control over the Victorian ALP. Somyurek, through a combination of industrial-scale branch stacking, deft political manoeuvres and sheer force of will, had managed to unite right factions of the party with elements of the industrial left to create a dominant voting block. Asmars HSU was one of the last significant hold-outs from this grand factional bargain. Andrews, like Somyurek, was keen for her to join.
President Joe Biden during his visit to Florida gave Ron DeSantis better polls, Florida GOPs said he was good for their party.

Biden Visits Florida Democrats

Joe Biden mobilized Democrats in Florida on Tuesday amidst GOP Governor DeSantis unlocking double-digit leads in the poll results, reported Express UK.

A Republican tactician asserts that Biden's visit to Florida within a week before November 8 "played a role" in Ron DeSantis' attempt to secure re-election as governor.

Based on the polling website FiveThirtyEight, Rubio has widened a 9.6-point gap over Val Demings, and DeSantis has stretched his advantage to 11.2 percent.

Biden failed to win Florida, which has voted for the triumphant frontrunner in 16 out of America's 19 post-war presidential elections, while Donald Trump managed to carry the state by 370,000 votes in 2020. Some Florida Republicans said it benefitted them more than the Dems counting on the boost on November 8.

Republican Party of Florida Vice Chairman Christian Ziegler informed the outlet that President Joe Biden and his visit inadvertently helped Ron DeSantis and Marco Rubio's advocacy.

DeSantis, Florida GOPs Ratings Rise After Biden's Visit

Only on November 8 would the president make it clear what the conclusion should be, according to the Republican Party, noted New York Times Post.

Read Also: Kim Jong-un Net Worth 2022: How Wealthy Is North Korea's Leader?

Ziegler was asked if the Democrats would ever come out on top in the Sunshine State.

He added that recent errors in the president's speech has been detrimental and thinks it would not impact DeSantis.

Even so, another Republican tactician spotlighted that Biden's trip can be regarded as a play for the rapidly approaching US Presidential Election in 2024.

Amy Koch, defunct Senate Majority Leader of Minnesota, informed that it is a 2024 play. DeSantis is on the top of the pile of presidential contenders, so this would seem to be another flex.

Opinion polls had already whittled down all through 2022, and the Democrats are currently on the counterattack in state elections in Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Arizona might be a factor in the GOP's best interests after Marc Victor, the libertarian candidate, decided to withdraw and endorse Republican nominee Blake Masters.

Koch reacted when questioned about who had won the initial clashes between Biden and DeSantis, declaring it was not sure. He mentions that the president might run, though the Florida governor has been sticking it to him of late, and he's not sure about the president of the Florida Democrats.

It is not yet known if Biden will run for re-election in 2024. As shown in the Washington Post, the 46th President and his wife, Jill Biden, had reportedly been briefing with top advisers as of September, if they are ready to run for re-election.

According to some Republican pundits President Joe Biden might fuel votes for Gov. Ron DeSantis who is running, and Florida GOPs are thankful for his contribution in pushing the Republicans to win.

Related Article: Two Pranksters Bait Media Into Believing They Are Fired Twitter Employees; Elon Musk Mocks Platform Management with Response

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Read more on integrity in government. See all 27 stories .

Cabinet documents usually kept secret for 10 years would be made public within 30 days under sweeping transparency reforms sought by some minor parties that hope to dominate the upper house after this months state election.

Derryn Hinchs Justice Partys policy  which would bring Victoria into line with Queensland government reforms  will be announced on Monday, in a platform that the Greens and the Reason Party indicated they could support.

Newly-elected Premier Daniel Andrews with his first cabinet in 2014. Papers from cabinet meetings could become public within 30 days if minor parties have their way. Credit:Justin McManus

Queensland Labor Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced in June that the state would release its cabinet papers within 30 days instead of 30 years, after an integrity review that found the public was more likely to trust their government if decisions were open to scrutiny.

Tania Maxwell, who is seeking re-election for Derryn Hinchs Justice Party in the upper house, said other jurisdictions such as New Zealand had made the change and Victoria should follow suit.
Western Australias 95 state politicians collectively own 159 properties, while 45 MPs own more than two houses  and two cabinet ministers own six properties each.

A WAtoday analysis of MP property interest declarations reveals 16 upper and lower house politicians owned three or more properties in the 2021-22 financial year.

Environment and Climate Change Minister Reece Whitby and Planning and Transport Minister Rita Saffioti both declared interests in six properties for the last financial year. Credit:Composite image

The level of multi-home ownership in state parliament (47 per cent) far outstrips that of the WA public, of which 10.5 per cent of people aged 18 or above own two or more properties.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, from 2019-20, 224,000 West Australians owned more than one property.
Dangerous beauty trends such as inhaling and snorting tanning products are being promoted on TikTok as regulators warn of a Barbie drug that has serious side effects.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration last month warned about the use of products containing melanotan, a prescription-only medicine used to support the management of a rare, incurable genetic disease, which is being misused by some people to darken their skin.

The medication, which comes in the form of pills, creams, injectables and nasal or misting sprays, causes side effects such as increased moles and freckles, nausea and vomiting.

Doctors and health regulators are concerned about beauty trends such as inhaling and snorting tanning products promoted on TikTok. Credit:TikTok

TGA head Adjunct Professor John Skerritt said regulators were also worried about a heightened risk of skin cancer from misuse of the drug, while British medical authorities have listed acne, kidney, brain and heart problems as side effects.
Washington: An influential Democratic Party senator has launched a blistering attack on Joe Biden for suggesting coal plants should be shut down across the US, accusing the president of being divorced from reality and saying it was time he learnt a lesson.

In a major blow three days before the midterm elections  and only hours before Biden, Barack Obama and Donald Trump headlined duelling rallies in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania  Senator Joe Manchin lashed out at the president and demanded an apology to voters reliant on coal mining jobs.

Former president Barack Obama and President Joe Biden at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Credit:AP

Comments like these are the reason the American people are losing trust in President Biden and instead believe he does not understand the need to have an all-in energy policy that would keep our nation totally energy independent and secure, said Manchin, a centrist Democrat who has financial links to the coal industry in his state of West Virginia and has often voted against Bidens policies.

It seems his positions change depending on the audience and the politics of the day ... It is time he learn a lesson that his words matter and have consequences.
Auckland: A New Zealand woman under police investigation for fundraising tens of thousands of dollars for the Russian army has left for Moscow.

Antonina Ovchinnikova was under investigation by police after it emerged that she had been using the encrypted messaging service Telegram to raise money for volunteer Russian army units fighting as part of Russias illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Auckland-based Antonina Ovchinnikova has raised funds to send material to Russians fighting in the invasion of Ukraine. Credit:Stuff NZ

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had raised the prospect Ovchinnikova may have breached sanctions imposed by the New Zealand government, while others questioned whether the propaganda posts might breach laws prohibiting hate speech.

Ovchinnikova had in recent days stopped posting on Telegram despite posting thousands of times since February.
A Mumbai-based venture debt marketplace is in the midst of setting up an Alternate Investment Fund (AIF) in India and raise USD 90 million for funding 100 startups in 10 countries as well as opening a Singapore office.

The AIF, a private equity fund in India, will raise money from Indian investors for the Indian companies, Mumbai-based 8vdx founder Ravi Chachra said on the sidelines of Singapore Fintech Festival.

We have money from Indian investors and we are setting up an Indian AIF, an equity fund, said Chachra, a serial entrepreneur and veteran financial investor with a specialisation in credit.

The Mumbai team of 15 will be expanded to 40 next year while 10 more funding experts will be placed in offices in Singapore, to be opened next year, as well as Delaware and California.

The company has already raised USD 10 million, some of which have come from small investors such as people keen on investing as little as US$10,000 in startups, he explained.

Chachra, and 8vdx co-founder Vijay Lavhale, are on a mission to raise another USD 90 million as part of their USD 100 million fund raise over the next 24 months.

Chachra said he was at the fintech festival, held Nov 2-4, to reach out to Singapore-based and startups with his model of providing early-stage funding. This would support startups to progress on with their products and build a fund-raising strategy.

We are a startup for the startups, he said of the 8vdx which was established in 2021 after he exited his investments with major venture capital groups.

What we have built is an ecosystem by a startup for the startups.

The focus is on small investors and 8vdx has created three fund-raising stacks, said Chachra who shuttles between Mumbai and California offices of 8vdx.

He informed that 8vdx has already invested US$1 million in six startups in India and another USD 1 million in Singapore-based startups.

Our vision for the next 24 months is to lend 100 startups across 10 countries US$100 million, with 10-15 per cent of that going to Singapore startups.

USD 10 million of this target is already raised as 8vdx has hundreds of investors keen on supporting technologies, said Chachra who has been working with venture capital groups and managing startup fundings since 2005.

(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.)
Indias largest retailer is expected to sign a deal with Naturals Salon and Spa to acquire 49 per cent stake in the Chennai-based company by the first half of the next quarter, said a source aware about the development. This is likely to mark the entry of into the salon business.
3 things a climate scientist wants world leaders to know ahead of COP27



By Andrew King Senior Lecturer, The University of Melbourne



Melbourne, Nov 3 (The Conversation) World leaders and climate experts are gathering for pivotal United Nations talks in Egypt. Known as COP27, the conference will aim to put Earth on a path to net-zero and keep global warming well below 2 degree celcius this century.

The world must rapidly decarbonise to avoid the most dangerous harms. World leaders know this. But that knowledge must urgently turn into concrete commitments and plans.

If humanity continues on its current path, we are going to leave a hotter, deadlier world for the children of today and all future generations.

Earth desperately needs to succeed.

I am a climate scientist and I believe world leaders should have these three things top-of-mind heading into the conference.





Our planet is undeniably in crisis

So far, Earth has warmed just over 1 degree celcius relative to pre-industrial levels, meaning we have already damaged the climate system. Our greenhouse gas have already caused sea level to rise, sea ice to shrink and the ocean to become more acidic.

Extreme events in recent years particularly heatwaves have the fingerprints of all over them. The record-smashing heat in western North America in 2021 saw massive wildfires and straining infrastructure. And earlier this year, temperatures in the United Kingdom reached a deadly 40 degree celcius for the first time on record.

The ocean, too, has suffered a succession of marine heatwaves that have bleached coral reefs and reduced the diversity of species they host. Heatwaves will worsen as long as we keep warming the planet.

Frighteningly, we risk tipping the climate into a dangerous new regime bringing even worse consequences. Research from September finds we are on the brink of passing five major climate tipping points, such as the collapse of Greenland's ice-sheet. Passing these points will lock the planet into continuing damage to the climate, even if all greenhouse gas cease.

Human health is also on the line. Research last month revealed the climate crisis is undermining public health through, for instance, greater spread of infectious diseases, air pollution and food shortages.

Among its disturbing findings, heat-related deaths in babies under a year old, and adults over 65, increased by 68 per cent in 2017-2021, compared to 2000-2004.

Future generations cannot afford our dithering on action to reduce emissions.





Emissions reduction is too slow

Some countries, particularly in Europe, are succeeding in reducing greenhouse gas emissions through transitioning to renewable energy.

But globally it is not happening fast enough. A UN report this week found if nations deliver on their climate action goals for 2030, Earth will still heat by about 2.5 degree celcius this century - overshooting the Paris Agreement goal to keep global warming well below 2 degree celcius.

Such warming would be disastrous, especially in poorer parts of the world that have contributed little to global emissions.

For decades, the world has talked about reducing emissions. But annual global emissions have risen by over 50 per cent in my lifetime, and since the first COP back in 1992. The UN warns there is still no credible pathway to limiting warming to 1.5 degree celcius.

Until we reach close to net-zero emissions, the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere will rise and the planet will warm. At our current rate, we are warming the planet by about 0.2 degree celcius every decade.





The stalling must end

With so many challenges facing the world, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the cost of living crisis, it may be tempting to view climate change as a problem that can wait. This would be a terrible idea.

Climate change will get only worse. Every year of delay makes it much harder to prevent the most dangerous climate projections becoming a reality.

Only concerted efforts from all nations will avoid destroying our most sensitive ecosystems, such as coral reefs. We should be doing everything we can to stop this by transitioning away from fossil fuels. Any new fossil fuel development is just making the problem worse and will cost humanity and the environment far more in future.

And yet, the International Energy Agency last week projected that the net income for oil and gas producers will double in 2022 to an unprecedented USD 4 trillion, a USD 2 trillion windfall.

We cannot, as climate activist Greta Thunberg put it, just have more blah, blah, blah from world leaders at - we need concrete action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

What now? must lead to a rapid transition away from fossil fuels, including no new fossil fuel developments, and more support for countries dealing with the biggest climate change impacts. We must be on a credible path to reach global net-zero emissions within the next few decades.

The lack of progress at past global climate talks means I'm not optimistic that COP27 will achieve what is needed. But I hope world leaders will prove me wrong and not let their nations down.

(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.)
An illicit liquor vend was busted in Maharashtra's and 2,600 litres of ingredients worth Rs 1.70 lakh were destroyed, a police official said on Sunday.

The raid was conducted by a team of Kasarshirshi police station on Friday and six persons have been apprehended in this connection, he added.

They have been charged under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Prohibition Act, the official said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Egyptologists are still putting together what is known about King Tutankhamun, who lived in ancient Egypt, by examining the mummy, artifacts, pharaonic portraits, and even figures to stitch up an idea of what the ill-fated boy king was like when alive.

King Tutankhamun Made Egypt Known

About a century ago, on November 4, 1922, the tomb of King Tut was discovered with treasures undreamt of in archaic Egypt, with the mummy as the center piece, reported by Live Science.

Such discoveries disclosed a wealth of information about King Tut, who became king at around age 9 and tragically died at about age 19. However, no one is sure how he looked, and investigations seeks to find out his health as well.

According to a study of the King Tutankhamun and other mummies, JAMA concluded that he was five feet, six inches tall at death. He suffered from several diseases, like malaria and Kohler disease, which caused swollen feet and bad walking. On his left foot, a necrosis was observed due to a broken bone could have caused his death.

Zahi Hawass, the former minister of Ancient Egypt and antiquities and co-author of the JAMA paper, mentioned in an email that Tut was very sick and limped while walking, as he suffered with malaria as well. But the boy king was still active, even with such maladies. He liked to hunt and even constructed a palace close to the Sphinx just to hunt. An accident happened that caused his fatal leg injury, and he died two days later.

Read Also: Is Vladimir Putin Fighting Cancer? Rumors Spark Anew After Russia Video Goes Viral

Ancient Egypt's Ruler Was Sickly

Hutan Ashrafian who is a clinical lecturer in surgery at Imperial College London, verified that Tut limped while walking and had an elongated skull, big man-boobs, bad teeth, and was very skinny. He added that the subject was extremely frail.

In 2012, he published a paper in the journal Epilepsy & Behavior that suggested that King Tut and his family were products of intensive genetic inbreeding. The Pharaonic 18th Dynasty had practice of taking relatives as spouses.

Over the years several attempts to form a representation of the boy king were made, but there's too much unknown about Hawass and none are spot on. Scholars have misgivings about attempting to create a virtual likeness of Tutankhamun.

Dr. Frank Ruhli from Zurich University explained in an email why the reconstructions was a challenging work, getting the right likeness with wrinkles, hair color, eye color, skin shade, and even scars on the person is not obvious.

When Egyptologists examined mummies, there was tissue shrinkage of 53% compared to when living, and Tut's mummy got burned by embalming oils, which hindered actual reconstruction.

Another researcher, Dr. Irwin Braverman, from Yale Medical School, stated that a CT scan cannot show live tissue as it did before. Mummified tissue is shrunken, misshapen, and very dry.

Salima Ikram said that the Egyptians before them knew what he looked like. He added that Tut's image was approximate but had an overbite, as shown in the scans and hereditary; his shoes and walking sticks show a slight limp. But Ashrafian remarked that small statues of King Tut while alive are more exact, as old sources are often bypassed.

King Tutankhamun from Ancient Egypt has captured the imagination of many and his appearance seems to be the holy grail to get it right.

Related Article: Is Ancient Egypt Always Been an Arid Desert as It Is Today?

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The earlier perception was that the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) would contest only in Muslim-dominated areas of Gujarat to target the Congress's support. But with its move to field Kaushika Parmar on Ahmedabad's Danilimda (reserved for Scheduled Castes) seat, it indicates that the party also has its eye on the Congress's Dalit constituency too.

However, the AIMIM denied any such plans.

"The party is planning to contest 30 Assembly seats that includes Muslims, Dalits, tribal and even general-dominated seats. When a party is in the election fray, it can't have designed that its candidate will dent X or Y party's vote bank... people will vote for our party and candidates," AIMIM spokesman Danish Kureshi told IANS.

There are 13 reserved seats for Scheduled Caste, and in the 2017 elections, the BJP had won seven and the five, while one went to a Congress-supported Independent.

The AIMIM's fielding of Parmar from Danilimda is an example of how the party is planning to cut into Dalit and Muslim votes in the seat from where Congress' Sailesh Parmar was elected in the last two elections.

The party has declared candidates for Jamalpur-Khadia, Surat (East), Limbayat, and Bapunagar, and the caste equations suggest its entry into the contest on these seats directly benefits the BJP.

Congress's Dasada MLA Naushad Solanki said: "We are prepared for this, we were aware in advance that the AAP and the AIMIM will nominate candidates on seats, where is winning since long and BJP can't make inroads... earlier, they were getting Independent candidates (to stand against Congress), now these are being replaced by the AAP and the AIMIM, but people have realised why these parties are interested in elections, so this strategy to sabotage prospects is not going to work this time."

A month and half ago, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had addressed a public rally in the Mangrol taluka of Junagadh district, but it seems to have had a little influence on voters. "It is true that good numbers of Muslims has attended the rally, but even if AIMIM fields candidate on Kodinar seat of Gir-Somnath district, it will fail miserably to dent the vote bank," said sitting Congress MLA Mohanlal Vala.

According to political observers, the AIMIM can field its candidate on Scheduled Caste reserved seats like Gadhada, Asarva, Vadgam, Kadi, Gandhidham, and Vadodara city, where the BJP feels there is a tough fight. To divide Muslim votes, it will nominate candidates on Bhuj, Abdasa, Mandvi, Jamnagar rural, Mangrol, Junagadh, Dhoraji, Umreth Khambhaliya, Somnath, Surat-West, Bharuch, and Jambusar seats.

--IANS

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Congress working President and former minister Arif Naseem Khan, who was on his way to Maharashtra's Nanded to join Bharat Jodo Yatra, met with an accident on Saturday.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra will enter the border on Monday.

Khan is in-charge of the Bharat Jodo Yatra of Nanded District and is looking at the overall management of the Yatra along with Congress in-charge HK Patil and former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan.

The Congress leader sustained injuries in his right leg.

The accident took place at Bhiloli toll plaza in Nanded where a speeding vehicle collided with the car in which Khan was travelling. The impact of the accident was so powerful that the entire front frame of the car was damaged and the driver along with Khan was injured.

"I have just suffered a minor injury to my right leg and I am safe. I am excited to fulfil my responsibility as in charge of Bharat Jodo Yatra. I have completed three meetings of the District Congress Committee as soon as I reach Nanded and I feel very happy that Nanded Congress will welcome with utmost energy and love," said Khan.

Local residents rushed to the spot and helped Khan and other passengers with first aid kits.

Soon after the first aid, Khan again left for Nanded.

A Congress party worker of Bhiloli has filed a police complaint at Bhiloli Traffic Police Station demanding action against the other car driver for rash driving.

A case has been registered at Biloli Police Station under Sections 337 and 279 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Later, the accused was arrested by the same police but after taking his statement, he was released after giving notice under CrPC 41.

Senior AICC leader HK Patil, former CM Ashok Chavan, Maharashtra PCC President Nana Patole, former cabinet minister Balasaheb Thorat and other senior leaders called to inquire about him and wished him a safe journey to Nanded.

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BKU leader here on Sunday said he will not allow trials of genetically modified (GM) Mustard proposed by the central government.

Addressing the mahapanchayat of farmers near Ghungroo intersection of Jhalwa, Tikait said, "The Ministry of Science and Technology has approved the trial of . Preparations are being made to conduct trials at two places, Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh and Bharatpur in Rajasthan. We will not allow the trial, neither in Uttar Pradesh nor in Rajasthan."



The Bhartiya Kisan Union leader said that there was no reason why the should be allowed into the country after objections from scientists from several countries.

"When something is banned in the whole world, we have reports of 400 scientists, we have bad results of BT cotton cultivation, then what is the need for the Indian government to allow the cultivation of . Is there a shortage of mustard in the country?" he said.

Tikait claimed there will not be a dearth of crops if the government gives farmers the right price for their produce.

He also said his group will continue to agitate for a law for seeds, under which farmers sowing seeds from foreign companies will be punished.

"You give the (right) price, the farmer will produce it and give it. In the coming time, the law of seeds will also come into effect in the country. Preparations are underway to give the right to make seeds to outside companies.

"Seed stations will be opened in the country and farmers who illegally sow seeds of companies will be fined and punished. Our agitation against all these things will continue," he said.

Tikait attacked the BJP saying when it was in opposition it curried favour with the farmers, but now that it is in power at the centre it was throwing its lot with the traders.

"Before coming to the centre, they talked about implementing the recommendation of Swaminath, which was never implemented," he said.

He also slammed the Uttar Pradesh government helmed by Yogi Adityanath, accusing it of not coming good on its promise of clearing due of farmers before the start of sugarcane season.

"Sugar mills have become operational, but farmers have not been paid," said the farmer leader.

On Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, "The Prime Minister of the country says that the country is moving towards digitisation. A shopkeeper goes digital, money is exchanged, but farmers get paid in 11 months when their crop is sold."



He took a dig at him saying the PM must "digitise" the farmer too, so that when he reaches home after selling the crop, he should find money credited in his account.

Tikait announced a demonstration in Lucknow on November 26 against the "anti-farmer policies" of the government, and called upon farmers from across the state to join it.

He also supported the 61-day-long agitation against fee hike in Allahabad University, and said he will join the student movement at the varsity after the Lucknow sit-in.

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Experts at believe that the main reason behind accidents such as bridge collapses is not a technical fault but it's due to human negligence and greed.

Experts say that reliable and modern technology is available in the country to build and flyovers. However, such accidents happen when technical aspects are ignored.

On October 30, nearly 135 people died while over 170 injured in Gujarat's Morbi town when a suspension bridge over the Machchhu river collapsed. Earlier in West Bengal, an incident of collapse of an under-construction bridge had come to the fore. Even at that time, there were serious allegations of negligence in construction work.

T.R. Sreekrishnan, Deputy Director, IIT Delhi, said that the failure of technology or lack of technology is not at all the reason for the collapse of the Morbi bridge or other such accidents.

According to Sreekrishnan, India has the best technology available for construction. All that is needed for good construction is that the existing technology is properly implemented. "Accidents like Morbi are the result of human greed and carelessness. Lack of technology cannot be blamed for this," he asserted.

"If the construction or renovation work is done while following all the rules and regulations, then such accidents would not happen," he added.

According to the information, Morbi Municipality had entrusted the repair and maintenance of the bridge to a private company named 'Oreva Group' for 15 years. The company is accused of negligence in maintenance and nine people have been so far arrested.

Investigation revealed that out of Rs 2 crore allotted for the renovation of the Morbi bridge, the company had spent only Rs 12 lakh.

--IANS

gcb/sha

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The rise in multiple extreme weather events in calls for a coordinated approach for evidence-based negotiations at the in Egypt, a climate negotiator said.

George Wamukoya, the team leader of the African Group of Negotiators Expert Support (AGNES), said on Wednesday in a statement released in Nairobi, Kenya's capital, there has been a lack of coordination between African policymakers, scientists and negotiators to provide evidence on the effects of global warming on the continent.

"In all the positions that takes, negotiators must do technical or background papers to generate evidence guiding that position," Wamukoya, an experienced lead coordinator on agriculture said.

"Ahead of the conference, we have convened pre-meetings where scientists and negotiators have discussed the agenda and identified areas that require evidence. These scientists have helped negotiators in packaging a common African position that is informed by science," he added.

On Tuesday, Guleid Artan, the Director of the IGAD's Climate Prediction and Applications Center (ICPAC), said would at the meeting focus on getting adaptation funds from countries that have created the mess for the continent.

Africa is among the continents that have suffered the worst effects of the climate crisis, with countries like Nigeria and South Africa enduring floods as drought ravages the Horn of Africa, Xinhua news agency reported.

The adverse impacts of the climate crisis have led to increased food insecurity, water scarcity, reduced crop yields and disruption of food systems have taken a toll on African households and the continent's economic growth.

"Science tells us that Africa is the most vulnerable continent yet it has contributed the least in terms of emissions. Africa's voice in the global climate negotiations, therefore, becomes critical," Wamukoya added.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the cost of adapting to shocks across Africa is estimated to rise to $50 billion by 2050 if the global temperature increase remains within 2 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels.

This is despite the continent accounting for less than four per cent of global emissions.

"Delivering a good outcome at for Africa is, therefore, an imperative. AGNES is ready to make a case for adaptation, doubling adaptation finance, creating greater prominence for loss and damage discussions, raising mitigation ambition, and institutionalising agriculture in the UNFCCC process. We must deliver on agriculture," said Wamukoya.

The Conference of the Parties 27 of the United Nations Framework Convention on will kick off in on November 6.

--IANS

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Revoking curbs imposed in Delhi-NCR under the final stage of an action plan to combat could prove to be a hasty decision, experts said on Sunday and advised caution.

Their reaction came after the Centre's air quality panel directed authorities on Sunday to lift the ban on plying of non-BS VI diesel-run light motor vehicles in Delhi-NCR and entry of trucks into the capital imposed under the final stage of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).

The restrictions were imposed three days ago.

A decision on reopening primary schools and revocation of the order asking 50 per cent of government staff to work from home is likely to be taken at a high-level meeting to be chaired by minister Gopal Rai on Monday, an official said.

Environmentalist Vimlendu Jha said it could be too soon to revoke curbs as the air quality has improved a wee bit due to favourable wind speed and will go back to the 'severe' category in a couple of days.

"These are knee jerk reactions and should be avoided. It is too soon to do away with the restrictions. The government should instead analyse the situation and bide some time before revoking the curbs because this situation will be there for a long time," he added.

Concurring with him, environmentalist Jyoti Pande said the government has been undertaking fire-fighting measures instead of controlling emissions and the sources of pollution.

"Every year, the GRAP comes in and curbs are implemented. GRAP is a fire-fighting exercise," she said.

Pande has left due to the toxic air and said it is painful for her to leave the city while leaving her friends and extended family behind.

With a call on reopening of schools expected to be taken on Monday, parents also urged the government ti take steps to ensure that children do not face learning losses.

Aparajita Gautam, president of Parents' Association asked how long will the children face this uncertainty.

"What will the parents do? I am ready to send my child to school if the air quality improves but instead of working to curb pollution now, the government should take year-long measures to reduce it. When the air quality has entered the severe category, we had demanded school closure," she said.

Tanya Aggarwal, a lawyer and a mother, also inquired whether the government will revoke school closure order.

"Hi @ArvindKejriwal - if @CAQM_Official has lifted stage IV, is @Dir_Education revoking school closure order? Or will schools remain closed while trucks & diesel cars return and comm'l activity resumes? Ever thought about fixing sources of #AirPollution instead of only reacting?" she tweeted.

"As the present AQI level of Delhi is around 339 which is about 111 AQI points below the threshold for invoking the GRAP Stage-IV actions (Delhi AQI > 450) and preventive/ mitigative/ restrictive actions under all stages up to Stage-IV are underway, there is a likelihood of sustaining the improvement in AQI.

"The forecast by IMD/ IITM also does not indicate any steep degradation further," an order from the Commission for Air Quality Management read.

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Delhi Environment Minister will chair a high-level meeting Monday to discuss the new directions by the Centre's air quality panel about revoking curbs imposed under the final stage of Graded Response Action Plan, officials said Sunday.

A decision on reopening primary schools and revocation of order asking 50 per cent of the government staff to work from home is likely to be taken at the meeting, an official said.

The Centre's air quality panel Sunday directed authorities to lift the ban on plying of non-BS VI diesel-run light motor vehicles in Delhi-NCR and entry of trucks into the capital imposed under the final stage of the Graded Response Action Plan.

The restrictions were imposed three days ago.

As Delhi's air quality index spiralled to 450, just a notch short of the "severe plus" category, on Thursday, the Commission of Air Quality Management had directed authorities to ban the plying of non-BS VI diesel light motor vehicles in the city and adjoining NCR districts and the entry of trucks into the capital as part of anti-pollution measures under stage IV of GRAP.

The high pollution levels had prompted the Delhi government to announce additional measures on Friday, including closure of primary schools from Saturday and work from home for 50 per cent of its staff.

As the air pollution in the capital ameliorated marginally to the lower end of the "very poor" category on Sunday, the CAQM directed authorities to lift the curbs.

The decision regarding revoking work-from-home order and reopening primary schools has to be taken by the Delhi government.

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Political parties fielding candidates facing criminal cases in the upcoming state poll battles will have to publish full details on their official social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter ,apart from vernacular newspaper and one national newspaper.

As per the rules, both the candidates as well as the political parties have to publish complete details about the criminal antecedents. These details should be published on three occasions during the campaign period in such a way so that electors have sufficient time to know about the background of such candidates.

While candidates with criminal antecedents in polls are not unusual, it is mandatory for political parties to upload on their website detailed information regarding individuals with pending criminal cases. The details include the nature of the offences, and relevant particulars such as whether charges have been framed, the concerned court, the case number etc.

Moreover, political parties also have to furnish the reasons for such selection, as also as to why other individuals without criminal antecedents could not be selected as candidates. The reasons as to selection shall be with reference to the qualifications, achievements and merit of the candidate concerned, and not mere "winnability" at the polls, said a senior EC official.

As per the guidelines, these details shall be published within 48 hours of the selection of the candidate and not prior to two weeks before the first date of filing of nominations. The political party concerned shall then submit a report of compliance with these directions with the within 72 hours of the selection of the said candidate. If a political party fails to submit such a compliance report with the Election Commission, the poll panel shall bring such non-compliance by the political party concerned to the notice of the Supreme Court as being in contempt of the court's orders/directions.

The Supreme Court issued some additional directions through a judgment dated August 10, 2021, which has been further circulated by the . As per the directions, "Political parties are to publish information regarding criminal antecedents of candidates on the homepage of their websites, thus making it easier for the voter to get to the information that has to be supplied. It will also become necessary now to have on the homepage a caption which says 'candidates with criminal antecedents'."

The directions also said: "We clarify that the direction in paragraph 4.4 of our Order dated 13.02.2020 be modified and it is clarified that the details which are required to be published, shall be published within 48 hours of the selection of the candidate and not prior to two weeks before the first date of filing of nominations."

"We reiterate that if such a political party fails to submit such compliance report with the EC, the EC shall bring such noncompliance by the political party to the notice of this Court as being in contempt of this court's orders/directions, which shall in future be viewed very seriously," it added.

According to a recent report by poll rights body ADR, out of 412 candidates analysed in this year's Himachal Pradesh polls, 94 (23 per cent) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves, while 50 (12 per cent) have declared serious criminal cases against themselves this year.

--IANS

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A five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to probe the Sudhir Suri assassination case, Commissioner of Police Arun Pal Singh said on Sunday.

Accused Sandeep Saini has been arrested on the spot and his weapon was recovered.

While addressing a press conference, Singh said, "Assistant Deputy Commissioner of Police had a word with SIT team about this case and said that the investigation should be carefully undertaken."

Earlier on Sunday, people gathered outside the residence of (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri for his last rites.

leader Sudhir Suri died after being shot in Amritsar on Friday.

After the of Hindu leader Sudhir Suri in Amritsar, security arrangements were tightened in Ludhiana and other places. However, there was no effect of the Punjab Bandh call on Saturday and the markets are open as usual.

A large number of leaders had gone from Ludhiana to Amritsar for the last rites of Sudhir Suri.

The firing took place near Gopal Mandir in Amritsar during an agitation. Soon after the incident, Suri was rushed to a hospital where he died. Police arrived at the spot and arrested the accused. Police also recovered the weapons.

"Sudhir Suri was shot outside Gopal Mandir, Amritsar during some agitation. He sustained bullet injuries and was rushed to hospital and died. The accused has been arrested. His weapons have been recovered," Arun Pal Singh, commissioner of Police, Amritsar had said.

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As the country observed the National Awareness Day on Monday, Indias major hospital chains revealed that they are enhancing infrastructure by opting for the hub-and-spoke route, creating more day-care-beds to treat its growing population of patients.
An initial flight of an AI-controlled UH-60 Blackhawk that flew a simulated medical mission as far as 134 kilometers. This time, the military-spec helicopter was a remotely piloted that flew quickly and low from the ground.

Unpiloted Black Hawk Helicopter

The mission consists of testing an autonomous version of the UH-60, the latest iteration of the venerable US general-purpose helicopter, reported NewScientist.

Other features include changing flight paths to pick up a mannequin as a demonstration and hooking cargo weighing a metric ton under it. The flight tests were completed in October.

Igor Cherepinsky at Sikorsky Innovations commented that the robotic system functions; Sikorsky is the company that makes the renowned Blackhawk. According to what he said during a press conference, inputting the mission parameters causes it to happen without establishing a data link. The AI then handles all the details just like a regular person.

This is the most recent achievement in the ALIAS program, operated by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and it will be assessing Sikorsky's MATRIX innovation. Designed as a drop-in kit that allows rotorcraft to operate on their own, the very first flights were short jumps last February with no people onboard.

Stacie Pettyjohn, a national security think tank in Washington, D.C., said that eight miles was a good start, at the Center for New American Security. She also added that it is a step forward than keeping a pilot during trials.

Next-Generation, AI-controlled Helicopters

Recently, the army held exercises with the AI-controlled Black Hawk helicopter that loaded 500 pounds of simulated and real blood on board on a simulated medical mission.

Read Also: Xi Jinping Net Worth 2022: How Wealthy Is China's President

The helicopter was up to 200 feet in the air and hitting air speeds of 185 kilometers per hour while flying low and fast between mountainous terrain that avoided crashing by linked sensors to keep the right height and speed, not colliding on course.

"It's like a self-driving car but flying, with the use of lidar and cameras," commented Cherepinsky, noted Head Topics.

In a different flight test, the helicopter took off while hauling a metric ton of cargo on a 12-meter (40-foot) sling and flew toward a predefined ground.

Sikorsky had a remote operator use a touchscreen tablet to control the machine remotely during a demonstration while the unit was carrying out the test. It had to act out picking up a wounded soldier after dropping the load from the sling.

Unpiloted Helicopters Good for Routine Missions

The AI-equipped UH-60 has shown that it is not problematic to add AI control to military hardware that houses weapons, despite what some people claim.

Some say there is a danger with automatons in aircraft or those without weapons who might end up causing damage or injury to those on the ground if anything really goes awry, says Pettyjohn.

Conceivably, logistics support runs can be conducted by UAV versions of these helicopters and other combat aircraft without putting the lives of human pilots in peril.

But even so, the MATRIX kit update might even allow airplanes to remain operational by themselves during less dangerous missions while their human crew members are taking a rest. He continues by saying that they work better on routine missions as well as less extreme ones.

Following the AI-controlled trend in the military, the Black Hawk helicopter is equipped with one, as part of a medical mission testing how it handles.

Related Article: Australia's Royal Navy Hobart-Class Destroyers, Seahawk Helicopters Get Upgrades

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
An investigation by a UK-based media outlet has exposed online operating from India who illegally targeted the email accounts of hundreds of high-profile government and private individuals around the world, including in Pakistan.

The report by the Sunday Times claimed that those on the list of individuals targeted included Pakistan's politicians, diplomats and generals. The seized control of computers owned by them and "eavesdropped on their private conversations apparently at the behest of the Indian secret services", it added.

Also on the list of targeted individuals were: one of the Hinduja brothers Ashok Hinduja; Mark Fullbrook, Liz Trusss chief of staff when prime minister; former UK chancellor Philip Hammond; Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Fawad Chaudhry; former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf; the BBCs political editor Chris Mason; Switzerland president Ignazio Cassis; former UEAFA president Michel Platini, and German billionaire Stefan Quandt, who co-owns BMW.

Detailing its investigation, the Times said its undercover reporters visited India earlier this year and posed as former MI6 agents-turned corporate investigators, working for a fake corporate investigation company in Mayfair, London, called Beaufort Intelligence.

They then contacted some of India's top online hackers, saying they needed private information on targets of their clients. Soon, they began receiving offers of help. The reporters then set up meetings with the alleged and secretly filmed their conversations.

One of the alleged hackers talked to the undercover reporters in Delhi online from Bengaluru, the report said. The report identified him as Utkarsh Bhargava.

Bhargava told the reporters he had been for the Indian government and had broken into the computer systems of different ministries in several countries, including Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, Cambodia and Canada, according to the Times report.

Our job was to get the data and hand it over he told them.

He also claimed that the Indian police did not understand these things, so they do not try to prosecute illegal hackers. Bhargava also said he used Pegasus software, which was at the centre of a global snooping scandal. This software can be installed on mobile phones without the knowledge of the user to gain control of messaging services like WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram.

The reporters also met former Indian Army Brigadier Ram Chhillar, who founded the cyber intelligence company Phronesis. Brigadier Chhillar said he was able to mine the dark web for peoples personal data stolen in previous cyber attacks or corporate data breaches, according to the report.

Explaining the modus operandi of these hackers, the report said the hackers would often befriend their targets on social media by sending them a link to click on. Once the targets clicked on the link, they would download the malware that would allow the hackers access to their email accounts.

The Sunday Times said its reporters also met a group of hackers operating from an office in Gurugram. Named WhiteInt, this outlet was run by Aditya Jain, 31.

Jain moonlights as a hacker and has a regular job at Deloitte. He claimed he could hack into any email account in the world within 30 days. The reporters got hold of Jain's database.

Tej Singh Rathore, 28, a graduate of Rajasthan Technical University in Kota, explained to the reporters how he obtained passwords through phishing. Ninety per cent of private investigators use Indian hackers to do this kind of job, he claimed.
Prime Minister to address a rally today, will attend mass marriage

Prime Minister will address a public meeting in the Valsad district of poll-bound on Sunday and attend a mass marriage ceremony in Bhavnagar.

PM Modi will address a public meeting at Kaprada Village in Valsad district at 3 pm. This will be the Prime Minister's first visit to his home state after the Assembly elections were declared.

Bypoll results 2022: Counting of votes for 7 assembly seats in 6 states begins today

The counting of votes in the by-elections to the seven Assembly constituencies spread across six states will be held on Sunday.

The fierce battle is between Bharatiya Janata Party and regional parties such as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Samajwadi Party (SP), and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

Musk's updates app to start charging $8 for blue checkmark

on Saturday updated its app in Apple's App Store to begin charging $8 for sought-after blue check verification marks, in Elon Musk's first major revision of the social media platform.

The change comes a week after Musk took over the social media company in a $44 billion deal. The billionaire entrepreneur and CEO of electric car maker Tesla cut half the staff at and has vowed to start charging users more.
Pakistan's former prime minister said on Sunday that an FIR has not been registered on the botched "assassination attempt" on his life as authorities are refusing to file the case unless he removes an army general's name from the complaint.

Khan, 70, suffered a bullet injury in the right leg on Thursday when two gunmen fired a volley of bullets at him and others mounting on a container-mounted truck in the Wazirabad area of Punjab province, where he was leading a protest march against the Shehbaz Sharif government.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A sub-committee of the Punjab Cabinet has been formed to oversee preparations for the scheduled to be held in Amritsar in March next year. It will hold its first meeting on Monday.

According to an official statement, the sub-committee has been formed by the state government so that Punjab can be presented as a centre of tourism during the global meet.

The sub-committee has Local Government Minister Inderbir Singh Nijjar as its chairman. The other members are cabinet ministers Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Harjot Singh Bains and Harbhajan Singh, the statement said.

It is a matter of great pride for the state of Punjab that the meeting will be held in Amritsar, in which presidents and prime ministers of major countries will participate to discuss issues pertaining to education, labour and others, it added.

The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum of the world's major developed and developing economies.

It comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US, and the European Union (EU).

India will assume the presidency of the G20 for one year from December 1, 2022, to November 30, 2023, and is expected to host over 200 meetings across the country.

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The Sri Lankan Navy arrested 15 who were allegedly poaching in the northern waters of the Island nation and seized two trawlers on Saturday evening.

The Navy (SLN) stated that the arrests were made during "a special operation in seas north of Talaimannar to chase away Indian poaching trawlers from Sri Lanka's waters".

" Navy remains ever alert to foil illegal fishing practices of foreign fishing trawlers in Sri Lanka's waters and regularly conducts patrols and operations to prevent such activities. As an extension of these efforts, the North Central Naval Command mounted a special operation, having spotted a cluster of Indian poaching trawlers in Sri Lanka's waters, in seas north of Talaimannar," SLN said in a statement.

Two Fast Attack Craft of the 4th Fast Attack Flotilla (4 FAF) attached to the Northern Naval Command had been deployed for the operation. The seized trawlers together with have been brought to Talaimannar and they were handed over to the Mannar Fisheries officials for onward legal proceedings, the navy stated.

The SLN also said that it continues to remain vigilant and conducts operations to prevent illegal fishing, taking into account the consequences of such activities of foreign fishermen on the livelihood of local fishermen and biodiversity of the marine environment.

--IANS

sfl/sha

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The government will introduce a law to stop the confiscation or auction of farmers' property over any delay or non-payment of loan taken for agricultural purposes, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Saturday.

Speaking at the concluding session of Krishi Mela and distribution of awards to farmers at the Gandhi Krishi Vignan Kendra (GKVK) campus here, he said in case of non-payment of agricultural loan, farmers must be given more time for repayment instead of confiscating or auctioning their property.

Necessary instructions have already been given to the Department of Cooperation and other departments. As a result the departments are responding to the plight of farmers, he said.

Noting that economic growth is fully dependent on the agricultural sector, Bommai said agricultural universities must take up research regarding agro-economics and give suggestions to the government.

These universities must work in tandem with the government and inform it regarding new research and methodology, the chief minister said.

Both Bengaluru and Dharwad Universities of Agricultural Sciences have been functioning for 58 years and helping farmers. One thousand acres of land has been reserved each in Dharwad and Bengaluru universities for natural farming, he said.

"The varsities have been asked to increase agriculture output with less capital investment and to grow crops without using chemical fertiliser," Bommai said.

The "Yashasvini" health insurance scheme has been re-launched since November 1, the chief minister told the gathering.

Bommai said the state government will launch more farmer-friendly programmes which included giving loan to 10 lakh additional farmers from the current academic year.

He appealed to farmers to think scientifically, try new varieties to increase productivity and take up comprehensive agriculture.

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Some 116 worth Rs 1.26 trillion could be shut down due to unresolved obstacles ranging from land acquisition to Centre-state tussles. While these projects have incurred a cumulative capital expenditure of Rs 20,311 crore, the Centre is considering the possibility of finally putting a lid on them.
Centre and state officers are working with online gaming sector experts to define 'games of skill' and 'games of chance' with a view to design different structures for them, sources said.

The vexed issue of levying Goods and Services Tax (GST) on has been hanging fire for over a year now with many states pitching for a lower tax rate on those which require skill. They are of the opinion that games of skill should not be treated at par with games of chance.

The absence of a clear definition often leads to tax notices being sent to online game portals and subsequent litigations.

According to sources, the Council's Law Committee, which met in Bengaluru on Saturday, discussed the issues concerning definition for 'games of skill' and 'games of chance' with technical domain experts.

As all states are not part of the law committee, the draft report on definition would be shared with all states for their views.

Sources further said the GoM (Group of Ministers) wants to present a report to the Council, which is legally tenable and cannot be challenged in the courts. The panel of ministers will consult all stakeholders before finalising its report.

Only after a definition is finalised, a call would be taken on the tax rates to be levied and also on whether it should be levied on gross gaming revenue or deposits by gamers, sources told PTI.

The meeting of the Council, chaired by the Union finance minister and comprising her state counterparts, is likely to be held by the end of December after the conclusion of state elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh to consider the report of the GoM on of online gaming, casinos and horse racing.

Earlier in June, the Group of Ministers, under Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma, had suggested the GST Council that the online gaming sector should be taxed at 28 per cent. The GST Council, however, asked the GoM to further deliberate on the of online gaming, along with casinos.

Industry has been demanding that games of skill should continue to be taxed at a lower rate as a higher tax rate would substantially reduce the prize money.

Currently, a 28 per cent GST is levied on 'games of chance', which involves some form of betting/gambling, while skill gaming sector pays 18 per cent GST. The tax is levied on gross gaming revenue, which is the fees charged by online gaming portals. Charging 28 per cent GST on the entire amount, which a player deposits for a game for both categories of online game, would reduce the prize money left for distribution and drive away players from legitimate tax deducting portals, sector experts say.

This may also encourage online gamers towards unlawful portals that do not deduct tax, experts added.

Online gaming witnessed a spurt during the time of Covid lockdown with the number of users in India rising substantially. As per a KPMG report, the online gaming sector would grow to Rs 29,000 crore by 2024-25, from Rs 13,600 crore in 2021.

AMRG & Associates Senior Partner Rajat Mohan said industry expects policy-level clarity on all the critical aspects of the gaming sector, which includes chargeability of tax on the un-played bets, valuation of services, applicable rate of tax on game of skill/ chance, point of taxation for gaming services, applicability of tax on bonus/cash-backs etc.

"Policy level clarity from the GST Council is the need of the hour to fuel growth in the entire online gaming sector," Mohan added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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China has completed the basic construction of its T-Shaped Tiangong Space Station following the launch of the Mengtian module on Monday, Oct. 31.

Mengtian, the final of the three-module space station, docked at its port on Tiangong 13 hours after its launch from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Inner Mongolia's Gobi Desert.

From the port where it docked, the Mengtian module made a 90-degree turn to the left side berth on the space station's docking hub on Thursday, Nov. 3. The Wentian module arrived at the Chinese space station in late September, docking on the starboard docking port.

The T-shaped Chinese orbital post has three modules, namely: the Tianhe core modules and the experiment modules of Wentian and Mengtian.

The completion of the Tiangong Space Station brought the low-Earth orbit's population to two.

Major Space Power

The Thursday space event was a big step for China becoming a major space power. At the same time, it showcased China's growing space program.

China's space plans include building a Moon base where it will conduct lunar explorations and, from there, hopes to send orbiters and landers to Mars in years to come.

The completed T-shaped space station, according to space law professor Fabio Tronchetti of Beihang University in Beijing, is important for China to achieve its ambitious space program.

Read Also: Space Race Update: China's Tiangong Space Station Is Expanding - What About the ISS?

Neighbors

Tiangong's neighbor, the International Space Station (ISS), will cease its low-Earth orbit a few years from now. That will leave the Chinese orbiting station alone in space, he said.

China sent two Tiangong prototypes in orbit from 2011 until 2019. These two experimental prototypes had already ceased their orbit.

ISS, a multinational space station, is expected to retire by 2030. The space station, which is way larger than Tiangong, is a common platform of the United States, Russia, and the European Space Agency (ESA).

Tiangong became ISS's new neighbor after Russia's Mir space station was decommissioned in 2001.

Occupants

Present occupants of the Chinese space station are the three astronauts of the Shenzhou 14-manned mission.

The three astronauts - Chen Dong, Cai Xuzhe, and Liu Yang - entered the third module at 3:12 p.m. Beijing time on Thursday after the successful port maneuver.

"The dream has come true," Chen announced after they successfully entered Mengtian, one of the two laboratory modules of the Chinese space station.

The space station, according to Liu, the first Chinese woman in space in 2012, is called the space orbiter mankind's home in heaven.

Long March 7 Rocket

The crew of the Shenzhou 15 mission is expected to join the Shenzhou 14 astronauts in space before the end of 2022.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) is preparing the Long March 7 rocket at the Wenchang space facility.

CNSA said the rocket would blast off the Tianzhou 5 cargo as a supply mission to support the six-month expedition of Shenzhou 15.

Although CNSA has yet to announce the details, the launch is expected to take place in Inner Mongolia's space launch center on Nov. 12.

Related Article: China's Tiangong Space Station Nears Completion as Final Module Launches Into Orbit
Naming leaders not known outside as Chief Ministers is becoming a tradition of sorts for political parties in the state. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made Bhupendra Patel, a first time MLA who had no experience of running a government, CM earlier this year. Patels claim to fame was as a protege of former chief minister Anandiben Patel (he served as her campaign manager and later contested the seat she vacated when she became Governor) and the support of Union Home Minister Amit Shah (his assembly seat, Ghatlodia, is one of the segments of the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency that Shah represents).
Ahead of the Municipal Corporation of (MCD) polls, State Election Commission convened an all-party meeting on Monday.

This meeting will be held at the Nigam Bhawan, Kashmere Gate.

State Election on Friday announced the schedule for MCD .

MCD will be held on December 4 while the counting of votes will be done on December 7.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, the Delhi State Election Commissioner Commissioner Vijay Dev said that the Model code of conduct has been implemented in Delhi from November 4.

"The issue of notification will be on November 7 and will end on November 14. The last date of withdrawal of candidature is November 19. Voting for the polls will be on December 4 and the results will be announced on December 7," Vijay Dev had said.

Vijay Dev said that the delimitation process in Delhi has been completed and polling stations have been redrawn.

"Now we are prepared for 250 wards in Delhi. The municipal corporation of Delhi has jurisdiction in 68 constituencies. 42 seats are reserved for SCs," he said.

The state election commission also announced the number of seats reserved for the scheduled caste women and women of the general category.

"Out of those 42 seats for SC, 21 seats will be for SC women. 104 seats will be reserved for women," said Vijay Dev.

The total number of civic body poll wards in the national capital was reduced from 272 to 250 following a notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday pertaining to the redrawing of wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

After the 'delimitation' of MCD wards by the central government, the total number of wards in the MCD will amount to 250 of which 42 are decided to be reserved.

Earlier, the Delhi Congress had questioned the reduction of wards from 272 to 250. The Delhi Congress had also alleged a conspiracy to reduce the representation of the Dalit community in this regard, as the reserved seats have been reduced from 46 to 42.

Notably, AAP Delhi raised concerns that there is no equal distribution of population in the delimitation of wards. Aam Aadmi Party leaders had also lodged their objection by meeting the state election officials.

It is worth mentioning that the draft of the delimitation was prepared on September 12 itself and it was reviewed till October 3.

(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.)
Congress leader on Sunday said that winds of change are blowing across and exuded confidence that his party will form the government in the state.

Addressing a public meeting in Sulah, he appealed to people of the state to come on November 12 and vote for Congress candidate Jagdish Sipahiya from the Sulah assembly.

The in the hilly state are slated to be held on November 12, whose votes will be counted on December 8.

"Not only in district Kangra, but the whole of is also in the mood for change and Congress is going to form the government in the state on November 12. The party will win with a huge majority," Pilot said.

Pilot also held a public meeting in Palampur in favour of the Congress' Ashish Butail.

"People do not trust the functioning of the current BJP government. But because there is huge resentment against the BJP rule, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh have had to campaign extensively in the small state, he said while talking to the reporters.

"People liked Congress' manifesto. The Congress party will win in with a huge majority and the Congress will win more seats than what is estimated by the media," he added.

With a promise of free electricity for up to 300 units, Congress released its ten-point electoral manifesto for the upcoming polls in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday.

The Congress released its manifesto for the upcoming in Himachal Pradesh, in the presence of its senior observer Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday.The 10 guarantees of Congress include the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme, 1 lakh government jobs, as many as 5 lakh jobs for youth, Rs 680 crore Start-up fund for the youth, Rs 1,500 per month to the women, and free electricity up to 300 units of consumption.

The Himachal Pradesh election manifesto of the Congress also assured the people of the hilly state of four English-medium schools in each assembly constituency, mobile clinics for free treatment in each village, the cost price of cow dung at Rs 2 per kilogram, purchase of 10 liters of milk from animal keepers, and the farm owners will be given the liberty to decide the price for their farm produce.

(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.)
Two Pakistani women were killed and 13 injured in a gas explosion in their apartment in Karachi's heavily populated Gulistan-e-Jauhar area, police said.

A senior police officer said that a 40-year-old woman and her 18-year-old daughter were killed in the explosion on Saturday night.

The explosion which took place late at night was so powerful that it also damaged other flats on the floor and left 13 people injured, he said.

The injured have been shifted to a nearby hospital.

SHO Bashir Randhawa said that three injured were critical.

The Bomb Disposal Squad confirmed the explosion was caused by a gas leak and said it had destroyed doors and domestic use goods were destroyed.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
has settled a lawsuit against a former employee for allegedly stealing trade secrets and sharing those with a journalist.

The tech giant had filed a lawsuit against Simon Lancaster, a former design architect with the company, in March 2021.

" and Lancaster have reached an agreement to resolve this matter, which includes a monetary payment by Lancaster to and the dismissal of the claims in this case," read the settlement order in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

Lancaster has been barred from "disclosing, communicating, transferring, discussing, or using any confidential Information, in any form, without Apple's express prior written authorisation".

According to Apple's earlier lawsuit, Lancaster shared details of unreleased hardware, unannounced feature changes, and future product announcements with the correspondent.

Apple also alleged that Lancaster downloaded confidential documents just before leaving the company in November 2019 that would "assist his new employer", Arris Composites. Lancaster quit Arris in 2021, reports The Verge.

"Despite over a decade of employment at Apple, Lancaster abused his position and trust within the company to systematically disseminate Apple's sensitive trade secret information in an effort to obtain personal benefits," Apple had said in its lawsuit.

"He used his seniority to gain access to internal meetings and documents outside the scope of his job's responsibilities containing Apple's trade secrets, and he provided these trade secrets to his outside media correspondent," the company added.

--IANS

na/dpb

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Australian government has announced it will bid to co-host the (UN) Conference in 2026 with Pacific nations.

Chris Bowen, minister for and Energy, recently said the government has decided against bidding to host the 29th session of the Conference of Parties (COP29) to the Framework Convention on in 2024, and will instead focus on 2026, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Our delegation at COP27 and our COP31 bid will go a long way to help drive Australia's economic transformation to a net-zero economy, and strengthen green trade partnerships and secure jobs for Australian workers," he said in a media release on Saturday.

He said the upcoming COP27, slated for November 6-18 in Egypt, is an opportunity to showcase Australia's renewed climate leadership, "as we demonstrate our potential as a renewable energy superpower."

The announcement has been welcomed by environmentalists.

Dermot O'Gorman from the World Wide Fund For Nature said hosting COP31 would "revive" Australia's reputation on climate issues.

"This is an Olympic moment -- a huge opportunity to host a nation-building global event," he told the Australian Associated Press.

At the COP27 in Egypt, Australia's delegation will demonstrate the government's commitment to action on climate change, according to Bowen.

--IANS

int/svn/

(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.)
Derisive and dismissive of the incoming leadership, in June 2021 in a handover note left for his successor in the Prime Minister's office, Naftali Bennett, wrote, "Be right back", according to media reports.

Netanyahu, 73, scored an emphatic victory at polls last week making a comeback when elections were held last Tuesday, the fifth in less than four years, after Bennett's government fell under the pressure of ideological differences among the loosely grouped eight parties drawn from the Left, Centre and Right, along with an Arab party.

Netanyahu continuously challenged the legitimacy of the government, charging his successor and his allies of having "stolen" the mandate, making several analysts dub him a "sore loser".

Some commentators criticised Netanyahu then for his apparent lack of decorum, noting that previous transfers of power had been more courteous.

In new revelations, Channel 12 news on Friday published a photo of a note that was left for Bennett on the desk of the Prime Minister's Office when he arrived there to take over.

The note, scribbled in blue pen, included a simple drawing of an Israeli flag, with its Star of David, and the words: Be right back!, Times of reported.

(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 latest in a series of protests against artworks in Europe, climate activists glued their hands to the frames of two famous works by Spanish painter Francisco de Goya in Madrid's Prado Museum on Saturday.

As reported by New York Post, video evidence revealed that a man and a woman attached themselves to Goya's "La Maja Vestida" (The Clothed Maja) and "La Maja Desnuda" (The Naked Maja), respectively, and wrote "+1.5 C" on the wall in between the two paintings. Campaign group Futuro Vegetal said its members carried out the protest. A video posted to the Twitter account of the campaign group Futuro Vegetal showed a docent asking visitors not to take pictures of the scene.

"Last week the UN recognized the impossibility of keeping us below the limit of 1.5 Celsius (set in the 2016 Paris climate agreement). We need change now," it wrote on Twitter.

In the weeks leading up to the COP27 summit in Egypt, groups of climate activists have staged a number of related protests.

Earlier, Italian Climate activists threw pea soup over Vincent Van Gogh's 'The Sower' painting at the Kroeller-Mueller museum in the Netherlands while attempted to glue themselves to the glass covering Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring" in The Hague. Also covered were both of those pieces.

According to the New York Post, four women who belonged to the environmental group Ultima Generazione (Last Generation) directed the stunt and shouted slogans against and fossil fuels.

"These issues should be on the front pages of the news channels and political agendas every minute, but are instead only addressed with 'scandalous' actions like the one this morning," the group said in a statement, the New York Post reported.

Previously, in London, environmental protestors from the group Just Stop Oil threw tomato soup on Van Gogh's 'The Sunflowers' painting at London's National Gallery.

According to New York Post, Prado stated that the wall graffiti was immediately covered up and that the paintings, which were made at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, had not been harmed.

"We condemn the use of the museum as a place to make a political protest of any kind," the gallery added, as per the reports of the New York Post.

According to New York Post, Police said two people had been arrested.

(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.)
Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo, right, shakes hands with Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) CEO Henry Fernandez at the banking group's headquarters in Seoul, Saturday. Courtesy of Hana Financial Group



By Yi Whan-woo



Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo pledged to capitalize on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) trends as predicted by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), a global index provider, on its path to take a global lead on sustainable finance.



In a meeting with MSCI CEO Henry Fernandez at Hana Financial Group headquarters in central Seoul, Saturday, Ham said the company will focus especially on expanding investment in green energy and other ESG-related projects in 2023.



The meeting came as and Fernandez visited Seoul last week to attend a finance conference, and also to meet a range of finance leaders here to discuss how MSCI can enhance cooperation with the Korean financial industry.



Ham was the only chairman from the nation's five largest banking groups to meet with Fernandez. The topics addressed between them centered on risks and opportunities in the global transition to carbon neutrality.



Ham told Fernandez that Hana Financial Group has been deeming risks associated with climate change as "potential threats" and that it is coping with these risks "in a preemptive manner."



"We will actively take into account trends predicted by MSCI on ESG when pursuing initiatives in the global financial market," the banking group chairman said.



Concerning climate change, he said that the Korean company mainly spent this year figuring out the related risks.



He went on to say, "We will build on the 2022 findings to try to develop our own ways next year in measuring financed emissions that are generated as a result of investments, lending and other financial services."



The chairman highlighted Hana Financial Group has been committed to addressing a wide range of social issues with the goal of joint prosperity and happiness through finance.



Fernandez said the finance companies should bolster efforts to nurture ESG-oriented finance, underscoring that climate change certainly poses a risk on the one hand but also brings opportunities to broaden the ESG-related financial market on the other hand.




Reiterating solidarity towards war-ravaged Ukraine, European Union is set to propose a substantial financial package of up to EUR 1.5 billion a month to the country which would contribute to covering its financing needs for 2023.

Making the announcement, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted, "Good to stay in close touch with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Positive developments: we will propose this week the financial support package for in 2023. The will be at Ukraine's side for as long as it takes."

This comes after President held talks on Sunday with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The main focus of the conversation was on ensuring financial support for in the months ahead.

President von der Leyen informed President Zelenskyy that she would this week propose a substantial financial package from the of up to EUR 1.5 billion a month, totalling up to EUR 18 billion, which would contribute significantly to cover Ukraine's financing needs for 2023.

Both leaders recognised the importance of ensuring predictable and regular funding of essential state functions. "The support in the form of highly concessional long-term loans, with coverage of the interest costs, would also work to support Ukraine's reforms and its path towards EU membership," the European Commission said in a statement.

President von der Leyen confirmed ongoing work by the EU to continue to provide immediate humanitarian support to Ukraine, particularly over the winter. She reiterated that the EU is in it for the long haul in its support for Ukraine.

The leaders also discussed the importance of ensuring Ukraine's agricultural exports can reach the world. In addition to full support for the UN's efforts to reach an agreement with Russia on the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the leaders also discussed plans to expand the capacities of the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes, which have so far been used to transport the great majority of Ukrainian agricultural and non-agricultural exports since the start of the Russian war.

Finally, the leaders discussed strengthening sanctions, as well as the "negative role played by Iran's support for Russia's aggression" and how to respond.

(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.)
Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Hammad Azhar said that former Prime Minister will return to the political arena in two to three days.

Talking to the media at the Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Lahore, Azhar said their part will continue their 'long march' toward Islamabad against the attempted assassination of Imran Khan, Geo News reported.

On Thursday, the PTI chief was injured after a man opened fire at him in Gujranwala. The former prime minister sustained injuries on his leg and has been shifted to a hospital for treatment, Geo News reported.

The attacker on was "a religious fanatic engineered at a studio," the PTI leader emphasised, adding that the PTI leaders are going to meet in this regard and will brief the media afterwards.

Azhar said a total of Rs 15 million will be given to the family of Moazzam Gondal, the youth who lost his life during the gun attack on on November 3 in Wazirabad, reported Geo News.

He said he would take the bereaved family of Moazzam to meet Imran Khan at the Shaukat Khanum Hospital.

Meanwhile, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday slammed Imran Khan for undermining national institutions and requested the Chief Justice of to form a full court commission to investigate his allegations.

"Imran Niazi habitually uses baseless allegations and lies to spread anarchy.

The government has requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan to form a full court commission to investigate his allegations. Let the people see through his game plan to undermine national institutions," Shehbaz Sharif tweeted.

Shehbaz Sharif wrote a letter to the Supreme Court to constitute a full-court bench to investigate the allegations made by the PTI Chief Imran Khan and also the investigation of the Arshad Sharif murder case, ARY News reported.

He made these remarks while addressing a press conference in Lahore. This comes two days after Imran Khan was shot during his long march. Shehbaz wished Imran and others injured a speedy recovery however did not fall short of attacking him for Imran Khan's "false and cheap conspiracies."

PM Shehbaz also urged the PTI chief to present evidence to support his allegations. "The attack is condemnable, however, when the nation is being pushed towards devastation by false narratives it is my responsibility that I play a positive role to protect the people," Shehbaz said.

During the presser, Shehbaz Sharif played a video which showed Imran Khan making statements about the armed forces since 2011. In a strong statement, Shehbaz Sharif said that if Imran Khan succeeds in proving that he was behind the attack during his Haqeeqi march, then he would resign from his Prime Ministerial post immediately.

"Imran Khan's tales are full of contradictions. I cannot, for even a moment, waste my time thinking that this man -- who was granted a new life by Allah -- is lying day and night. Today, he is attacking the Pakistan army in a way an enemy would do," the PM said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Saturday called on the US to prove its "real will" in the negotiations aimed at the revival of 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, according to the Foreign Ministry's website.

The US should prove that it would not "violate" its obligations by imposing sanctions, Amir-Abdollahian said at the first meeting of the national coordinators of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations, which kicked off in the Iranian capital Tehran on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.

He pointed to Washington's unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear pact, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in 2018, saying that it showed Washington's "disregard for its obligations and its clear violation of the resolution approved by the United Nations Security Council".

It is unfortunate that the incumbent US administration, despite its promises and claims, still maintains the course of "hostile actions ... and continuation of the failed policy of maximum pressure" against Tehran, he said, adding that instead of making up for the mistakes of the previous government, the administration of US President Joe Biden "adopts hypocritical positions".

The Iranian foreign minister stressed that his country adheres to the continuation of nuclear negotiations for the revival of the nuclear agreement, while emphasizing its inalienable right to use peaceful nuclear energy in all its dimensions, including uranium enrichment for peaceful purposes.

Meanwhile, "America must prove that it has good intentions and real will and does not intend to use the negotiations to waste time and find another excuse to continue violating its obligations and continue the sanctions that this country is unfortunately very addicted to," he noted.

Amir-Abdollahian said on Thursday that his country had "absolute readiness" to conclude nuclear talks "as soon as possible."

On Wednesday, the top Iranian diplomat said an Iranian delegation would travel to Vienna, Austria in the coming days for talks on enhancing cooperation with the Atomic Energy Agency.

signed the JCPOA with major countries in July 2015, agreeing to curb its nuclear program in return for removing sanctions on the country. However, former US President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.

The talks on the JCPOA's revival began in April 2021 in Vienna. No breakthrough was achieved after the latest round of talks held in early August.

--IANS

int/sha

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As the war in Ukraine enters into nine months, External Affairs Minister will begin his two-day Russia visit on Monday to hold talks with the country's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in continuation of the regular high-level dialogue between the two sides.

Talks between the two sides are expected to cover the entire range of bilateral issues and exchange views on various regional and developments.

Jaishankar is scheduled to meet Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Minister of Trade and Industry, Denis Manturov, his counterpart for the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC).

"Issues pertaining to bilateral economic cooperation in various domains will be discussed," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) release said in an earlier release.

Jaishankar's visit follows Russian President Vladimir Putin's praise of Indians. Marking the occasion of Russia's Unity Day on November 4, Putin said India has much potential with no doubts that it will achieve outstanding results in terms of development.

"India will achieve outstanding results in terms of its development - there are no doubts - and almost one-and-a-half billion people: now that's potential," the Russian President said, according to a Reuters translation of the speech originally delivered in Russian.

Since the start of the Ukraine conflict earlier this year, India's bilateral ties with Russia have come under the scanner of the West for a surge in oil imports from the sanction-hit Moscow. The war in Ukraine which has continued for more than eight months has had a significant impact on global food security and has led to a sudden increase in crude prices.

A survey by the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation (ORF) said the majority of young Indian believe that Russia is India's most reliable partner since the country gained independence in 1947.

Notably, India has not condemned Russia since the start of the conflict and maintained its independent position. On several UN forums, New Delhi has consistently called for a cessation of violence and advocated the path of peace and diplomacy.

On Wednesday, Jaishankar said the Ukraine conflict has dramatically widened the scope of political leveraging, in which trade, debt, and even tourism are being weaponized as the points of pressure.

"This emanates from the weaponisation of everything. In recent years, we have already seen, how trade, connectivity, debt, resources and even tourism have become the point of political pressure. The Ukraine conflict has dramatically widened the scope of such leveraging," Jaishankar said, during a lecture at the IIM Calcutta, while speaking on the topic of "India and the World".

He said the scale of measures, technology control, infrastructure and service restrictions and seizure of assets, has truly been breathtaking. The minister added sharpening great power competition is inevitably creating stress factors across multiple domains.

(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.)
fired four short-range (SRBM) toward the Yellow Sea on Saturday, the South Korean military said.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches from Tongrim County in North Pyongyan Province between around 11:32 a.m. and 11:59 a.m., Yonhap news agency reported.

The missiles flew about 130 km at an apogee of 20 km with a top speed of Mach 5, it added.

The North Korea's latest "provocation" came on the last day of the extended large-scale combined air drills of the and the US.

On Saturday two B-1B strategic bombers joined the Vigilant Storm exercise alongside four South Korean F-35A stealth fighter jets and four US F-16 fighters, the JCS said.

It marked the first time the B-1B Lancer has been deployed to the Korean Peninsula since 2017, in a demonstration of Washington's firm commitment to extended deterrence for and the allies' combined defense posture, JCS added.

The North has launched a barrage of into the East Sea and the Yellow Sea, including an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), apparently in protest against the Vigilant Storm.

--IANS

int/sha

(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.)
Inc.s blockbuster Paxlovid antiviral that lowers rates of illness and death in people infected with the also cuts the risk of some symptoms of disabling long Covid, a study found.



Taking the oral medication within five days of testing positive for a SARS-CoV-2 infection was linked to a 26% lower risk of lingering post-viral complications, researchers with the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System said in the study. That equates to 2.3 fewer cases of long Covid within three months of infection for every 100 patients treated, according to the findings released Saturday on the medRxiv server ahead of publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

The research, based on an analysis of electronic health records in databases maintained by the Department of Veterans Affairs, suggests that wider use of Paxlovid wont just stave off critical disease during the acute phase of infection, but will limit patients likelihood of longer-term problems. Long Covid is estimated to afflict almost 150 million people worldwide and predicted to cost $3.7 trillion in the US alone.

The condition is of profound urgency, according to Anthony Fauci, US President Joe Bidens top medical adviser. This is a very troublesome virus -- not only in its acute effects, but in the not-yet-fully appreciated potential long-term effects, Fauci said Sept. 26 in an interview.

No one knows yet what causes the constellation of long-haul symptoms that the US National Institutes of Health calls post-acute sequelae of Covid-19, or PASC. The NIH is funding a late-stage trial in early 2023 that will test whether Paxlovid, given twice a day for 15 days, can relieve long Covid symptoms.

Paxlovid is authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration for treatment of acute Covid illness in people with one or more risk factors for progression to severe disease.

Broad Benefits



The latest study analyzed electronic health records of users of the VA system, the largest integrated health-care system in the US. Researchers compared 9,217 Covid patients treated with Paxlovid against 47,123 patients who didnt get the antiviral or antibody treatment within the first month of a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Patients in the study caught Covid in the second quarter of 2022 and were followed until Aug. 31. They were mostly white males, which might limit how generalizable the studys findings are to other groups, the authors said.

The researchers found that taking Paxlovid for five days at the start of a SARS-CoV-2 infection reduced the risk of some PASC symptoms, including heartbeat and blood clotting abnormalities, fatigue, muscle pain, neurocognitive impairment, and shortness of breath. Not all long Covid symptoms were prevented, and the authors reasoned that different conditions may be driven by different biological mechanisms, including some that are attenuated by antiviral therapy.

Its not yet clear whether a longer course of treatment, a stronger dose, or both, may reduce the long Covid risk even more, the authors said.

A five-day course was also associated with a 48% lower risk of dying and a 30% decreased risk of being hospitalized 30 to 90 days after a positive Covid test. The benefits were seen across individuals who were unvaccinated, vaccinated, and boosted, and in people who were treated for either a first or subsequent Covid infection.
Russian President signed a law to mobilize citizens with criminal records of murder, robbery, drug trafficking, and other serious crimes under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for military service, CNN reported on Saturday.

However, the criminals exempted from compulsory service are those who committed sex crimes against minors, were involved in the assassination of a government official, terrorism, or extremist activity.

Putin said Friday that the Kremlin had already mobilized an additional 18,000 soldiers in its war in Ukraine and earlier this week, the Russian Ministry of Defence suspended all of its partial mobilization activities.

Putin's partial mobilization order will only end when the Russian President signs in an official decree, reported CNN.

On September 21, Russian President ordered partial military mobilization in Moscow as it had planned to conscript around 300,000 troops in an apparent escalation of its Ukraine invasion that began in February this year.

The Russia-Ukraine war is now in its ninth month as the missile strikes continue to hit major Ukrainian cities. In a recent escalation, Ukraine's capital city Kyiv was rocked by multiple explosions early on Monday in an attack by "Kamikaze" drones, a Ukrainian official said.

Andriy Yermak, head of the presidential office of Ukraine, said kamikaze drones were attacking the city. "The Russians think it will help them, but these actions look like desperation," Yermak said in a statement, blaming Russia for the attack, CNN reported.

Kyiv says Moscow has used Iranian-supplied drones in the strikes against Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, and other cities across Ukraine in recent weeks, and pleaded with Western countries to step up their assistance in the face of the new challenge.

The war between Russia and Ukraine has only escalated after a truck recently exploded on the Crimea road bridge, causing seven fuel tanks of a train heading to the Crimean Peninsula to catch fire. Three people were killed in the blast, which also led to the partial collapse of two spans of the road bridge.

The Crimean Bridge was opened in 2018 by President Vladimir Putin, four years after Moscow annexed Crimea, and was designed to link the peninsula to Russia's transport network.

The 19-kilometer bridge, which runs across the Kerch Strait and connects Crimea with mainland Russia, consists of a railway and vehicle sections. It became fully operational in 2020.

(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.)
Without Liz Trusss economic mess there would be no . But his inevitable focus on the cleanup job has left allies wondering how hell handle issues -- and whether his pragmatist, pro-growth instincts can beat out the more extreme voices in his party.



There may be an early indication at United Nations talks on climate change next week in Egypt, and at the two-day Group of 20 meeting in Indonesia starting Nov. 15 focused on boosting the global recovery from the pandemic.

Both are the type of geopolitical set-piece where real progress can be elusive, and almost certainly impossible if a world leader opts for a Trump-like stance. According to one diplomat, the world wants Sunak to revert to the steady, dependable, perhaps boring British diplomacy that predates the topsy-turvy Boris Johnson years and his ill-fated successor, Truss.

Its an approach that ought to suit Sunak, Britains youngest prime minister in more than two centuries, who came to via a career in finance and an MBA from Standford in California. But as always in his post-Brexit Conservative Party, much depends on the strength of resistance from Tory hardliners.

Any whiff of Sunak going soft on the European Union or on China -- or climate change -- is likely to trigger a political headache.

Internal squabbling



Its a dynamic thats already visible in talks on a free-trade deal with India, where logic suggests that Britains first Hindu premier could help grease the wheels. Yet internal party led Sunak to appoint an immigration hardliner to his Cabinet in Suella Braverman, which risks slowing progress.

Still, there are some signs a Sunaks arrival will soften the harder edges of recent British foreign policy. His office confirmed Thursday that Sunak has abandoned Trusss controversial proposal to move the British embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, for example.

The problem for foreign diplomats is that Sunak has yet to say much publicly about his foreign agenda.

Whereas both Truss and Boris Johnson were both former foreign secretaries -- meaning the world knew where they stood on issues when they took the top job -- Sunak rose through Treasury ranks. Even in the UK, he is still widely known as being Chancellor of the Exchequer during the pandemic, and has yet to fully emerge from Johnsons shadow.

Rishi Who?



Last month, Joe Biden inadvertently illustrated the UK premier still has some work to do. During a Diwali event at the White House, the US president mispronounced as Rashee Sanook.

Yet Sunak does come into the job with some overseas connections. According to a German official, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has a positive impression of Sunak after they met when both were finance ministers during the Covid-19 outbreak, and is looking forward to another meeting. There is some hope the British government will be more stable to boost cooperation, the official said.

Another European diplomat said they are reserving judgment to see if the nicer tone from Sunaks team translates into changes in substance.

The initial reaction has been that hopefully he will be a bit easier to work with than Liz Truss; thats a personality thing, said Emily Lydgate, deputy director of the UK Trade Policy Observatory, a partnership between Chatham House and the University of Sussex. Its a case of wait and see.

Its the economy



Sunaks obsession with the economy is likely to mean a more pragmatic approach to foreign policy on some issues.

The embassy in Israel is a case in point. After Donald Trump moved the US embassy to Jerusalem in 2018, then British Prime Minister Theresa May denounced the move as provocative, given both Israelis and Palestinians consider Jerusalem to be their capital.

But Truss twice suggested she would follow Trumps example. Now, amid widespread criticism at home and abroad, Sunaks has made clear its not a fight he has any interest in having.

Sunak is also likely to differ to Truss on China, according to two British officials. She viewed ties through the prism of alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang province, Chinese aggression toward Taiwan and the spat over Hong Kong. Another official described her approach as binary or black and white.

As chancellor, though, Sunak took a different tone and emphasized the strength of the UK-China economic relationship. In that sense, he is more in line with Johnsons view that British policies toward China should not underestimate the importance of trade, according to one official.

China rising



A softer approach toward China would also bring Sunak into line with Scholz, who was the first Western leader to meet Xi Jinping after the Chinese presidents third term was confirmed.

An early public indication of Sunaks position may come in the next few weeks when his foreign policy special adviser, John Bew, updates the Johnson-era integrated security, defense and foreign policy review from 2021. Bew, an academic, was appointed by Johnson and has stayed in the post since.

Truss had planned to toughen up the language. But Bew is unlikely to go much beyond the condemnation of Beijings human rights records and emphasizing the UK view of the Indo-Pacific as a region of most strategic concern, a person familiar with its current contents said.

Boris Johnsons Conservatives Are Burning Bridges With China

The issue carries political risk for Sunak. Just as Johnson was pushed by angry members of his Conservative Party into a tougher line on China, so Sunak is likely to face Tory brickbats if they see Sunak yielding ground to protect trade.

Old Brexit battles



They are many of the same colleagues who will cause trouble for Sunak if hes seen to compromise too much with the EU over post-Brexit trade terms in Northern Ireland. The mood music around the long-running spat with the bloc actually started to improve under Truss, and the UK government says its preference is for a negotiated solution.

Publicly, Sunak is still pressing ahead with legislation to directly override parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol which the EU has said would spark a strong retaliation, perhaps even a trade war.

But that would go against Sunaks efforts to protect the economy and would also have major implications for his relationship with Biden -- both of which strongly suggest Sunak will ultimately forge a different path.

Where he will almost certainly stick to his predecessors playbook is on Ukraine, according to British officials. The officials point to the fact that Sunak chose to make Volodymyr Zelenskiy the first foreign leader he called upon taking office, promising Britains steadfast support.

Johnsons Ukraine script



Even as he and Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt prepare to find 50 billion ($56 billion) of tax rises and spending cuts, savings wont necessarily come from the defense budget, according to one British official.

UK Premier Sunak Says He Will Attend COP27 UN Climate Talks

Meanwhile Sunaks focus on the British economic crisis has already led to a foreign stumble, after he was widely criticized for initially declining to attend the COP27 summit before being forced into a politically embarrassing U-Turn.

He is also set to attend the G-20 meeting in Bali. But dont expect any major foreign policy initiatives, warned Anand Menon, professor of European and foreign affairs at Kings College London. Sunaks focus will still be on domestic politics and his partys chances of re-election, he said.

The next general election is due by January 2025 at the latest, though many in Westminster predict it could be in Spring 2024.

Its all in the optics for the voters at home, Menon said. He must have a bilateral with Joe Biden and wag his finger in the direction of Vladimir Putin. Its about Brand Rishi and in the time of an economic crisis, foreign policy plays second fiddle.
The United Nations' summit opened in on Sunday with India hoping for substantial progress in discussions on climate finance.

The 27th edition of the Conference of Parties (COP) to UNFCCC will see India seeking clarity on the definition of climate finance -- whether it is grants, loans or subsidies -- and nudging developed countries to enhance the supply of technology and finance needed to address and resulting disasters.

The absence of a definition of climate finance allows developed countries to greenwash their finances and pass off loans as climate-related aid. Officials said India will counter any effort to classify loans as climate finance.

India will also emphasise that it is one of the few countries which has met the 2015 climate goals set in Paris, and stress on climate justice and sustainable lifestyles through Prime Minister Narendra Modi's LIFE movement which stands for "Lifestyle for Environment".

At this year's conference, developed countries are expected to push developing nations to further intensify their climate plans.

On the other hand, the developing countries would seek commitment to finance and technology needed to address and resulting disasters.

The UN climate summit this year is being held in the shadow of the Russian aggression in Ukraine and the related energy crisis which has strained the capabilities of countries to urgently tackle climate change.

will really begin on Monday with a World Leaders' Summit, where heads of state and government leaders deliver five-minute addresses summarising their efforts to fight climate change and what they expect from the conference.

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Sunday said India believes that climate action starts at the individual level and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the "LiFE movement" has provided a simple solution to the complex problem of climate change.

LiFE stands for "Lifestyle for Environment", a pro-people and pro-planet effort that seeks to shift the world from mindless and wasteful consumption to mindful and deliberate utilization of natural resources.

Yadav inaugurated India Pavilion at the 27th Session of Conference of Parties (COP) of the UNFCCC (COP 27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on Sunday. is scheduled to run from November 6 to 18.

Welcoming delegates from all the countries to India Pavilion, Yadav said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has provided a simple solution to the complex climate change problem.

He said India believes that climate action starts from the grassroots, individual level and hence designed the India Pavilion with the theme of "LiFE - Lifestyle for Environment".

Yadav said India Pavilion will continue to remind the delegates that simple lifestyle and individual practices that are sustainable in nature can help protect mother earth.

The minister said India looks forward to substantial progress in the discussions related to climate finance.

"We also look forward to the introduction of new technologies and new collaborations to facilitate technology transfers," the Union Environment Ministry quoted him as saying in a statement.

Yadav also attended the ceremonial opening of COP 27 where took over the COP Presidency from the UK.

Over 120 heads of states and governments are expected to attend the conference, including US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not travel to . The Indian delegation is being led by Yadav, who will address the heads of states at the Sharm El-Sheikh Climate Implementation Summit on November 7 and 8.

(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 primary market continues to be a busy one with four firms, including Archean Chemical Industries and Five Star Business Finance, are set to float their next week to collectively raise about Rs 5,000 crore.

The other two firms whose initial public offerings (IPOs) are ready to open are -- Kaynes Technology India and Inox Green Energy Services.

This came after four companies launched their initial share-sales last week. Of these, two -- maker of snacks and sweets Bikaji Foods International and Global Health Ltd which operates hospitals under the Medanta brand -- are currently underway.

The of Archean Chemical and Five Star Business will be open for public subscription on November 9 and close on November 11, while that of Kaynes Technology and Inox Green are set to kick off on November 10 and November 11 respectively, as per the red herring prospectus (RHP).

So far in 2022, as many as 26 companies have floated their IPOs to raise over Rs 48,000 crore. In 2021, 63 IPOs had mopped up over Rs 1.19 lakh crore, the data with exchanges showed.

According to market experts, volatility in the secondary market led to a weak IPO market in 2022.

Non-banking lender Five Star Business Finance's IPO is entirely an offer for sale (OFS) of shares to the tune of Rs 1,960 crore by existing shareholders and promoter group entities.

The OFS will see the sale of shares to the tune of Rs 166.74 crore by SCI Investments V, Rs 719.41 crore by Matrix Partners India Investment Holdings II LLC, Rs 12.08 crore by Matrix Partners India Investments II Extension LLC, Rs 361.44 crore by Norwest Venture Partners X- Mauritius and Rs 700.31 crore by TPG Asia VII SF Pte Ltd.

The Chennai-headquartered firm has set a price band of Rs 450-474 per equity shares. The NBFC is backed by investors like TPG, Matrix Partners, Norwest Ventures, Sequoia and KKR.

The IPO of speciality marine chemical manufacturer Archean Chemical consists of a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to Rs 805 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 1.61 crore shares by the promoter and investors, including the India Resurgence Fund, a joint venture between the Piramal Group and Bain Capital.

Promoter Chemikas Speciality will sell 20 lakh shares via OFS, while investors Piramal Natural Resources and India Resurgence Fund will sell 38.35 lakh shares each. India Resurgence Fund II will divest 64.78 lakh shares.

The price band has been set at Rs 386-407 a share for the issue, which is expected to fetch Rs 1,462.3 crore at the upper end of the band. The company plans to use the proceeds of the fresh issue for the redemption of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) issued by it.

The initial share-sale of Kaynes Technology, an IoT (Internet of Things) solutions-enabled integrated electronics manufacturing company, comprises fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 530 crore and an OFS of up to 55.85 lakh equity shares by a promoter and an existing shareholder.

The OFS comprises sale of 20.84 lakh equity shares by promoter Ramesh Kunhikannan and 35 lakh equity shares by existing shareholder Freny Firoze Irani.

According to merchant banking sources, the issue is expected to mop up over Rs 850 crore.

Proceeds from the fresh issue will be used to repay debt, funding capital expenditure for its manufacturing facilities at Mysore and Manesar and funding working capital requirements. Also, the company plans to invest in its arm Kaynes Electronics Manufacturing for setting up a new facility at Chamarajanagar in Karnataka.

The Rs 740-crore IPO of Inox Green, an arm of Inox Wind, comprises a fresh issue and an offer for sale of Rs 370 crore each. The issue will open on November 11 and close on November 15.

Proceeds from the fresh issue will be utilised for repaying debts and general corporate purposes.

The equity shares of the four companies will be listed on the BSE and NSE.

(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.)




By Anna J. Park







Shinhan Financial Group and Visa have decided to join hands to cooperate in the area of data utilization and global business.







According to the financial giant Sunday, Shihan Financial and Visa agreed to form strategic partnership on data and global business, as the two groups' leaders  Shinhan Financial Group Cho Yong-byoung and Visa Chairman and CEO Alfred Kelly Jr.  met in mid-October at the headquarters of Visa in San Francisco, U.S., to sign the partnership deal.







With the partnership, Shinhan Financial plans to utilize Visa's global data in developing its new products and services.







"Shinhan Financial Group is conducting product and service development and various marketing activities based on data information. We aim to achieve the two companies' mutual growth, as we cooperate on accumulated data and global networks," Shinhan Financial chief Cho Yong-byoung said.






Political leaders, scientists, activists, technical experts, and business leaders are meeting at the 27th United Nations Conference, known as the Conference of the Parties (COP27) being held during November 6-18 at Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The idea is to brainstorm on various issues relating to climate change, including the commitments made earlier, the progress so far, and the way forward. One of the key issues is the role of in reducing carbon emissions and adapting to .
More than a year after the Union Cabinet approved a much-needed relief package for the telecom sector, the government has kept on hold a crucial step that would prevent a duopoly structure in the sector. The government should walk the talk and keep its commitment without any delay to ensure that financially stressed Idea  a joint venture between and the UKs leading telco  remains a relevant player in the Indian market.

In the September 2021 Cabinet decision, telcos were offered the option to convert part of their dues into government equity. The objective behind the telecom relief package was to maintain three private players in the industry because a duopoly could run the risk of making the sector anti-competitive and limit the choice for consumers. In January 2022, Idea opted for the debt conversion route, enabling the government to become the single-largest shareholder in the telco with a 35.8 per cent stake. The company board approved the conversion of the full amount of interest (valued at around Rs 16,000 crore) on deferred spectrum and adjusted gross revenue dues into equity. The shares were to be allotted to the government at a par value of Rs 10 per piece following confirmation by the Department of Telecom.

Months have passed since the Vodafone Idea board opted for debt conversion. But theres no clarity from the government on the reason for delay. Unnamed officials have been quoted, setting new conditions from time to time before the government executes the debt conversion and picks up a stake. One of the conditions cited in media reports suggests that the government wants the Vodafone Idea promoters to make investments in the joint venture before any debt conversion can happen. Also, the government may be looking for signs from the debt-ridden telco to roll out 5G services. So far, Vodafone Idea has not given any specific plan for launching 5G services, unlike rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. Yet another condition, reportedly, is that the government would acquire a stake in the telco after its stock price goes above Rs 10.

There may be merit in the government wanting Vodafone Idea to show willingness to revive its business by putting in money, but it should not go back on the Cabinet decision of maintaining a three-private player telecom market. On its part, Vodafone Idea has struggled to raise funds for a long time. In recent months, the telco was banking on government support vis-a-vis debt conversion to attract external funds from investors. But the uncertainty around the government picking up a stake has harmed the telcos potential to raise funds. Over several months, Vodafone Idea  once a prized player  has continued to lose subscribers. Before the telco reaches a point of no return, the government must keep its word to arrest the fast slide of the sector into a duopoly. Once the government fulfils its promise on debt conversion, it should nudge the telecom firms to review their tariffs to make it a sustainable business as bailouts cannot last long. And indeed at that point the Vodafone Idea promoters must be asked to put their best foot forward and not remain passive onlookers.
leader K C Tyagi on Sunday urged voters of to elect a Congress government in the state to lay the foundation of opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

He said there is a need for a strong alternative to the and only the Congress can defeat the saffron party.

"There is a need for a strong alternative to the for which Bihar Chief minister Nitish Kumar has launched a campaign. elections are important because it will lay the foundation of the opposition campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls," he said in a press conference at the Congress office here.

"If the Congress wins from here then it will prove to be a milestone for the 2024 Lok Sabha election," he said.

"The Congress victory here will clear the path for opposition in 2024 polls," he later told PTI.

Tyagi, who is the general secretary of the JDU, which has now switched sides and is in a coalition government in Bihar with RJD and Congress, said he did not agree with parties which hold the view that there needs to be a non-BJP, non-Congress alternative at the level.

There cannot be opposition unity without the Congress and no opposition alternative can be formed without taking the grand old party along, he said.

"If we defeat the in then it will not just accomplish the task of opposition unity for 2024 polls, but also our pledge," the Janata Dal (United) leader said.

Tyagi also said that his party wants a minimum support price for horticulture products and fruits and that the government should be buying these products from growers at this price.

Asked about the Congress prospects in these elections, he said, "We want and we have seen that the Congress is in a comfortable position and the polls are going in favour of the Congress.

(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 partnership between the faction of the (SS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), sealed in June this year after Shinde broke away from (then the chief minister heading the Maha Vikas Aghadi or MVA coalition government) with a majority of the SS legislators and tied up with the in Maharashtra, has sparked a debate about political profit and loss.
Former leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday said that only could challenge Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in and assembly elections, while Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is "merely a party of UT Delhi".

Months after exiting the decades-long association with the party, Azad said that he was not against its policy of secularism, but its weak party system.

While talking to ANI at Srinagar, he said, "Although I have separated from Congress, I wasn't against their policy of secularism. It was only due to the party's system getting weakened. I would still want Congress to perform well in and HP Assembly polls. isn't capable to do so."

Exuding confidence in the Congress, he said that the party takes a long everybody, Hindu, and Muslim farmers. He said that Aam Aadmi Party can't do anything in these states, they have failed in Punjab and the people of Punjab will not vote for them again.

In a scathing attack on Aam Aadmi Party, Azad said that it is " is merely a party of UT Delhi. They can't run Punjab efficiently, only Congress can challenge in and as they have an inclusive policy."

On Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman hinting at the Centre thinking of restoring State status to J & K, he said that he had taken this issue many times and if Centre Government will do that's a welcome step.

Ghulam Nabi Azad is on a tour of Doda where he will be meeting many delegations and addressing many rallies in the coming days.

Earlier on August 26, Azad quit the 52-years-long association with the Congress party. While in October, Azad announced his new political outfit 'Democratic Azad Party'.

In his resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi, he had targeted party leadership, particularly Rahul Gandhi, over the way the party has been run in the past nearly nine years.

In the hard-hitting five-page letter, Azad had claimed that a coterie runs the party while Sonia Gandhi was just "a nominal head" and all the major decisions were taken by "Rahul Gandhi or rather worse his security guards and PAs".

He was earlier the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha. Recounting his long association with the Congress, Azad had said the situation in the party has reached a point of "no return."

While Azad took potshots at Sonia Gandhi in the letter, his sharpest attack was on Rahul Gandhi and he described the Wayand MP as a "non-serious individual" and "immature".

The elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will take place on December 8.

The has won six consecutive assembly polls in Gujarat. The Congress is keen to take an early decision on candidates to give them more time for campaigning and is seeking to bolster its campaign through yatras.

Unlike previous elections, this year Aam Aadmi Party is also fighting the election with full might, led by Delhi Chief Minister and convener Arvind Kejriwal, which has made it a triangular contest.

(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.)
Mourners are seen at Itaewon Station, Nov. 3. / Korea Times photo by Ko Young-kwon



By Ellie Goodwin



The Itaewon tragedy left 156 people dead, an infamous figure now commonly known across Korea with countrywide vigils being held for all to pay their respects. The forgotten figure belongs to those presently dealing with psychological trauma.



Coping with waves of flashbacks will be a new reality for many.



"I saw a street lined with dead bodies. Civilians were giving CPR but it was too late at that point. I can't sleep. I remember that street and those bodies, and I remember the screams," a Canadian eyewitness told The Korea Times.



Feelings of guilt, anger and trauma will be a close companion for many in these weeks to come, with many struggling to process and find closure.



Seemingly innocent environments that had once posed no challenge may now act as triggers.



"I can't cope with small spaces at the moment. I feel like I can't breathe and start to panic straight away. My mind just takes me back to that straitjacketed, powerless feeling I had when I was there," recalled Eleanor Baumber from the U.K. who was one of the thousands in the crowd.



Humans are conditioned to have short memories, and compassion only stretches so far, so the unspoken external pressure to "move on" will start to loom over many. At this time, therapy will be a desired option for many but in a country that stigmatizes mental health issues and where services are hard to access, this presents another difficulty for those already struggling to cope.






Sunday, November 6, 2022 at 3:07PM

by Christopher James

Anna Diop gives a powerful performance in the horror drama "Nanny," coming soon to Prime Video.

The AFI Film Festival kicked off in earnest Wednesday with the premiere of Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me. The documentary of the pop sensation was directed by Alex Keshishian (Madonna: Truth or Dare''). My first day at the festival was a double feature of female-directed genre pictures. Nanny, directed by Nikyata Jusu, and Piaffe, directed by Ann Oren. Both played with horror conventions in interesting ways to tell two very different stories. One deals with a complicated, bifractured tale of motherhood and sacrifice. The other dramatizes pleasure in odd, yet titilating ways. While both tell different stories and have different tones, one film was more successful than the other in marrying tone and storytelling into a satisfying package.

So which one was more successful? Find out after the jump...

Nanny (Dir: Nikyata Jusu)

The relationship between a nanny and their employer family has been explored in many different movies before, mostly in dramas. However, first time feature director Nikyata Jusu takes that relationship and turns it into a high wire horror drama anchored by a tremendous lead performance by Anna Diop.

Diop plays Aisha, a Senegalese immigrant who takes a job as a nanny for an off kilter New York family in order to earn enough money to send for her own boy from Senegal to join her. Things are going well for Aisha. The child, Rose (Rose Decker), loves her cooking and is a quick learner at French, which Aisha is teaching her. Roses parents are another story. Her mother, Amy (Michelle Monaghan), is a stressed girl boss who wants to pal around with Aisha, but conveniently forgets to pay her. Meanwhile, her husband Adam (Morgan Spector) feels like the guy you should have your guard up around. Hes nice enough on the surface, but harbors resentment towards his wife that bleeds out in uncomfortable ways. Aisha tries to compartmentalize the job and her personal goals, but soon her two worlds come colliding in ways she cant fully reckon with.

The titular role makes or breaks the film. Luckily, Anna Diop is a revelation. Aisha is under no illusion of the American dream. Living in America will provide her son a chance at a better life, but the roads are not paved with goals and dreams. Diop manages to make Aishas even-keeled numbness compelling. For so much of the movie, she swallows disappointment and lets micro-aggressions roll off her back. The few jabs she pulls resonate loudly because weve watched her control seeth for so much of the film. However, its not a movie just about a woman scowling her way through a job. That would be too easy and one note. A budding relationship with a doorman named Malik (Sinqua Walls) gives Aisha a chance to hope for a more normal, familial life once her son makes his way stateside.

Horror is an incredibly versatile genre that can be used to visually and emotionally connect an audience to visceral, complex emotions. Nanny definitely has a lot to say and the third act uses horror tropes to dramatize the responsibilities and guilt that comes with motherhood, be it biological or part of a job description. Yet, it never feels fully congealed to the films overall vision. In fact, the genre feels like an afterthought for over an hour in the 99 minute film. Thats not necessarily a damning critique. Its merely a note for an exciting up and coming writer/director. If anything, Nanny made me excited for the emerging talent that is writer/director Nikyatu Jusu. She clearly has an evocative visual eye and can marry it to clear, wrenching, understandable emotions. B

Nanny is distributed by Amazon Studios. It will released theatrically on 11/23 and on Prime Video 12/16.

A folley artist starts to become one with her subject (a horse) in the new film "Piaffe."

Piaffe (Dir: Ann Oren)

We all want to be good at our jobs. There are just some lengths not all of us would go to. Eva (Simone Bucio) takes over a foley artist job after her sibling, Zara (Simon(e) Jaikiriuma Paetau), is hospitalized. The end result of the antidepressant commercial, which prominently features a horse, is a comical mess. The director, styled in a preposterously funny platinum bowl cut, chews her out for the work and advises that she get to learn horses. Eva takes his suggestion and visits horse stables and spends hours staring at the horse within the commercial clip. Soon, she spots a protrusion in her lower back that begins to resemble a horse tail.

Rather than go the body horror route, visual artist turned director Ann Oren instead focuses on Evas pleasure as it relates to this new appendage. Once it grows to be a full mane, she seeks out a botanist (Sebastian Rudolph) who has a curious attraction to her horse tail. The two begin a sexual relationship that is beautiful in its oddness and carnality. The way Oren models their initial tryst echos some of Pedro Almodovars boldest use of color to signify pleasure.

On a scene by scene basis, Piaffe is a beguiling and strange comedy about a woman enjoying a change in her body. Unfortunately, as a narrative film, it falls short. Theres no dramatic propulsion that moves the story forward, with only the mean director being a force of opposition. While stylistic, the color flares and quick cuts that Oren chooses obfuscate and frustrate, more than draw us into this world. Theres skill here, but it feels misguidedly deployed. C-

Piaffe is currently seeking US Distribution.
An empty classroom / gettyimagesbank



By Ellie Goodwin



Returning to work has been an unwanted challenge for those coping with the trauma of the Itaewon tragedy.



Heavy workloads, unsustainably long hours and short annual vacation leave are major drawbacks of many jobs in Korea, as is the almost non-existent paid sick leave. For those with longstanding medical conditions and mental health issues, the limited sick leave presents a huge obstacle. It is a position that many eyewitnesses of the Itaewon crowd crush are now finding themselves in.



"I've been told that I have to go to work because the miniscule sick leave I have has already been used up. If I say that I can't come in, then I forfeit my job," said an American expat at a memorial service in Gwangju on Sunday.



Authoritarian and economic pressures including the threat of dismissal coerce employees into returning to work, even if they may not be in the right emotional state to do so and to the detriment of both themselves and their employers.






Netflix has invested heavily in original animation and received a great deal of critical success as a return on that investment. In terms of hours viewed, however, the streamers original feature titles havent fared nearly as well.

Premiering October 28, Henry Selicks Wendell & Wild failed to break into Netflixs weekly Top 10 English-Language Films list in its first week on the platform, while Illuminations Sing (2016) and Dreamworks Animations The Boss Baby (2017) both achieved the feat during that same period.

The only Netflix original animated feature released this year to break into the companys Top 10 weekly list was Chris Williams The Sea Beast, becoming the streamers most-viewed original animated film while doing so. It is a small sample size to be sure  Netflixs only other feature-length animation titles released so far this year are Apollo 10 12: A Space Age Childhood, Entergalactic, The House, and Wendell & Wild  but if Netflix is recruiting talent like Selick and co-writer/producer Jordan Peele to make animated films for them, a Top 10 debut seems a reasonable expectation.
Interested In Learning More About The Catholic Church?

Welcome! This page explains the process by which one can - through their local Catholic church - learn more about the faith. We hope this information is helpful to you!

The process by which adults come into the Church has come to be known as "the RCIA", which is short for "The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults."

Who is the process for?

The unbaptized. The primary focus of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is on those who are not already Christian and have not been catechized. Baptized but uncatechized. Those who have been baptized either as Roman Catholics or as members of another Christian community but did not receive further catechetical formation or instruction. These typically have also not celebrated confirmation nor Eucharist. Those seeking full Catholic Communion. These are baptized, practicing Christians from other denominations who seek entry into the Catholic Church.

In the case of children who have reached the age of reason, the proper pastor should be consulted for information about Baptism and the other Sacraments of Initiation.

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is not for adult candidates for confirmation who have already received their First Eucharist in the Catholic Church. They should have their own formation process and be confirmed at a celebration other than the Easter Vigil.

What does the process look like?

The Rite of Christian Initiation is based on the principle that the process of conversion proceeds gradually, in stages. Progress from one stage to the next is marked by a liturgical celebration in the midst of the parish community. The experience and needs of those in each category described above differ, and so the length of time may vary for each person. Nevertheless, there are certain similarities among all the groups and the process they will experience, and these can be listed as follows:

Precatechumenate

The first stage is called the period of inquiry (or the precatechumenate). This is when the individual first expresses an interest in becoming a Christian or a Catholic, and begins to explore, with the help of the parish community, what his or her relationship with Christ might be and how that might be enriched and deepened by joining this Christian community. There is no liturgical rite to mark the beginning of this stage. This period of inquiry may last several months or several years and ends either when the inquirer decides against continuing in this direction or when the inquirer feels ready to move on and the community is prepared to welcome him or her.

Catechumenate

The second stage is called the catechumenate and, for the unbaptized listed above, who are now called catechumens, should last no less than one full year. For the baptized but uncatechized the period should be a similar length. For the candidates for full communion, this stage could well be much shorter. The Rite of Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens and the Rite of Welcoming mark the beginning of this stage. Catechesis for this period is rooted in the Lectionary and the Word as it is proclaimed in the midst of the community. This is also a time for the catechumen or candidate to learn how to live as a Catholic Christian. This period ends when the catechumens and candidates express their desire to receive the sacraments of initiation and the community acknowledges their readiness.

Purification and Enlightenment

The third stage is the period of purification and enlightenment and coincides with Lent. During this time the elect (formerly the catechumens) and the candidates enter into a period of intense preparation and prayer which includes the three public celebrations of the scrutinies and is marked by the presentations of the Creed and the Lord's Prayer. The Rite of Election and the Call to Continuing Conversion are celebrated at the beginning of this stage. This period ends with the celebration of baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist at the Easter Vigil. (Note: only the elect are baptized. All the groups are confirmed and welcomed to the table.)

Mystagogy

The fourth stage is the period of post baptismal catechesis or mystagogy. At this time, the newly initiated explore their experience of being fully initiated through participation with all the faithful at Sunday Eucharist and through appropriate catechesis. The period formally lasts through the Easter season and may be marked by a parish celebration on or near Pentecost. On a more informal level, mystagogy is a lifelong process, one that all Christians are engaged in, as we all work to deepen our sense of what it means to live the Christian life.

It is important to note that those who fall into the third category above (candidates for full communion) do not always need to take part in the full process. Especially if they have been actively living the Christian life in another denomination, they are likely in need of very little catechesis and may be welcomed into the Church on any Sunday after a short period of preparation. According to the National Statutes for the Catechumenate, "Those baptized persons who have lived as Christians and need only instruction in the Catholic tradition and a degree of probation within the Catholic community should not be asked to undergo a full program parallel to the catechumenate."

I'm interested. What should my first step be?

Contact your nearest Catholic parish . Your Catholic priest can discuss with you the specifics of the initiation process at your local parish. Know that the prayers of a 65 million Catholics in the United States and the 1.2 Billion Catholics around the world are with you as you complete your journey. Best wishes!
11/28/2022

For the second time in the first three weeks of the season, Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball graduate big man Jake Stephens has been named the Southern Conference Player of the Week, the league ... more
Chattanooga Elks Lodge will honor area veterans with a complimentary breakfast and program next Saturday.

This Veterans Day event is open to the public and will be held from 9-11 a.m. at the Chattanooga Elks Lodge located at 1067 Graysville Road.

A donation for Wreaths Across Chattanooga will be presented to Captain Mickey McCamish, Retired Navy, by Chattanooga Elks Exalted Ruler/President Dawn Whitener.

Scout Troop 137 will assist with the breakfast and presentation.

Ms. Whitener said, We are very proud that we can honor, support, and help the men and women who so selflessly served in our military to protect our freedoms.

Ms. Whitener said supporting and helping veterans continues to be a longtime focus of the Chattanooga Elks Lodge through various projects and local organizations. The Elks Lodge provides resources for personal health, employment and other basic needs for veterans and families in our area.

All veterans, their families and members of our community are welcome to attend the breakfast and presentation. Veterans will eat free. For more information, please contact Chattanooga Elks Lodge, 423-894.8855.
The recent events surrounding County Mayor Weston Wamps war with the County Commission brings to mind the value of professionalism in our elected officials. The true professional will never venture off into character assassination on core issues.

Just facts and data will rule the day of the elected professional.

Our County Commission is comprised of business and community leaders that have decades of elected service. All but two commissioners have long-term experience on the school board or in small city local governments. The notion that the commission is new and novice is simply untrue. They are a group that understands their elected role.

The County Commission acts as a collective where a majority votes and controls the budget; and therefore, the commission determines the future direction. Hamilton County is a strong commission form of government; each county commissioner is a leader in their own right and represents an entire district. The commission form of county government is set forth in Tennessee Code Annotated, the most boring set of books ever created.

A county mayor presents budgets and proposals to the elected commission for their consideration and potential approval. The county mayor is an executive administrator who may only spend funds at the will of the collective commission by vote. The county mayor is essentially a non-voting fiduciary, or executive administrator who appropriates funds in accordance with County Commission approval, and ensures a continuation of services.

In my opinion, we got it pretty darn good with Hamilton County government. Historically, the County Commission has been financially conservative and kept property taxes relatively low for a metro area.

The current difference of opinion between the county mayor and the collective commissioners are centered on opposing views that stem from the employment contract of County Attorney Rheubin Taylor. The secondary issue raised is whether the County Commission shares 50 percent control over the hiring and firing of the county attorney and auditor positions. These are the core issues in dispute.

It is a natural order for the county mayor and County Commission to disagree on subject matter, and it is appropriate to have heated debates. A mayor and board should not be the same arm. It is the normal order to have civil differences of opinion and debate for hours if needed. That is how government by the people operates in a process of proposal, discussion, and debate. Unfortunately, the county mayor has deviated into a campaign of character assassination targeting the parties with opposing views. While debate on the core subject matter should occur in open plain sight, there are lines being crossed by Wamp 1 and 2.

The County Commission recently employed, on an interim basis, the highly respected attorney John Konvalinka. For citizens that opposed the Aetna Mountain TIF, attorney Konvalinka and his activist client are heroes. Instead of dealing with the employee contract issues at hand, Weston Wamp has engaged in character assassination of not only attorney Rheubin Taylor, but John Konvalinka.

Weston Wamp has referred to attorney Konvalinka as,

he is the meanest SOB in Hamilton County

the commission hired a divorce attorney to represent them

and much more.

What the hay is Wamp doing, and how does character assassination benefit county government? Also, what is wrong with a divorce attorney?



When Mayor Wamp speaks during commission meetings or to media, the mayor is leveraging the power of elected office entrusted to him by the voters. To use the power and color of elected office to damage others will have consequences, as the mayor is acting outside of the authority entrusted to him. This is the point where we the people get damaged financially. Elected professionalism does not behave in this manner. You never would have heard County Mayor Jim Coppinger engage in character assassination on disputed issues with the commission.



Elected professionalism calls for discussion on the merits of the disputed issues surrounding 1) the employment contract of attorney Rheubin Taylor, and 2) whether the county attorney and auditor are County Commission controlled at a 50 percent level. When the color of elected office is used to damage the public perception of the character of attorneys John Konvalinka and Rheubin Taylor, there are serious lines being crossed.



If it was not enough that the county mayor was using his power of elected office to damage attorneys Taylor and Konvalinka, the district attorney, Coty Wamp, chimed in to throw her own brand of personal attacks at attorney Taylor.

The District Attorney of Hamilton County, Coty Wamp, posted the following online verbatim,

1) Rheubin Taylor is a terrible and unethical county attorney who has sucked the teat of government for far too long.

Are we sure Coty Wamp attended law school?

This was online for about half a day. I found the district attorneys choice of words interesting considering the fact she was raised on government checks for 16 years followed by multiple jobs funded by the teat of government. We can laugh at her words and say she was spouting off, but the truth is Wamps words originated from the color of public office.

Elected words have consequences.

In just a short two months one week in office, the county mayor has been sued by a county employee, and now holds the record as the most vetoed county mayor in Hamilton County history. This is not civic courage; this is a lack of professionalism. I wonder what the Wamps' strategy of problem solving with personal attack solutions will look like in four years.

This is clearly a case where elected professionalism would benefit the county mayor and the district attorney, and end financial exposure for the taxpayers. Debate the core issues without devolving to character assassination. The Wamp detractors, comprised of 44.3 percent or 20,512 voters, are stuck with these elected officials. I believe most voters would prefer that our property taxes remain at the current rate.

Try elected professionalism; just stick to the issues of elected office rather than the politics of personal destruction.

April Eidson
Vishal Parvani and Richa Sadanas lavish Family Karma wedding that spanned multiple days at a gorgeous resort in Mexico blew the wedding budget  but Parvani said it was well worth it.

I went three times over my budget, Parvani dished with Showbiz Cheat Sheet. If people knew how much I spent on this wedding  its crazy. But it was worth it! You only get married once hopefully.

I think we really wanted to focus on just having everyone there and having fun and keeping it relatively young. I think having a destination wedding, the people that really want to be there are going to be there. So that was awesome.

Was a Mexico Family Karma wedding always the plan for Vishal and Richa?

Parvani and Sadanas Family Karma wedding was held in Cancun, Mexico at the TRS Coral Hotel. Footage showed breathtaking beaches, incredible suites with infinity pools, and endless buffets. Parvani explained during the first episode the couple chose Mexico because it is one of their favorite vacation destinations. But Mexico wasnt the original plan.

Richa Sadana, Vishal Parvani | Monica Schipper/Bravo

Actually, our original plan was to get married and Jaipur India at one of the big palaces over there, he revealed. But, given the time that we were in and at that point, India was closed. So we couldnt do that.

But you know what? Mexico far surpassed my wildest expectations for a destination wedding, he said. It was fabulous. Like they were so on point. The only other area that I could compare it to is it felt like Ive been to a few weddings  and Im going in two weeks again for another wedding in Bali  and its like that and then some. It was amazing.

Was the Family Karma wedding a typical Indian wedding?

For those who havent attended an Indian wedding, is Parvanis Family Karma wedding a typical Indian wedding? So there are Indian weddings and then theres like Sindhis weddings, which Im Sindhis, he said. And were a little over the top when it comes to like partying and having fun and all these events. So yeah, its a little bit more lavish and over-the-top, but the amount of days in advance, thats pretty standard. It was big and we loved it.

But he admitted his wedding was probably more than the typical wedding. Plus he was a total groomzilla. I want flamingos outside! I want fireworks in the daytime! he laughed.

In my mind, it far surpassed my expectations, he said about the multi-day event. They threw in a few extra surprises for me that I didnt even plan. My wedding planners were just that great. They really came through and it was so smooth. And having so many events, youre having three or four events per day. To have all of them run so smoothly, it really takes a lot of effort and Im so glad everything went so well.

How did Vishal and Richa plan such a big event from Florida?

Planning a local wedding is a headache, but pulling off an Indian wedding from thousands of miles away seems impossible. Parvani said there werent any hiccups during any part of the wedding. He credits his planners and being heavily involved every step of the way.

We did take a visit over there to tour the sites in person, he said. But after that, it was all video calls. And even then, with our designers preparing our clothes in India, me and Richa were up at like 3 a.m. having phone calls via Zoom with Indian designers.

It was a mission to plan this wedding. It was a lot of work, a lot of effort, and no sleep on both of our parts, he added.

Family Karma is on Sunday at 9 pm ET on Bravo.

RELATED: Bravos Family Karma: Vishal and Richa Marry in Mexico  Fans Hope to See the Wedding on Season 3
How Princess Anne Is Paying Tribute to Her Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on Her Royal Tour of Uganda

Princess Anne is currently visiting Uganda with her husband, Tim Laurence. The younger sister of King Charles III is on her first royal tour since the death of their mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in September. And during the trip, Princess Anne paid tribute to her late mother by wearing special pieces of jewelry.

Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Anne | Kirstin Sinclair/Getty Images for Ascot Racecourse

Princess Anne wore a distinctive brooch to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth during her royal tour of Uganda

During her royal tour, Princess Anne attended a dinner at the British High Commissioners residence in Uganda. For the occasion, the Princess Royal wore a navy silk printed wrap dress that she accessorized with a distinctive sapphire and pearl brooch.

The eye-catching piece belonged to Annes late mother, and it features a sapphire encircled by two rows of diamonds. It also has a removable pearl droplet that hangs delicately underneath. The fine jewelry experts at UK retailer Steven Stone shared that the brooch has a lot of history behind it, dating back to the mid-19th century.

It was purchased by the Princess of Wales (who later became Queen Mary) in 1866 as a wedding present for her sister, Empress Maria Feodrovna. Then, she bought it back from her sisters estate when she died.

Its heartwarming to see Princess Anne paying tribute to her late mother through her jewelry  particularly such a historic piece. The brooch originally belonged to Empress Maria Feodorovna and was reportedly bought by Queen Mary, explained jewelry expert Maxwell Stone.

Queen Elizabeth II wore the brooch numerous times

Stone says that when Queen Elizabeth inherited the throne, her grandmothers brooch was passed down to her. It quickly became one of the most popular pieces in her brooch collection, and she wore it numerous times during her 70-year reign.

The eye-catching piece features a sugarloaf cabochon sapphire, encircled by two rows of diamonds and has a removable pearl droplet that hangs delicately underneath, Stone says. The incredible sapphire and intricate diamond detailing would give this piece an estimated value of over $580,000 (500,000).

Princess Anne wore a gold ribbon brooch shes owned since 1969

While celebrating the partnership between Uganda and the United Kingdom  and meeting with UK charities that operate in the African country  Princess Anne wore another spectacular brooch that shes had in her jewelry box since the 1960s.

For the event, the Princess Royal wore her gold ribbon brooch, which takes the form of a loosely-knotted ribbon and is made of gold studded with diamonds. She has owned this piece of jewelry since February 1969, when she wore it to meet with Colonel Frank Borman  commander of the Apollo 8 mission  at Buckingham Palace. Since then, the princess has worn the brooch to events like the annual Royal Ascot races, Easter Sunday services, and a trip to Washington DC.

Princess Anne is certainly showcasing some spectacular looks during her Royal tour to Uganda  and her jewelry choices have been oozing with sentiment, Stone said.

The Princess Royal often pairs the gold ribbon brooch with her iconic Grima Pearl earrings, and it has an estimated worth of $40,000.

RELATED: Queen Elizabeths Engagement Ring From Prince Philip Has an Incredible  Yet Frugal  Story
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Made Rifts Look Like They Never Happened in Germany

Before King Charles III became, well, king, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited Germany. It was just days ahead of Queen Elizabeth IIs death. A lot has happened since. However, at the time, a body language expert noticed how the couple made it look as if friction within the royal family were nonexistent.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle traveled to Germany in September 2022

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry | Joshua Sammer/Getty Images for Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited Germany as part of a four-day tour in September 2022. After a One Young World opening ceremony speech, they were off to Dusseldorf to mark one year until the Invictus Games.

There Harry and Meghan received a warm welcome from awaiting crowds. They also took an hour-long boat cruise on the Rhine, met officials, and greeted potential competitors in the 2023 Invictus Games.

Germany red carpet event brought out Prince Harry and Meghan Markles royal side

Speaking to the U.K.s Express, body language expert Judi James took a closer look at Harry and Meghans time in Germany. Zeroing in on their Sept. 6 red carpet appearance, she noted how the couple seemed to put their royal side on display.

The red carpet and the waiting crowds do seem to have brought out the couples royal side and Harrys more relaxed side, James said.

She continued, saying the Duke and Duchess of Sussex behaved like they did as senior working royals.

This is where they both begin to fall into very similar behaviour [sic] that we used to see when they appeared as royals in the U.K., James said. She noted how Meghan worked the crowd like a personal friend, chatting eagerly and posing for selfies.

Meanwhile, Harry let loose his more fun side, seeming relieved at the kind of reception he would have been used to before the rifts with his family.

Watching them here it could be possible to imagine those rifts had never happened and that they are still a popular branch of the Firm on another royal tour, the expert claimed.

Following Prince Harry and Meghan Markles Germany visit they cut their tour short as Queen Elizabeths health declined

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Shortly after Harry and Meghan visited Germany they returned to England to gear up for their final engagement. However, the queens health began to decline.

Buckingham Palace released a statement about doctors making her comfortable at Scotlands Balmoral Castle. Members of the royal family, including Harry, rushed to be with the queen. Although, not long after the initial announcement, on Sept. 8, the palace announced the queens death.

What started as a four-day trip to the U.K. and Germany became a much longer stay for Harry and Meghan. They canceled their scheduled appearance at the 2022 WellChild Awards in London, England, on Sept. 8 (Harry later spoke to the winners on a video call.).

Harry and Meghan joined the Prince and Princess of Wales outside Windsor Castle to greet crowds and see public tributes to the queen. They also took part in various events  vigils and lying in state  before finally attending the queens funeral on Sept. 19.

Showbiz Cheat Sheet acknowledges conditions and cultures can impact body language and is sensitive to all backgrounds.

RELATED: Prince William Had a 5-Word Reply to Prince Harrys Question at St. Georges Chapel, Lip Reader Says
The Sinwon-sa Jungak-dan (Central Peak Altar), last rebuilt by Joseon royalty in 1776. / Courtesy of David A. Mason



By David A. Mason



In the middle of May, amid glorious Korean spring weather, I led a nice group of people on a tour of a dozen shamanic shrines in the foothills of Gyeryongsan National Park, one of Korea's most sacred areas.



Mount Gyeryong has been one of Korea's most sacred mountains since ancient times. It was the central holy mountain of the Baekje Kingdom (18 BCE to 660 CE), the western peak of the "O-ak" (Five Guardian Mountains) system of the Unified Silla (668-935) and Goryeo (918-1392) dynasties and the central peak of the same system of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910).



It's not very high at all  the summit is Cheonhwang-bong (Heavenly King Peak) at only 848 meters  but it stands out prominently on the west coast flatlands where few mountains top 1,000 meters. It has a half-dozen other main peaks, mostly with classical Buddhist names.





Guardian spirits enshrined in a cave are seen at the Dongja Gutdang Shrine. / Courtesy of David A. Mason



The name, Gyeryong, means "Rooster-Dragon," given because of the way it looks  the main ridge winds around like a dragon's body, and the 20 or so sharp peaks along it resemble a cockscomb when viewed from a distance. Both the rooster and the dragon are members of the 12 symbolic animals of the Oriental Zodiac, and thus the name has deeper resonant meanings. That "gye" can also be read as "phoenix"  the firebird that serves as a mythical heavenly animal counterpart to the Blue Dragon  giving the "Dragon-Phoenix Mountain" a profound yin-yang meaning.



The name "Gyeryong" also may have been derived from the myth of Alyeong, the first queen of Silla, as told in the Samguk Yusa. When King Bak Hyeok-geose, the founding king of Silla and the progenitor of all Park clans, was born (hatched from a giant egg found next to the Na-jeong Well on sacred Mount Nam, in the valley of Saro Village, which later became Gyeongju), the elders decided that a suitable wife needed to be found. On that day, in Saryang Village, there appeared a strange creature that was a cross between a rooster and a dragon, called a "gyeryong." From its left side, a girl was born (similar to the myth of Sakyamuni Buddha being born from his mother's right side, and maybe also similar to the Jewish myth of Eve?). She was a beautiful child, but she had the beak of a chicken over her mouth. The only problem with the idea of this myth being the origin of this mountain's name is that Gyeongju is very far from it, and it was the center of a different and enemy kingdom!





A full assembly of shamanic spirits, fronted by a Yong-wang (Dragon-King) statue, is seen at the Cheonhwang-dang Gutdang Shrine. / Courtesy of David A. Mason



This mountain was thought to be extremely sacred since the days of Baekje and then Unified Silla, and its supreme holiness was designated by Doseon Guksa, a highly enlightened scholastic and meditation master as well as a renowned geomancer-prophet. Several dynasties have planned or attempted to build their capital here, and it has always attracted a wide variety of religious enthusiasm to its slopes.



Mount Gyeryong is now the most-visited attraction in South Chungcheong Province, located just west of Daejeon and easily accessible by expressway. In 1968 it became the second area designated as a national park, with 61 square kilometers of territory. It features three main ancient Buddhist temples  Gap Temple (one of the oldest existing temples in Korea), Donghak Temple (the secondary main study-temple for the nation's female monks) and Sinwon Temple (featuring Korea's largest and fanciest pre-modern hall venerating the mountain spirit)  and dozens of fascinating hermitages and shamanic shrines.





The Sinwon-sa Jungak-dan (Central Peak Altar), last rebuilt by Joseon royalty in 1776. / Courtesy of David A. Mason



The rest of the park is crisscrossed with a dozen major hiking trails, often crowded. Three fine waterfalls grace the valleys, one in the center, two in the south (closed to the public) and the other on the northwest. The scenery here, combined with profound cultural treasures, makes it one of the best places in Korea to explore. The regions surrounding the park in every direction are unusually rich with traditional and modern cultural sites for the traveler to enjoy. There might be up to 100 religious and spiritual sites on and around this one small but steep mountain!





Mount Gyeryong's name means "Rooster-Dragon" due to its shape. This is where the annual festival venerating its powerful spirit is held. / Courtesy of David A. Mason.



There is widespread shamanic veneration of the goddess of Mount Gyeryong, long believed to be female and highly powerful. There is a grand annual weekend festival held by the Gongju Folk-Drama Association and the Gongju government, on the third full moon of the lunar calendar, venerating this mighty mountain-spirit with Buddhist, Daoist, neo-Confucian and shamanic ceremonies. It takes place in a farming village just outside of Sinwon Temple on the western foot of the great mountain, outside the border of Gyeryongsan National Park, and within the southern border of Gongju City in South Chungcheong Province. It is named the "Mount Gyeryong Mountain-Spirit Ceremonial Festival" and if you ever wish to attend, info can be seen on the internet, but only in Korean.





A portrait of the Mount Gyeryong goddess is displayed at the Cheonhwang-dang Gutdang Shrine near Sinwon Temple. / Courtesy of David A. Mason



Sindo-an was Mount Gyeryong's traditionally most sacred area, the large valley at the southern foot of Heavenly King Summit, initially favored for the site of the capital city of Goryeo in 935 and briefly chosen by geomancers as the site for the capital of Joseon in 1390 (foundation stones were laid just before Joseon's Founding King Yi Taejo changed his mind and made Hanyang/Seoul his new capital, following the advice of geomancy-master-monk Muhak-daesa, who based it on his new interpretation of the advice/prophecy of Doseon-guksa). This holy southern valley was taken over as the headquarters base of the Republic of Korea Army in the late 1970s, and is closed to the public. The many shamans practicing there in centuries-old shrines were forced to move out, scattering to other areas all around this prominent mountain.





A tree is richly festooned at the Janggun Gutdang Shrine. / Courtesy of David A. Mason



Our group visited Geumryong-am (Golden Dragon Hermitage), a small but dramatically sited Buddhist retreat-house about half a mile up a deep, narrow stream-gorge behind Sinwon Temple, and at its entrance is the trailhead on the way up to Yeoncheon-bong Peak. Behind the small temple is a waterfall gushing between boulders and plenty of exposed rock upon which a half-dozen shamanic altars stand. The waterfall is believed to be home to the Golden Dragon Spirit, and there is a Daoist hall in front of it enshrining that theme, with a window above the empty main altar offering a view of the torrents. Its rear wall has a large mural of the Bodhisattva of Compassion riding cross-legged on, yes, a golden dragon. Korean shamanic dragon-worship activities are conducted by visiting practitioners at these shrines almost any day or night of the year; it is one of the nation's most prominent sites for these powers among those insiders in the know, but virtually unknown to the general Korean public (to say nothing of the international community!).





The Bodhisattva of Compassion is depicted riding on the Golden Dragon, at the Daoist shrine for that beast living in the most worshipped waterfall in Korea. / Courtesy of David A. Mason



There is also an excellent San-shin shrine just across from the Golden Dragon Daoist Hall, featuring a unique and wonderful mountain spirit painting. A husband-and-wife team is depicted, each with their own two attendants and tiger (and a third baby tiger being fed by a tiny attendant!). Yin-yang polarities abound in this mandala  including that the "Holy Mother San-shin" holds a ginseng root ("yang") and leaf-fan ("eum" or yin) while the "Divine Father San-shin" holds a dragon-head staff ("yang") and bullocho mushroom sprigs ("eum" or yin).





A husband-and-wife San-shin pair are seen at Bodeok Gutdang, the Treasure-Virtue Shamanic Shrine. / Courtesy of David A. Mason



The Korean American Shaman posted afterwards on Facebook: "Another amazing spot on Gyeryong-san is the shrine for a golden manifestation of the Dragon King, Yongwang. The shrine looks out toward a sacred site where the Dragon spirit resides. This is the spot where I felt the most interesting energy throughout my visit. The Dragon King rules water, The Mountain God, Sanshin, rules land and is associated with the tiger. Although no physical tigers or dragons roam the land and sea, I felt their energetic presence."



After a thorough tour of that exciting place, we walked back down the lovely forested road above the gorge, to historic Sinwon Temple founded 1,400 years ago. On a large plateau its rear stands the 250-year-old royal mountain spirit shrine that still venerates the "Central Peak of the Kingdom," remarkably authentic and the only remaining such one. It just so happened that on that day the temple was beginning a Baegil-gido (100-day prayer-ceremony) for Mount Gyeryong's venerable spirit, and so the courtyard was filled with lay worshipers and several monks were performing ritual chanting accompanied by Korea's unique "moktak" wooden hand drums. We marveled at the excellent Sanshin icon-painting over the main altar, and the wonderful woodworks of the old shrine.





A monk chants to the mountain spirit inside the Jungak-dan Shrine, beginning a 100-day prayer ceremony. / Courtesy of David A. Mason



Then we walked back to the national park entrance to get a great country-style lunch nearby; the old grandmother who has run the hikers' restaurant for decades was very friendly as usual, as we enjoyed her delicious changguk-jang (fermented soybean stew) and kong-guksu (cold soymilk-sauce noodles).



After this nutritious refreshment, we crossed the stream on a rickety old bridge and strolled through the village where the annual mountain spirit festival is held, with superb views of the holy mountain and on up the road. The modern shamanic shrines are very dense there, and we just walked from one to the next, choosing only the best ones that I know of.





A "gut" ceremony is performed at the Sanshin Gutdang Shamanic Shrine. / Courtesy of David A. Mason



We spent four hours viewing eight sites, openly shamanic shrines and small temples outwardly Buddhist but with strong shamanic components. All of them had with unique arrangements according to their natural landscapes, and an incredible variety of colorful artworks of all the various deities! I explained the identity and significance of each major work as best as I could, and we marveled over the multiplicity of their motifs. This is one of the very few areas in Korea where shamanism is fully legal, and is now practiced so very openly and proudly. The "mudang" (shamans) who owned and operated each one were very kind and welcoming to us. Few non-Koreans ever get to see places like this, and most Koreans don't either!





Mason visits a mudang (shaman) at her Dan-gun-am Shrine. / Courtesy of David A. Mason
Lets face it  everyone has done at least one thing that they later regret, but Lori Vallow did the unthinkable. The nation was in shock just a few years ago when Tylee Ryan and her brother, Joshua Jaxon Vallow, ages 7 and 16, respectively, went missing and later were found buried in shallow graves in their stepfather, Chad Daybells backyard.

It was in November 2019 that Vallow, the childrens mother, underwent police questioning, and what she told them just didnt add up. Vallow was ultimately arrested for the murders of the children, and Daybell, her fifth husband, was taken into custody for his role in the crime as well.

Top row: (L to R) Lori Vallow Daybell, Alex Cox, Steven Cope, Adam Cox, Bottom row: (L to R) Janice Cox, Barry Cox, Melani Pawlowski, Stacey Cox, Summer Shiflet | Courtesy of Netflix

The whole situation is absolutely heartbreaking, and the story is being told on Netflixs Sins of Our Mother. Now, Vallows surviving brother, Adam Cox, is saying that Death isnt good enough justice for J.J. and Tylee.

Who is Adam Cox?

Cox is the brother of Vallow, and he didnt immediately speak publicly about the tragedy. According to Distractify, Cox, who works in radio and lives in Wichita, Kansas, broke his silence in an interview and is described as being a normal guy living a normal life.

He answered questions about his two siblings, Vallow and Alex, who died of natural causes in 2019. When his niece and nephew went missing in late 2019, Cox, who had no role in the murders, became uneasy when his sister and brother-in-law headed to Hawaii and initially refused to answer questions.

Oxygen reports that he thought to himself that If shes not saying where the kids are, the kids are dead.' Now that his sister is in jail, Cox feels that he has lost nearly all of his siblings.

Cox said that Death isnt good enough justice

It is almost impossible to imagine what Cox has been through in the past few years, especially since he has said that the accusations against Vallow have caused a deep divide among his family. According to ABC News, Cox has had a difficult time handling everything and revealed that You dont know who to trust, whos saying what, what actually happened.

He has spent the last few years just trying to wrap his mind around the situation, and also said of his sister and her husband that Whatever plan they had, I really believe that they thought they were gonna get away with it. As for justice for the kids? Cox told the interviewer:

Jail for the rest of their life is not good enough. Death isnt good enough. If you think about what those kids went through, is there anything that could bring justice to what happened to those kids?

Vallow, who is receiving treatment at a mental health facility, and Daybell, who has pleaded not guilty, are currently awaiting trial.

The shocking murders

Vallow, who has been dubbed the Doomsday Mom, made headlines when her children went missing. Everyone who was following the story hoped that theyd be found safe, and no one could have predicted the horror that had happened. According to Distractify, the older child was last seen at Yellowstone National Park with her uncle, Alex Cox, while 7-year-old J.J was last seen at school.

After the two disappeared, close friends expressed concern over Vallows obsession with the apocalypse, saying that she insisted that the two children were zombies. After police performed a wellness check, Vallow told investigators that her son was visiting a friend in Arizona, which was proven to be untrue. A year later, both bodies were discovered buried on the Daybell property in Salem, Idaho.

What could have possibly led Vallow to do such a horrible thing? Daybell, a religious writer, married Vallow just two weeks after the death of his first wife, Tammy, and the couple began telling other people that Vallows daughter had died years earlier. Vallows previous husband was also deceased, having been shot and killed by her brother, Alex.

His family had been concerned with the relationship, just like many others, and Crimeonline reports that they told interviewers that the killing was an ambush. Friends were worried about Vallow, and while many details of the case are still unknown, investigators do know that the mother thought her children were possessed and had wicked spirits in their bodies.

RELATED: Dateline: Lori Vallows Former Friend Claims Alex Cox Might Have Hinted At JJ and Tylees Fate
These days, Meri Brown of Sister Wives has a career as a reality TV star, LuLaRoe consultant, and bed and breakfast owner. But it wasnt always that way. Not long after her familys show premiered on TLC, Meri ended up losing her job as a mental health worker because of her polygamous lifestyle.

Meri Brown was fired after Sister Wives premiered in 2010

RELATED: Sister Wives: Even Robyn Thinks Kody Is On the Verge of Ruining His Other Marriages

Meri Brown was the first of Kody Browns four wives. They married in 1990. Second wife Janelle joined the family in 1993 and Christine married Kody in 1995. Kodys fourth wife Robyn became part of the family in 2010.

While the Browns had long lived a polygamous lifestyle, the practice of having multiple wives was still illegal in Utah, where they resided. After Sister Wives premiered in 2010, the family soon felt the fallout from their newfound fame. Police in Lehi opened an investigation into the Browns. And Meri found herself unemployed.

Meri said she loved her job and was sad when she was let go

Meri Brown of Sister Wives | TLC via YouTube

RELATED: Sister Wives: Despite Everything, Christine Doesnt Consider Her Marriage to Kody a Failure

Meri had been working in the mental health field prior to Sister Wives debut. At the time, she was studying psychology and had hoped to eventually work with at-risk teens. But once the show began airing, her sudden notoriety was too much for her employer, even though they had been aware of her polygamist lifestyle.

They felt that they needed to protect the company, I think, Meri explained in an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show (via The Salt Lake Tribune). It actually makes me really sad because I loved my job. It breaks my heart, definitely.  But I understand where theyre coming from.

Meri said losing her job because of polygamy stung

With the Browns facing scrutiny (and the threat of criminal prosecution) because of their unconventional lifestyle, they quickly decided that the best move for their family would be to leave Utah for good. By the time the second season of Sister Wives premiered, theyd pulled up stakes for Las Vegas.

Relocating helped Meri deal with the blow of losing her job. But getting fired still hurt.

The sting of losing the job because of the lifestyle  that still stings. Having now moved to Las Vegas, its lightened that a bit, she said during an appearance on Today in 2011. Its like, I couldnt have kept the job anyway. But the fact that it happened is hard. Ill be looking (for a new job). I want to get back into the same type of job. I love working with the kids. I was so excited to get that job.

Sister Wives airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC. Episodes also stream on discovery+.

For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to Showbiz Cheat Sheets YouTube channel.
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This undated photo shows the Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway, Kan. The Kansas Historical Society plans to search the grounds of the former Native American boarding school to determine if any children were buried there, according to The Kansas City Star, Monday, Oct, 17, 2022.
Jackie Foster  a Jamaica native, a mother of one, and an experienced juice maker  stood under her blue tent at a windy October farmers market in downtown Bridgeport and said she has every intention of casting her ballot in the upcoming midterm election.

That doesnt mean its going to be easy, however.

If you go after work, be prepared to wait in line, said Foster in her soft Jamaican accent, near picnic tables topped with sorrel, ginger beer and palm-sized coconut pies  all of which she made herself. The well-regarded vendor has stayed civically active during her 35 years living in the predominantly Black and Latino city, often finding it helpful to plan in advance for Election Day.

Foster, who assists her 96-year-old father to the polls, knows first-hand the difficulties people experience trying to cast ballots, many of which might keep voters away altogether. Some folks work multiple jobs. Trains get delayed. Rush-hour traffic clogs the highways. Anything can happen, she said.

But Foster didnt know that early voting was on this years ballot  a measure which, if approved, could give people more time to vote in person before Election Day.

Ranging anywhere from three days to 45 days, early voting has already helped more than 17 million people in places like Florida, Georgia and Texas, according to the University of Floridas U.S. Elections Project. And this years midterm election turnout is on pace to match 2018s, which saw some of the highest turnout in U.S. history, in large part due to early voting.

Connecticut is one of only four states that doesnt have early voting, making the seemingly progressive Land of Steady Habits one of the more regressive places to vote outside of the South. The states contentment with the status quo is keenly felt by some Black and Latino voters, who have historically borne the brunt of voter suppression and who nationally experience longer wait times than white voters.

The effort to bring early voting to Connecticut has also resonated with advocates who for years have pushed to make voting in the state more accessible.

Change comes very slowly to Connecticut, said Laura Smits, president of the states League of Women Voters. We dont like change, and we fold our arms and say, Not for me. Ive done it this way for 100 years, and why cant we keep doing it this way for 100 years? And I just think that same malaise that we see throughout the country is changing, and a lot of folks are not happy about it.

Connecticuts voting laws are enshrined in the state constitution. Any changes to it first pass through the House and Senate with three-fourths majority support, or a simple majority in both chambers in two successive legislative terms, and then majority support among voters. This year marks the second time that the convenience voting measure has made it onto the ballot. The first attempt failed by more than 38,000 votes during the 2014 midterm.

Political experts attributed the previous rejection of early voting to confusion, uncertainty about giving the state legislature more power, and racial and partisan divisions, according to the Hartford Courant. Early voting then was grouped with no-excuse absentee voting, a different convenience measure that allows for any voter to request and cast an absentee/mail ballot without an excuse.

Voting in Connecticut was once limited to white male citizens with valued property. The state recently expanded voting to allow for absentee ballots from people who have or are around sickness, or if theres a continued presence of sickness  such as COVID-19. Now access could further expand after November if the majority of people vote favorably to a simple question: Shall the Constitution of the State be amended to permit the General Assembly to provide for early voting?

But the addition of early voting does not make up for the fact that many people are uninterested in elections, said Andrea Benjamin, a professor at the University of Oklahoma who studies race and politics.

If they vote on Election Day, it might take them an hour and a half to get through the voting process. If they vote early, maybe it only takes 25 minutes, Benjamin said. I want people to have access to the ballot.  At the same time, I think we need to start thinking about civic education. What are we teaching people about why voting is important?

Alicia Cobb considers herself an emerging leader in the Bridgeport community and said she is making an effort to get more civically engaged. But the self-employed artist also did not know early voting was on this years ballot.

Cobb said she understands that some people have tried to make casting votes more accommodating over the years. But she believes voting is just not as accessible to people who work less-traditional hours  disproportionately Black, Latino and low-income people, according to the Population Reference Bureau.

If you cant make it to the polls for that day, for whatever reason, then you just miss out on your vote, said Cobb, standing near Fosters blue tent at the farmers market. Thats exactly what its set up for, is to make it more difficult for the people who are less fortunate and less advantaged to not have access the way that they should.

Connecticut has a history of making voting more difficult for people of color.

The state once received a series of petitions from Black people pleading for either the right to vote or exemption from paying taxes (the General Assembly denied them), was the first to require literacy tests for voting (effectively barring people who could not read from the ballot box), was slow to outlaw literacy tests (an order that trickled down from the federal government when the Voting Rights Act was amended), and was slow to ratify the 19th Amendment (which granted some women access to the polls).

White people in power have historically wanted to keep voting to themselves, said Steve Thornton, who studies the history of working people in the state.

Thornton said lawmakers have put up as many barriers as possible to keep certain communities disenfranchised, because voting is all about power.

Connecticut has never been a progressive state when it comes to voting rights, he said.

Voting access has remained a hot-button topic.

During an October Secretary of the State debate, Democratic candidate Stephanie Thomas said she is a big fan of early voting. Republican contender Dominic Rapini called the measure an unfunded mandate on registrars of voters who run the local elections.

Peter Gostin, a Republican registrar in New Britain, told the CT Mirror that he does not support early voting because of the additional strain it would put on election workers. But if it was law, he said, they would make it work.

Giselle Feliciano, a Democratic registrar in Hartford, said she and her team would also figure out how to accommodate it.

We try our best to complete the job to the best of our ability, Feliciano said. Will we probably have bumps in the road? I dont think Hartford will be the only one. But you learn from those things, and hopefully we can move forward. I do feel that with the early voting, well be ready.

Other states have adapted to expanded voting access for decades. Jennifer Doinoff, an elections administrator in Texas, the first state to offer early in-person voting, according to Time magazine, told the CT Mirror that she recommends that Connecticut codify a detailed plan into law.

Im a supporter of early voting, but I think that its very long, said Doinoff. Texas currently has two weeks of early voting. We add days to it and then we add weekends to it. And then we want to add more hours in the day to accommodate everybodys schedule. And then, eventually, you cant find people to do it. And it also is cost exhaustive. So I believe in early voting, but I think that we have to come up with a plan. That is a reasonable expectation for the people that we employ to do these jobs.

Democrats tend to favor early voting more than Republicans, according to the Pew Research Center. But some Connecticut voters do not view access to the ballot box as a partisan matter. They consider it a core tenet of democracy. They think that any person who wants to cast their ballot should have the freedom to do so without racial or socioeconomic barriers. They also believe that if 46 other states have figured it out, Connecticut can too.

Sophie Kane, a third-year student at Yale University, said that she and others on campus view conversations about convenience voting as part of a larger struggle to make this countrys democracy accessible to everyone.

Engaging with those sorts of issues on that sort of scale is really important to us, said Kane, who chairs the campus Yale Votes organization, even if we cant always be thinking about the larger scale issues, because that is just hard to engage with on a day to day basis. But this is what motivates us.

A longer version of this story originally appeared at www.ctmirror.org.
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Burmese army bombs Baptist Seminary, students hit by shrapnel

Myanmar's military junta bombed a Baptist seminary in Shan State, injuring at least four men in the dormitory.

The army, locally known as the Tatmadaw, shelled the Theological Seminary in the Kutkai area of Shan State on Thursday, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern reported.

Four men, aged between 21 and 27, were hit by shrapnel and sustained non-life-threatening injuries while they were in the dormitory of the school which the Kachin Baptist Convention founded.

Formerly known as Burma, the Southeast Asian country is home to the worlds longest Civil War, which began in 1948.

The conflict between the Tatmadaw and ethnic minority militias escalated after the February 2021 military coup, as the ethnic militias have been supporting pro-democracy protesters. The conflict zones are along Myanmars borders with India, Thailand and China.

A video posted to social media showed damage caused by the shelling. Visible holes and dents could be seen on the windows, walls and students' clothing. Another video showed an injured student being escorted out for medical treatment.

A local resident was quoted as saying that this kind of attack by the military threatens the Christian Bible school and the entire Kachin nation.

Christians make up just over 7% of the majority-Buddhist nation but are a majority in Chin State, which borders India, and Kachin State, which borders China. Christians also make up a substantial part of the population of Kayah State, which borders Thailand.

The attack against this Kachin Bible school was certainly not an accident, said Gina Goh, ICCs regional manager for Southeast Asia. Instead, the Tatmadaw deliberately targeted a Christian facility knowing how important the faith is to Kachin people. This despicable junta regime should not be tolerated any further by the international community and needs to be removed at once.

The shelling of the Baptist seminary comes after a separate attack on Oct. 23 when at least 80 people, including leading Kachin musicians, were killed in the juntas aerial bombing of a concert in Kachin States Hpaknat township, according to UCA News. The tragedy prompted many people to black out their profile photo on Facebook to show sorrow for the victims and solidarity with ethnic Kachin people.

The concert was to celebrate the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the Kachin Independence Organization, the political wing of the Kachin Independence Army, which hundreds of people attended, including members of the KIA.

More than 2,400 people have been killed, and over 16,000 people have been jailed and tortured by the Tatmadaw, ICC noted.

In June, multiple reports, including by the U.N., revealed that Myanmars Buddhist nationalist junta had disproportionately targeted religious minorities, including Christians, and brutally attacked and killed hundreds of children since the military coup.

Tom Andrews, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, said in a report at the time that the juntas relentless attacks on children underscore the generals depravity and willingness to inflict immense suffering on innocent victims in its attempt to subjugate the people of Myanmar.

Focusing on the killing of children, the U.N. rapporteur said during his fact-finding for the report, I received information about children who were beaten, stabbed, burned with cigarettes, and subjected to mock executions, and who had their fingernails and teeth pulled out during lengthy interrogation sessions.

Since the coup, the military had killed at least 142 children in Myanmar, the U.N. report added.

Over 250,000 children have been displaced by the militarys attacks and over 1,400 have been arbitrarily detained. At least 61 children, including several younger than 3 years of age, are reportedly being held as hostages. The U.N. has documented the torture of 142 children since the coup.

Myanmar is ranked No. 12 on Open Doors USAs 2022 World Watch List of 50 countries where Christians face the most severe persecution. The persecution level in Myanmar is very high due to Buddhist nationalism. Burma is recognized by the U.S. State Department as a country of particular concern for egregious violations of religious liberty.
Barry Buzza, former leader of Foursquare Church in Canada, accused of sexual abuse

Barry Buzza, a former president of the Foursquare Church in Canada and founder of Northside Church, the Evangelical Pentecostal denomination's largest Canadian congregation, is being sued by a former female member of the church for "psychological, spiritual, and sexual grooming, abuse and exploitation."

Responding to the civil lawsuit filed on Oct. 18, current Northside Church Lead Pastor Joel Conti told the congregation on Oct. 23 that the lawsuit was filed against Northside Church headquartered in British Columbia, the Foursquare Church in Canada and the denomination.

"Because this matter is before the court, I cannot comment on the specifics of the proceedings. Although we are currently limited to what we can legally comment on, we want to emphasize the word currently. Our hope is to keep talking in the weeks and months to come within the confines of the law," Conti said. "Many of you have reached out with various responses of questions, emotions, disappointments and frustrations. We are deeply sorry that we cannot offer you anymore details at this time."

Buzza's accuser, identified in court documents cited by The Local Journalism Initiative as A.B., said the abuse began when she was a vulnerable 28-year-old domestic violence victim in 2007, and he was 60.

A.B. began attending Northside Church, which Buzza founded in 1979, when she was in her mid-20s.

The court documents claim Buzza enjoyed "celebrity status" and was viewed as a "divinely gifted person" in the church community.

Two years after A.B. began attending the church in 2003, both she and her then-husband received counseling from Buzza due to allegations she was a victim of domestic violence.

In 2006, Buzza allegedly directed her husband to move out of the home, and in 2007, he arranged for A.B. to move into his daughter's home.

The woman, who is now 43, said Buzza acted as a father figure to her and would call her his "adopted daughter" as she became very close with his family.

However, things took an unexpected turn when Buzza became president of Foursquare Church in Canada on July 1, 2007.

She alleges that Buzza groped her while his wife slept next to them on a return flight from a trip to Israel.

"She questioned what she had done to invite sexual contact from her father figure," the complaint reads. "The plaintiff immediately felt fear, confusion, shame, and self-blame."

In the days following the first alleged assault, Buzza is said to have grabbed and kissed A.B. at his daughter's home when his daughter was away.

By mid-July of 2007, Buzza helped A.B. move to a small condo. The complaint alleges that in a matter of days, the revered preacher presented himself at the condo and fully undressed for sex.

"[A.B.] did not have the requisite capacity to consent given her vulnerability relative to Buzza's spiritual and emotional authority over her," the lawsuit reads. "She feared rejecting his advances for fear of losing him, his family and the entire life he had helped her create, including her new faith."

A.B. further claims that for the next year and a half, Buzza would show up at the condo for sex and leave money in her key bowl, which made her feel a sense of shame.

Months later, on Buzza's birthday, February 22, 2008, A.B. says she attempted suicide while "suffering under the profound shame, pain, and confusion of Buzza's sexual exploitation and due to her inability to escape the abuse."

According to the complaint, the abuse stopped for a while in 2009 after A.B. met her current husband. Buzza officiated their wedding later that year.

About three years later in 2011, the lawsuit says A.B. accepted a "flexible" job offer from Buzza because she stopped working when her daughter was diagnosed with a serious medical condition, and her husband began struggling with his career.

The complaint claims Buzza, who served as Foursquare Church president until 2012, told A.B. that he was diagnosed with liver cancer sometime between 2012 and 2013 "to manipulate her into working from his home, where the sexual abuse began again."

The abuse allegedly continued until late 2014 when A.B. reached out to a church mentor who informed her husband.

When A.B.'s husband confronted Buzza, he was allegedly told something to the effect of, as a Christian, it was an "obligation to forgive him for his trespasses."

Buzza eventually began making A.B.'s work and spiritual life difficult, and she eventually found work at another church as a pastor in 2016. While doing a training on clerical sexual abuse, A.B. began to recognize how she was exploited by Buzza.

In January, she wrote to the denomination's board of directors about her experience and requested an independent investigation, which forced Buzza to resign.

The lawsuit contends that the denomination failed to investigate properly and treated her abuse as a consensual affair.

"It's one thing to have your pastor devalue you through abuse," she said in her last letter to the church, dated July 4, 2022. "But to have an entire organization (who you still considered your family) devalue you  is beyond devastating."
Episcopal Church sells property to breakaway diocese as legal battle winds down

The Episcopal Church has agreed to sell church property in South Carolina to a breakaway Anglican diocese that it won in litigation following conversations with those who use the worship space.

Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina announced last week that she and the Standing Committee will allow the Anglican Church in North America to buy the property of St. Matthew's Church of Fort Motte in rural Calhoun County.

The property was one of 14 church properties awarded to the Episcopal Church in April by the South Carolina Supreme Court, a number later reduced to eight. However, Woodliff-Stanley said "the number of people who would hope to have an Episcopal presence" at the Fort Motte property "is extremely small."

"[W]e recognize that, without a seed congregation ready to reopen as an Episcopal church, the displacement of the ACNA congregation would undermine the healing we seek to foster in this particular community," stated the bishop.

"Our choice to allow the ACNA congregation at St. Matthew's to buy this property provides us with resources that may be used to plant a new church that, in time and God willing, can bring strength and gifts to the benefit of the Episcopalians resident in that area and in the entire diocese."

The bishop said it "was not an easy decision" but "provides the best opportunity for the health and future of our diocese."

In November 2012, the leadership of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina voted to leave The Episcopal Church due to the denomination's increasing acceptance of homosexuality and the alleged mistreatment of their bishop at the time, the Rev. Mark Lawrence.

Litigation ensued in January 2013 over who rightfully owned the estimated $500 million in church properties, as well as claims over diocesan trademarks. Both sides scored legal victories over the years.

The two sides reached a settlement in September after the state court's ruling. Woodliff-Stanley acknowledged that "each diocese has had to leave things on the table to get to this moment" and "experience pain over losses of some of the historic churches our members hold dear."

Anglican Bishop Chip Edgar said in a statement shared with The Christian Post earlier this year that the settlement "allows us to invest our diocesan energy, time, focus and resources in gospel ministry rather than litigation."

"While the losses we have experienced, including those of St. Christopher and several of our parish buildings are painful, I am grateful that the work we have done has brought an end to litigation between our dioceses."

The Anglican diocese has relinquished control of several church properties the court ruled belonged to the Episcopal Church. As some property transfers have been completed, Episcopalians began worshiping in some of those properties in August.

Jason Varnadore of the Anglican congregation that left St. David's in Cheraw expressed sadness and relief because the congregation struggled to support the building financially.

"The rent we're paying now is cheaper than the mortgage-free maintenance bill we paid on our building every month," said Varnadore, as reported by the Anglican diocese.

"Wesley United Methodist Church, an historically African American church, generously signed over a lease to let us use their property. The PCA minister in town said, 'If you need any office space, you let me know. You can have it.' So, we have really nice offices over at Faith Presbyterian in town."
Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, remembered as man of faith and truth at memorial

A diverse community of grieving family, politicians and Christian disciples packed the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem Friday to celebrate the life of the churchs longtime pastor and community leader, Calvin O. Butts III, who was remembered as a man of faith, truth and conviction.

Butts, who was also known as a force for both social and racial justice, died on Oct. 28, at the age of 73, from pancreatic cancer after leading Abyssinian Baptist Church for three decades. He was celebrated with song, prayers for his family and an unending recollection of memories from the people whose lives he touched.

Our pastor died in the faith, the Lord is worthy to be praised, the Rev. Darrell Griffin, who officiated the memorial service, declared in the early moments of the service that lasted for several hours before acknowledging the weight of the task he had ahead of him. I am one of the sons of this church. Pastor has assigned me to keep this train running.

Former President Bill Clinton was among the first to share poignant thoughts on the beloved leaders passing after the churchs choir delivered a moving rendition of Come Thou Fount.

I talked to Reverend Butts, not long before he passed and by then we had been friends a long time, Clinton said.

I came here seeking his support, in this hallowed place, and I didn't get it the first time. And then when I won, he said, 'You know, you must remember this is an active church, and I have an active faith, and the book of James says that faith is fine, but without works, it's dead. So, I will know your faith by your works,' the former president recalled. And he said that in so many words to a lot of us. And in the power of his living example, he demonstrated his faith, by his wonderful words from this sacred pulpit, but also by his works.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who is also a former NYPD police captain, recalled his time fighting to end police abuse and the support he received from Butts in that work.

I remember studying to become a lieutenant and someone pulled up next to my car and  shot out my car windows after calling out my name. And I remember speaking to Reverend Butts. And he said, 'Now it's time for you not just to read but to believe,' he said.

I remember going to testify in federal court to stop police misconduct and overproliferation of stop and frisk and hearing Dr. Butts. I remember when music was demonizing black women in our community, and he came with that big construction roller and rolled over the CDs, he recalled. Long before people were talking about don't advertise alcohol and cigarettes in our community to harm our community, he had a white roller brush painting over the posters and said, lock me up if you want to because I'm going to stand on truth.

To highlight the reach of Butts influence, Adams pointed out how many of his disciples have gone on to serve in powerful positions in government.

You might as well call my administration Abyssinian, he quipped.

I love him and I'm going to miss him. I'm going to miss him. There's a hole in my heart, he said, offering prayers for Butts widow, Patricia Reed Butts, to whom he was married for 51 years.

You know how challenging this moment is. It is for all of us. But nowhere in the contract of life does it say immortality is part of the deal. We're all mortal, he said before joking that he was Butts favorite elected official.

I can rest assured in all my heart, all of the elected officials in this room he loved. But he adored me, Adams quipped as the church erupted in laughter.

Other elected officials who spoke included Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and a number of Baptist leaders.

Along with his widow, Butts is survived by his children, Calvin IV (Tiffany), Alexander and Patricia, his grandchildren, Kyla, Alexander Jr., Calvin V, Arthur, Reed and Ethan, many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.

To most people he was Rev. Dr. Calvin Butts but to us, he was just poppa, Alex Butts II, his grandson, said. Talking about what I wanted to say with my dad, he told me, this is what is always said. To us, he was just poppa. So, I thought some more and realized this is still true. He was an amazing grandfather.
This file photo, provided by the Navy on March 17, 2019, shows its 10,000-ton logistics support ship Soyang in unspecified waters. Yonhap





A South Korean naval vessel took part in Japan's international fleet review on Sunday for the first time in seven years amid escalating nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.







South Korea was one of 12 countries, including the United States, Canada and Australia, to take part in the review that took place in Sagami Bay off Kanagawa Prefecture, about 40 kilometers southeast of Tokyo.







Sailors aboard South Korea's 10,000-ton logistics support ship Soyang saluted toward Japan's helicopter carrier Izumo carrying Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, as sailors from other participating countries do while passing the carrier.







The Japanese vessel was flying the flag of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). The flag looks similar to the Rising Sun Flag viewed by many Koreans as a symbol of Japan's imperialist past.







It marked the first time since 2015 for the South's Navy to participate in Japan's fleet review.







The Navy took part in Japan's fleet review in 2002 and 2015, while the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force joined the South's fleet review in 1998 and 2008.







Since 2018, when tensions between Seoul and Tokyo rose over historical and other disputes, the two sides have not participated in each other's fleet reviews.







Following the review, the Navy ship Soyang plans to join a multinational search and rescue exercise.







The exercise will bring together service members from the United States, Britain, France, Australia, Canada and other countries. (Yonhap)










Christian family suffering 'living hell' after arrests on false charges of 'conversion' at son's birthday party

NEW DELHI, India  A Christian mother and her family in northern India have suffered assaults and threats since she and others were arrested from her sons birthday party on false accusations of fraudulent conversion, her husband said.

Our lives have turned into a living hell as we struggle to survive each day with our 7-year-old son, Mahendra Kumar told Morning Star News. We face threats every day and do not know what will happen tomorrow.

Kumars wife, Indrakla, was one of six women, four of them Christians, arrested on charges of fraudulent conversion based on a complaint of members of the Hindu extremist Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) on July 30 in Maharajganj, Azamgarh District, Uttar Pradesh state.

We have been targeted several more times after we filed a counter-complaint regarding the harassment and attacks that we have faced, Indrakla told Morning Star News.

The six women were arrested when Hindu extremists intruded into a large birthday celebration for the couples only son on July 30 in Maharajganj Districts Bishunpura village, accusing Christians of using the event as a cover to fraudulently convert people. Those arrested remained in jail for more than a month before being bailed out.

Since then, on two occasions assailants deliberately rammed a car into Kumar while he was on his motorbike with his son, and the family has received several threats, he said.

On Oct. 21 Kumar and his wife awoke at 2 a.m. to the sound of several people banging on their door.

After Indrakla, who goes by a single name, was released on bail on Sept. 1, the family opted not to return to their rented home upon learning that Hindu extremists were planning to attack them. When they returned in October, the threats and harassment continued.

Jailed

Indrakla was getting her son ready for the party at about 1:30 p.m. on July 30 while three Christian women sang worship songs in an area near the house under a tent cover, she said.

The family had invited around 600 people, including 300 church members. About 150 guests had arrived when someone informed Indrakla that a group of men had arrived, arguing and objecting to the gathering.

When Indrakla told the intruders, members of the VHP, that they were gathered only to celebrate her sons birthday, they accused her of luring people to convert under the guise of the party. Police soon arrived, and in their presence the VHP members continued to harass her and her husband, she said.

I stepped forward and tried to reason with them that it was my sons birthday, and if there is nothing wrong with Hindus performing Hindu worship during their family birthday celebrations, what is wrong if we sing Christian choruses and pray before we eat? Indrakla said.

The Hindu extremists refused to heed or answer her, she said.

The atmosphere of celebration soon changed into despair as the police and Hindu extremists denigrated us, Indrakla said. They termed our birthday celebration as a ceremony for luring Dalit masses into becoming Christians.

Dalits have historically been regarded as untouchable, lower than and thus outside the lowest level in the Hindu caste hierarchy.

Police arrested Indrakla and three other Christians  identified only as Savita, Anita and Sadhana  and the owners of the house, identified as Subhagi Devi and Sunita, two women who are not Christians.

All six were taken to the Maharajganj police station, where officers tried to pressure Indrakla into confessing that she distributed Christian literature, she said.

I said, I dont have any literature, and neither do I distribute any literature, Indrakla said.

One of the two landladies told police that they were witnesses to the birthday party and that no form of conversion was taking place.

Officers told the six women they would release them by evening, but instead they were charged on a complaint of Ashutosh Singh, block president of the VHP, with provocation and criminal intimidation and, under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act 2021, with unlawful conversion from one religion to another by misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means, in First Information Report No. 286.

The arrested women were transferred to the Azamgarh police station that night, and the next morning, July 31, they appeared before a special lower court, as it was a Sunday. They were denied bail and sent to Azamgarh jail.

Forced conversion is punishable by imprisonment of one to five years with a minimum fine of $181 (15,000 rupees), and three to 10 years of prison for the conversion of minors and women from the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe community.

One of the landladies and Savita and Anita were released on Aug. 30, while Sadhana, Indrakla and the other landlady were released on Sept. 1.

The ground reality is that under the garb of the allegation of forced conversions, people are being targeted by right-wing fanatic organizations being backed by the government to gain popularity or benefit politically, the attorney representing the women, Munish Chandra, told local media outlet The Wire.

Attacks

While his wife was in jail, Kumar and their son had taken refuge at the home of Indraklas brother. On the way back from an Aug. 16 court hearing for the six women, a car crashed into the motorbike on which Kumar, his son and sister-in-law were riding.

Thankfully, none of us were hurt in that accident, Kumar said.

After the next hearing on Aug. 24, again a car rammed into his motorbike. Thrown onto the road from the impact, Kumar and his son sustained leg injuries, his sister-in-law several internal injuries, and her son several bruises.

I am sure we were attacked by people sent by the complainant, Kumar told Morning Star News. It cannot be a coincidence that we are hit by a car on both the court hearings in the same way.

The six women were granted bail at the Aug. 24 hearing, though they were not released until a week later, he said.

The cordial relations Indrakla had with those in her community before the July 30 incident have chilled since her arrest and jailing, she said.

The community that we lived in have all suddenly turned their faces against us, she said. They are behaving as if we are their enemies. They say that we indulge in converting people.

The landlords have been pressuring Kumar to vacate the house to spare them further trouble, and his extended family members have shunned him, he said.

They have flatly refused to shelter us, he said. They say that till our case is settled, they will have nothing to do with us.

Financial setback

Kumar, a street vendor of cookies and candies, borrowed various resources from neighbors and other villagers to provide a grand celebration for their son, said their Pastor Santosh Kumar.

An emotional Indrakla said much money and planning went into preparing the birthday gathering where intruders set into motion events that have hurt their income. Due to the threats from Hindu extremists, Kumar cannot leave home and resume work.

We borrowed utensils, harmonium, mic and all the items required, she said. We rented stuff from a tent house and have not paid for any of that yet.

The food prepared for more than 600 people went to waste, and there was no one to tend to household affairs while Indrakla was in custody. Amid the chaos, some of the borrowed or rented items were stolen, along with some of their own possessions, Indrakla said.

We have people coming and asking us every day to either return their things or pay for it, Indrakla said. Where do I get the money from to pay them?

Counter case

On Sept. 4, Kumar and Indrakla filed a private court complaint under the Code of Criminal Procedure over the attack and harassment they have faced.

They have also filed complaints to Scheduled Caste-Scheduled Tribe commission offices in New Delhi and Lucknow, as well as to the district superintendent of police, said Dinnanath Jaiswar, a Christian leader and social activist in Uttar Pradesh.

Since these Hindu extremists came to know about the counter-complaint, they have targeted the family many times, Jaiswar told Morning Star News. Now the court has directed the police to investigate the threats and intimidation of the victims.

Jaiswar noted that Indrakla and the other women are low-status Dalits, while the assailants are upper-caste Hindus.

Its a prestige issue for them, he said. They cannot digest how these Dalits have exercised their legal rights against the upper caste. For them, the reality has been that the law is there for the upper castes to be used against the lower-caste people. They think they are the higher strata of society and the government belongs to them.

Christian families who are Dalits thus face double discrimination for being both low status and followers of Christ, he said.

Various entities have designated Uttar Pradesh as the state in India where Christians experience the most persecution. Christians make up only 0.18% of the states population, according to the 2011 Census, or 356,000 Christians in the highly populated state.

The hostile tone of the National Democratic Alliance government, led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, against non-Hindus, has emboldened Hindu extremists in several parts of the country to attack Christians since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took power in May 2014, religious rights advocates say.

India ranked 10th on Christian support organization Open Doors 2022 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, as it was in 2021. The country was 31st in 2013, but its position worsened after Modi came to power.
Survey finds increasing number of Protestants want their church to be politically homogenous 57% of churchgoers younger than 50 want other members to vote the same way they do

As voters prepare to cast their ballots for the midterm elections, a recent study says that most Protestants prefer to attend a church where the congregations political views align with theirs.

According to a study released Tuesday by Lifeway Research, an organization that surveys ongoing trends in church ministries, 50% of non-Catholics surveyed in the U.S. prefer to attend a politically homogenous church, while 41% disagreed and 10% were uncertain.

At least 55% of participants believe they are attending a church that shares their political views. Fewer than a quarter disagreed (23%) or arent sure (22%).

Lifeway Research conducted the survey online from Sept. 19-29, using a national pre-recruited panel of over 1,000 Americans. The studys margin of error was +/- 3.3%, with a 95% confidence level.

Studies have shown that voting patterns and political affiliation correlate with the type of church and amount of church involvement someone has, Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, said in a statement. But when asked if churchgoers want political similarity to flow back into their church relationships, this is desirable for only half of churchgoers.

In a 2017 Lifeway Research study, 46% of participants said they would rather attend a church with people who share their same political preferences. The recent study found that 19% of Protestants strongly agree they prefer to attend a church where people share their political views, up from 12% in 2017.

The recent survey also found that younger churchgoers were more likely than older ones to prefer the church they attend to share their views. Fifty-seven percent of those younger than 50 said they want their fellow congregants to vote the same way they do. In comparison, 47% of churchgoers ages 50 to 65, and 41% who are 65 and older said the same.

Ethnicity and education also played a factor in how much emphasis U.S. churchgoers placed on politics. Fifty-four percent of whites said they prefer to attend church with people who share their politics, compared to 53% of African Americans and 25% of Hispanics.

Individuals with no college degree or less than a high school education (44%) were among the least likely to care whether they attended church with people who hold the same political views.

How many participants cared about their fellow congregant's politics varied based on denomination. Eighty-eighty percent of Methodists and 80% of Restorationist movement churchgoers were more likely to care about other members' political alignments.

Forty-seven percent of Baptists and Presbyterians/Reformers prefer to attend church with people who share a common political perspective, compared to 38% of Lutherans. Another 38% of participants who identify as nondenominational voiced a preference for churches that share their politics.

Respondents with Evangelical beliefs (44%) were less likely than those who dont fully accept the four core Evangelical theology statements (54%) to care if other church attendees shared their political opinions.

If one looks at the culture today, you might assume that most churches have been arguing over politics as well, McConnell said.

While it appears more churchgoers notice the political views of other attendees, only 28% of pastors agree (14% strongly) that their church has experienced significant conflict in the last year, he continued, citing a 2021 Lifeway Research study of more than 1,500 Evangelical and Black Protestant pastors.

Those who want political continuity may simply want a respite from political strife at church, and others may want to move together in political action, McConnell said.

Earlier this month, Rasmussen Reports released a national survey of 1,155 U.S. adults. It found that 42% of respondents said they think the U.S. would be better off if more people attended religious services regularly, with responses varying depending on participants' political views.

Thirty-six percent of Democrats and 65% of Republicans said the country would benefit from more people attending religious services regularly. Thirty percent of people unaffiliated with either party said the same thing. Another 13% said more Americans attending services more often would make the country worse, while 15% said they weren't sure.

The survey was conducted online and by phone from Sept. 20-21, with the margin of sampling error at +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% confidence level.
Pro-life researcher refutes new study finding over 10K fewer abortions since Roe's reversal

A pro-life researcher is questioning whether a recent study purporting to show that abortion numbers have declined in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Courts reversal of Roe v. Wade understated the influence of state laws on protecting preborn children.

The Society of Family Planning, an organization researching abortion and contraception, released the results of its national #WeCountProject on Monday. The study compared the number of legal surgical and medical abortions before the courts reversal of Roe to the number of abortions committed two months after the decision.

Researchers surveyed abortion facilities nationwide, concluding that over 10,670 fewer abortions took place in July and August compared to data from April 2022. The states that banned abortion after the ruling saw a 95% decrease in abortions from April to August. In states where abortions remained legal with few restrictions, the number increased by 11%.

Analyzing the Society of Family Plannings study, Michael J. New, an associate scholar at the pro-life research organization Charlotte Lozier Institute and associate research professor at The Catholic University, found several flaws with the research.

In a Tuesday article published by National Review, New noted that the study would appear to show that the overall decline in abortions post-Dobbs decision was rather modest, finding only a 6% decrease in abortions.

While he appreciates the study acknowledging the ruling impacted abortion rates, he expressed skepticism about the datas accuracy.

One flaw, he said, is that the researchers behind #WeCount only used data from abortion facilities and not state health departments or government agencies.

New also said that the study failed to consider pre-Dobbs abortion declines in states like Texas, which saw abortions decline by more than 60% after its six-week abortion ban went into effect last September.

Additionally, Oklahoma started enforcing a heartbeat law in early May 2022. Large abortion declines had already taken place in these states prior to Dobbs, New wrote.

New contends another flaw with the study is that states like Illinois and Maine allow Medicaid funding for elective abortions, and blue states like these already saw abortion number increases because their abortion laws are more permissive.

Unsurprisingly, the abortion rate increased by 28 percent in Illinois and by 15 percent in Maine, New wrote in a June statement to The Christian Post. Part of the Illinois increase was due to more out-of-state women seeking abortions in Illinois.

New believes the increase likely had a lot to do with the states Medicaid program starting to fund elective abortions in 2018.

The pro-life researcher also believes that the abortion pill is linked to a rise in abortion rates.

Chemical abortions have been increasing as well, New wrote in the National Review article.

In June, the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute released its abortion data for 2020, reporting that a little over 930,000 abortions took place in the U.S. during the year, an 8% increase in the abortion rate from 2017.

Additionally, Guttmacher found a 7% increase in the abortion rate for women ages 15 to 44, rising from 13.5 per 1,000 women in 2017 to 14.4 per 1,000 women.

One in five pregnancies ended in abortion in 2020, a 12% increase, with the abortion ratio increasing from 18.4% in 2017 to 20.6% in 2020.

A 2019 abortion surveillance report from the U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed the total number of abortions increased by 2% compared to 2018, with the abortion ratio and rate of reported abortions increasing by 3% and 2%, respectively.

February data from the Guttmacher Institute also showed that chemical abortions accounted for 54% of U.S. abortions in 2020.
Woke corporate policies wreaking havoc on religious employees

Woke corporate culture continues to wreak havoc on religious employees. The evidence keeps growing, as it seems that nearly every week theres a new headline of another company caving to radical woke ideology and firing someone because of their faith.

The Christian Post reported that Nelli Parisenkova, a childcare teacher in California, is suing her former employer. The lawsuit claims she was fired for refusing on religious grounds to read books to children that featured same-sex couples:

Like many Christians, she has a sincere religious belief that marriage is a sacred covenant divinely instituted by God to be a lifelong union between one man and one woman. She further believes that it would be sinful for her to personally promote any messages that are contrary to her beliefs regarding this sacred covenant of marriage.

The suit lays out the case: Parisenkova worked at Bright Horizons  an international childcare organization with hundreds of locations and more than 26,000 employees  for four years and was aware of the books at the location. She had not been forced to read them based an informal accommodation request. However, the director of the location became aware of Parisenkovas Christian beliefs and took exception. Parisenkova formally requested a religious accommodation, but Bright Horizons responded by categorically denying her application. She was then terminated from her position.

A marked increase in workplace discrimination cases in recent years makes it clear that woke corporate culture poses a serious threat to millions of people of faith. In a recent article, our team detailed the major and potentially landmark cases First Liberty is fighting right now to help defend religious employees and stop the wave of illegal discrimination. This means that defending religious liberty in the marketplace and at work is perhaps one of the most critical legal battlefronts today.

To be clear, not every company brazenly discriminates against or fires employees based on their religion. Studies show that some of Americas most influential companies are making an attempt to promote religious diversity and accommodate people of various faiths and beliefs.

But theres still a lot of room for improvement.

The Religious Freedom and Business Foundations Corporate Religious Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Index found that only 40% of Fortune 500 companies mention or refer to religion on their diversity page of their website. This suggests that more than half of our nations most powerful companies are not prioritizing religion as part of their diversity initiatives. Only 37 of Fortune 500 companies (less than 10%) offer faith-based employee resource groups to help give religious employees an official voice in the company.

A new survey commissioned by Deseret News found American workers are generally supportive of efforts to help religious employees bring their whole selves to the office. But more than a third of people of faith (38%)  including a majority (54%) of top leaders and decision-makers  said theyd kept their religion hidden at work at some point. Americans said this secrecy comes because theyre concerned about possible tension with colleagues and social exclusion.

Heres whats not secret: toxic cancel culture has a particular disdain for religious people who express and want to work in accordance with their beliefs. When companies policies effectively reduce religion to a second-class status and dont treat it equally as other protected classes, it only makes the problem worse. Woke ideology will not hesitate to destroy the careers, jobs and livelihood of religious Americans who dont conform to the popular orthodoxy.

If corporate America is truly going to live up to its ideals of diversity and inclusion, it should do better in accommodating religious employees. Many companies whove gone woke should understand that the workplace is not the wokeplace. They have a legal obligation not to discriminate against workers on the basis of religion. Under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, companies cannot retaliate against employees because of their religious perspectives.

The law states that businesses cannot discharge employees on the basis of their religious convictions. Employers must accommodate the sincerely held religious beliefs of their employees when it does not pose an undue hardship on the employer. Additionally, the law provides that employers may not create a hostile work environment on the basis of religion and must protect employees from anti-religious harassment.

(To learn more about your legal rights, we encourage you to download this free resource: Religious Liberty at Work Q&A. Additionally, you can read this important article from First Liberty attorney Becky Dummermuth titled Marketplace Q&A: What Rights Do Religious Employees Have in the Workplace?)

Woke madness is aggressively spreading across the country. Although corporations claim they are allegedly promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, there appear to be fewer safe spaces and less toleration for religion. Not only is it wrong for woke corporations to mistreat and discriminate against religious Americans, its also illegal. Americas marketplace should not be a place where people of faith are told that they need not apply. Purging the workforce of religious Americans makes a mockery of our laws and contradicts our countrys historic commitment to religious liberty. Bottom line, religious discrimination is bad business.

Originally published at First Liberty.
Hindu mob, off-duty officer attack Christian prayer gathering in India

Nearly two weeks after a mob of Hindu nationalists accompanied by an off-duty police officer physically assaulted 15 Christians gathered in a private home for prayer in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh, local police still refuse to register the victims complaints, saying they had orders not to file any case related to Christian persecution.

The mob barged into the Christian's home and launched the attack in Chhattisgarh states Sukma District at around 9 p.m. on Oct. 21, the U.K.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported this week, adding that the attackers demanded that they forsake their religion.

The off-duty officer was identified only as Kitto.

The Christians, with the help of the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum, met with the Superintendent of Police of Sukma District and the states director general of police, but the Golampalli Police Station has yet to register the complaint as of this week, CSW said.

When the victims went to file their complaints, the officer in charge of the police station allegedly verbally abused them and insulted Christianity.

Two days later, when the Christians returned to the police station to register their complaint, a police officer, identified only as Major, and Kitto allegedly beat the complainants, including women and a Christian constable from the same police station who also worked as a pastor and had been among those assaulted on Oct. 21.

The police station in charge claimed he had orders from his superiors not to register complaints in relation to attacks on Christians in the district.

On Oct. 25, three officers, including the Christian constable who was assaulted, had reportedly been suspended.

The persistent targeting of Christians by right-wing religious fundamentalists, including in their own homes, is extremely worrying, as are frequent allegations of law enforcement complicity in attacks perpetrated against religious minorities, CSWs founder and President Mervyn Thomas said.

In September, Indias Supreme Court directed eight states, including Chhattisgarh, to verify the claims of Christian groups that had filed a petition for protection after around 200 attacks were reported within the first five months of 2022.

The court said verification was needed because the federal government had maintained that claims of Christian persecution in India are based on "half-baked and self-serving facts and self-serving articles and reports  based upon mere conjecture."

The petition was filed by Archbishop Machado of the southern city of Bengaluru, the National Solidarity Forum and the Evangelical Fellowship of India, demanding an investigation into rising attacks on Christians and requesting police protection for places of worship.

Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves, who reported about 500 attacks on Christians across the country in 2021 alone, issued a formal response to the claim of the federal government led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While Christians comprise only 2.3% of India's population and Hindus comprise about 80%, several states in the country have enacted anti-conversion laws, which presume that Christians "force" or give money to Hindus to persuade them to convert to Christianity.

Radical Hindu nationalist groups frequently use anti-conversion laws to make false charges against Christians and launch attacks under the pretext of an alleged forced conversion.

The United Christian Forum reported at least 486 violent incidents of Christian persecution in 2021, calling it the "most violent year" in the country's history.

UCF attributed the high incidence of Christian persecution to "impunity," enabling mobs to "criminally threaten, physically assault people in prayer, before handing them over to the police on allegations of forcible conversions."

Police registered formal complaints in only 34 of the 486 cases, according to the UCF.
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.
South Korean Navy ship Soyang takes part in Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) International Fleet Review to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the foundation of JMSDF, at Sagami Bay off Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, Sunday. Reuters-Yonhap



Yoon takes political risks amid growing security threats from Pyongyang



By Jung Min-ho



South Korea took part in Japan's international naval fleet review for the first time since 2015 in Sagami Bay off Tokyo, Sunday, in a symbolic gesture for rapprochement amid intensifying threats from North Korea.



Soyang, a 10,000-ton logistics support ship of South Korea's Navy, was among the 18 vessels from 12 countries participating in the event to promote peace and commemorate the 70th founding anniversary of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).



As the host, Japan showcased 20 vessels to celebrate the special day with the "rising sun" flags fluttering on them.



Many Koreans view the flag as a symbol of the former colonial ruler's wartime aggression and displaying it was surely going to draw criticism here. Yet the Yoon Suk-yeol administration took the risk and made the decision as security cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo have increasingly become important against the evolving nuclear and missile threats from Pyongyang, which is now believed to be on the brink of its first nuclear weapons test since 2017.





Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) destroyer Takanami leads the JMSDF fleet during the International Fleet Review to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the JMSDF at Sagami Bay off Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, Sunday. Reuters-Yonhap



South Korea's Navy took part in Japan's multinational fleet review in 2002 and 2015, while the JMSDF joined the ceremony hosted by the South in 1998 and 2008.



But Japan refused to participate in the 2018 fleet review on Jeju Island when tensions were high between the two countries over historical and other issues, including one in which Japan accused South Korea of targeting its patrol aircraft with a fire-control radar. The South denied the claims, saying that it was not operating a STIR-180 radar, but a MW08 radar for rescue operations at the time.



The liberal opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has opposed the idea of participating in the fleet review in Japan. Speaking at Friday's meeting in the National Assembly, Rep. Kim Byung-joo and Rep. Yoon Hu-duk said the government should not join such an event until Japan apologizes for its provocative warplane operation near South Korea's border.



More of such criticism is expected in the coming days. Over the past few weeks, opposition lawmakers have condemned the Yoon administration for conducting trilateral naval drills in response to North Korea's recent military threats, saying that Japan should not be trusted as a partner especially in the area of defense.





Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) soldiers, guests and military personnel from abroad watch the International Fleet Review on the JMSDF's multi-purpose destroyers Izumo (DDH-183) during the 70th anniversary commemoration of the foundation of JMSDF, at Sagami Bay off Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, Sunday. Reuters-Yonhap
People visit the new Wall of Remembrance during a special event at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, in this July 26 file photo. Veterans of the Korean War and their families will visit South Korea this week, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs said Sunday. Reuters-Yonhap



By Jung Min-ho



A total of 114 veterans of the 1950-53 Korean War and their families will visit South Korea this week, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs said Sunday.



At the invitation of the ministry, the visitors, including 27 veterans from the United States, Britain, Canada, Turkey, Australia, the Netherlands, Colombia and France, will attend events organized to recognize their sacrifices and honor the fallen heroes during the conflict for six days, starting from Monday.



Thomas Tanaka, 95, who fought in the 1942 Second Battle of the Hook as a U.S. private first class, is the oldest visiting veteran, according to the ministry. Others include Claude Petit, 87, from Canada, Ronald Monkhouse, 91, from Australia, Talip Yigit, 91, from Turkey and Theodorus Hubertus Haver from the Netherlands.



One of the visiting family members, Johanna Radstaat, 88, is a sister of late veteran Hendrik Radstaat from the Netherlands. She plans to pay a visit to the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan, where her brother was buried. Speaking to the ministry, she said she has not forgotten him in uniform waving at his family as he was leaving for the war.



All the veterans were heroes who risked their own lives to protect the lives of a people and country they barely knew about and their noble sacrifices should never be forgotten, Minister Park Min-shik said in a statement.






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More than 117,000 people paid their respects at mourning altars set up across Seoul for the victims of the Halloween crowd crush that killed at least 156 people in the city's nightlife district of Itaewon, city government officials said Sunday.







A total of 117,619 people visited the altars set up at Seoul Plaza in front of City Hall and 25 other locations run by the ward offices through Saturday, the last day of a weeklong national mourning period for the victims of the Oct. 29 tragedy.







Of the total, 38,283 people visited the Seoul Plaza altar, city officials said.







President Yoon Suk-yeol paid his respects for six days in a row through Saturday, once at an altar set up near the Itaewon accident site and five other times at the Seoul Plaza altar.







Foreign dignitaries also paid their respects, including German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso. (Yonhap)






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Rescuers move injured people in Seoul's Itaewon district on Oct. 30. Yonhap



A police squad first arrived at the scene of the Halloween crowd crush in Seoul nearly 85 minutes after the incident erupted, police data showed Sunday.



A total of five police squads affiliated with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) were mobilized on the day of the crowd crush in Seoul's Itaewon district that killed at least 156 people, mostly those in their 20s, according to the data submitted by the SMPA to Rep. Lee Tae-won of the main opposition Democratic Party.



The No. 11 police squad first arrived at the scene at 11:40 p.m. on Oct. 29 under the instruction of Lee Im-Jae, a former chief of the Yongsan Police Station that includes the Itaewon neighborhood. The first call to the police's 112 emergency hotline was made around 10:15 p.m.



Four other squads arrived at the scene one by one, starting from 11:50 p.m. on Oct. 29 to 1:14 a.m. on Oct. 30, according to the SMPA data.






Police officers inspect the scene of the deadly crowd crush in Itaewon, Seoul, Oct. 30. Yonhap



By Lee Hyo-jin



While an intensive investigation of the massive crowd crush in Itaewon is underway, communication failures between the government's emergency-related agencies are being pointed to as one of the major reasons behind the government's inadequate response to the disaster.



At least 156 people were killed and nearly 200 were injured in the crowd crush that occurred during the Halloween festivities in Itaewon, Yongsan District in Seoul, on the night of Oct. 29.



In a recent briefing, the Ministry of Interior and Safety admitted that the government's communication network did not work properly during the crowd disaster. Dubbed "Korea safe net," the system was launched in 2021 after it was drawn up in the wake of the Sewol ferry sinking in 2014, which killed 304 people.



A total of 1.5 trillion won ($1.06 billion) was allocated to setting up the single network which enables real-time communication between eight disaster-related agencies, including the police, fire department, military and other government bodies, with the aim of coordinating a swift response among the agencies to accidents and disasters.



"Technically, every agency included in the network can make a phone call by pushing a button, but the system wasn't utilized well this time," said Kim Seong-ho, a senior official at the interior ministry.



The first calls from the public to the 112 emergency call center asking the police to control the crowd in Itaewon started coming in at 6:34 p.m., amounting eventually to 11 in total.



The first emergency call reporting that people were dying in the crowd crush was placed to 119 at 10:15 p.m. A full 86 minutes after that call, the first call was made via the inter-government agency communication network at 11:41 p.m.



"It is regretful that such an efficient system wasn't effectively utilized at the time of the disaster. There should be investigations into this," said Bang Moon-kyu, minister for government policy coordination.



Where were the senior police officers?





From left are National Police Agency Commissioner Yoon Hee-keun, Lee Im-jae, former head of Yongsan Police Station, and Superintendent Ryu Mi-jin of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. Lee and Ryu have been temporarily removed from their posts due to their poor response to the crowd crush. Courtesy of National Police Agency
President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee pray during a requiem mass at Myeongdong Cathedral, Jung District, Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap



President vows not to repeat such tragedy



By Nam Hyun-woo



With the weeklong national mourning period for victims of the Itaewon crowd crush last weekend over on Nov. 5, attention is now on how President Yoon Suk-yeol will deal with political pressure from growing criticism of the government's poor handling of the tragic incident that killed 156 people.



Over the past week, Yoon and his administration focused on mourning the deaths of the victims, the majority in their teens and 20s, taking care of those injured and investigating the cause of the tragedy, while deflecting political attacks from the opposition calling for a parliamentary investigation into the case.



Yoon visited the memorial altars set up for the victims in Seoul on a daily basis and attended religious events to offer his condolences.



"As the president who has to take responsibility for the lives and safety of the people, I feel very heartbroken and sorry," Yoon said during a Buddhist memorial service for the victims in Seoul, Friday, making his first public apology over the incident.



On Sunday, Yoon said during a meeting with his staff he cannot hide the pain and heavyheartedness he feels because the government could not protect the youth.



"Although the national mourning period is over, I, as the president, have the responsibility to prevent such a tragedy from happening again," Yoon was quoted as saying by Kim Eun-hye, his spokesperson.



"Please make every effort to make Korea a country where the loss of innocent lives does not occur again," he added.



During the mourning period, the presidential office has been trying to prevent itself from getting mired in political debates over accountability for the tragedy. Minister of Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min has been under heavy fire for his comments that the disaster could not have been prevented by the deployment of police and firefighting forces in advance, and that security forces had been dispersed due to protests in other parts of the downtown Seoul area. The ministry has been reiterating that "discovering what exactly happened during the incident should come before asking who is responsible."



The presidential office has been disclosing detailed information on Yoon's response to the incident, such as the exact timeline of Yoon getting briefed about the situation at the site. Yoon also ordered the police to reveal a transcript of emergency calls it received on Saturday night, to clarify whether the police's early response to the incident was appropriate.



As those records imply that the responses of the safety ministry and police were insufficient, calls are growing that Yoon should hold Safety Minister Lee and National Police Agency Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun responsible, while the opposition bloc is beginning to criticize the entire Yoon administration



The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has already demanded that the president replace Safety Minister Lee, Commissioner General Yoon as well as Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, whose inappropriate joke during a press conference with foreign reporters about the disaster drew fierce criticism.



Also, the DPK seeks to form a coalition with the minor opposition Justice Party to demand officially an investigation into the government, to expand its target of criticism to the entire Yoon administration.



During a press conference, Sunday, the DPK demanded that Yoon make an official apology and replace the prime minister and others who were responsible. The party also urged the ruling People Power Party to agree on the request for a probe of the government.



"News reports and investigations are finding that the president, the central and municipal governments and police are not free from their responsibility on the Itaewon disaster," the DPK said in a statement. "The government and the National Assembly are obliged to respond through thorough investigations."



DPK spokesperson An Ho-young also said the Itaewon tragedy was "a government disaster driven by the insufficient responses across the Yoon administration" and it is also "a man-made disaster" because it was triggered by the negligence and irresponsibility of the people who run the response system.



Against this backdrop, voices are also growing that the party should demand the resignation of Yoon's entire Cabinet, with former National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won saying "the members of the Cabinet and the presidential office should resign for their political and moral responsibility (in the tragedy)."



On Saturday, various civic groups each held candlelight rallies across Seoul to mourn for the victims, and in some rallies held by liberal groups, participants were holding banners and placards demanding Yoon's resignation. According to reports, 60,000 people participated in the candlelight rallies.





A person, center, holds a sign that reads "President Yoon Suk-yeol should resign" during a memorial candlelight rally for the victims of the Itaewon crowd crush at Seoul Plaza, Saturday. Yonhap
The working from home revolution has taken the career world by storm since the pandemic, with many choosing to completely overhaul their lives in favour of more flexible hours.

Moreover, the shift meant that online creators multiplied in droves, as many finally found the time and courage to pick up the camera and put pen to social media.

To celebrate the evolution, Meta has now launched the UK Creators of Tomorrow 2022, a power list of the top entrepreneurial creators across Instagram and Facebook who are inspiring Gen-Z into a radical new way of working.

Young people today are re-evaluating how work fits into their lives as they lead the way into a new internet-led career path.

Here, four of the creators have told FEMAIL all about what they learned from curating an online personality and the lessons they learned about amassing followers, keeping their ideas genuine and what they think the future looks like.

RITA BALOGUN (@msritab): 'Don't let the numbers dictate what you create.'

Rita has described building a following as 'a journey', albeit she admits she got noticed 'fairly quickly'

Rita, who creates Instagram posts featuring jokes, beauty, and general lifestyle advice, says the key is to 'be yourself and consistent'.

The creator, 32, first got into creating content on Instagram when the pandemic started.

'Comedy is something I'm passionate about and creating content is something I had always wanted to do but I was too nervous,' she said.

'However, when I saw everyone else doing it my friend convinced me to start, so it's amazing to now be recognised as a Creator of Tomorrow - life can be so intense and I feel like a bit of relatability and laughter can go a long way.'

She has described building a following as 'a journey', although Rita admits she got noticed 'fairly quickly'.

However, the influencer says it 'could've been a lot more had she been more consistent when she started'.

'When starting out its super important to try and consistently post interesting, varied content to get you spotted on the explore page and come back for more,' she said. 'With Instagram I found that the more I posted the more I was seen.'

Rita says 'authenticity' is the key in keeping her followers interested.

She said: 'Over the years I've been able to build a lovely community on my Instagram channel so that my audience finds me relatable and shares an interest in my stories and sense of humour - which is basically making fun of the things in my life which ordinarily might make me cry, but I think that's comedy!'

Speaking on advice for anyone wanting to move into online content creation, she stressed the importance of being 'yourself', and being 'consistent'.

'Don't let the numbers dictate what you create,' she said. 'The numbers will come. Be patient with yourself when it comes to figuring out what your "thing" is then work on it.'

She added: 'Keep going and don't focus on going viral, focus on building a community. And finally, do what you love, just like I did...'

Rita believes this style of working is '100 per cent' here to stay - and hasn't even peaked yet.

'I don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon and Instagram is a place where you can really be passionate about something and make a living from it,' she added.

The influencer continued: 'I think 9-5 is great if that's what you want but for the people who don't want it, platforms like Instagram are giving people an opportunity to create work that they are passionate about and matters to them, and more importantly, that doesn't fit a traditional job description.'

BEE (@beeillustrates): 'The only way to sustain yourself creatively in this industry is to create things that bring you joy to make...'

Bee, 24, admits they 'never started out with the intention of getting a following', revealing they try 'not to think about the numbers too much'

Bee, who creates stunning colourful illustrations, opens up about learning that not every piece of content they make will resonate with their audience.

The influencer's journey happened 'completely organically and accidentally', as they were studying a Ba (Hons) in Illustration at the University of Edinburgh.

'I would post bits and pieces of my art online  ranging from some personal projects to snippets of pieces I was working on for my degree,' they said.

'When the pandemic hit, I was in my final year of study and ended up using social media, especially Instagram as my primary way of connecting with people, and shared more of my art, as well as my thoughts and feelings on a range of topics  it seemed to resonate with people and unexpectedly grew into what it is today!'

Bee, 24, admits they 'never started out with the intention of getting a following', revealing they try 'not to think about the numbers too much'.

'It happened fairly slowly and steadily and then exploded all at once during Pride Month in 2020, when I was in lockdown and creating art every day as a form of escapism,; they said. 'So often it seems as though people online have amassed a huge platform overnight  but in reality, that is very rarely the case.'

Bee says they try to focus 'less on amassing a following' and more on 'sharing creativity'.

The illustrator admitted that not every piece of content they make 'resonates with their audience' - something they are 'learning to accept'.

They continued: 'I think it is so easy to focus on creating content based on what you think other people want to see, but I've found that the only way to sustain yourself creatively in this industry is to create things that bring you joy to make.

ESTELLE ALIOT (@estelle_aliot): 'I just try and experiment with new things' Estelle says while her following has been up and down for two years, she's noticed a huge growth in the last year Fashionista Estelle, whose Instagram features chic and artistic outfits, says she likes to put on 'different "characters"' when creating content. The influencer, 29, says she's always been into fashion, but it wasn't until she started putting out consistent content online that everything kicked off. 'The pandemic happened, and I started on Instagram,' she said. 'It was really nice to find a distraction and focus on something during some very dark times and naturally it grew from there.' She added: 'Five years ago if you would have told me I would be in the position I am today, working with brands I could only dream of I would have a heart attack! 'I recently came back from Milan and Paris Fashion Week where I met some lovely people and saw some amazing fashion shows. I couldn't believe I have come this far and this is only the beginning.' Estelle says while her following has been up and down for two years, she's noticed a huge growth in the last year, revealing she thinks it's down to people looking for post-lockdown style inspiration. Opening up about how she keeps people continuously interested in her content, the creator admitted she like to 'experiment'. She says: 'I like to put on different "characters" when creating my content, it makes putting together a look so fun and enjoyable for me and I think that translates in the content. (Thank-you to Amazon wigs!).' Her advice for anyone wanting to become a creator is to 'start now'. 'Don't wait for the perfect phone, video camera, background,' she said. 'Be yourself, trial new things, make mistakes, learn from them and just be consistent. Consistency is key.' Estelle urged anyone wanting to build careers online to 'have patience' and 'not put too much pressure on yourself'. Advertisement

'I find that the things that people tend to respond best to are the things I have genuinely enjoyed making. I try to carve out a digital space that resonates with my community.

'As someone who is interested in current affairs and social issues, I create content that is interesting and relevant to me, exploring my own experiences, and hope that people relate.'

Their key advice for anyone wanting to become an online creator is to 'be unapologetically and authentically yourself' and 'build on talents and interests you already have'.

'People can smell inauthenticity a mile off,' they said. 'I've found that using Instagram as a means to promote and develop your existing craft/talent/passion is a fantastic way to figure out where you fit in online spaces.

'Create the kind of content that you would want to see, that you enjoy, and that makes people feel good.

'Remind yourself that at the end of the day, it is a job like any other, and be prepared for it to be harder work than you'd initially anticipate  it really isn't all glitz and glamour and can be stressful, tedious and difficult; no matter how it may appear online!'

Bee got candid about how easy it can become to slip into working 24/7 when you're self-employed, stressing the need to remind yourself to take breaks.

'Just because you enjoy what you do doesn't mean you don't deserve to rest,' they urged.'

Bee also advises on the importance to treat content creation as a 'real' job.

'Make sure you maintain a life outside of what you put online  keep some things just for you, and make sure you have an outlet that is entirely unrelated to your online work to allow you to take some time away from it all,' they said. 'It's so important to set boundaries and working hours just like you would in any conventional workplace.'

LEO KALYAN (@leokalyan): 'Don't be afraid of experimentation - and don't believe yourself when your brain tells you: "I can't".'

Leo - one of the first openly LGBTQIA+ South Asian artists - advises that 'originality, uniqueness and individuality are within all of us - but it takes time and effort to find them'.

The 31-year-old creator says he began filming and sharing videos 'just for fun', singing Bollywood film songs and mashing them up with their favourite Pop and R&B songs.

'I saw it as a way of exploring the musical overlaps between Indian, African and Latinx music,' they said. 'It's something I've unconsciously done since childhood, and to be honest I never thought it would connect with global audiences as much as it has done.

'It proves that music is universal, we don't need to understand the words to connect with the feeling.'

Leo was able to get a following after posting Reels on Instagram, admitting they 'started to go viral pretty much immediately, and they've continued growing steadily every single day'.

'I probably had a solid following within about 10 days - which is wild to me,' he admitted.

Leo's advice for anyone looking to get into creating content online is to 'find your unique point of view and stick with it'.

'Don't be afraid of experimentation - and don't believe yourself when your brain tells you: "I can't" - because you can,' they add.

'Find your own voice: that's the hard part, I know, but don't be discouraged.

Leo (pictured) was able to get a following after posting Reels on Instagram, admitting they 'started to go viral pretty much immediately

'Originality, uniqueness and individuality are within all of us - but it takes time and effort to find them.'

Leo, who believes that 'as long as the internet exists, this style of working is here to stay' says platform like Instagram have provided people with 'endless ways of being creative and sharing their creativity'.

'It's inspiring people to pursue what they love to do in a very real, tangible way - which is exciting because we get to build our own futures and tailor our lives to suit our own individual needs, rather than the other way round.'

They added: 'I'm proud that these little experimental singing videos that I film all by myself at home have gained worldwide traction It's very humbling, and I'm hugely grateful to be recognised by Instagram for what I love to do.'
Where on earth has the time evaporated to this year? Two minutes ago it was summer and now were in November. And on our third prime minister, but who can keep up?

As social calendars get busier ahead of the festive onslaught, the pressure on our wardrobes is cranked up. Suddenly, that feeling of having nothing to wear to those drinks you agreed to go to a month ago starts to creep in. But panic not. Ive got just the style tweaks and updates to see you through

As social calendars get busier ahead of the festive onslaught, the pressure on our wardrobes is cranked up. Joanne Hegarty (pictured) details how we can style up our wardrobes for festive parties. Wearing a maxi by Raey, and a feather-cuffed top by Ukrainian brand Sleeper

Give the maxi skirt a twirl

Versatile enough to take you sleekly from desk to dinner, this skirt really comes into its own at this time of year. For example, Ill wear a black maxi with a shirt or knit tucked in plus gold jewellery and a low-heeled ankle boot to the office. If Ive got an evening commitment, I will throw on a tailored jacket, or a satin shirt and a pair of high heels.

For some great high-street maxis, try Cos, Mango and Zara  or check out Raey, which has the perfect high-waisted black wool style for winter.

Practise prelove

To stand out from the crowd, scour your favourite charity and vintage shops and also preloved online sites for that special piece nobody else will have. Last November I found a couple of real bargains on Vestiaire Collective  a sequin dress by Self-Portrait and a Gucci velvet jacket  that saw me through the party season.

Vintage fan Amal Clooney recently wore a divine, and very rare, John Galliano slip to the London premiere of husband Georges latest movie Ticket to Paradise.

Vintage fan Amal Clooney recently wore a divine, and very rare, John Galliano slip to the London premiere of husband Georges latest movie Ticket to Paradise

Try a waistcoat with nothing underneath

Worn as a top, this classic piece isnt just bang-on trend, it also looks great with a maxi (yes, that hero again) or tailored trousers. Statement earrings and heels will make it night-out ready.

The maxi skirt really comes into its own at this time of the year

For some excellent waistcoat options, try Cos and Cefinn, which has a black velvet one I really like.

Dont wear a necklace  wear lots!

Make like Gwyneth Paltrow when she recently popped up to do a wellness talk on the Goop on Sea cruise ship (yes, really) and multi-layer your necklaces over everything from knitwear to evening dresses. To pull off the look with aplomb, make sure all are slightly different lengths and some thicker than others.

STRIKE GOLD...

Joanne is loving metallic boots such as this leather pair from high street favourite Zara, 8.99 available at Zara.com

With metallic boots  guaranteed to add punch to any evening outfit. Im loving this leather pair by Zara. Boots, 89.99, zara.com

A REAL LUST HAVE

Insatiable by Daisy Buchanan (8.99, Sphere) is the story of a single woman's sexual adventures

Fancy taking a sizzler to bed? Try Insatiable by Daisy Buchanan (8.99, Sphere). But be warned: this story of a single womans sexual adventures isnt for the coy or faint-hearted.

BOUDOIR BOOST

With Google reporting an uptick in searches for feng shui bedroom the art of improving your rooms energy is back. So how exactly do you do it? Well, first up move your bed to a commanding position, add matching bedside tables, then close all drawers and doors at night. Oh, and put that screen away. Easy  sort of.

BAG-A-BING

Family-run handbag makers Charlotte Elizabeth faced closure due to Covid-related production delays but fought their way back to success

We love a success story, especially one with bags of determination. Family-run handbag makers Charlotte Elizabeth faced closure due to Covid-related production delays. Our designs were put back a year, says the brands founder Charlotte, but, finally, after a very tough fight we are thrilled our bags are out there! Bag, 340, charlottelizabeth.com
She made $100,000 in just three months and is back on her feet and thriving

She returned to a business idea she had put on the backburner and it took off

She then became 'homeless' and depressed before rebuilding her life

The Bachelor star, Tatum Hargraves, has revealed how her life crumbled in 2020

The Bachelor star Tatum Hargraves 'cried herself to sleep' for a month after becoming unemployed, homeless and having lost $62,000 in one soul-destroying week.

The 28-year-old was plunged into despair by the onset of the Covid lockdowns which forced her business to close its doors and left her in financial peril.

However, hitting rock bottom prompted her to take a risk on a business she had been keeping on the backburner - and it's now making millions.

Speaking to FEMAIL, the Melbourne-based beauty entrepreneur recounted the trauma of 2020, when she rapidly went from a very comfortable life as a cosmetic tattooist to sharing a single bed with her three-year-old nephew, wondering 'how everything went to s**t'.

'I would lay in bed crying, with my nephew stroking my arm telling me not to be sad,' she said.

And although she was 'super grateful' to her pregnant sister, her trucker husband and their two kids for making space for her in their already-cramped two-bedroom apartment it wasn't 'exactly how she envisioned life in her mid-twenties'.

'It was so surreal, sharing a single bed, and listening to my baby niece Camilla who's cot had been moved into the hallway because both bedrooms were full.'

Speaking to FEMAIL the cosmetic tattooist, who had been 'doing brows' for seven years, revealed how her 'safe' beauty job disappeared overnight

Tatum's reversal of fortune started in March 2020, when the government declared all non-essential businesses would have to close indefinitely to restrict the spread of Covid.

She went from having a six-figure salary to trawling employment websites for jobs, alongside thousands of other desperate beauty and hospitality workers.

Devastatingly, the loss of her job coincided with the closing date for her purchase of a two-bedroom, ocean view apartment she had bought off the plan.

She had put a $62,000 deposit on the property but made what she described as a 'rookie error' after failing to make sure the $600,000 settlement was 'subject to finance'.

'The banks couldn't give me any money and even my dad, who would have been happy to help me get a loan, wasn't eligible because his gym had also had to close,' she said.

'The property developers were not helpful or lenient or empathetic at all and told me if I complained they would charge me an extra $9,000 so I should just wash my hands and walk away,' she said.

Tatum's mum Selina, who is now her business partner, reminded her of the 8,000 brow kits she had in storage after failing to get the business off the ground in January, 2019

Tatum still believed in the product, which she developed for customers who weren't ready to take on permanent makeup, and realised people were stressing in lockdown over their brows

'So I lost the whole deposit and didn't fight because I was scared of losing even more money that I now didn't have, it was definitely a huge lesson.'

Unable to pay her rent, Tatum was so desperate to put the disaster behind her that she left it furnished for the next tenant.

'I went into such a panic, I have had hard times in my life but I would be lying if I said this wasn't extremely difficult. I had panic attacks and couldn't breathe when I thought about it. It was so scary,' she said.

Amid the anguish, Tatum had lost sight of the fact that she was 'sitting on a goldmine'.

Instagram influencer Amelia Webb was on of the women to show off the product 'for free' from lockdown - weeks later stock was selling fast

A year earlier Tatum had developed a DIY brow kit, aiming to capitalise on having become one of Melbourne's best known brow tattooists after seven years in the business.

'A lot of clients would come and see me but were still a bit unsure about getting their brow's tattooed, so I would send them away,' she said.

'They would ask what temporary product I would recommend to give them their desired brow without committing to a tattoo - but there wasn't really anything out there.'

She discovered a way to have such a kit manufactured to her design in Taiwan, so she invested $50,000 of her hard-earned cash into having 8,000 kits made.

But when they arrived in Melbourne in January 2019 she realised she lacked the know-how on getting the brand off the ground and attracting customers.

'I had no marketing experience and thought it would be as easy as getting an influencer to show them off, and I would sell thousands.'

In the meantime she put her energy into her day job, and piled the kits into a storage shed with no real plan of what to do with them.

Tatum soon enlisted her mum to help her in the business, and now has six full-time employees

When the pandemic came and left her unemployed and temporarily homeless, it was Tatum's mother who reminded her of the eyebrow kits in storage and encouraged her into finally getting the business going.

Tatum believed in her 'The Brow Technicians' product, so despite her dented self-confidence she listened to her mum and decided to try to get it off the ground again.

'It was great timing because people in lockdown were really starting to freak out about their brows,' she said.

'So we gave them to some influencers who were keen to do free tutorials and within a week orders were flooding in.

'One morning I woke up to $3,000 worth of orders,' she said.

Within three weeks she was give her three-year-old nephew back his bed, and moved into a rental of her own.

'I was running the business from the garage at that point and within three months I had made $100,000,' she said.

Before long, the orders were not just coming from individuals but from retailers who were keen to put her kits on their shelves.

By 2021 Tatum had found her feet again and was even invited to go on The Bachelor

'It was a busy time - I had never planned to have them in store so I didn't make the boxes with barcodes,' she said.

'So there I was sticking thousands of barcodes on boxes, and quickly selling out of stock.'

Tatum then got her mum in on the business and the pair moved to Queensland to escape the long Victorian lockdowns, spending a few months building the business 'in the sunshine'.

They ordered another 16,000 kits and their standout product has been dubbed 'Australia's fastest selling eyebrow kits'.

Tatum is now making a lot more money than she was when she just did cosmetic tattoos for a living.

'I have gone back to doing tattoos on the weekend, I really enjoy it especially because I am behind my computer all week,' she said.

She now employs six people full time, and has also found love after her ill-fated attempts on The Bachelor.

'I really had to rebuild my life from scratch, but it is better than ever,' she said.

Tatum is yet to re-enter the property market and says she is still 'a bit scared' to do so after her first disastrous attempt.

It has been two years since Tatum hit rock bottom, and she looks back on that time with bittersweet memories.

'I never would have expected to spend my nights crying in my nephew's arms, but I look back now and I am so thankful for him. He was my biggest comfort,' she said.
A television history professor has hit back at social media abuse over how she looks while presenting BBC2 show Raiders of the Lost Past.

Dr Janina Ramirez, 42, a cultural historian and broadcaster, said 'mean comments' about her on-screen appearance 'hurt' and that she didn't have access to professional stylists or makeup artists while filming the ten-part show.

The Oxford-based academic added that she was a documentary maker, not a 'studio celebrity' - and her response has received a wave of support, with many fans saying the show's content was fascinating and that it didn't matter 'what she looked like'.

Dr Ramirez, pictured while filming a show about Tutankhamun's secrets for the BBC's Raiders of the Lost Past, told detractors on social media that 'mean comments' about the way she looks on screen 'hurt'

Dr Ramirez is British but has a Polish grandfather - and has endured racist comments on Twitter. The academic says she fell in love with history at an early age after visiting old buildings throughout England

Dr Ramirez wrote how racists 'were the worst', but that she also felt that she didn't know her place in the world

Writing on Twitter, Dr Ramirez said: 'Mean comments on my on-screen appearance hurt. I'm a documentary maker, not a studio celebrity.

'I don't have a hair and make-up department but a fold-up brush and power [SIC] compact.

'I don't have wardrobe but 200 to buy multiple copies of one outfit to wear for 10 days. Context matters.'

In another post, she wrote: 'I try to keep doing what I do, but sometimes I dont know if its worth it. Im an immigrant, my appearance is wrong, Im odd.

The world is changing and I dont know where my place is in it. Racists are just the worst. Ive not really had it and now I do. It increases my empathy.'

The broadcaster went to school in Slough, Berkshire, before going to university to study first English then for a PhD on the art, literature and culture of Anglo-Saxon England.

She has previously explained on Twitter how her heritage is Polish-Irish - and she is married to a Spanish-Scot, yet she is 'British'' and tries to 'enrich this place'.

She added that 'it hurts to see micro-aggressions and xenophobia when all we are is part of a beautiful place'.

Now based at the University of Oxford, she shared some of the comments she received online.

While not clear which post referred specifically to her looks, one from a user called Solon, read: 'It's foreigners like you enjoying everything that Anglo-Saxons and Celts built, and at the same time trying to bring it all down by calling us racists. People are tired of you. Ramirez isn't a surname that belongs in England or Ireland. You know that.'

Dr Ramirez is British with Irish / Polish heritage. She says she is hurt by the micro-aggressions that she sometimes receives

The user, who hides his or her real identity, wrote that Dr Ramirez should learn how to be more feminine and submissive

The vile anonymous Twitter user said that Dr Ramirez was always 'blaming the patriarchy' and that she 'loved being the victim'

After Dr Ramirez, who has a Polish grandfather, tried to placate the user, asking if they wanted to talk, Solon wrote back: 'I think you just need a man. You need to learn how to be more feminine, cooperative and submissive.

'You aren't stupid, I don't think you believe all the woke ideology you spout. It's not too late to change Janina.'

Another of Solon's tweets read: 'You are absolute garbage. Very BBCesque. You don't belong. Go wreck your own indigenous lands and leave the British isles be.'

After Dr Ramirez, who has recently released a book Femina about women through history, shared her tweets, fans and other presenter were quick to rush to her defence.

Mary Beard, TV presenter and professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge, who has also been criticised for her looks, wrote: 'Don't let the buggers get you down.'

One fan then wrote: 'I love your programmes and your knowledge. A real skill...'

Fans told her to 'ignore the haters' and that her programmes were 'fascinating' and 'spellbindingly good'

While another wrote: 'Ignore the haters - you look fabulous and always do. Better than that, the programmes are spellbindingly good.'

One user did question why presenters had to wear the same outfits, saying it 'worried her'.

But another wrote: 'Sadly, most female presenters in your job get these comments. I've never seen anyone say anything about [historian] Michael Scott, [art critic] Alastair Sooke, Palin etc. Funny that. We all know what it is. You're brilliant at your job and we love you. And you look fine!'

Other female presenters have also come in for criticism about their looks.

In 2012, Mary Beard hit back at the late TV-reviewer AA Gill, who cruelly blasted her appearance.

In a piece for the Daily Mail, she wrote, ' He is supposed to be a television reviewer, but he said hardly anything at all about Meet The Romans, the documentary about the Roman world that Ive written and presented on BBC2. What he was interested in was my appearance.'

She said his remarks suggesting that she should be kept away from the cameras altogether and that implied she was facially disfigured were hurtful.

But Dr Beard wrote: 'It xseems a straight case of pandering to the blokeish culture that loves to decry clever women, specially ones who dont succumb to the masochism of Botox and have no interest in dyeing their hair.'

She said that crass remarks continually dog ' most intelligent women  particularly if they dare to put their head above the parapet by appearing on television'.

Scholarly: Mary pictured in Herculaneum, south west Italy presenting for one of her many BBC shows

She added: ' The real point is not what I look like, but what I do. And the response from most viewers to my programmes is that I present interesting, absorbing and enjoyable ones.

'I am gratified, too, that the BBC has always been 100 per cent supportive and not asked me to change my appearance. Im delighted to be a woman in late middle age presenting programmes on television. I hope, soon, more will join me.

'Ive been deluged with supportive messages on Twitter as well.'

She went onto say that perhaps Gill had attacked her because he was jealous of her intelligence.

She wrote: 'Even the greenest of my students would not present me with an essay as ill-argued and off the point as Gills critique.

'Possibly this is where we reach the heart of AA Gillss problem: maybe its precisely because he did not go to university that he never quite learned the rigour of intellectual argument and he thinks that he can pass off insults as wit.'

She also pointed out that Gill had also attacked Clare Balding, who also studied at Cambridge.
King Charles has been described as a 'martini guy' by Hollywood director Paul Feig.

The filmmaker, 60, who is known for his slate of comedy movies including Bridesmaids, has written a book called Cocktail Time! which features drink recipes and anecdotes about well-known figures.

Speaking about the tome to the Sunday Times, Paul revealed that he once made a martini for Charles, 73, when the royal was still the Prince of Wales.

'We are good friends with Santa Montefiore, the novelist, and her husband, Simon Sebag [Montefiore], who is close friends with Charles,' he said.

'He has known him forever and so, for my 60th, they arranged tea for me at Highgrove with Prince Charles.'

King Charles (pictured in 2018, when he was the Prince of Wales) enjoys a martini while visiting a Northumberland brewery

Hollywood director Paul Feig (pictured) has opened up about making a martini for King Charles, describing the monarch as 'a martini guy'

It was at this gathering that he made the king a drink, adding: 'If I was making a King Charles cocktail? Id put Dubonnet in there, in tribute to his mother and grandmother. And gin, definitely. So Id make a gin and Dubonnet. But Charles is a martini guy and I make good martinis. It's my superpower.'

The director and author, who owns his own gin brand called Artingstall, also shared some of his top tips for making the most of a party.

Among them, he recommended having a drink or two, describing alcohol as a 'social lubricant'.

He also suggested hanging out with women, saying that female comedy is general 'not as aggressive' as male comedy.

If all else fails, he recommends having a false moustache to hand, describing them as 'foolproof', saying 'everyone starts laughing' when you don one.

And he suggested hosts should 'match the drinks to the people', like, he said, King Charles with martinis.

Royal watchers may already have noted that the king is partial to a martini, after he enjoyed one of the tipples at 11am during a 2018 trip to a Moorland Gin distillery, as part of a two-day visit to Northumberland.

The royal appeared in good spirits as he sampled Hepple Gin during his visit to Moorland Spirit Company's Morpeth distillery in 2018

According to reports, the royal enjoyed the drink 'stirred, not shaken' during a two-day visit to Northumberland

Charles was served a neat gin shortly after 11am to give him a clear taste of the award-winning spirit, and was then handed the cocktail by Sir Walter Riddell's estate in Hepple, Coquetdale.

The native conifers, grown a few minutes' walk away from the distillery, provide the gin with its distinctive taste, as well as locally grown botanicals.

Charles drank the martini stirred, not shaken.

Meanwhile Dubonnet, which Paul Feig said he would use in a drink for the king, was a favourite of the late Queen, as well as her mother - a sweet, fortified wine blended with herbs, spices and quinine.

The Queen (pictured during a 2021 video call) was said to be very fond of Dubonnet, a sweet, fortified wine blended with herbs, spices and quinine

Queen Elizabeth's favourite cocktail was said to comprise one part gin to two parts Dubonnet, poured over two ice cubes, and topped with a slice of lemon.

At its peak in the 1960s and 1970s, 20 million bottles of Dubonnet were sold worldwide each year, thanks to the less-than-regal advertising slogan 'Do 'ave a Dubonnet'.

It fell out of fashion with the public, but has been staging a comeback in recent years.

Some 500,000 bottles of Dubonnet were sold globally in 2020, up from 350,000 during the previous 12 months.

Britain is the biggest market, but it also sells well in Canada, Australia, France and, more surprisingly, Colombia.
A British man has revealed how he fell head over heels in love with a Ukrainian refugee after seeing her picture - using Google Translate to woo her.

Luke Dickinson, 28, from Bristol, walked bride Vira Klimova, a 37-year-old accountant, down the aisle at the end of September, less than three months after they first began messaging each other using the popular internet translation site.

Mother-of-one Vira, 37, was left homeless after Russian forces invaded Odessa on February 24th, leaving the flat she shared with her 15-year-old daughter devastated.

The refugee gathered a single carrier bag full of belongings and fled with her teenage daughter.

Happy: Shopfitter Luke Dickinson, 28, from Bristol met his new bride Vira Klimova, 37, via a Facebook group earlier this year - using Google Translate to communicate (Pictured: The couple on their wedding day in September, with Vira's daughter, Karina, 15)

The couple struck up an online friendship after she fled Odessa following the Russian invasion - and she fled with her daughter Karina, 15, to Moldova before being sponsored by a host in Bristol, where she met Luke

Luke invited her on a date in July and the couple have enjoyed a whirlwind romance, getting married in September - and say they'd love a family together

The pair decided to head for Moldova and were there when shopfitter Luke got in touch via an online group. He had logged on to see if there was anything he could do to help those fleeing the war.

He explains: 'The groups were for people trying to get out of Ukraine, to England, looking for help and advice or just someone to talk to. When we got chatting Vira was already sorted and had her documents ready.

'But I'd seen her photo and I was like "Ooh hello!' So I sent her a private message."'

The pair began chatting whenever they could, sometimes setting aside an hour a day to text while Vira waited to be approved to travel to Britain.

'I didn't really think it was going to go anywhere as she was halfway across Europe,' Luke said. 'Then she said she was coming over to England.

'We had laughs and jokes, the sense of humour was perfect. Everyone always says no-one understands the English sense of humour, but she does.

Luke says Vira perfectly gets his 'English sense of humour' and the couple no longer have to use Google Translate to communicate

Vira, an accountant from Odessa, is taking English lessons, learning to drive and converting her Ukrainian accountancy qualifications so she can work in the UK

Luke says that while Vira wanted a traditional English wedding, touches of her heritage are apparent in their everyday lives - including her making him beetroot soup from her homeland

'We used Google Translate on every single message as she didn't understand any English. I really liked her, so it didn't matter.'

It took mother and daughter weeks to travel across Europe, initially driving into Moldova before making it to Budapest in Hungary and then onto Holland.

Families on the way showed the pair such kindness, the couple say, offering them places to stay and food as well as friendship for the short time they were there.

When she got to Holland, Vira was able to choose between continuing on to Australia, Canada or the UK. She had a Moldovan friend who had moved to Bristol to work and so chose the south west city as her base after he offered to be her sponsor.

Vira and Karina arrived in Britain on April 6 where she moved in with her sponsor.

She immediately began taking English lessons, learning to drive and is also converting her Ukrainian accountancy qualifications so she can work in the UK.

Luke invited her round his house on July 3, saying he was super nervous about meeting in person.

'I asked her if she fancied a drink in my hot tub as our first date,' Luke jokes. 'At this point I was thinking I fancied her but we'd see what happened, and whether anything developed.

Vira's daughter Karina is also enrolled in school in Bristol and is said to get on well with her new stepfather

The couple now hope to have children and although Vira is still living with her sponsor, she plans to move in with Luke in December

Kindness: Vira says she experienced goodwill from families who helped her and her daughter after leaving Ukraine

'By this point she spoke a little English. We'd be trying to have a conversation, it was all in English, and if she didn't understand something I'd just get Google Translate out.

'If she didn't know how to say something she'd do the same. It was a really strong initial attraction, for her as well. She stayed the night and I was late going in the next day.'

After their first date, the pair were inseparable, going on another date in Bristol that weekend. They also enjoyed trips to London and Weymouth - and Vira wanted to see Stonehenge.

Luke says he was smitten straight away. 'I knew I wanted to marry her after two weeks,' he said. 'I don't really know why, it was everything. It's a cliche but we just clicked and that was it.

'We both agreed that we both wanted to do it and do it now. We didn't want to wait.'

He popped the question on a visit to London on August 23 as they enjoyed steak at a restaurant near Tower Bridge. And Vira didn't hesitate in saying yes.

The pair married at Bristol Register Office on September 30, followed by a reception at cocktail bar the Library. Vira gave a speech in both English and Ukrainian in recognition of her homeland.

And Luke says that while she wanted a traditional English wedding, touches of her heritage are apparent in their everyday lives.

If she didn't understand something I'd just get Google Translate out. It was a really strong initial attraction, for her as well. She stayed the night and I was late going in the next day... Luke Dickinson

She loves to cook Luke borscht - a Ukrainian beetroot soup. The pair also watched the Ukrainian band that won Eurovision perform in Bristol, while Luke is learning Vira's language.

However, Luke says Vira has been upset every day about her country's sad predicament. Friends have also been killed in the conflict. He says: 'She feels upset every day about what's happening to her home. Friends have died and been injured, her home is gone.

'It's only been the last few days that she hasn't been upset because her family has now got to Poland.

'It's her hope one day that she'll be able to take me back to Ukraine and I can't wait.'

Vira has three sisters and while two are now safely in Poland with her mother, one is still living in an occupied village in Ukraine. Her two brothers were also caught by Russians at the start of the war but have since escaped.

The couple now hope to have children and although Vira is still living with her sponsor, she plans to move in with Luke in December.

Karina - whose dad died when she was little - is studying at Bristol City Academy and she and Luke get on like a house on fire. The pair hope to be able to have a second wedding back in Ukraine one day.

'She just feels lucky to be safe,' Luke adds. 'Her friends are saying it's hell over there - or worse.'

And the couple's communication? He says: 'At the moment we do half English and half Ukrainian. We don't really use Translate at all anymore.'

Vira says: 'I can't believe how lucky I am coming from a war and having to leave my home and ending up finding the one man for me. We both knew straight away we are meant to be. My friends envy me for having found my husband.'

They say their relationship is the only good thing to have come out of crazed Russian President Vladimir Putin attacking Vira's home country.

Says Luke: 'There is something good that has come out of it for us. If it hadn't happened, we'd never have met, it's as simple as that.'
Crown Princess Mary of Denmark was joined by her daughter Princess Josephine as they watched a horse race today, amid the ongoing family row over titles.

The Hubertus Hunt is an annual cross-country horse race held on the first Sunday of November in Deer Park in Klampenborg, north of Copenhagen.

Stylish Mary, 50, who has been a patron of the event since 2018, was dressed practically in a black wax jacket over a dark quilted coat, and brown tweed trousers.

She finished off the outfit with a blue felt fedora over her long locks which were smoothed into a down do.

Her make-up featured her trademark bold smokey eye, paired with a natural pink lip and dewy base.

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark (pictured, right) watched the annual Hubertus Hunt drag hunting event in Klampenborg today with her daughter Princess Josephine (pictured, left)

After the event, the royal hair awarded prizes. Here they are pictured posing with the winner of the pony race Caroline Oesterby Andersen (left) and horse Mitzi

The event (pictured) is on the first Sunday of November in Deer Park in Klampenborg, north of Copenhagen, every year

Meanwhile, Josephine, 11, donned a quilted jacket and a pair of baggy blue jeans for the outing.

Last year, the whole Danish Crown Prince family, including Mary, Crown Prince Frederik, and their four children Prince Christian, Princess Isabella and twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine made an appearance at the event outing.

However, this year, as the only royal accompanying the Crown Princess, Josephine appeared animated as she watched the riders, and was snapped waving her arms from her vantage point on the balcony of the lodge.

Ahead of watching the race from the balcony, the pair were pictured waving at spectators as they rode past in a horse-drawn carriage.

Dating back to the 1900s, the event marks the end of the Danish hunting season, with 160 hunters on horseback riding over hedges and water features across the park, tackling a 13km route. It attracts some 40,000 spectators.

It was once a real hunt but now the traditional fox and stag have been replaced by a set course for the riders in red jackets and their horses - with two leading riders wearing a fox tail on their shoulders.

Ahead of the race, the royal pair rode in a traditional horse and carriage, wacb

Last year, the whole Danish Crown Prince family attended the Hubertus Hunt, this year saw just patron Princess Mary and Josephine make an appearance

Princess Mary became patron of the Hubertus Hunt's event following the death of her father-in-law Prince Henrik in 2018.

The royal was all smiles as she posed with Thomas Kledal and his horse Arizona, the winners of the big horses category in front of the Hermitage Castle.

She also took a snap with Caroline Oesterby Andersen and her horse Mitzi, who scooped top honours in the pony category.

The Danish royal family have sparked controversy in the past over their traditional annual hunts.

In 2019, they were pictured in front of a lawn-full of slain deer on the eve of their annual hunt.

Practical: Mary wore a wax jacket over a dark quilted coat, and brown tweed trousers while Josephine donned a quilted jacket and a pair of baggy blue jeans for the outing

The 11-year-old appeared to be enjoying the spectacle, throwing up her arms and beaming as she watched

Prince Frederik of Denmark hosted the 'King's Hunt', leading an entourage of prominent guests and other members of the royal family through the Gludsted Plantation in central Jutland.

After the hunt, the prince, his wife Princess Mary, Queen Margrethe, and their guests, stood outside the Fredensborg Palace for a traditional hunting parade.

Among the images from the event is the prince walking through rows of slaughtered deer and the Queen shaking hands with the huntsmen.

According to a Danish law, the royal family are given the sole right to hunt in around one third of the country's forests.

During the ceremony, it is traditional for the yield from the hunt to be read aloud, followed by a toast to the hunters.

Some 160 riders take part in the annual event which is held on the first Sunday of November in Deer Park in Klampenborg

It was once a real hunt but now the traditional fox and stag have been replaced by a set course for the riders in red jackets and their horses

Official royal hunts in the Danish state forests take place every year during the hunting season, which run from the start of October to mid January.

Princess Mary will become Queen of Denmark when Frederik ascends to the throne, following the death or abdication of his mother.

Today's outing follows a controversial few weeks for the family, after Queen Margrethe announced her decision to strip the children of Prince Joachim - her younger son and the brother-in-law of Princess Mary - of their princely titles.

She announced that from January next year, Prince Nikolai, 23, Prince Felix, 20, Prince Henrik, 13, and Princess Athena, 10, will lose the titles.

Queen Margrethe's decision created a huge amount of conflict within the Danish family and resonated in the world press.

Prince Joachim and his family deeply and publicly disagree with her decision to strip his children's titles.

The Queen initially explained that the decision had been taken for the grandchildren's own sake.

Crown Princess Mary and Princess Josephine pose with the winner of the pony race, Caroline Oesterby Andersen (left) and her pony Mitzi

Crown Princess Mary poses with big horses winner, Thomas Kledal and his horse Arizona

But she later described in a press release that it was also about securing the future of the royal house.

She wrote: 'Carrying a royal title entails a number of obligations and tasks, which in future will be the responsibility of fewer members of the royal family.'

However, she also stated that it had made a big impression on her that her family had become upset, but still stood by her decision.

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, 54, recently spoke out publicly for the first time since the announcement was made.

Frederik said it was 'sad' to see how affected his younger brother Joachim has been by the decision.

The Danish Royal Family tree. Prince Joachim's children Nikolai, 23, Felix, 20, Henrik, 13, and Athena, 10, will all be losing their titles on January 1 2023

Queen Margrethe initially explained that the decision had been taken for her children's own sake but later said that it was also about securing the future of the royal house

But he went on to back the Queen's wishes, despite understanding his brother's position.

The Crown Prince explained to the publication that he is invested in the Danish monarchy remaining 'lean over time,' and so backed his mother's decision.

Frederik explained that she made the decision alone because it is what she wants.

He said: 'She thought now was the time to make a decision that I also support and see as the right thing to do.'

The Crown Prince did reflect on the effect that this has had to his younger brother and insisted that they had been in contact, but insisted that this was family matter ad to be kept private.
Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon talks about his live-and-study-countryside program for Seoul students during an interview with The Korea Times. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education



Seoul education chief wants students to go to countryside, gain global worldview



By Ko Dong-hwan



Wrapping up his interview with The Korea Times on Tuesday, Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon asked the reporter a favor: he wanted his story published full-page with lots of pictures showing Seoul kids enjoying their time in rural villages of Jeolla provinces with new teachers, friends and neighborhoods that are naturally well-preserved. Cho has high hopes. Having introduced a live-and-study-countryside program for elementary and middle school students in Seoul two years ago, he wants it promoted not just within the country but also outside Korea.



Cho launched the program  his brainchild  in 2021 under a partnership with the Jeollanamdo Office of Education in South Jeolla Province. After a year, he expanded the program by signing an additional partnership with North Jeolla Province's education office. With the programs having proven popular, not only among students, but also with their parents, the superintendent is now in talks with education authorities in Gangwon and North Gyeongsang provinces to expand the six month-to-one-year program further.



"We are thinking of introducing some new themes to this program," Cho said. "Like a program for kids with atopic sensitivities to make them breathe cleaner air outside the city and possibly heal the allergy. Another program can attract students interested in taekwondo and send them to Muju County in North Jeolla Province, where the martial art is deep-rooted, and earn a first-dan black belt by the end of their stay there. In Namwon in North Jeolla Province, they can also learn gugak (traditional Korean music) in this city well-known for that field."



Cho believes the program is what students in the Korean capital need especially under the ever-increasing threat of climate crisis. By living close to nature, he believes the students will learn the importance of conservation and the urgency to prevent manmade problems from further intensifying the risks of natural disasters.





Students from Cheontae Elementary School in Hwasun County, South Jeolla Province, learn about insects during an outdoor activity in September 2021. The school had 16 students from Seoul enrolled for the second semester of 2022, 13 of whom extended their stay from six months to a year. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education



"Among those in their 60s and older who were born outside cities and moved to cities to get jobs, a rising number of people have recently retired and are moving back to the countryside," Cho said. "I guess it reflects a providence of human life that people seek a natural environment to start their last chapters. So maybe kids in cities these days also need a second hometown in the countryside to return to later."



The superintendent believes the program can also solve the country's chronic population imbalance between cities and countryside areas. While Seoul and its surrounding regions are becoming more crowded, countryside regions nationwide are facing the opposite fate with diminishing populations. By sending Seoul kids and their families to various countryside regions, their satisfaction in the program and willingness to stay there longer will hopefully lead to more urban families moving out of cities and resettling in rural regions, according to Cho. Earlier this month, a Japanese delegation from the education office in Tokyo, a city which has faced the same problem, visited Cho's office to discuss the matter.









"We need a new model to show how urban and rural communities can coexist," Cho said.



The program, under which Seoul students move to a countryside school with a total student body of less than 60 children, started with 81 students in the first semester in March of 2021. As of the second semester this year, the figure has jumped to 263. Over 70 percent of the students extended their countryside stay from six months to a year, and 20 percent of the students decided to stay for longer than one year  the cutoff point for a 600,000 won ($420) per month subsidy from the education offices of Seoul and Jeolla.





Two Cheontae Elementary School students from Seoul stroll along a paddy field in September 2021. Students from Seoul can either move to the region together with their family or come alone and join a local homestay-type program. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education



"A mother from Seongdong District in Seoul who moved to Jeolla started recording online how she traveled around the countryside to discover local eateries," said Cho, who was born in the rural city of Jeongeup in North Jeolla Province and later moved to bigger cities  Jeonju and Seoul. "Some urban families make the commitment to experience rural life for even a month. Wouldn't it be fun to do it for six months or longer?"



Going 'glocal' through online discussion



Another program that Cho introduced earlier this year is called International Common Lesson, in which students engage in an online discussion with their counterparts from different countries. Like the live-and-study-countryside program, the lessons offer students a chance to experience places and people they are totally unfamiliar with and eventually learn to break out of their old, isolated perspectives.



Since last March, the program has been joined by 190 elementary to high schools with roughly half in Seoul and the other half in Japan, India, New Zealand, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and the United States. Participating students can communicate via a real-time interpretation tool or a common language, like English. And what do the children talk about? Cho says that nowadays there are many common agendas and they can share ideas about things like the climate crisis, COVID-19 and even BTS.





The live-and-study-countryside program allows Seoul students to get familiar with the environment and learn reasons why they should preserve nature. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education
The mattress in the plush grey upholstered frame is pleasingly firm, the headboard luxuriously high. At the foot is a screen, perfectly positioned for Netflix consumption in bed.

But this bed isnt for me  its for my labrador, Herbie  who might look faintly ridiculous sprawled on his own duvet but, if nothing else, will have garnered Gwyneth Paltrows approval.

Last week the actress-turned-wellness guru  a devoted dog-mum to a Maltese  included a 313 dog bed on her infamous Goop Christmas gift guide.

Interior designer Anne Haimes, founder of Anne Haimes Interiors, says spending more time at home with our pets during the pandemic increased our love and appreciation for them.

Antonia Hoyle puts designer brands to the test for dogs, from Pup-Vision Upholstered TV Bed, 515 to a Memory Foam Bolster Dog Bed, 70.90

Pets are prioritised in bedrooms, she says. Custom dog beds, complete with a frame, mattress and beddings are popular. Weve even helped to create bespoke miniature versions of the owners bed to ensure a continuation of their boudoir theme.

Herbie, however, is used to a humbler abode  his sleep station has a lumpy cushion and lopsided edges. So which dog bed will get his paw of approval?

PUP VISION FOR PAMPERED POOCHES

Pup-Vision Upholstered TV Bed (515, time4sleep.co.uk)

Why would any self-respecting pup put up with a humdrum cushion when they can sleep on a miniature human bed?

Thats the thinking behind this dinky dog TV bed, whose manufacturer has designed a king-sized human equivalent, for owners who want to match.

When I tell my husband Im making the dogs bed, he looks at me as though Im mad, but when the duvet and two pooch-sized pillows are on, Herbie happily plonks himself down on it, looking for all the world as though quality cotton bedding were his birthright.

At 80cm long, the bed, marketed as perfect for the pooch that loves a night of #PetflixandChill is spacious enough for him to stretch out on, without any danger of pesky humans hogging his space.

Theres a hidden compartment that has a twist-up clamp for owners to insert their iPad. I put on DogTV, of course (a subscription-based channel for dogs) and Herbie refuses to budge, looking more content than Ive ever seen him.

For those who can afford it, and have space, custom-made dog beds with built-in drawers or which sit under kitchen counters are very fashionable

A DOG CRATE THAT DOUBLES AS A TABLE

Wooden Dog Crate With Floor Tray (266.99, wayfair.co.uk)

For those who can afford it, and have space, custom-made dog beds with built-in drawers or which sit under kitchen counters are very fashionable. With neither the savings nor stomach to install a new kitchen, this dog crate with a classy wood frame that doubles as a table offers a more affordable alternative.

It arrives flat-packed and takes an hour to assemble. There are entrance gates on both the 97.5cm front and 59cm side, for easier access, as well as a tray that slides under the bottom to protect the carpet.

Unlike the crates we bought when Herbie was tiny, it blends in with our decor  once I have accessorised it with plants, you wouldnt know it was there.

Not that Herbie is necessarily sold  although this is designed for bigger dogs, he hasnt slept in a crate since a puppy and doesnt stay in it for long.

Better for trendy owners of young dogs, or dogs who like to feel enclosed at night.

CUSTOMISED FOAM FOR COMFORT

Memory Foam Bolster Dog Bed (from 70.90, omlet.co.uk)

Good for older dogs or those who suffer from aches or joint problems, not to mention owners who dont want to sacrifice style for care, this bed comes with a memory foam mattress that moulds to your dog to give them support as they sleep.

Theres a choice of 15 fabrics, so you can match it to your home decor, and the option of adding seven styles of feet, including wood, rails and brass, for a luxury look. The machinewashable cover zips on and off, a matching blanket is available and it comes in three sizes.

A BED TO BLEND WITH YOUR SOFA

Cecil Large Dog Bed in Oxford Blue brushed linen cotton (285, sofa.com)

Conventional sofa firms are cashing in with designs that match their couches for humans. For stylish snoozing, sofa.com allows you to match your dogs bed to your seating, offering the same choice of fabric and colours for canines as they do their owners.

The handmade bed takes four to six weeks to arrive, comes in two sizes, with a choice of oak or mahogany legs, and a removable cover that apparently stands up to muddy paws and sharp claws.

Next up, perhaps, a pups coffee table?

CALMING COCOON FOR NERVOUS PETS

Anxiety Relieving Pet Bed (from 33, mrfluffyfriend.com)

This is a bed that is made of faux fur to mimic that of a puppys mother, which reportedly reduces loneliness and nervous tension.

This machine-washable style is billed as an anti-anxiety bed by its manufacturer, likening it to sleeping on a big fluffy cloud. It also has raised edges to gently support their neck and spine.

It may look more like a dogs bed than some of its fancier rivals, but it sounds like something we humans could benefit from, too
A Queensland mum has revealed the shocking series of events that led to her almost losing her thumb after getting her nails done at her local salon.

25-year-old Beth Jozey contracted a horrific infection in her thumb and ended up in hospital, she now swears she will only wear $5 Kmart press on nails.

'I almost had my thumb amputated and now I only wear Kmart press on nails,' she said.

Scroll down for video

The 25-year-old mum took to TikTok to reveal her shocking story of nearly losing her thumb after getting her nails done due to poor hygiene standards

Ms Jozey had tried out a new nail salon in 2020 just before lockdown when she contracted the horrific infection.

The salon was 'beautiful' and 'really clean', leaving her unsuspecting to the effects of her nail treatment.

However she noted that it 'all started to go downhill' when she noticed the nail technicians were using equipment without sanitising it.

'I noticed they would grab equipment from others bays. My best friend was sitting next to me and they would use a utensil on her then immediately swap it over to me,' she said.

'I didn't think anything of it really. I just thought "okay, maybe it's fine I mean I don't know," I didn't want to be that person that was like "oh excuse me can you please wash that".

She explained that she probably would have been more aware of cleanliness following the pandemic, but as this was in 2020 she wasn't thinking as much about sanitisation.

'We weren't in the mindset as a society yet of needing to be so clean because of covid,' she said.

The mum contracted paronychia, an infection of the nail bed because her nail technician did not sanitise her equipment before using it

The following evening Ms Jozey noticed all of her nails 'really started to ache', particularly her thumb.

'On one thumb it was so painful in this once corner, it felt like it was like an ingrown nail, I couldn't even put pressure on it but I was like "they're all aching so I'll see how it goes".

She said she didn't want to over-react as 'to look at it nothing was wrong with it except it was a bit red and it really hurt'.

Ms Jozey explained that she was a new mum at the time, her daughter was only three months old.

What is paronychia and what are the symptoms? What is paronychia? * Paronychia is an infection of the nail that can occur in the finger or toe nails * It occurs after trauma, irritation or infection and is generally caused when bacteria enters the broken skin around the cuticle or nail fold, causing an infection * It can be cured by a course of antibiotics or by draining the nail of the infection * Those who are exposed to irritants, bite their nails, work with water, or have certain skin conditions are more susceptible to the infection What are the symptoms of paronychia? Pain, swelling and tenderness around the nail

Skin that is red and warm

Pus under the skin or a pus filled abscess (source: Cleveland Clinic) Advertisement

'I didn't have time to be worrying about what my nail was doing. I barely had time to get them done,' she stressed.

Her mother got a shock after noticing Ms Jozey's nail two days later, and urged her to go to the hospital.

'It wasn't until I went to pick up a mug of coffee on my mums outdoor table and I literally dropped it because the pressure of grabbing the mug on my thumb was too much,' she said.

'I've never felt anything like it. I just dropped the mug and it smashed and my mum was like "nah you gotta go to the hospital".

'I get in the car and rive myself to the hospital with my one thumb out, it was definitely not responsible driving.'

'By this point I was starting to feel sick. I've started to accept the fact that this is probably serious, and it's starting to make me feel uneasy.'

The mum was immediately admitted after the nurse in triage discovered how high her temperature was, she was immediately diagnosed with paronychia, an infection of the nail bed.

The mum revealed he had to be transferred to another hospital as the infection was so serious it couldn't be drained with a syringe.

'They did my blood count, and it came back as such a severe infection that they immediately transferred me to the other hospital for surgery then and there, to drain this thing out of my thumb,' she said.

'I went in and had the surgery and it was all good. They told me afterwards they ended up draining an absurd amount of puss and infection out of my thumb.

'They said if I had left it any longer to go to the hospital it would have gotten into my bone, into my blood stream properly and I would have ended up losing my thumb cos it would have decayed my bone.'

The surgeons told the mum that she would have lost her thumb if she left it any longer to go to the hospital as the infection was so severe it had nearly spread to her bone

The mum gave a stark warning to her followers to never let nail technicians use unclean utensils on your nails.

'Moral of this story is, I now only wear press on nails because I will not go and get my nails done ever again, not even at my favourite place, it is too sketchy,' she said.

'If you ever see, ever, them grabbing equipment from another station, you need to be like, "homegirl can you please sanitise that", because you might lose your thumb like I nearly did.'

The woman's followers were shocked at the revelation.

'You should have sued them,' one woman said.

'How are so many Aussie salons so unsanitary it drives me crazy that they get away with it,' another wrote.

'This is why I do my own nails at home! So many dodgy places these days,' another wrote.
Foodies are 'obsessed' with TikToks latest must-try recipe - an 'addictive' feta salad that's perfect for summer and simple to throw together.

The Persian Shirazi-inspired salad which takes under 10 minutes to prepare and can be eaten as a side or a dip was immediately embraced by hungry Australians.

Gold Coast foodie and home cook, Michael Finch, hopped on board with the trend and dubbed the dish the 'perfect salad for hot weather'.

This makes the timing of the viral recipe ideal - as experts predict a sudden end to Australia's recent stint of cool and rainy summers.

Gold Coast food content creator Michael Finch shared his simple recipe for the perfect summer salad

The veggie-rich salad requires finely chopped cucumber, tomato, onion and herbs. The veggies are then mixed together with lime, salt, pepper, olive oil and feta to make a tasty side salad or dip

'I have made this salad literally three times in the past three weeks, just because it's that good,' he said.

The recipe calls for chopped tomato, onion and cucumber. Michael advised leaving some skin on the cucumber for added bite.

'You're going to chop some tomatoes, and peel the cucumbers in a way that kind of leaves some skin on it,' he said.

He said the 'trick' for this salad is to finely dice all the ingredients to have 'some of everything in each bite'.

The foodie likes to use parsley and mint as the fresh herbs in this recipe, as well as lots of lime 'because it cuts through everything so well'.

He suggested adding generous amounts of black pepper and oil, but to go easy on the salt as feta is very salty.

'It's literally so addictive. It's good as a side salad or with corn chips,' Michael said about the finished product.

How to make a Persian Shiraz summer salad Ingredients

5 medium Roma tomatoes

4 Lebanese cucumbers

1/2 red onion

Bunch parsley

Bunch mint

Zest 1 lime

Juice of 2 limes

1/2 tsp salt

Black pepper

Olive oil

Feta cheese

1 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar Method * Finely chop the herbs, tomatoes and red onion, semi-peel and chop the cucumbers * Add the ingredients to a large bowl * Add the juice of two limes and the zest of one * Add salt, pepper, olive oil and red wine vinegar * Add as much feta as you like * Mix all of the ingredients together and serve as a side or with corn chips Advertisement

Michael's followers explained that the recipe is a traditional Middle Eastern dish, with the added kick of feta. Others believe it's similar to a Greek salad.

'Yummmm best salad ever!' one woman commented.

Several recommended adding sumac to the salad for an elevated taste.

Other fans advised adding quinoa to make it a whole meal.

Previously, Michael tried his hand at the viral butter board trend which he dubbed the new 'charcuterie board.'

To make the butter board Michael first spread organic butter on a plate, then added sea salt and goats cheese.

He drizzled apricot jam, dried apricots, truffle honey with macadamia nuts and edible flowers over the butter.

The foodie served the dip with sourdough bread.
Within 48 hours she was in ICU with a 50 per cent chance of survival

Paramedics assumed she was on drugs when her mother called in a panic

GP sent her home with ibuprofen when she complained of worsening symptoms

A young woman has revealed how a rash on her thigh was the beginning of a terrifying medical ordeal that wiped her memory and left her unable to read.

Details from the Easter weekend of April 2011 are a little sketchy.

But Monique Marshall remembers the fight with her mother clearly. The then 17-year-old wasn't allowed to shave above her knees and swore she hadn't.

The music-obsessed teen from the Gold Coast had enjoyed a morning out with her friends in Brisbane, hunting down records for her collection, before her mum noticed the rash.

'She pointed it out and asked why I had been shaving above my knees, I swore to her that I hadn't but my skin was covered in tiny pink dots, so it definitely looked like it, Monique, now 27, said.

Monique Marshall, 27, almost died after contracting meningococcal when she was 17 - and now as cases soar to a three-year high she is telling her story to warn others of the symptoms

Moni, pictured left, was a music-obsessed teenager and loved reading before she got the disease which left her unable to enjoy either past-time

The teenager, known to most as Moni, had a slight headache and some cold and flu symptoms, which gradually got worse as the afternoon went on.

The teenager started finding it difficult to walk, which paired with the cold-like symptoms and rash, was enough for her mum to take her to the GP.

'They told me I had scarlet fever and sent me home with ibuprofen,' Moni said.

It was an oversight that landed the teenager in ICU with a 50 per cent chance of survival.

Within 12 hours of being sent home 'to rest' by her doctor, Moni was in serious trouble.

'I was feeling so unwell and my headache was unreal. It felt like two hands were inside my skull squeezing my brain,' she said.

She decided to have a shower as running water seemed to be the only thing that would ease her pounding headache.

'I was in the shower for a long time so mum came in to see what was going on. When she got in there I was floppy and drowsy and dopey. I was struggling to stand up and made no sense at all,' Moni said.

Moni, pictured travelling in 2019, went to the doctor but was sent home 'to rest' - while paramedics later accused her of taking drugs

The rash looked like shaving rash, according to Moni, like the woman's leg in the top of this picture but was as intense as the rash around the knees by the time she got to hospital (stock image of meningococcal rash)

When the ambulance came, paramedics assumed the teenager had been taking drugs and were less than sympathetic.

But her mother, a school teacher, hit back and demanded they help her daughter.

'I remember feeling so frustrated and angry. It was the first time I had ever needed a paramedic and I was confused to why they wouldn't help me, something was clearly wrong,' Moni said.

It took a while for the paramedics to get her down the driveway and into the ambulance.

'I was super light sensitive we had to go back to the house to find sunglasses. I couldn't walk on my own and had mum on one side and a paramedic on the other,' she said.

Moni (above as a child) has no recollection of her childhood - any 'core memories' come from going back over her old photos

It wasn't until they arrived, and another paramedic recognised the symptoms, did they even consider meningococcal.

'There were no outbreaks in the area at the time, no other cases and my rash wasn't the mottled blue one that's more widely known,' Moni said.

'They did a lumbar puncture and confirmed the disease and I was raced to ICU where my mum and dad were told my odds were 50/50.

'My doctor at the hospital later said it's the type of illness you get at breakfast and then are dead by dinner. And that's exactly how fast it felt.'

Moni was well enough to be moved to a regular ward a week later. However it was there that the catastrophic damage caused by the disease was revealed.

Moni was in Year 11 when she got sick. She is pictured here in Year 12 after pushing herself to 'learn everything' including how to read and write again

'I remember asking for my iPod - I was on the kid's ward and the noise was really bothering me because I came out super sensitive - so I couldn't listen to music anyway,' she said.

'Then mum dropped off a magazine and as I was flicking through it I realised I didn't know how to read.'

Moni, who was in Year 11 when she contracted the disease, has basically no recollection of her life before the age of 15, and can only faintly remember core memories when prompted with photos.

She lost many of her motor skills and 10 years on, gets frustrated when her hands refuse to respond to her brain's signals.

'I am lucky because I can live a full life, but I still get frustrated at times. Like I will look at my hands and wonder why they aren't doing what I want them to do,' she said

'I am proud with how far I have come, in the first year I worked so hard, applied myself and had some really good teachers who, especially my English teacher, who were there for me,' she said.

Moni, who now has dyslexia from the disease, managed to improve so much by the end of the school year that she didn't have to repeat.

The 27-year-old, who lives independently on the Gold Coast, has recently finished a double diploma in paramedical skin science and plans to work in beauty.

She is sharing her story as meningococcal or bacterial meningitis cases in Australia are on the rise, and she wants people to know what to look out for.

She is now pursuing a career in beauty - but wants people to be aware of meningococcal symptoms so they can hopefully avoid the trauma she has suffered

'Some people come out much worse off than I am, I was so lucky but it has been hard and I will have challenges my whole life because of it,' she said.

'Especially now with Covid, if people get cold and flu symptoms and a headache they are more likely to stay home trying to do the right thing

'I want them to mask up, and go straight to the hospital, skip their GP, because it could save their life.'
Cara Curan needs a new heart or she might not live long enough to marry the man who stole hers.

The 38-year-old from Coffs Harbour, NSW, joined the waiting list for a transplant just over 12 months ago and has been on edge ever since for the 'miracle call' from doctors to say it is her turn.

'It's like waiting to win the lottery,' she told FEMAIL.

The former administration worker isn't sure exactly how much time she has left if she doesn't receive a transplant but doctors say it could be as little as 12 months or a few years.

Her biggest fear is not receiving a new heart in time to walk down the aisle and marry the love of her life, Pavel Bartos, in June.

'It's a difficult situation because someone's loved one needs to pass away in order for me to receive a heart,' Cara said.

Cara Curan (left) fears she will die before she marries her fiance Pavel Bartos (right) in June, 2023 if she doesn't receive a critical heart transplant

The 38-year-old (pictured) has had five heart surgeries since being diagnosed at birth with pulmonary atresia, a type of heart disease, where the right valve which controls blood flow to the lungs doesn't form properly leaving the person with half a working heart

Cara (right) wasn't expected to live long but when she was six months old doctors did a 'corrective' procedure that would ultimately give her more time

Cara has been suffering with an ongoing heart disease called pulmonary atresia since birth which has required five heart surgeries.

Pulmonary atresia is a birth defect where the right valve which controls blood flow to the lungs doesn't form properly leaving the person with half a working heart.

Doctors aren't sure what causes the disease and there's no cure.

'In the 80s the condition was rare for the time - I don't think many doctors in Australia had seen babies with it,' Cara said.

Cara (pictured as a baby after surgery) had her first heart surgery at three days old then another at six days old

Cara had her first heart surgery at three days old then another at six days old, but doctors didn't expect her to live much longer as she needed a heart and lung transplant.

Six months later she was proving physicians wrong and her mum made the life-changing decision to go ahead with a new 'corrective' procedure that would ultimately give her daughter more time.

Cara had a manmade valve placed on the right side of the heart - and to everyone's surprise, it worked perfectly.

'I was blessed with a pretty normal childhood and wasn't raised thinking I was different from anyone else despite having a huge scar down my chest,' Cara said.

'Dad always made the joke that I was just part of a "zipper club",' she said with a laugh.

Once a year, her mum would drive her to a Sydney hospital for a check-up and doctors 'couldn't explain' why she was doing so well.

Cara began falling ill again in 2005 at age 21 and required a fourth heart surgery to replace the pulmonary valve.

'After that I felt the best I had ever felt in my life; the manmade valve I had inserted when I was a baby hadn't grown so I basically had the valve of a six-month-old the whole time,' Cara said.

For the next 12 years she enjoyed life, travelled around America, met her partner in Canada, lived in New Zealand, backpacked around Asia and met her fiance's family in the Czech Republic.

Cara returned to Australia with her partner in 2017 when she started noticing 'small changes', such as tiredness, but brushed off the symptoms.

That year she had a fifth surgery - a bidirectional glenn shunt procedure - to 'redirected blood flow to lungs' and remove pressure from the right side of the heart.

Cara Curan enjoyed life after the surgeries, travelled around America (pictured at the Grand Canyon), met her partner in Canada, lived in New Zealand, backpacked around Asia and met her fiance's family in the Czech Republic

The former administration worker later started to struggle to keep food down, felt increasingly tired and bloated, and her stomach was so large it 'looked like she was nine months pregnant'

Cara's cardiologist says she needs a new heart and put her on the transplant waiting list 12 months ago so never goes anywhere that doesn't have proper phone signal, sleeps with her mobile on and can't miss a call

For the next 14 months she was in and out of hospital with symptoms the doctors missed after never fully recovering from the mammoth fifth operation.

'I woke up in ICU and knew straight away something wasn't right, but doctors were very happy with the outcome,' she said.

'I was also told to not fall pregnant because it would kill me, which I found hard to process and wish they had told me earlier,' she said, adding: 'I would've explored options like freezing my eggs earlier.'

Cara started to struggle to keep food down, felt increasingly tired and bloated, and her stomach was so large it 'looked like she was nine months pregnant'.

Her body was going into heart failure. Her stomach was filled with three litres of blood because her the heart wasn't pumping it around her body.

Cara had the blood drained and she was put into a medically-induced sorosis with doctors saying she may also need a liver transplant.

She was 'stabilised' with medication to support her organs until June 2021 but her cardiologist says she now needs a heart transplant or she will die.

Cara never goes anywhere that doesn't have proper phone signal, sleeps with her mobile on and can't miss a call.

'We plan ahead and let the hospital know if we're going away for a weekend or if we'll be somewhere with low reception,' Cara said, adding: 'In a way it's a real privilege to be on a wait list.'

What causes pulmonary atresia? What is pulmonary atresia? Pulmonary atresia is a form of heart disease in which the pulmonary valve does not form properly. It is present from birth (congenital heart disease). The pulmonary valve is an opening on the right side of the heart that regulates blood flow from the right ventricle (right side pumping chamber) to the lungs. In pulmonary atresia, the valve leaflets are fused. This causes a solid sheet of tissue to form where the valve opening should be. Normal blood flow to the lung is blocked as a result. Because of this defect, blood from the right side of the heart is restricted from reaching the lungs to pick up oxygen. Causes: As with most congenital heart diseases, there is no known cause of pulmonary atresia. The condition is linked with another type of congenital heart defect called a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). Pulmonary atresia may occur with or without a ventricular septal defect (VSD). If the person does not have a VSD, the condition is called pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum (PA/IVS).

If the person has both problems, the condition is called pulmonary atresia with VSD. This is an extreme form of tetralogy of Fallot. Source: Medline Plus Advertisement

Cara new heart needs to be the right size, shape, and tissue type but even then her body could reject the organ because of her excessively high count of antibodies.

She has not lost hope and thinks positive. She stopped working in her administration job to focus on her health and enjoy life.

Cara hopes her story will not only raise awareness about pulmonary atresia but hopes others will consider becoming organ donors.

'Living with a terminal condition doesn't define you, continue to live your life,' she said.

'And before deciding to become an organ donor, speak to your family about it so they are aware of your wishes.'

If you'd like to register to become an organ donor or are interested in finding more information, click here.
Anyone travelling on the Eurostar from London to Paris could not but be impressed by the contrast of the wonderful restoration of St Pancras and the depressing gloom of the Gare du Nord.

When Britain backs big infrastructure, from the Elizabeth Line to the New Bond Street Station, Thames Tideway and the redevelopment of the Battersea Power Station, it does so with aplomb. Yes, it must be acknowledged that the costs of these projects often are out of hand and there can be long delays in delivery. UK planning regulation, environmental standards and respect for the past slow the process.

Once delivered, the nation has created something for future generations, improved the overseas earnings capacity and provided a boost to lagging productivity.

Impressive: When Britain backs big infrastructure, from the Elizabeth Line to the Thames Tideway and the redevelopment of the Battersea Power Station, it does so with aplomb

Yet so many of these projects are vulnerable to cancellation. Without the intervention of John Prescott in the 1990s the high-speed connection of Eurostar, from London through Ashford to Dover, might never have been completed. In the 1970s the ill-fated project to build a new London Airport at Maplin, on the Thames Estuary, could have transformed Britain's capacity to be the world's entrepot. It was cancelled by austerity. The country pays heavily for short-termism and a lack of the 'can do' spirit.

Judging from the latest leaks from the Treasury star chamber, presided over by fiscally dry Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt, the next generation of capital projects is in danger. If Britain is to have a carbon neutral future it needs not just renewables and insulation but reliable power generation.

The UK's nuclear power stations are ageing and too often off-line. Many plants need to be retired. Hinkley Point in Somerset, one of the most complex pieces of engineering ever attempted, is meant to be the first of a new generation of nuclear reactors.

Sizewell C in Suffolk was intended to be next and Boris Johnson's government was determined to make it happen, in partnership with France's EDF, providing funding to make sure the project gets off the ground. It could now be terminated.

As the Treasury takes an axe to public spending it cannot resist including committed capital spend. It could place not just Sizewell but the prospects for a new fleet of Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) in jeopardy.

Not only will this threaten net-zero by 2050, it will make us more dependent on the kindness of strangers for energy supplies. The Treasury has a history of nixing nuclear ambitions. Hitachi was an enthusiastic backer of new nuclear investment in the UK at Anglesey. In 2020 the Japanese firm pulled back from the project after former chancellor Phil Hammond suspended a pledge of government backing. It appears this same cycle of pledge, announcement and cancellation could be back.

Also in the sights of the capital cost cutters are vital rail projects. Getting HS2, the high-speed link, has been a mighty heave. Nimbyism and environmental campaigners have pushed up the cost to an estimated 72billion as tunnels and viaducts have been added. Despite 15billion spent it is an easy target for budget trimmers.

Cancellation would be disastrous and the levelling up agenda sacrificed along with private sector investment. Death by further cuts  the Leeds leg is already a victim  should not be an option.
The fracking industry is exploring a mammoth legal challenge of between 500m and 1billion against the Government after it suddenly re-banned shale gas extraction last month.

Companies and other groups connected to the sector are considering launching one or multiple cases.

Liz Truss lifted a moratorium on fracking during her brief prime ministership, claiming that kickstarting Britain's shale industry could bolster the country's energy security.

Concern: The key reason the Government has turned against fracking is because it can cause minor earthquakes

The UK is estimated to be sitting on up to 50 years of shale gas deposits. But companies and investors were left furious after the moratorium was swiftly reimposed when Rishi Sunak took power, in line with a pledge in the 2019 Conservative manifesto.

If putting pressure on the Government to re-lift the ban does not work, the industry is now keen for compensation for years of investment.

A source said: 'It would almost certainly reach hundreds of millions of pounds  at least 500m and potentially as much as 1billion.'

Ministers claim that they would need new scientific evidence that fracking does not cause harm. The process involves pumping a mixture of sand, water and chemicals into the earth to crack shale rock and release trapped gas.

The key reason the Government has turned against fracking is because it can cause minor earthquakes.

Fracking is subject to more stringent requirements than many other industries. The source said: 'If the same rules applied, the UK would have no quarrying, construction or geothermal energy.'

The Mail understands the sector was drawing up a strategy with civil servants until the day before the U-turn.

Industry sources claim the plans could have seen UK-produced natural gas being supplied within two years.

The main operators are Cuadrilla, Jim Ratcliffe's Ineos, Aurora Energy Resources and the listed firms Egdon Resources and IGas, whose investors include the fund run by financier Crispin Odey.

In a statement in response to the ban, IGas said it was 'shocked and disappointed' about the decision and that it 'reserved the right to pursue any legal process available.'

A spokesman for the industry body UK Onshore Oil & Gas said 'no option' was off the table after the U-turn.
Hunter Biden's former business partner is ready to testify with thousands of new call recordings, text messages, photos, emails and documents to a congressional probe investigating the First Son  if the Republicans win the House, sources told DailyMail.com.

Whistleblower Tony Bobulinski had a front-row seat to the Biden family's deal with their Chinese government-linked business partners, and his explosive trove could expose alleged criminal activity by the First Family.

A source close to the congressional investigations shared some of Bobulinski's unseen cache of documents exclusively with DailyMail.com.

Bobulinski's evidence includes audio recordings of phone calls and meetings between partners in the Biden family's multi-million-dollar deal with Chinese oil giant CEFC, WhatsApp and WeChat text messages, emails, contracts, corporation filings and other documents.

Tony Bobulinski was Hunter Biden's business partner and had a front-row seat to the Biden family's deal with their Chinese government-linked associate. DailyMail.com can reveal that Bobulinksi is set to testify to a congressional probe investigating Hunter

Sources say Bobulinski has thousands of recordings, messages, photos and emails that could expose alleged criminal activity by the First Family, including a message where Hunter invited Bobulinski to meet Joe Biden at the Milken Institute in Los Angeles in May 2017, just as the Bidens' Chinese deal was heating up

Among the new material obtained by DailyMail.com is a group chat between Bobulinski, CEFC executive director Zang Jianjun, and interpreter Henry Zhao on the Chinese messaging app WeChat. 'Hi Tony, in the group are Director, you and me. He just asked me to convey several points,' Zhao wrote. '1. His best regards to you, Biden family and our other friends!'

The source declined to comment whether the recordings included Joe Biden, who Bobulinski has claimed was involved in the Chinese deal and even allegedly met with him twice in 2017 to discuss it with Hunter and Joe's brother Jim Biden.

Some of Bobulinski's material has already been shared publicly  but he still has a trove of unseen material.

Among the new material obtained by DailyMail.com is a group chat between Bobulinski, CEFC executive director Zang Jianjun, and interpreter Henry Zhao on the Chinese messaging app WeChat.

'Hi Tony, in the group are Director, you and me. He just asked me to convey several points,' Zhao wrote. '1. His best regards to you, Biden family and our other friends!'

Zhao then referred to $10million CEFC had promised to put into the Bidens' joint venture, $5million directly and $5million in the form of a loan to their partners.

'2. The charter capital will be remitted within 3-4 days,' he wrote. 'It may go in two batches, with the trance of 5 M. Plz rest assured.'

The texts are further confirmation that Hunter and his family were in a $10million deal with the Chinese  as noted in documents sent this month by Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson to the Delaware prosecutor investigating Hunter for alleged tax crimes, money laundering and illegal foreign lobbying.

Director Zang was a key figure in the Biden's deal with CEFC, has numerous close links to the Chinese Communist Party, traveled to Moscow with President Xi Jinping to seal an oil deal with Putin, and reported back on the deal with the Bidens to Xi, according to texts from Hunter.

Joe Biden's brother Jim was also partners with the Chinese business man who was in on a deal that earned the First Family millions of dollars. The source declined to comment whether the recordings included Joe Biden

Some of Bobulinski's text messages with Hunter, Biden confidant Rob Walker and their British partner James Gilliar have also been publicly released. In one shocking message from May 2017, Hunter indicated that Joe Biden was involved in negotiating the deal with CEFC

The First Son texted his Bobulinski in his CEFC venture in May 2017 that Zang was 'coming to be MY partner to be partners with the Bidens' and that Zang 'implied that the #1 has made that clear and available to him'

James Gilliar texted Bobulinski on July 4, 2017 that Zang was 'in Moscow with Xi'

In another previously-unseen text message, Hunter invited Bobulinski to meet Joe Biden at the Milken Institute in Los Angeles in May 2017, just as the Bidens' Chinese deal was heating up.

CEFC executive director Zang Jianjun has close links to the Chinese Communist Party and traveled to Moscow with President Xi Jinping to seal an oil deal with Vladimir Putin

'My Dad's speaking Wednesday morning at Milken. You should come meet him if you can,' the First Son wrote on May 1 2017. 'OK sounds good,' his business partner replied.

The text is further proof of Bobulinski's claims that he met with the former Vice President and discussed his Chinese business dealings  something Joe has repeatedly denied.

Bobulinski has previously shared one of his call recordings with Fox News when he first came forward in October 2020.

The audio recording, broadcast during his interview with anchor Tucker Carlson, was a short clip in which Bobulinski told another of the partners in the Chinese deal, Biden confidant Rob Walker, that he would blow the whistle if the Bidens didn't come clean.

'If he doesn't come out on record I am providing the facts,' Bobulinski said in the recording. 'Tony, you're just going to bury all of us, man,' Walker replied.

Some of Bobulinski's text messages with Hunter, Walker and their British partner James Gilliar have also been publicly released.

In one shocking message from May 2017, Hunter indicated that Joe Biden was involved in negotiating the deal with CEFC.

'In light of the fact we are at an impasse of sorts, and both James' lawyers and my Chairman gave an emphatic NO- I think we should all meet in Romania on Tuesday next week,' he wrote.

Walker then texted Bobulinski on the side: 'When he said his chairman he was talking about his dad'.

In another text to the businessman Gilliar wrote: 'Don't mention Joe being involved, it's only when u are face to face, I know u know that but they are paranoid.'

Republicans have been eager to point out to voters that they will only gain the power to subpoena documents and haul reluctant witnesses in for questioning under oath if they gain control of the House in the elections next month.

The ranking GOP member of the Oversight Committee James Comer has told DailyMail.com he is ready to launch a scorched-earth probe into the Biden's business dealings in the following months.

The prospect of a congressional probe with teeth may also spur greater action by the federal criminal investigation into Hunter Biden, which Republicans claim has been lackluster.

Delaware prosecutor David Weis now has access to a wealth of records on which to build a criminal case against Hunter

Weiss has the opportunity to subpoena Bobulinski for the thousands of messages, audio recordings, photos and documents he holds  though Bobulinski told Fox News that Weiss has inexplicably failed to do so

David Weiss, the Delaware prosecutor who reportedly is close to charging Hunter with tax crimes after a four-year investigation, now has access to a wealth of records on which to build a criminal case.

That case could include allegations of money laundering, illegal foreign lobbying and gun crimes  and could even embroil President Joe Biden.

Hunter's laptop containing 154,000 emails, 103,000 text messages, more than 2,000 photos and thousands of documents has been in the possession of the FBI since December 2019, according to a subpoena of the owner of a Delaware computer store where the First Son abandoned the device.

Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson assembled hundreds of pages of bank documents during their investigation and over 150 suspicious activity reports involving the Bidens filed by banks to the Treasury Department.

The senators sent the documents to Weiss this week, testily noting: 'If you are conducting a full and complete investigation, you should already possess these records.'

The attorney for Hunter's baby-momma Lunden Roberts says he handed over to the feds Hunter's financial documents obtained in discovery after Roberts' sued the absentee father for child support in Arkansas in 2019.

Voluminous emails and documents involving Hunter were turned over to prosecutors during the trials of his former business partners Devon Archer (his erstwhile best friend) and Bevan Cooney.

And prosecutor David Weiss has the opportunity to subpoena Bobulinski for the thousands of messages, audio recordings, photos and documents he holds  though Bobulinski told Fox News that Weiss has inexplicably failed to do so.
In the long and not-so-illustrious catalogue of boozy tomfoolery at the Melbourne Cup, Sarah Finn's decision to push a cop into a bush at the 2015 event is up there with the best remembered.

The then 24-year-old became a global viral hit when as 'the woman in the short blue dress', she marched up to acting superintendent Steven Cooper in her black stilettos and pushed him into a juniperus conifer while he was on the phone at 4.30pm.

Superintendent Cooper had, ironically, been preparing for a media conference to praise the behaviour of the 94,000-strong crowd at the event.

Before the attack, Finn even asked waiting media: 'What do I have to do to get on the news?'

The digital marketer then used both hands to shove the cop into the bush - all captured on camera and quickly shared across the planet.

Sarah Finn calmly walked over to Acting Superintendent Steven Cooper as he prepared a press statement

Finn then suddenly pushed him over in front of the TV cameras, sending him flailing onto his back as helpless bystanders watched on aghast

Superintendent Cooper escaped uninjured with only his pride bruised, saying: 'I'm copping it from mates all over the world.'

'I thought she was one of the journalists approaching me and next thing I know she's knocked me over.

'Unfortunately instead of giving the news I ended up making the news.'

Finn's lawyer, Anthony Brand, told Melbourne Magistrates Court his client been 'slightly tipsy' but had been 'fraternising' with police in a 'jovial' way prior to the incident.

Indeed, she had posted a picture to a Facebook group she was a member of called 'I Do What I Wanna' on a police motorbike holding four packets of Red Rock Deli chips in the leadup to the pushover.

She was fined $800, plus $117 in costs and $150 for the officer's broken glasses with a court hearing she had 'poor impulse control' and suffered from anxiety.

Fining Finn, Magistrate Megan Aumair told her: 'I accept it was not malicious.

'I accept that it was reckless and stupid but you meant no harm.'

Finn posted this picture of her clutching four packets of chips to the 'I Do What I Wanna Do' Facebook group before pushing Superintendent Cooper

Finn, then 24, sheepishly turned and looked back at the media before she was swiftly arrested and later fined $800 for the shocking assault

Finn already a lengthy list of prior offences before her 2015 brush with the law, charged with car theft in 2011 before facing multiple drug-related charges and driving offences in 2013, including drug trafficking.

The charges were later downgraded in 2015 to dealing with the proceeds of crime and possessing a weapon, which saw her convicted and fined $700.

Seven years on, Finn has certainly managed to stay out of the limelight, but hasn't been able to stay out of court, with a string of drug and driving-related charges to her name.

She was back in court in 2017 on more drug possession charges, which earned her a $750 fine. She was also hit with multiple toll evasion driving offences in 2017-18.

Those charges were later dismissed under the special circumstances program, but she was back in the dock in 2019 for failing to provide an oral sample to police and was banned from driving for two years and fined $1,000.

She was then caught driving without a licence in 2019 and fined a further $150 - and is facing yet more driving offence charges.

Finn appears on social media as Sarsy Bear or Sarsy Bearsy. Her rare public posts include the odd selfie and some more bizarre shots.

Finn revealed a holiday snap from three years ago on a Facebook story feed in a rare insight into her life after her infamous brush with the law in 2015

Most of Finn's appearances on social media these days are mainly through pics on the feeds of her friends in Melbourne

One pic shows her posing in a carnival sideshow-type cage called 'Down With Clowns' while holding two balls, apparently inviting people to take potshots at her.

Another appears similar to the promotional poster for the 90s arthouse movie Being John Malkovich, with her pouting headshot repeated dozens of times.

The tagline for the 1999 Spike Jonze comedy, starring John Cusack and Cameron Diaz, was: 'Ever wanted to be someone else?'

In another Finn, now 31, poses with a pal in what appears to be a cracked mirror.

Most of her appearances now online are mainly through her friends' feeds, with a series of pictures posted when she's caught up with mates in Melbourne.

Finn's most recent public post was of her legs as she sunbaked on a tropical beach, captioned: 'Take me back...' and adding: 'No beach like that in Melbourne.'

A post from far warmer climes than Melbourne, which she captioned: 'Take me back'

Finn no longer seems to be a member of the I Do What I Wanna Do Facebook group but now follows the Booze/drug Bus & Police Locations Around Melbourne page

Sarah Finn was charged with car theft in 2011 before facing multiple drug-related charges and driving offences in 2013, including drug trafficking

One pic shows her posing in a carnival sideshow-type cage called Down With The Clowns while holding two balls, apparently inviting people to take potshots at her

Another appears similar to the promotional poster for the 90s arthouse movie Being John Malkovich, with her headshot repeated dozens of time.
The Andrews government is at almost unbackable odds to be returned to power in Victoria - but there is one person who would certainly wager against them.

Former Liberal premier Jeff Kennett.

That's because his government was also a 'surefire' thing to cruise to victory and claim, like the Andrews government, a third term in 1999 before an incredible series of events saw them lose power.

Mr Kennett told Daily Mail Australia that with the bookies having Labor at an unbackable $1.05 to win a third term on November 26th - and the Liberals paying a whopping $10 - he'd be game for a punt.

That's despite the Liberal-National coalition headed by Matthew Guy requiring a staggering 18 seats to win government. In the Victoria's 88 seat parliament, Labor holds 55, and the Liberal-Nationals just 27.

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett (pictured) said that although the Andrews government is expected to romp back into power in the upcoming state election he could see some similarities to the 1999 poll, which was a shock loss for the Coalition

'I always have a flutter on those sorts of odds,' he said, noting he had put money on two 'roughies' that got up in Tuesday's Melbourne Cup.

While accepting that the polls had consistently shown the government of Dan Andrews as being on track for a win, Mr Kennett said his reading of the public mood is there were many with 'no love for this government'.

'Does the polling mean there are people out there who are sick and tired of his authoritarian behaviour, failure to accept responsibility, failure of some of our services, escalation of our debt that are not saying anything?' he asked.

'Or are the public saying 'we want more of this sort of life?' I don't know.'

In 1999 the bookies were so sure of Mr Kennett getting a third term as premier they were only paying just $1.10.

According to the polls and bookies Victorian Premier Dan Andrews is sitting pretty to be returned to office for a third term

On the Monday before the 1999 election Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper ran a poll predicting the Kennett government would be returned with an increased majority of six per cent.

'I called the media together in to my offices and I held the paper up and I said 'this is ridiculous'  it's the sort of thing that will see us defeated,' Mr Kennett said.

'It will encourage people who think we've moved too fast, where the reforms have been too overwhelming, and they'll give us a kick in the pants.

'The media broke down in laughter. They just couldn't imagine Labor winning.

'Everyone was laughing so much I had to bite the inside of my cheeks not to laugh with them.'

In 1999 Mr Kennett (pictured) said his government was such a 'sure-thing' to be returned that when he told the media there was a chance they would lose the journalist 'burst out laughing'

In 2022, the polls are again predicting a whopping win for the incumbent government.

Just like the Kennett government of 1999, Andrews also has a healthy majority of seats to act as a buffer against all but the biggest of swings.

Mr Kennett admitted it would be a 'massive challenge' for opposition leader Matthew Guy and the Coalition parties to pull off a shock win.

'They have fundamentally got to win 18 seats, which is a huge ask,' Mr Kennett said.

'The Greens and the Labor party are going to exchange preferences, so a Green victory is ultimately a Labor vote.

'Those who are using the Teals colours also invariably support Labor.'

After Covid escaped from Victoria's hotel quarantine the state went into a draconian hard lockdown (pictured Victorian police ready to deal with an anti-lockdown protest at Melbourne's Queen Victoria Markets in September 2020)

However, one parallel he did see was anger outside the Melbourne metropolitan area, a factor which played a huge part in his own government's demise.

'I think the regions are very anti-Labor this time because they were locked down when they had no Covid and they are furious,' Mr Kennett said.

'The regions are suffering as their road ways and communities and communication avenues are breaking down, not only potholes, but the shoulders of the roads are becoming dangerous.

'What has happened here is the government has borrowed money and the money is being spent on infrastructure in the metropolitan area, not in rural Victoria.'

Mr Kennett believes there was also substantial anti-Labor sentiment in Melbourne's west, which traditionally has been a stronghold for the ALP and to a lesser extent in the city's eastern suburbs.

Mr Kennett believes Labor's attempt to 'demonise' opposition leader Matthew Guy (pictured centre) shows they are worried about a silent majority who have 'had a gutful' of the Andrews government

'In the city the public are increasingly concerned about the quality of their health services,' Mr Kennett said.

'That Daniel (Andrews) is now promising new hospitals and new money for ambulances after they have been in office for eight years is an indication his priority has not been to provide for the quality health, education and roads.'

Mr Kennett believes that far from looking confident, Labor was showing signs of concern.

'The Labor Party are throwing a huge amount of money at this campaign and trying to demonise Matthew Guy  they are only doing that for one reason  they are worried,' he said.

'They are worried about that silent majority who have just had a gutful and want change.

The Andrews government has run up a massive government debt on multiple big infrastructure projects (pictured Mr Andrews at a media conference in June 2021)

'Even now in the election period they are using 30 or 40 people in their social media unit who will be attacking anyone who has a different view from them.

'They have 30 or 40 addresses  it's immoral and they are getting away with it.'

Some have pointed to the similarities between Mr Kennett and Mr Andrews, both of whom have dominating personalities and are seen as polarising figures.

Mr Kennett said the 'great difference' between him and Mr Andrews is that he worked with a team of people, while Mr Andrews is 'one-man show'.

'He runs it his way to his sense of values that are not the values of the community,' Mr Kennett said.

Victoria's floundering ambulance response times and deteriorating health system are seen as a major black mark against the Andrews government (pictured a paramedic and patient outside Melbourne's St Vincent's hospital)

'I am not opposed to strong leadership  as long as it is applied well and as long as you understand in the council of many there is safety.

'Where you have an individual who sets themselves above the rest and believes that they and they alone know what's right for a community there is danger.'

Mr Kennett accused the media of giving Mr Andrews a soft run especially over the bungled hotel quarantine that led to 800 deaths in Victoria and 262 days of lockdown.

The later Coates Inquiry into the debacle essentially pinned the blame on nobody.

'For the last eight years the government have put around them a collection of journalists who in my opinion are not independent as they should be in pursuing issues,' Mr Kennett said.

'Imagine if I had been the premier whose administration presided over 800 deaths. Do you not think the media would have eaten me alive?'.

Former Victorian premier Steve Bracks found himself unexpectedly in power after the 1999 election

'But not only did they not pursue this government, the ministers got up at that low-key inquiry and said 'we can't remember'.

It was in my opinion unforgiveable, it was disrespectful to the community, and disrespectful to the practice to the Westminster system.'

If Mr Andrews is returned to power Victoria faced a rocky road, Mr Kennett predicted.

The state is on track to have more debt than NSW, Queensland and Tasmania combined, mostly because of a series of big infrastructure projects.

'The size of this debt will continue to grow because all these projects have to finished,' Mr Kennett said.

'He will have to increase taxes substantially just to stop the growth in the annual deficit of the budget and the size of the debt.

'People are now leaving the state and there is no doubt if he is elected again, more will leave.

'He will be further emboldened by the fact that he has won and that means his disrespect for us as citizens will be even greater.'

Mr Kennett said he was happy to be judged on the results of his time in office, as he left a 'vibrant state' to his successor

Mr Kennett admitted he was a polarising figure and said his opponents played politics 'very hard'.

'I'm blamed for the weather,' said with a hearty laugh.

The former premier said he was very happy to be judged on results and had left the incoming government of Steve Bracks a 'vibrant state' that people were flocking to.

Mr Kennett also admitted he didn't personally dislike Mr Andrews and said he appreciated strong leadership.

However, he didn't believe Mr Andrews had used his position of dominance well.

'I would have thought much more of him if he used his authority to deliver positive outcomes,' he said.

'He's been premier for eight years and health minister for six years before and so ignored the needs of the system he didn't provide for the community you were elected to serve.

'Health is a fundamental issue of government and he has failed.'
By Ayya Lmahamad

November 5 marks the 25th anniversary of the first oil production from the offshore Chirag platform, the first platform of Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) to start production of oil, bp Azerbaijan told Azernews.

According to the decree, signed by the National Leader Heydar Aliyev on October 27, 1997, the official celebration of this important milestone took place on November 12, 1997.

"The commencement of production under the countrys first-ever Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) for the joint development of the ACG fields in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea was a historical date which marked the beginning of the implementation of the countrys independent oil strategy. The start-up of ACGs production from the Chirag platform, which was built by SOCAR before the PSA was signed, was quite symbolic in itself. It also highlighted the fact that reliable partnership and favorable cooperation are the two key factors behind all the ACG's successes," bp Azerbaijan stated.

To date, the Chirag platform has produced a total of about 766 million barrels or 103 million tonnes of oil, which makes up about a fifth of ACG's total production.

The platform was originally intended to operate for only seven years.

"However, thanks to the excellent performance, high-quality professional knowledge, technological skills, and commitment of the platform team, Chirag still continues to operate to the highest international safety, operational efficiency, and reliability standards along with the other new ACG platforms and will continue to deliver for many years to come," the statement reads.

bp, as operator of ACG, has since built five additional production platforms and continues to operate them safely and reliably. To date, these platforms have produced more than 3.4 billion barrels or about 460 million tonnes of oil, including Chirag with 4,2 billion barrels or 562 million tonnes.

"The day first oil was produced from the Chirag platform in November 1997 is symbolic as it marks the start of Azerbaijan's new oil strategy. Production from ACG started from this platform, which was the only source of production and export from the field until the larger and more modern platforms became online in 2005. Today, Chirag continues to deliver as one of ACGs six production platforms and will remain as such for a long time. We are proud that all 60 bp employees currently working on the 25-year-old Chirag are world-class national specialists, and that both rotating managers of the platform are Azerbaijani nationals," bp's Vice President production, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkiye region Elkhan Mammadov said.

The oil produced from ACG is mainly exported to world markets via the Baku- Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline.

Note that the BTC pipeline is a complex engineering project designed as an export route to link Azerbaijan directly with world markets. To date, about 3.9 billion barrels of crude oil have been transported through the BTC pipeline from Azerbaijan, loaded on 5,163 tankers, and sent to world markets.
Two German luxury auto brands compete hard for top spot in 2022



By Baek Byung-yeul





Han Sang-yun, CEO of BMW Korea / Yonhap

Mercedes-Benz and BMW are fiercely competing for the most-selling overseas car brand title in the Korean market. To make the year 2022 their year, the two brands said Sunday that they will focus on launching new models that are more luxurious with better performance.



According to recent data released by the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA), Mercedes-Benz sold 7,717 cars to top the list in October, followed by BMW with 6,754.



Mercedes-Benz seems to have surpassed BMW, but things are different when considered on a yearly basis as BMW sold 64,504 from January to October, slightly more than Mercedes-Benz with 63,791. In percentage terms, BMW and Mercedes-Benz had similar market shares of 28.6 percent and 28.3 percent, respectively.



When asked about their sales target for the last two months of the year, both officials from the two German luxury brands didn't share the specific figure, but answered that they are scheduled to launch high-priced models to attract luxury car buyers.





Thomas Klein, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Korea / Yonhap

"Our primary goal is to deliver more value to our customers. In line with that goal, the S-Class luxury sedan has been loved by Korean consumers a lot this year and the E-Class sedan also performed great. In addition, we are also scheduled to launch the Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 before the end of this year," a Mercedes Benz Korea spokesman said.



"Throughout this year, we have tried to minimize supply disruption issues. If you take a look at our monthly sales records, we didn't have a bumpy record of selling a lot in some months and selling less in some months. These numbers prove that we have been stably supplying our cars to our customers," a BMW Korea spokesman said adding that the company will launch its new 7 Series model as well as the BMW i7, an electric car version of the 7 Series, at the end of this year.



It remains to be seen whether BMW can overtake Mercedes-Benz in terms of the best-selling overseas car brand.





The EQS electric car by Mercedes-Benz / Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Korea



Though BMW had been the top in the Korean market for seven straight years from 2009 to 2015, Mercedes-Benz took over the spot in 2016 and dominated the country's imported car market for six consecutive years until last year, mainly thanks to the soaring popularity of its E-Class sedan.





BMW's electric SUV iX / Courtesy of BMW Korea
Kari Lake celebrated being on the minds of celebrity Democratic politicians like Barack Obama  but said she had a 'tinge of fear' when she earned the attention of Hillary Clinton and joked she might disappear.

The GOP Arizona gubernatorial candidate pulled out the big guns by bringing along some surprise guests to the rally four days before Election Day, including pro-Trump Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri and GOP Senatorial candidate Blake Masters.

Lake, 53, tore into her Democratic rival Katie Hobbs, the current Arizona Secretary of State, for refusing to debate her, claiming it was a way of dodging her 'job interview' for governor.

'Maybe she's afraid,' Lake told a crowd of more than 200 supporters gathered at the Arrowhead Country Club on Friday evening in Glendale, Arizona  about 25-miles outside of Phoenix. 'I don't care if she disrespects me. I do care that she disrespects you and the people of Arizona.'

'It's a job interview,' the former broadcast journalist said of political debates. 'And if you don't show up for a job interview, you don't get the job.'

Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake celebrated with a room of more than 200 supporters Friday night  claiming that her campaign scares top Democrat stars like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton

The broadcast journalist turned Republican candidate spoke with supporters at the Arrowhead Country Club in Glendale, Arizona on Friday  just four days before the midterm elections

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs fell in the polls against Lake in recent weeks and is now trailing the GOP candidate to take retiring Governor Doug Ducey's place in the Governor's Mansion

Hawley, somewhat of a celebrity among the pro-Trump arm of the Republican Party, helped make the final argument for Lake's election to Arizona's Governor's Mansion.

But Lake joked that she wouldn't make it there if the Clintons had anything to say about it.

Masters, during his remarks before Lake's appearance, said that he is going to send Senator and former astronaut Mark Kelly 'back to space in four days.'

Both Masters and Lake started way behind their Democratic opponents in polling, but were able to gain significant ground in the month before Election Day.

Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley made an unannounced appearance at the rally for Lake on Friday evening

Ahead of a flurry of GOP politicians taking the stage, Lake supporters filtered into the room and songs played that, in part, mirrored former President Donald Trump's rally playlist.

Lake told the energetic crowd that she was shocked to have earned the attention of big name Democrats like former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State and twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

'Why would you vote for somebody who you know is not telling the truth about something?' Obama said this week when speaking about the GOP candidates in Arizona.

'I mean, on something that important. I don't care how nicely they say it. I don't care how poised they are or how well-lit they are,' he said in referencing Lake's decades of television experience and the production value of her campaign.

'Yesterday was really one of those  kind of a 'pinch me' day. Guess who came out and attacked me? Barack Obama!' Lake said to the crowd.

'He was talking about me and it's so funny  I'm living rent free in Obama's head,' Lake reflected.

'I didn't actually listen to the speech until today and I'm like, 'Wow, I'm really living rent free.' He went on and on. And he had nothing to attack us on,' she said, claiming that Obama's best attack against her is that she has 'good lighting.'

'That's how desperate they are,' she dismissed.

Lake is facing off with current Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who dipped in the polls after refusing to debate her Republican rival

Earlier in the day on Friday, Lake visited the U.S.-Mexico border in Sierra Vista, Arizona

Lake told her supporters, however, that being on the Clintons' radar is the last thing she wants.

She even suggested Friday evening that if she disappears or randomly turns up dead, people should look to the former first couple as the main suspects.

'There was a little twinge of fear when Hillary Clinton started talking about me,' Lake admitted.

She then went on to list that she's in great health, recently had her car brakes served and is not suicidal.

'When Obama was attacking me, I laughed. I laughed when Liz Cheney came in and attacked me But one thing did scare me  yesterday I heard Hillary Clinton talking about me,' Lake recalled.

'I just want everyone to know I'm in perfect health,' she said to roars of laughter. 'We recently had our car serviced and our brakes are in perfect working condition. And I am not suicidal.'

Despite the suggestion of fear, getting under Democrats' skin is exactly what Lake says the GOP needs to do.

Hawley, whose appearance at the rally was a surprise to attendees, said that Democrats are 'right' when they say the U.S. is 'broken', and claimed Republicans are the ones who are going to fix it.

A FiveThirtyEight polling average showed Lake trailing her Democratic rival Katie Hobbs for months until a flip in early October. This was around the time that Hobbs doubled-down on her refusal to debate Lake before the November 8 midterm elections.
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A Maryland man allegedly killed his ex-girlfriend, two of her family members and another man inside the family's home before fatally shooting himself, authorities said Saturday.

Andre Sales, 28, is accused of entering the home and killing 21-year-old Sara Mann; her brother, Kai Mann, 18; their mother, Sommaly Mann, 48; and a family friend, Jovon Watson, 23, of White Plains.

Sales, who lived at a different residence, then shot himself. The gun was later recovered, according to the sheriff's office. The five deceased individuals were found inside the La Plata residence Friday afternoon by Darin Mann, Sommaly's ex-husband, after he came back from work.

Two young children - Sales' kids with Sara Mann, 2-year-old Gaylin and Wesley, not yet one - were initially unaccounted for but located a short time later unharmed at a different location, the sheriff's office said.

Andre Sales, 28, is accused of entering the home and killing ex-girlfriend, 21-year-old Sara Mann (pictured left); her brother, Kai Mann, 18 (pictured right); their mother, Sommaly Mann, 48 (pictured center); and a family friend

Jovon Watson, 23, of White Plains, was also found dead in the home

Siblings Sara Mann (pictured left) and Kai Mann (pictured right) were both found dead

The five deceased individuals were found inside the La Plata residence Friday, about 30 miles south of Washington, D.C.

Police investigate outside the La Plata home, where the murders took place

Two young children - Sales' kids with Sara Mann, 2-year-old Gaylin and Wesley, not yet one - were initially unaccounted for but were found a short time later unharmed

The Charles County Sheriff's Office originally said the victims were all shot but later said some had been stabbed.

Sales had a record that included a domestic violence charge in April 2021, but the charges were dismissed when the petitioner failed to appear, according to WTOP. Court records show an unidentified person had gotten a restraining order against Sales in April 2021.

Mann, who arrived home to discover his family killed, worked in home improvement. Sommaly, who also went by 'Sunny,' is originally from Laos, according to her Facebook page.

The house - which is worth an estimated $745,000 on Zillow - is in La Plata, about 35 miles south of Washington, D.C.

Neighbors had left several bouquets of flowers on the front step of the home, according to the Washington Post. The neighborhood features several two-story brick-and-siding homes.

A resident described the neighborhood as a place where 'nothing ever happens' and didn't seem suspicious that anyone living in the Mann's home would be involved in such a tragedy.

But at least one neighbor told 7News that they'd witnessed 'physical arguments' between Sales and Sara Mann, as well as between Sales and Sara's father, Darin.

A GoFundMe has been started: 'In their loving memories and will help the family to pay for the funeral costs for Sunny, Sarah, and Kai. Any remaining funds, if any, will go toward the education and related costs for the two beautiful young children'

Darin Mann, Sommaly's ex-husband, came home to discover them all murdered

Investigators and forensic personnel were still processing evidence Saturday and interviewing family and friends to establish a motive, the news release said.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore will perform autopsies to confirm the cause of death for each person.

A GoFundMe has been started: 'In their loving memories and will help the family to pay for the funeral costs for Sunny, Sarah, and Kai. Any remaining funds, if any, will go toward the education and related costs for the two beautiful young children.'
A coroner will investigate a possible homicide after a newborn baby was found dead in a Coles bag.

The baby's mother was an Indian woman in Australia on a student visa, who said she was 'surprised' to find out she had been pregnant.

Though police have not charged anyone, Victorian coroner Katherine Lorenz was satisfied the baby was alive at birth and will investigate the cause of death.

Forensic examinations found the baby, referred to as Baby K, was between 37 and 38 weeks' gestation at death, an inquest heard.

The student bought laxatives from a pharmacy in the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne North on May 28, 2021, after a few days of constipation and stomach pain.

The baby's mother was an Indian woman in Australia on a student visa, who said she was 'surprised' to find out she had been pregnant. Pictured is a stock image of a young woman who is distressed

Two days later, on May 30, the woman went to the bathroom of her rented Clyde North house, 46km from Melbourne's CBD, and 'passed a volume of blood'.

She asked her boyfriend to bring a bag to put her dirty clothes into, the Herald Sun reported.

He brought her a plastic Coles bag and she put her clothes into it, then cleaned herself up in the bath.

The Coroners Court inquest heard that the young woman then felt 'weak' and rested for a while before cleaning the bathroom and disposing of the Coles bag.

She reportedly did not recall where she had put the bag, the inquest heard.

When a housemate returned from work at around 4pm on May 30, they were concerned for the student's condition and suggested she go to a hospital.

Medical staff said she 'appeared surprised' when they told her she was fully dilated and appeared to have just given birth.

The woman had surgery to remove the placenta and the authorities were notified.

When police and ambulance officers went to her house a few hours later, just after midnight on May 31, they could not find a baby.

But at about 11.30am, a neighbour contacted police, having found the Coles bag in their backyard.

Inside the bag was Baby K, 600ml of blood, blood-soaked slippers, sanitary pads, and toilet paper.

'While it was not possible to determine with a high degree of certainty if Baby K was born alive or deceased, the findings of aerated lungs and gastric gas were highly suggestive of a live birth,' the inquest heard.

The baby's body was found in a Coles bag. Pictured is a stock image of a Coles plastic bag

It also appeared no effort was made to resuscitate Baby K, the inquest heard.

A DNA test found the newborn was the biological child of the woman and a previous partner.

The student, her then-partner and her housemates denied any knowledge of her being pregnant.

'There is still an open question as to the circumstances in which Baby K died and came to be discovered in a plastic shopping bag in the yard of a residential property,' Ms Lorenz told the inquiry.

Baby K's remains showed no evidence of physical trauma and no poisons were found inside the body.

A five-day inquest will be held next June.
Dan Andrews could make it a crime for journalists to report on anti-corruption cases after a case involving him was publicised.

The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission was revealed to be investigating $3.4 million in grants given to the Health Services Union by the Victorian premier and his former health minister Jill Hennessy.

IBAC took out an injunction against making a draft report on the matter public, meaning couldn't see the light of day until after the November 26 state election.

Victorian Premier Dan Andrews (pictured) says he is open to laws that would make it a crime for media outlets to report on private anti-corruption watchdog investigations

However, The Age still reported that Mr Andrews and Ms Hennessy were secretly interrogated on the matter.

The watchdog reacted furiously to the leak.

'As a result of previous unlawful leaks to the media of information contained in draft reports, IBAC raised with government the need for urgent legislative change that would make it an offence for anyone, including the media, to publish IBAC draft reports, or the information contained in them,' IBAC said.

Mr Andrews, appearing at a campaign press conference on Saturday, said he was open to this.

'I certainly wouldn't rule out changes to the law at some point, but I'm not here to make any announcements about that,' he said.

Watchdog IBAC reacted furiously to Melbourne's The Age newspaper publishing a story about secret investigations into the Andrews government (stock image)

IBAC argued it was 'critical' the proceedings had been kept private to allow for the 'natural justice' of people getting a chance to respond to preliminary findings.

In response to the report Mr Andrews accused the media of peddling in 'smear and innuendo'.

'Regardless of any smear, innuendo, or media reporting based on anonymous sources, the only IBAC matters I will comment on are those that are the subject of a final report  as is appropriate and has always been my practice,' he said.

'Questions about what IBAC is or is not doing are a matter for the independent agency.'

Mr Andrews insisted he acted appropriately 'at all times and in all things'.

'That is the oath I swore and I take it very seriously,' he said.

IBAC argued that 'natural justice' meant its findings should not be published at preliminary stages and that it should be an offence to do so (stock image)

Liberal opposition leader Matthew Guy said he would not draft any laws restricting the media's ability to report such matters.

'I do think there is a right of the press to report these matters. It doesn't always suit politicians, but frankly, the media has a job to do,' he said.

Mr Guy said it was 'unprecedented' for a Victorian government to be investigated for four separate matters, as has happened under Labor.

'Leopards don't change their spots. The only way we're going to get a government of integrity is to change the government,' he said.

He promise to give IBAC $20 million in extra funding and widen the investigative powers of the watchdog.

Victorian opposition leader Matthew Guy (pictured centre) said he is not in favour of laws that might curb freedom of the press

The Age revealed that Mr Andrews was being investigated over a $3.4 million grant given to the HSU to run a program to train health workers in how to respond to violent conduct by patients.

The grant was given in the lead-up to the 2018 election.

IBAC investigated why the program was approved despite the department advising against it and why it was abandoned due to Covid restrictions with only a handful of people trained.

An IBAC draft report in March this year looking at branch stacking in Labor and the use of public funds found that 'cultural failings' were endemic in the party and had been condoned or encouraged by party leaders for years.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has been taken to task over New York City's crime surge on what would be traditionally media-friendly: MSNBC.

But Stephanie Ruhle, hose of 'The 11th Hour,' interrupted Hochul's interview to cut to the chase, bluntly telling her: 'We don't feel safe.'

'Here's the problem. We don't feel safe,' Ruhle said. 'You might be working closely with Mayor Adams, you may have spent a whole lot of money, but I walk into my pharmacy and everything is on lockdown because of shoplifters.

'I'm not going in the subway. People don't feel safe in this town. So, you may have done these things. But right now, we're not feeling good. We're worried we could be San Francisco?'

Gov. Kathy Hochul has been taken to task over New York City's perceived crime surge on what would be traditionally friendly territory: MSNBC

'Here's the problem. We don't feel safe, you might be working closely with Mayor Adams, you may have spent a whole lot of money but I walk into my pharmacy and everything is on lockdown because of shoplifters,' anchor Stephanie Ruhle said

Even MSNBC is calling out Democrat Kathy Hochul.



"Here's the problem: We don't feel safe...I walk into my pharmacy, and everything is on lockdown because of shoplifters. I'm not going in the subway. People don't feel safe in this town." pic.twitter.com/JUKhxXCk4c  RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 5, 2022

'We'll never be San Francisco,' Hochul fired back. She said the 'most heinous' crimes, meaning homicides, and shootings were actually down compared to this time last year.

Hochul added that she was taking steps to tackle increases in crime in other categories, but Ruhle wasn't satisfied.

'It doesn't matter what's happening in other cities or other states. The reason people don't feel safe in New York is why they're starting to say, can Kathy Hochul be the right governor, right? It doesn't really matter what's happening in Pennsylvania or San Francisco, you need to get New Yorkers'` votes. And safety is a top issue for us.'

The suspect was perp walked out of a Manhattan precinct on Thursday night after the alleged attack

Pictured: Carl Phanor, a 29-year-old homeless man, was taken into custody for the rape of a 43-year-old jogger in the West Village on Thursday

In the latest shocking incident, a woman was jogging by Pier 45, near West and Christopher Streets in the West Village, at around 5:30 a.m. earlier this week, when Carl Phanor, 29, grabbed her from behind and choked her until she passed out.

Phanor, who has 25 priors and who is wanted for at least two other sex crimes, then removed her clothes, raped her, and fled the scene on a CitiBike with her headphones, cell phone and wallet.

The shaken victim was spotted by a fellow jogger, and first responders took her to a nearby hospital.

Phanor is also wanted for an attempted rape in October, and the sexual assault of another jogger long Pier 40 in March.

He was busted at the Port Authority bus terminal after police found him using the latest victim's credit cards at a Target in Midtown, purchasing $39 worth of Red Bull.

Crime continues to run rampant in the Big Apple, with violent offenses up nearly 30 percent

It also comes as crimes on the city's subways are now up 41 percent over last year, murders in particular rising to their highest rates in 25 years, with nine reported this year alone

Crime in the Big Apple has risen since Hochul became state governor in 2021.

Critics say the surge is driven by repeat offenders who are released under the state's lax 2019 bail reform laws.

The issue of crime could well be the difference as to whether Hochul secures victory during Tuesday's elections. She is now neck-in-neck with Long Island GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin.

'In Kathy Hochul's New York, law-abiding New Yorkers are forced to live in fear. Come January, in Lee Zeldin's New York, criminals will be the ones forced to live in fear,' Zeldin tweeted. 'Election Day is 5 days away. It's time to take our streets back.'

US Rep and New York gubernatorial hopeful Lee Zeldin slammed Gov. Kathy Hochul for the latest rape incident and surge in crime in the Big Apple

Violent crimes are up nearly 30 percent compared to last year.

So far this year, police have reported 1,384 cases of rape in the city, up nearly 11 percent from the same time last year.

Felony assaults are also up by nearly 14 percent, with 21,767 cases reported so far this year, and robberies are up more than 32 percent compared to last year.

There have been 102,914 serious offenses reported since the beginning of the year, compared with 78,892 in the same period of 2021, the latest NYPD data reveals.

Although the number of shooting victims and murders are reportedly down, the overall rise in violent crime has prompted the city to send out its elite officers to areas with a 'high volume' of crime.

20 precincts will get extra cops to deal with rising crime, which is up citywide by 30% this year

The NYPD's Strategic Response Group is an elite unit deployed to violent crime and protests

Plans to deploy the Strategic Response Group, which has been criticized for its handing of BLM protests, are detailed in a police memo which also lists 20 precincts that will receive extra officers to deal with soaring crime.

They include eight precincts in the Bronx, six in Manhattan, three in Brooklyn and three in Queens, the Post reported.

The NYPD's Strategic Response Group is an elite unit which is deployed to areas facing surging crime.

The unit, which is made up of 'highly trained personnel and specialized equipment', is also skilled in crowd control and can be deployed for major events, including parades and protests.

It also deals with 'shootings, bank robberies, missing persons, demonstrations, or other significant incidents,' the NYPD says.

The city's transit system appears to be bearing the brunt in surging crime, with about 1,865 reports so far in 2022, a 41.7 percent spike from last year.

Mayor Eric Adams has repeatedly claimed there is only a 'perception' that crime is out of control on the subways - even as he and Gov. Hochul have spent millions of taxpayer dollars to better police and monitor the system.

Under pressure to crackdown on crime in the subways, Adams said he would bolster the transit system with more police and extra security measures.

The new initiative, Adams said, will add 1,200 more shifts, or 10,000 more hours per day, to enhance security in the system.

The plan came into addition to Adam's initial Subway Safety Plan, a $97billion undertaking that has since swelled to a $100billion project after being implemented by the then-new mayor in February.

The plan saw 1,000 additional officers deployed in the subway to stop the already prevailing violence, as well as teams of health workers into the city's intricate subterranean network to crack down on crime.
Rishi Sunak will urge world leaders to move 'further and faster' on climate change at the Cop27 international summit.

The Prime Minister travels to Egypt on Sunday with a warning that tackling global warming is 'fundamental' to future prosperity and security.

In his address on Monday, he will argue the 'shock' to the oil and gas markets caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine underlines the need to move to cheaper, cleaner and safer sources of energy.

He will urge leaders assembled at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh not to 'backslide' on commitments made at last year's Cop26 summit in Glasgow intended to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C (2.7F) above pre-industrial levels.

In a statement ahead of his departure, Mr Sunak said: 'When the world came together in Glasgow last year, nations agreed an historic roadmap for preventing catastrophic global warming. It is more important than ever that we deliver on those pledges.

'Fighting climate change is not just a moral good  it is fundamental to our future prosperity and security.

The King speaks with Rishi Sunak during a Buckingham Palace reception ahead of the Cop27 summit

'Russia's invasion of Ukraine and contemptible manipulation of energy prices has only reinforced the importance of ending our dependence on fossil fuels.

'We need to move further and faster to transition to renewable energy, and I will ensure the UK is at the forefront of this global movement as a clean energy superpower.'

Mr Sunak had originally not intended to travel to Egypt, arguing his priority was to sort out the estimated 50billion black hole in the public finances ahead of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's autumn statement on November 17.

However he was forced into what opposition parties called a 'screeching U-turn' after coming under fire from within his own party, as well as from environmentalists questioning his commitment to the net zero agenda.

The Government was already facing criticism for approving new oil and gas licences in the North Sea when the International Energy Agency has said there can be no more new fossil fuel exploration if the 1.5C target is to be met.

The King, meanwhile, will not be going  despite his passionate interest in environmental issues  after Buckingham Palace agreed with the previous prime minister Liz Truss that he would not attend.

He travels to Egypt on Sunday with a warning that tackling global warming is 'fundamental' to future prosperity and security

The Prime Minister at last year's Cop26 summit in Glasgow

Downing Street, however, suggested this week that they may well have come to a different view if Mr Sunak had been installed in No 10 earlier.

The latest round of UN climate talks takes place against a backdrop of increasingly devastating extreme weather around the world as well as an energy and cost-of-living crisis driven by President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

While there is evidence Russia's actions have prompted an acceleration towards clean technology, the UN has warned that, based on countries' latest climate action plans, there is currently no credible pathway to meet the 1.5C goal intended to avoid the worst impact of global warming.

Rich countries are also falling short in providing the finance needed to help developing nations adapt to a changing climate and develop cleanly, the UN has warned.

With vulnerable countries increasingly being hit by extreme storms, floods and droughts, such as Pakistan's devastating flooding this year, how to address  and pay for  the now unavoidable loss and damage poorer countries are facing from climate change will be one of the key issues at the talks.

The latest round of UN climate talks takes place against a backdrop of increasingly devastating extreme weather around the world as well as an energy and cost-of-living crisis driven by President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine

The Cop27 talks also mark a milestone for the UK in international climate negotiations, as once it has handed over the presidency of the talks to the Egyptian team it will be the first time Britain is negotiating on its own rather than as part of the EU bloc.

Mr Sunak is expected to chair a meeting of world leaders to drive progress on the landmark pledge signed by more than 100 countries last November in Glasgow to halt and reverse deforestation and damaging land use by 2030.

He will also attend a roundtable on energy transition partnerships, which are utilising public and private sector funds to support low and middle-income countries like South Africa to move away from fossil fuels and grow their green economies.

Greenpeace UK's head of politics Rebecca Newsom said Mr Sunak's rhetoric was not matched by the Government's policies.

'If Sunak wants the UK to be a global climate leader, he needs to rule out new oil and gas drilling, invest in home insulation, and back the demands of developing nations for a loss and damage finance facility,' she said.

'He should increase taxes on the profits of the fossil fuel giants to help pay for it, alongside giving extra support to households struggling with their bills.'
Private companies that provide accommodation for asylum seekers have seen their profits increase as much as six-fold on last year as record numbers of migrants enter the UK.

Total profits made by the three contractors who provide the service have doubled from 110.5million in the last year that accounts are available up from 50.4million the year before.

Tory MPs criticised the use of millions of pounds of taxpayers money as the number of asylum seekers arriving in the UK on small boats this year reached 38,000.

The profits come despite the Home Secretary Suella Braverman facing legal action over the conditions at Manston processing centre in Kent.

Three companies provide accommodation and services for migrants under the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contract (AASC), which was awarded to the companies in 2019 to arrange the provision of accommodation, transport and service user support.

The profits come despite the Home Secretary Suella Braverman facing legal action over the conditions at Manston processing centre in Kent

Clearsprings Ready Homes (CRH), which provides accommodation for asylum seekers in the South of England and Wales, increased its pre-tax profits six-fold this year.

Its profits before tax rose from 5million in 2020/21 to 34.6million the following year. Its accounts make clear that the companys income is derived almost exclusively from the Home Office contracts.

The company has a 10-year contract to manage asylum seeker accommodation in England and Wales, a mix of hotel accommodation that the Home Office says is costing it more than 5m a day, and shared housing.

It paid out dividends of almost 28m last year, an increase from 7m last year. Its annual report states that this increase in revenue reflects growth in the number of asylum seekers accommodated under the Home Office contracts.

This has been driven by an ever-increasing influx of asylum applicants to the UK, it adds.

It anticipates that the companys future outlook will be strong because the number of arrivals per year is expected to continue at a high level for the foreseeable future.

In 2020 the National Audit Office voiced concern that, for the South of England, Clearsprings was the sole bidder and faced no competition in securing the contract.

Serco Ltd delivers accommodation services for asylum seekers in the Midlands, the East of England, and the North West.

In its annual report, the companys pre-tax profits have increased from 37.3million in 2020 to 54.6million in 2021.

The company attributes the significant uplift in turnover to covid-19 contracts and additional volumes within the Companys immigration contract with the UK.

Three companies provide accommodation and services for migrants under the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contract (AASC), which was awarded to the companies in 2019 to arrange the provision of accommodation, transport and service user support

Mears Ltd  which provides accommodation services under AASC in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the North East  has increased pre-tax profits from 8m in 2020 to 21.3m in 2021.

Its annual report attributed this to the resumption of maintenance services after the pandemic, but it also said that the part of the business that deals with the AASC had performed well.

The company said revenues in that division were up 24 per cent year-on-year primarily as a result of the elevated AASC revenue.

The figures mean that the total pre-tax profits for the contractors who receive taxpayers money to house asylum seekers have increased to 110.5m for the last year that figures are available.

This is twice the figure of 50.4m the year before.

Last week it emerged that the embattled Home Secretary could face a court battle over the safety of women and children at the Manston centre.

The action, which is at its earliest stages, alleges ministers left a woman in egregiously defective conditions at the processing hub.

It also emerged that the amount of taxpayers money given to charity Migrant Help has increased considerably on last year.

Last week it emerged that the embattled Home Secretary could face a court battle over the safety of women and children at the Manston centre

The company is contracted under the Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility (AIRE) contract with the Home Office, which is worth 235m.

Applying for the contract in the first place required formal accreditation by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC).

The quango is under urgent review by Ms Braverman over fears its training programme had been hijacked by activists.

In the financial year 2020-21, the charity received 17m under the AIRE contract, compared to 11m in 2019-20.

This increase has been down to the growth of the contract to provide advice, issue reporting & eligibility guidance to asylum seekers in the UK, it said in its report.

The accounts also show that Migrant Help Trading recorded a doubling of its profits between 2020 and 2021, from 0.52m to 1.23m, and that this came primarily from providing interpreting services that supported the greatly expanded AIRE contract. The money goes back into the charity.

Tory MPs erupted with rage last night about the cost to the taxpayer of covering accommodation for asylum seekers due to a failure to stop migrants crossing the channel.

Tory MP Lee Anderson said: Its utterly bonkers that the taxpayer is rewarding companies and quangos while they are failing to handle the migrant crisis.

Tory MP Lee Anderson said: Its utterly bonkers that the taxpayer is rewarding companies and quangos while they are failing to handle the migrant crisis'

Were in a cost of living crisis and we should be spending taxpayers money efficiently, not on campaign groups that are failing in their day jobs and actively undermining the Home Secretarys Rwanda policy.

Its time for us all to grow a pair, dismantle the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner and replace it with management that does the job. 

Tory MP Ben Bradley said: Why are we handing money to such failing, wasteful and divisive quangos and campaign groups?

Suella and her ministers are dedicated to fixing this problem and theyre being undermined by people who are using taxpayers money to fail in their duty and undermine the governments policy.

Tory MP Pauline Latham said: Millions of Brits are worried by this small boats crisis, and when my constituents find out that the companies responsible are raking in so much taxpayer cash whilst the system fails, they will be mortified.

The Home Secretary is working hard to secure Britains borders and introduce much needed reform.

Tory MP Ben Bradley said: Why are we handing money to such failing, wasteful and divisive quangos and campaign groups?'

Clearsprings Ready Homes could not be reached for comment.

A Serco spokesman said: Serco employs over 55,000 people serving government customers around the world and across a number of sectors. We earn a fair return for the services we deliver averaging five per cent. In 2021 around two-thirds of our profit was from our work outside the UK and the increase was from a number of areas including acquisitions and our work on Covid-19 and across justice, immigration and citizens services.

A spokesman for Mears said: Our profits are up due to resuming our maintenance services, which were disrupted during the pandemic.

This is not connected to the provision of asylum accommodation and support, where profits are capped by the contract and our margin is small, particularly as we meet the rising costs of energy in the circa 8500 homes we manage.
A Brazilian criminal syndicate has been exposed as the masterminds behind a sex trafficking business operating in Australia.

The South American mob allegedly dodged the tough immigration system and obtained visas for the sex workers so they could work in the country.

Brazilian police made arrests in April 2021 and the crackdown alerted Australian authorities to the secretive operations on home soil.

A Brazilian criminal syndicate has been exposed as the masterminds behind a sex trafficking business operating in Australia (stock image)

The South American mob has allegedly been dodging the tough immigration system and obtaining visas for the sex workers so they can work in the country

The criminals were taken to court where it was alleged a dual Brazilian and Australian man known as Lucas was managing the operations in Australia.

He was allegedly in contact with crime bosses in Brazil and helped traffic women into the country between 2018 and 2021, Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Court documents allege he was responsible for 'obtaining an Australian visa at the Australian embassy in Brazil for Brazilian victims of sexual exploitation'.

'Escorts are sent to Australia using consular visas issued at the Australian embassy in Brazil based on false documents,' the documents allege.

The criminal syndicate was allegedly able to send the women to Australia by exploiting the immigration system and falsely obtaining holiday and partner visas.

Court documents alleged the women were given scripts to repeat to border officials if they were questioned about their travels.

One example of a script included in the documents showed women were told to tell authorities they worked as a manager and earned around $770 a week.

Brazilian police made a series of arrests in April 2021 with the crackdown alerting Australian authorities to the secretive operations on home soil (stock image)

They were allegedly told to say they wanted to spend two weeks in Australia as a tourist and to act confidently and 'say the same things'.

Transcripts included in the court documents showed conversations between Lucas and the crime bosses discussing payments from the sex workers.

The women allegedly had to pay $2,000 upfront before they were sent to Australia and then half of their earnings to the manager.

Court documents alleged the conversations also touched on plans to expand the sex trafficking scheme.

'Right now, we have 3 girls, and I am bringing another one, but there is one that is going back in August, and they will be working while I am not here, but when I come back, we are planning to have 8 girls,' Lucas said in the documents.

'So, this is our plan. When I come back, if you have the girls from the second batch with their visas ready, we can organise to bring them immediately. We have to be prepared to pick it up, and then be able to replace girls as quickly as possible.'
Netflix is finally set to warn viewers of The Crown that the series is a fictionalised drama  but still refuses to put the disclaimer at the start of every episode.

Instead the US streaming giant plans to place a 'fiction warning' on the home page where viewers click to play episodes, which critics last night blasted as a fudge.

Netflix has been under growing pressure to introduce a disclaimer for The Crown amid fury over its faked storylines based on the Royals.

The Mail on Sunday previously revealed the fury of former Prime Minister John Major, who called the big-budget drama 'malicious nonsense' over bogus scenes in the latest series in which Prince Charles plots to force his mother the Queen to abdicate the throne. Friends of King Charles III called for a boycott over the scenes.

Sir Tony Blair also revealed his anger over the show yesterday, with a spokesman calling The Crown 'complete and utter rubbish' over its fake storylines.

Netflix has resisted calls for a disclaimer on episodes but recently included one on a trailer for the latest series, which is released on Wednesday.

Netflix has been under growing pressure to introduce a disclaimer for The Crown amid fury over its faked storylines based on the Royals

Netflix will place a notice that The Crown is a 'fictionalised dramatization inspired by real events' but the warning will be buried on The Crown's home page rather than stated at the start or end of episode as demanded by the show's critics.

Last night, it emerged Netflix will place a notice that The Crown is a 'fictionalised dramatization inspired by real events'.

But the warning will be buried on The Crown's home page rather than stated at the start or end of episode as demanded by the show's critics.

Royal expert Thomas Blaikie said: 'Netflix is trying to have its cake and eat it too. If it is going to finally put a disclaimer on, it should be at the start of every episode. As it gets nearer to the present day, it becomes more concerning when the series departs dramatically from what actually happened.'

David Mellor, a cabinet minister under Major, said: 'The reality is that Netflix does not want people to think this is a total fabrication. They want people to watch it on the basis that there's a lot of truth in the story so anything that draws attention to the viewer that this is a pack of lies is not in their own best interest.

'By putting a disclaimer tucked away on the Netflix page they can claim that they are being clear to people that this is fictionalised when really they are not being clear at all.'

Royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith said: 'They should put a big warning right at the beginning in black and white stating that it is a fictionalised drama. Doing anything other than that is totally disingenuous.'

The Mail on Sunday previously revealed the fury of former Prime Minister John Major (centre), who called the big-budget drama 'malicious nonsense' over bogus scenes in the latest series in which Prince Charles (right) plots to force his mother the Queen to abdicate the throne. Sir Tony Blair (left) also revealed his anger over the show yesterday

Palace insiders disputed claims that King Charles had given his blessing to actor Dominic West (pictured), who plays a young Prince Charles in the new series of The Crown

Meanwhile, palace insiders disputed claims that King Charles had given his blessing to actor Dominic West, who plays a young Prince Charles in the new series of The Crown.

West told the Radio Times that, after landing the role with the Netflix programme, he wrote to the palace offering to resign from his position as a charity ambassador for The Prince's Trust. West claimed he received a reply stating: 'You do what you like, you're an actor. It's nothing to do with us.'

However, palace insiders said 'recollections may vary'. They said the actor did indeed write to the King's office and received a letter back from a senior aide.

But they said the reply did not offer any indication that the King approved of West's decision to take the role.

A Palace source said: 'By relaying this anecdote about private correspondence, the implication is that His Majesty's office gave tacit agreement or condoned the programme in some way. This is not the case.'

Buckingham Palace and the Prince's Trust declined to comment.
The US is privately encouraging Volodymyr Zelensky to drop his ban on talks with Vladimir Putin and negotiate an end to the fighting with the Russians amid growing fears of nuclear war, a new report has claimed.

US officials have said that the request by the Biden administration is not to push Ukraine to the negotiating table, but ensure Kyiv maintains the support of its international backers.

People familiar with the discussions are wary that Zelenskys ban on talks with the Russian President has created concern in parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America, where the war's effects are being felt the most.

Several nations are worried about fuelling a war for many years which has already taken a toll on the world economy and had devastating consequences on the cost and availability of food and fuel.

'Ukraine fatigue is a real thing for some of our partners,' one US official told The Washington Post.

US officials have said that the request by the Biden administration is not to push Ukraine to the negotiating table, but ensure Kyiv maintains the support of its international backers

People familiar with the discussions are wary that Zelenskys ban on talks with the Russian President has created concern in parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America, where the war's effects are being felt the most

Several nations are worried about fuelling a war for many years which has already taken a toll on the world economy and had devastating consequences on the cost and availability of food and fuel

It comes after the US admitted it is 'increasingly concerned' over Moscow's nuclear sabre-rattling after it emerged top Russian military officials discussed nuking Ukraine.

The New York Times report, which cited unnamed US officials, said Putin did not take part in the discussions, and there was no indication that the Russian military had decided to deploy the weapons.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said: 'We have grown increasingly concerned about the potential as these months have gone on.'

Kirby did not confirm the report that said high-level Russian military officials recently discussed when and how they might use tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield.

But Kirby said any comments on the use of nuclear weapons by Russia are 'deeply concerning,' and said the US takes them seriously.

He pointed to recent Putin comments talking about nuclear weapons and referencing the bombs US forces dropped on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of World War II.

The New York Times report, which cited unnamed US officials, said Putin did not take part in the discussions, and there was no indication that the Russian military had decided to deploy the weapons

He pointed to recent Putin comments talking about nuclear weapons and referencing the bombs US forces dropped on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of World War II. Pictured: A Russian nuclear missile is fired during testing drills last week

'We take note of that,' Kirby said.

'It increasingly is unsettling in terms of the degree to which he feels he has to continue to stretch to prosecute this war,' he said.

At the same time, Kirby reiterated, Washington sees no indications that Russia is making preparations to use nuclear weapons, adding that US intelligence does not necessarily see or know everything.

The US has been warning Moscow for weeks over public comments from top Russian officials that they could use nuclear weapons in Ukraine in certain cases, particularly if they felt there was a threat to Russian territorial integrity.

The most recent threat came from former Russian president and senior security council official Dmitry Medvedev.

Medvedev said on Tuesday that Ukraine's objective to reclaim all its territories occupied by Russia, which include the Donbas region and Crimea, would be a 'threat to the existence of our state.'

That, Medvedev said, would be 'a direct reason' to invoke nuclear deterrence.

In September, Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden's national security advisor, said that the US has warned Russia at 'very high levels' of 'catastrophic consequences' for using nuclear arms

However, early Wednesday Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Western media was 'deliberately pumping up the topic of the use of nuclear weapons.'

Moscow does 'not have the slightest intention to take part in this,' he said, calling the Times report 'very irresponsible.'

In September, Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden's national security advisor, said that the US has warned Russia at 'very high levels' of 'catastrophic consequences' for using nuclear arms.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned on October 13 that Russian forces would be 'annihilated' by the West if Putin uses nuclear weapons against Ukraine.

Russia's nuclear stockpile, the largest in the world, consists of 'tactical', lower-yield bombs and strategic weapons that can annihilate cities and population centres.

Its tactical nukes, with a yield of between ten and 100 kilotons, are designed for use on the battlefield in contested territory.

In comparison, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 was approximately 18 kilotons.

Ukrainian servicemen fire artillery from a self-propelled howitzer toward Russian positions near Bakhmut, Ukraine, on Tuesday

Ukrainian servicemen prepare to fire a self-propelled howitzer at Russian positions on Tuesday

Last week, Putin spoke at length about nuclear weapons, having threatened the West several times with an atomic strike  sparking fears he may also use one in Ukraine.

The despot denied he has any plans to use one on his neighbour, saying there is 'no political or military justification' for doing so.

But he also referred back to Russia's nuclear doctrine which allows them to be used in the event the country is threatened which  at least according to the Kremlin  now includes occupied parts of Ukraine.

Fears of escalation have been building as the war in Ukraine grinds into its ninth month, with Kyiv on the front foot and Putin nowhere near achieving his aims.

Though the official purpose of the invasion remains the 'liberation' of the eastern Donbas region, according to Putin, in reality his troops have stopped advancing almost everywhere besides the town of Bakhmut, in Donetsk.

Meanwhile they are being pushed back in the northern Kharkiv region and southern region of Kherson  the latter of which Putin has declared to be part of Russia.

That has sparked fears he could resort to nukes, after he said he would use 'all available means' to defend the territory.

It comes after Moscow alleged that Ukraine is preparing to detonate a so-called 'dirty bomb' on its territory, meaning a conventional explosive laced with radioactive material to cause contamination.

Kyiv said accusations it would use such tactics on its own territory are absurd, but that Russia might be planning such actions itself to blame Ukraine.

The UN's atomic watchdog has been dispatched to two areas of Ukraine where Putin alleges the bomb is being prepared  at Kyiv's insistence  as President Volodymyr Zelensky and his allies dismiss the claims as fiction.

Instead, they said Russia may be preparing the ground to use one of its own nukes as a pretext for escalating the conflict.

US President Joe Biden, asked about Putin's assertion he would never use nukes in Ukraine, responded last week: 'Why does he keep talking about it?

'Why is he talking about the ability to use a tactical nuclear weapon? He's been very dangerous in how he's approached this and he should just get out.

'He can end this all, get out of Ukraine.'

Putin's deranged Hiroshima threat: Russian leader tells Macron the 1945 atom bomb is proof 'you don't have to launch nuclear strike on a major city to win a war'

ByGlen Owen Political Editorand Peter Allen In Paris For The Mail On Sunday

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has alarmed Western leaders by referencing the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in a conversation with French president Emmanuel Macron, diplomatic sources have said.

According to the sources, Putin expressed the view that the bombings  which triggered the Japanese surrender and the end of the Second World War  demonstrated that you dont need to attack the major cities in order to win.

The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively.

The bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians. Japan surrendered to the Allies on August 15.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin (pictured on June 23) has alarmed Western leaders by referencing the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

The reported remarks come amid growing concern that the Russian leader could be prepared to use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine, where Russian forces have suffered increasing setbacks in the conflict.

A source said: Macron was distinctly alarmed. It sounded like a very heavy hint that Putin might detonate a tactical nuclear weapon in the east of Ukraine, while leaving Kyiv intact. That appeared to be the thrust of his remarks.

A French government source told this newspaper: The two presidents have undoubtedly discussed the risk of nuclear weapons use. Putin wants to get the message across that all options are on the table, in line with Russian doctrine relating to nuclear weapons.

This newspaper revealed last week that during the final days of her time in Downing Street, Liz Truss became increasingly concerned that Putin might use a battlefield nuclear weapon in Ukraine  to the extent that she became fixated with the weather forecast in case the wind blew a radioactive cloud over the UK.

Ms Truss had been told by the intelligence agencies that Putin might explode a weapon in the air above the Black Sea, which would show the West what he was capable of without triggering a full-scale nuclear war.

The comments took place in a conversation with French president Emmanuel Macron (pictured on June 28), diplomatic sources have said

Officials had warned that Putin might go nuclear after Ukrainian forces attacked the road bridge connecting Russia and Crimea, something the Russian president had said would cross a red line and prompt judgment day.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky was told by his security services there was a very high risk that Russia might use tactical nuclear weapons.

Putin warned that if Western forces endangered the integrity of Russian territory then we will certainly use all the means at our disposal, adding: This is not a bluff.

On October 12, Mr Macron said in an interview that France would evidently not use nuclear weapons in response to a Russian nuclear attack on Ukraine.

He said: France has a nuclear doctrine that is based on the vital interests of the country and which are clearly defined. These would not be at stake if there was a nuclear ballistic attack in Ukraine or in the region.

Mr Macron last spoke to Mr Zelensky on Tuesday, when he agreed to help boost Ukraines air defences. The French presidents last publicised phone call with Putin was on September 11 when Mr Macron demanded a ceasefire in Ukraine, and restoration of Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The revelation about the Hiroshima/Nagasaki comments came as Putin warned the residents of the Ukrainian city of Kherson to leave or face being forcibly deported to Russian-held territory.

According to the sources, Putin expressed the view that the bombings  which triggered the Japanese surrender and the end of the Second World War  demonstrated that you dont need to attack the major cities in order to win (file image)

Kyivs forces have been steadily advancing on the strategic port, which is the only major city gained by Moscow since its troops invaded in February.

At least 70,000 people are reported to have been moved already from Kherson, with Russian soldiers also reported to be leaving the city.

Putin said: Those who still live in Kherson should certainly be removed from the area of the most dangerous hostilities.

Civilians should not suffer from shelling, from attacks, counter-attacks or something like that.

Officials in Ukraine have admitted privately that they are wary, saying it could be an attempt to lure their troops into a trap.

Putin also claimed that 318,000 military recruits had signed up for duty during the recent mobilisation  exceeding his target of 300,000  of which 49,000 were already involved in active fighting in Ukraine.

The Ministry of Defence said this weekend that Putin was planning to deploy special forces to execute his own troops if they retreat from the war in Ukraine  so-called blocking units which threaten to shoot their own retreating soldiers in order to compel offensives.

A spokesman for the French government declined to comment.

The Russian embassy in London was approached for comment.

Putins threats to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine gives insight into the mind of a Russian fuhrer whos realised he might just lose the war he stupidly started, writes author and historian ANDREW ROBERTS

The news that Vladimir Putin has openly discussed using nuclear weapons against Ukraine with President Macron should shock but not surprise us.

The Russian dictator has crossed so many red lines in the course of this war  the indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets such as residential flats and hospitals, the repeated breaking of ceasefire agreements over humanitarian corridors, the use of white phosphorus and thermobaric weapons.

Then theres the flattening by 500kg bombs of the Mariupol theatre where children had been sheltering (the word children was prominently displayed in large Cyrillic Russian lettering), the deliberate use of rape and torture and the attempted disposal of the evidence in mass graves.

Little can genuinely shock us now. Yet we must examine our consciences and recognise that Putins threats to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine should indeed shock us all over again, however repulsively he has behaved so far.

ANDREW ROBERTS: To equate the Allied destruction of Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right) to end a world war against fascism in which about 60 million people had died after six years, with the maniacal dreams of todays Russian fuhrer is to delve into the mind of a dictator

Nuclear warfare is a Rubicon. And if Putin crosses it, that must mark him as an international pariah whose ousting will be the duty of any world leader worthy of the name.

Of course, as ever with him, the remarks that Putin made about the precedents for his intended action were couched in ignorance.

When he claimed that you dont have to bomb the major cities to win a war  a sinister reference to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki  he ignored the fact that the larger Japanese cities of Tokyo and Kyoto had already seen terrible destruction by then.

Similarly, Berlin suffered huge casualties before the war was won against Germany.

To equate the Allied destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end a world war against fascism in which about 60 million people had died after six years, with the maniacal dreams of todays Russian fuhrer is to delve into the mind of a dictator who is starting to recognise that he might lose the war he so stupidly started.

As with his historically illiterate 6,500-word essay of July 2021 entitled On the Historical Unity of the Russian and Ukrainian Peoples, which was intended to provide the intellectual justification for his invasion of Ukraine the following February, Putins grasp of history is dangerously weak considering the vast weight he places on it to justify actions with devastating real-life consequences for millions of people.

The signs are that the Russian high command knows it will have to give up Kherson in the south, the only major Ukrainian city it has captured in this war so far.

Senior commanders are evacuating, leaving only untrained conscripts to try to hold up the relentless Ukrainian advance.

Kherson is nearly 400 miles to the east of the disputed Donbas region, and when it falls  which many experts are predicting will happen before Christmas  there will be no Russian-occupied city to the west of the Dnipro river.

It is therefore possible that Putins disgracefully inflammatory remarks regarding nuclear weapons are merely a bluff to distract from his coming humiliation, more of the same nuclear brinkmanship in which he has indulged regularly since the invasion, often when things are going badly.

Then theres the flattening by 500kg bombs of the Mariupol theatre where children had been sheltering

On occasion he and his defence minister Sergei Lavrov have brought up the nuclear option to try to split Nato. Indeed, mentioning it to Macron, who is notoriously the least anti-Putin of the major Western leaders, and the most open to an negotiated off-ramp settlement, might be just the latest iteration of this bluffing, combined with the macho posturing that Putin enjoys.

At least this time he did it with his shirt on.

If he truly thinks he will win the Russo-Ukrainian War with nuclear weapons, he has still not taken the measure of the Ukrainian people, let alone understood the limits of the rest of the worlds patience.

So far, China, India, Iran, Pakistan and several other major countries upon which what is left of the Russian economy depends, have indulged Putin to a far greater degree than they would have if it had been a democratic Western-leaning nation that had transgressed so foully against every decent international norm.

Selling huge amounts of cheap oil and gas, buying weapons, and generally acting as a thorn in the side of the West, Putin has been a useful friend for these countries, which have not yet denounced him in the United Nations.

Yet were Putin to let off a nuclear bomb, all of those countries except Iran would be forced to sever ties with Russia  partly because of their own on-the-record denunciation of nuclear first-use, but also because the revulsion would be felt strongly by their own populations.

Putin only has four allies in the United Nations today  the paradises of Syria, Belarus, North Korea and Eritrea  but 30 that regularly abstain in votes rather than condemn what is happening in Ukraine. A nuclear bomb would force them off the fence, and declare Putin an international leper.

All it would take would be for the wind to change direction after a nuclear attack for leukaemia-inducing clouds of fallout to drift towards Belarus, Russian-held Crimea, or south-western Russia itself. Such considerations might even induce anti-Putin elements in the military to refuse to undertake such a clearly immoral order as to use even tactical nuclear weapons in a war that is not existential for Mother Russia.

It would certainly revivify internal opposition to Putin within Russia, depleted somewhat recently by the exodus of the intelligentsia and educated middle classes, but still bravely led by the political prisoner Alexei Navalny.

In retrospect, for all that Ukraine was lauded internationally for giving up her nuclear weapons under the Budapest Agreement in 1994, it proved an appalling misjudgment.

Were Putin to use a nuclear weapon, the message would go out to every country that could build one  Japan, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan and Egypt among them  that they needed nukes as soon as possible.

If today President Zelensky (pictured on November 3) was presented with an opportunity to have the highly capable Ukrainian secret services and special forces smuggle a dirty bomb into Red Square in Moscow, he would not take it

The consequences for global proliferation, and thus Armageddon, would be incalculable.

All this is before considering what Nato might have to undertake in response to such a monstrous escalation of the war, or indeed what the Ukrainians themselves might do.

Certainly, surrender is not an option because they have seen what comes of Russian occupation in places where mass graves have been unearthed, such as Bucha, Mariupol and Izyum.

If today President Zelensky was presented with an opportunity to have the highly capable Ukrainian secret services and special forces smuggle a dirty bomb into Red Square in Moscow, he would not take it. After Putin had let off a nuclear weapon against his homeland, why would he hesitate?

You might not have to bomb the major cities to win a war, but what if the Ukrainians, in response to an attack, were to make the Kremlin and its environs uninhabitable for three generations?

Vladimir Putin is faced with what for him might genuinely be an existential decision.

We know he has practised and wargamed the use of nuclear weapons, and now he is openly discussing their use with a Western leader (who one hopes was at least eloquent in dissuasion).

The fact that no leaders in the world today beyond Kim Jong-un and the Iranian mullahs make such nuclear threats shows us where Putin has now reached in his terrifying descent into evil.
Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, left, and his mother, Hong Ra-hee, former director of the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, walk into a funeral home in CJ HumanVille in Seoul, Sunday, to mourn the death of Lee's aunt, CJ Group adviser Sohn Bok-nam, mother of CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun. Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun, Hanwha Solutions Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan and SK Discovery Vice Chairman Chey Chang-won also visited the funeral home that day to offer condolences on the death of the late Sohn, who died at 89 on Saturday, the 69th anniversary of CJ Group. Yonhap
Mitzi Perdue, heiress to the Sheraton Hotels fortune, is set to auction off an emerald ring that once laid at the bottom of the ocean for more than 360 years.

Perdue, the widow of the late Frank Perdue, former CEO of poultry farming company Perdue Farms, describes herself as human rights activist and wants to sell the jewel, said to be worth $70,000, to raise money for the people of Ukraine.

The impetus to sell the rare artifact came after a personal visit to the war-torn country earlier this year, where she was shown around Kyiv as a guest of the capital's police force.

Perdue, who resides in Salisbury, Md., now wants to sell the engagement ring with the proceeds being sent to aide Ukrainian efforts to stop human trafficking.

A 6.25 carat octagonal step-cut emerald ring lost on a Spanish shipwreck for nearly four centuries before being rediscovered is to be auctioned by its current owner in December

The ring was given to Mitzi Perdue by her late husband Frank, right

Mitzi Perdue is now preparing to sell the ring and donate all proceeds to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine

The Nuestra de Atocha shipwreck is about 30 miles off the coast of Key West, Florida

The 6.25 carat octagonal step-cut emerald ring itself has an extraordinary history having been recovered during the 1980s from treasure that sank in the hull of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which was shipwrecked off the Florida coast.

The treasure, said to be valued at almost $400 million, but worth about $1.1 billion in today's money, sunk in 1622 after sailing into a hurricane.

When the Atocha sank, it took the lives of 260 passengers and unimaginable wealth with it; it was being transported back to Spain's King Philip IV.

In 1969, treasure hunter and diver Mel Fisher began a quest to find the Atocha's treasures. It took him until 1985 before he could finally announce that he discovered the hull of the galleon.

When the Atocha sank, it took the lives of 260 passengers and unimaginable wealth with it. It was being transported back to Spain and King Philip IV

Zach Moore (pictured), an engineer at Mel Fisher's Treasures, is pictured with a gold coin he discovered among the wreck

Zach Moore, a member of the crew from Mel Fisher's Treasures salvage crew, found a gold coin

Johan Mora is seen using a metal detector underwater near the Nuestra Senora de Atocha shipwreck off Marquesas Keys, Fla., in 2010

In 1985, diver Mel Fishe uncovered the main hull of the Atocha, which contained a treasure of 180,000 coins, 24 tons of Bolivian silver, 125 bars of gold bullion

Attorney David Paul Horan of Key West, Florida, wears gold chains and holds gold bars that were recovered from the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha

Divers from the Key West-based Treasure Salvors toast company president, Mel Fisher, right, on the discovery of hundreds of silver bars from the Spanish wreck of the Atocha in 1985

It contained a treasure of 180,000 coins, 24 tons of Bolivian silver and 125 bars of gold bullion together with a collection of rough-cut emeralds mined in Columbia.

The ring was later given to Mitzi as an engagement gift by her late husband, but its rarity means the emerald is 'expected to go well into the six figures' when it is auctioned on December 7.

'When I was a child my father told me, 'The greatest pleasure my money has ever given me is in giving it away.' I took those words to heart and he became a role model for me for the rest of my life,' Perdue told Fox News.

'The current efforts I'm working on to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine include fundraising to build shelters for women along the Ukrainian border, so that they do not fall victim to human trafficking,' she added.

Mitzi's late husband who passed away in 2005 at age 84, 'was one of the financial backers of the efforts to find the Atocha treasure  and as a backer, he received some of the recovered treasures,' she explained.

'Like my father, Frank was a lifelong philanthropist  and I know that he would share my conviction that donating this emerald to save people from terrible suffering is an extraordinarily worthy cause.'

Mitzi's late husband who passed away in 2005 at age 84, 'was one of the financial backers of the efforts to find the Atocha treasure  and as a backer, he received some of the recovered treasures'

An an emerald-encrusted crucifix is pictured along having been recovered from a Spanish ship that sank off the coast of Florida in 1622

The cross, made of 18-carat gold and set with seven high-quality emeralds from Columbia's famous Muzo mine, was found on a shipwreck off the Nuestra Senora de Atocha

An exquisite gold chalice is among the items discovered by a treasure hunter from the wreckage of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha, the most famous vessel in a Spanish flotilla that sank after sailing into a hurricane

A Spanish gold bar is pictured having been recovered from a ship that sank in a storm en route back to Spain. She went down with 265 people on board, of whom only five survived

'Almost all of the treasure, worth more than $1 billion, was donated to the Smithsonian Institute,' auction house Sotheby's told Artnet News. 'This emerald is therefore one ofif not the lastmajor jewels from the Atocha shipwreck that is available for private acquisition.

'Emerald deposits have naturally evolved over the course of centuries, so to have one dating back to the 17th century, or defined as 'old mine,' is exceptionally rare to come by,' the auction house noted.

Frank Perdue helped to fund the expedition and was given some of the recovered haul. After donating the majority, he held onto an emerald which he had cut for and engagement ring which he used to propose to Mitzi in 1988.

Now aged 81, the multimillionaire philanthropist Perdue notes how at next month's auction people will have the opportunity to bid on the ring while 'at the same time make an amazing difference in the lives of potential victims of human trafficking in Ukraine.'

'Even for those Ukrainians not displaced, the war heightens individuals' risk of violence and trafficking. People living in these conflict zones are especially vulnerable to human trafficking,' she explained.

Mitzi Perdue and Gen. Andriy Nebytov, head of the Kyiv region's police force, during Perdue's visit to Ukraine over the summer

Perdue, who resides in Salisbury, Md., wants to sell the engagement ring to aide Ukrainian efforts to stop human trafficking in the country. She is pictured in May of this year

'The traffickers prey on the vulnerable and all too often, they promise a woman who's desperate that they'll provide food, shelter, a job and most of all, safety. In fact, the woman may end up sex-trafficked in a faraway country.

'The Ukrainians, they're fighting so hard and they deserve all of the support we can give them. They're brave people.'

Should the ring's auction generate $100,000, it would be enough to create a shelter where women can receive guidance and resources to prevent them from relying on a would-be trafficker for help, Perdue said.

'A small amount of money can save a huge number of women from just unspeakable misery,' she said.

It was her late husband, Frank Perdue who became known for running one of the world's biggest chicken companies - even appearing in television commercials.

Perdue Farms was kept within the family for four generations and grew from annual sales of $56 million in 1970 to $2.8 billion in 2003.

Currently, the firm employs more than 20,000 people.
Mr Proctor says Mr Watson has never apologised for his involvement in trauma

The former Tory MP who was falsely accused of being in a paedophile ring fought back tears as he revealed details of the harrowing ordeal and expressed his disgust in news former Labour deputy Tom Watson would be made a peer.

Mr Watson, 55, is said to have pressured Metropolitan Police officers to investigate claims made by fantasist Carl Beech of a paedophile ring at the heart of Westminster, which were later found to be completely false.

Mr Proctor was one of several high-profile figures linked to the fake ring and was driven to consider taking his own life when the investigation was made public.

With a quivering lip and fighting back tears, he told TalkTV the allegations ruined his life.

'I lost my job, my house went with my job. I lost my repute. I felt, at that time, I'd lost everything. Subsequently, through my own hand, I thought I would lose my life,' he said.

Mr Watson, 55, is said to have pressured Metropolitan Police officers to investigate claims made by fantasist Carl Beech of a paedophile ring at the heart of Westminster, which were later found to be completely false

'I thought that life had come to an end when I was innocent of all those charges. Sorry to get emotional... It was devastating.'

Mr Proctor was accused of murdering children as part of the paedophilia ring, and Mr Watson became an advocate for the accuser by lobbying police and politicians to conduct a thorough investigation.

The man who made the accusations is now serving an 18-year prison sentence for 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud.

But Mr Watson, who gave him a platform to spread the vile lies and 'invited' Beech to the House of Commons, was recently awarded a peerage on nomination by Labour leader Keir Starmer.

'He used this as a way of promoting himself within the Labour party and politics generally,' Mr Proctor said on Saturday night. 'I'm sickened by the fact that police and politicians connected with Operation Midland have not been held to account.

'They've been promoted, enriched, ennobled.'

Mr Beech had claimed he and other boys were raped and tortured in the 1970s and 1980s and that one young boy was even murdered by members of a VIP paedophile ring.

The man who made the accusations, Carl Beech (pictured) is now serving an 18-year prison sentence for 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud

Named Operation Midland, Met officers probing the bogus allegations carried out dawn raids at high-profile addresses including the homes of D-Day hero Lord Bramall, Lord Brittan and Mr Proctor.

Mr Watson was recommended for a peer two years ago but the House of Appointments Commission blocked his application.

Now, Mr Proctor is demanding to know what has changed in those two years that allowed Mr Watson to earn the honour.

'The whole thing was a charade, and Tom Watson played an integral part in it.'

'When the allegations were made against me, when my house was searched illegally for 15 hours by 20 officers of the Met, I felt I'd already been found guilty and had to prove my innocence. That is not the way that British justice should work.'

Mr Proctor once again got emotional as he recalled the effects of being accused of murder.

While he's never received answers as to why detectives were so quick to believe Beech - a fantasist - he suspects they 'took advantage' of his homosexuality.

'My suspicion is that they knew I was homosexual... They believed they could take advantage of it.'

With a quivering lip and fighting back tears, Mr Proctor told TalkTV the allegations ruined his life

Mr Proctor addressed the allegations during a 2015 media conference in which he said: 'I am a homosexual. I am not a paedophile. I am not a murderer.'

Up until that point, he'd never publicly spoken of his sexuality. 'I was not out... I thought it had nothing to do with whether I was a good or bad member of parliament,' he said.

Years on, while Mr Proctor has rebuilt his life, he acknowledges that he will never be the same person.

'I will think about these matters until the day I die,' he said, fighting back tears.

'Tom Watson says he has apologised. He has not apologised to me in writing, or verbally.'

Mr Proctor called on Mr Watson to hand back his peerage - 'out of no other reason than a feeling of guilt and shame'.

A report into the Met's handling of the case carried out by retired High Court Judge, Sir Richard Henriques later found that Mr Watson 'raised in Parliament suggestions that a paedophile ring was operating in the heart of Westminster' on October 24, 2012.
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab is set to revive the British Bill of Rights as part of the Government's strategy to deal with the crisis of migrant small boats crossing the Channel.

The Deputy Prime Minister said the legislation  giving the UK courts supremacy over the European Court of Human Rights  will return to Parliament 'in the coming weeks'.

When it was introduced under then-premier Boris Johnson, ministers said it would prevent judges in the Strasbourg court from interfering in the Government's controversial policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda to have their claims processed.

However, the Bill was shelved by Liz Truss when she became prime minister in September after Government sources warned it was 'unlikely to progress in its current form'.

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab is set to revive the British Bill of Rights as part of the Government's strategy to deal with the crisis of migrant small boats crossing the Channel

But Mr Raab, who had championed the legislation before he was sacked by Ms Truss, said its return would 'reinject a healthy dose of common sense to the system and end abuse of our laws'.

The move comes as ministers are under intense pressure to deal with the migrant crisis following the disclosure of dangerously overcrowded conditions at a processing centre at Manston in Kent.

They hope the prospect of deportation to the east African state will deter migrants from making the dangerous Channel crossing.

The inaugural deportation flight to Rwanda was blocked by a ruling from judges in Strasbourg

However they have so far been frustrated after an interim ruling by a judge in Strasbourg in June blocked the first deportation flights and they are now waiting for the UK courts to rule on whether the policy is legal.

Nevertheless the Bill of Rights is unlikely to provide a quick fix as it is also highly controversial and the Government is likely to face a tough battle  particularly in the House of Lords  to get it onto the statute book.

In a statement, Mr Raab said: 'It builds on the UK's proud tradition of liberty by strengthening freedom of speech, reinjecting a healthy dose of common sense to the system and ending abuse of our laws.

'It will put an end to the mission creep of continuously expanding human rights laws, and re-establish proper democratic oversight from Parliament.

'It will make crystal clear that the UK Supreme Court is not subordinate to the European Court of Human Rights.'
Former party leader Tim Farron was forced to quit after questions about faith

Said he was called a 'Christian nutter' for wanting to extend abortion time limit

An award-winning former BBC journalist hoping to become a Lib Dem MP at the next Election says he is being hounded out of the party because of his Christian values.

David Campanale told The Mail on Sunday he had been humiliated, ostracised and punished by party members who were voting on whether to deselect him last night.

The 58-year-old Anglican, who quit as a reporter for the BBC World Service to enter politics, claimed he had fallen victim to US-style cancel culture by activists trying to secularise the Liberal Democrats.

Award-winning former BBC journalist David Campanale, who is hoping to become a Lib Dem MP at the next General Election, says he is being hounded out of the party because of his Christian values

He told the MoS: I have been subjected to hostile, degrading and harassing conduct for holding Christian views. They are acting in defiance of our liberal values. This is not the party we are. Some people are Christian - get over it.'

Mr Campanales deselection would be a blow to party leader Sir Ed Davey who had hoped the father-of-two would be the ideal challenger to unseat Tory Minister Paul Scully in Sutton and Cheam in South London.

A few weeks after he was named as the Lib Dem candidate, Mr Campanale said he was rounded on by dozens of local party members in an ambush meeting at the home of Lib Dem peer Lord Tope.

During a two-hour grilling, Mr Campanale claims he was branded a Christian nutter for saying he would vote with my conscience on extending the abortion time limit. He said he was told: You are not a liberal. Another party official allegedly said that the partys former leaders Shirley Williams and Charles Kennedy, who were Christian, were dead and in the past.

Following the meeting, Lord Tope wrote an apologetic email to Mr Campanale saying: The tone of the meeting came as a rather unpleasant surprise to me  not something Ive experienced before in 55 years with Sutton Lib Dems and predecessors.

Afterwards, the local party association said it would refuse to campaign for Mr Campanale, who said he was ghosted by party officers. One Sutton councillor allegedly told Mr Campanale I didnt think we were getting another Tim Farron, referring to the former party leader who was jettisoned over his Christian beliefs in 2017.

Last night, Mr Campanale warned his ordeal was part of a secular takeover from younger Lib Dem activists. They objected to his involvement in the Christian Peoples Alliance a decade ago.

Former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron (pictured in 2017) was forced to quit after being dogged by questions over his evangelical Christian faith

Its understood Mr Campanale has support from Tim Farron and former Lib Dem MP Sir Simon Hughes. Mr Campanale has instructed a lawyer to sue the Lib Dems for harassment.

His solicitor Paul Conrathe said: The victimisation, harassment and bullying David Campanale has suffered from the Liberal Democrats at Sutton and Cheam is not only shocking, it is the canary in the mine for liberal democracy.

It is deeply worrying that this intolerant and oppressive cancel culture has found a home in one of the main political parties. My client will be seeking redress from the Court for the bullying, harassment and victimisation he has suffered from the Sutton and Cheam Liberal Democrats.

A Liberal Democrats spokesperson said: This is a decision that rests with the Sutton and Cheam constituency party.
Britons will get a special 'Coronation' bank holiday next year, Rishi Sunak has revealed.

The Prime Minister yesterday declared there would be an extra UK-wide bank holiday on Monday, May 8, 'in recognition of this historic occasion'.

King Charles's Coronation will take place two days beforehand, at Westminster Abbey, on Saturday, May 6.

Britons will get a special 'Coronation' bank holiday next year, Rishi Sunak has revealed. King Charles's (pictured last month) Coronation will take place two days beforehand, at Westminster Abbey, on Saturday, May 6

The move follows a debate among Tory MPs over whether to move the early May 1 bank holiday or create an extra one. But it also comes amid reports the Government was worried an additional day off could cost the economy more than 1 billion.

Mr Sunak said the extra bank holiday  like that of the holiday that marked Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation in 1953  would be an opportunity for families and communities across the country to come together.

'The coronation of a new monarch is a unique moment for our country,' he said.

'In recognition of this historic occasion, I am pleased to announce an additional bank holiday for the whole United Kingdom next year.

Mr Sunak said the extra bank holiday  like that of the holiday that marked Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation in 1953  would be an opportunity for families and communities across the country to come together. Pictured: The Queen appears after her coronation in 1953

The Prime Minister (pictured meeting King Charles on Nov. 4) yesterday declared there would be an extra UK-wide bank holiday on Monday, May 8, 'in recognition of this historic occasion'

'I look forward to seeing people come together to celebrate and pay tribute to King Charles III by taking part in local and national events across the country in his honour.'

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Oliver Dowden, said: 'The coronation combines the sacred and the solemn but it is also celebratory.

'This bank holiday will once again give people across the United Kingdom the opportunity to come together as families and communities to welcome His Majesty to the throne as we mark this important day in our nation's long history.'
The sister of the Manchester Arena bomber has again refused to express any sympathy for his victims.

Tracked down by The Mail on Sunday in Libya, Jomana Abedi said: Why cant people leave us in peace and realise that we have suffered too?

Her suicide-bomber brother Salman Abedi, 22, killed 22 men, women and children when he blew himself up during an Ariana Grande pop concert in May 2017.

His younger brother Hashem was later jailed for a minimum of 55 years for his role in the murders. But their father, Ramadan Abedi, and elder brother, Ismail, 29, remain in hiding.

They have refused to appear as witnesses at the bombing inquiry or answer any questions from British police who say they remain persons of interest. The family have not spoken publicly about the attack for five years.

Last week, the Manchester Arena Bombing Inquiry report was released, which criticised risk averse emergency services who failed to treat victims at the scene for up to two hours.

Salman Abedi (pictured), 22, killed 22 men, women and children when he blew himself up during an Ariana Grande pop concert in May 2017

Following the reports publication, this newspaper located the Abedi family home in Tripoli to ask why they had refused to co-operate.

But, speaking from behind the security gates of the breeze-block house, British-born Ms Abedi said she and her family were exhausted by coverage of the attacks and wanted to be left alone.

We are trying to get on with life and forget everything that happened all those years ago, she told the MoS.

We feel we are paying for what they did. We are exhausted by it all. We did nothing wrong but the whole world blames us.

Ms Abedi refused to say where her elder brother and father are and did not apologise or show any remorse. Instead, she expressed her own grief at losing two brothers in the attack.

Nothing can bring them [Salman and Hashem] back and ever since 2017 my family has been going through hell, she said.

Her comments, which are certain to upset victims families, represent the first time that Ms Abedi has spoken since the aftermath of the killing.

Back then, she caused outrage by calling her bomber brother a martyr and posting a prayer on Facebook in which she hoped he would enter paradise.

Prompting further fury, she also told reporters that her brother had committed the attack as revenge for Western bombs killing children in Syria.

She said: He did what he did in revenge, and in love for Islam. I think he saw children  Muslim children  dying everywhere, and wanted revenge.

He saw the explosives America drops on children in Syria, and he wanted revenge. Whether he got that is between him and God.
A Tory MP last night added her voice to questions about the safety of the conviction of Jeremy Bamber, who was convicted in 1986 of the murder of five family members at their Essex farmhouse.

Jackie Doyle-Price said that new evidence submitted by lawyers for Bamber should be considered urgently to protect the integrity of our justice system.

It comes as a former Tory MP who has investigated the case has told how he was contacted anonymously by a man claiming to have been a police officer in the Essex force at the time of the murders calling into question the inquirys competence and integrity.

The Mail on Sunday revealed last month that Bambers team have submitted what they claim is dramatic new evidence in a bid to overturn his conviction.

Tory MP Jackie Doyle-Price (pictured) last night added her voice to questions about the safety of the conviction of Jeremy Bamber

Jeremy Bamber (pictured in prison) was jailed in 1986 for murdering five family members at their Essex farmhouse

The defence dossier sent to the Criminal Cases Review Commission contains ten new pieces of evidence, according to Bambers lawyers, and raises questions over a gruesome key detail highlighted by the judge at Bambers trial.

According to the claims, burns to the fathers back were caused not by the hot end of a rifle, as the jury was told in 1986, but by a hot kitchen AGA. The image  of a man not just capable of shooting dead his family but torturing them too  helped secure Bambers conviction, say his legal team.

They also claim Essex Police tampered with the crime scene before taking photographs. Bamber was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 25 years, later changed to full life without parole.

Bamber has always said his schizophrenic sister Sheila Caffell killed his family before shooting herself.

Tragic: Sheila Caffell, one of those killed in the White House Farm murders. Bamber has always said his schizophrenic sister killed his family before shooting herself

Aerial view of White House Farm in Essex, the scene of the murder of Sheila Caffell

Senior lawyers have privately expressed concerns about the conviction, which was secured with a 102 majority verdict.

Ms Doyle-Price, MP for Thurrock, said: I have been shown evidence which raises questions about the safety of the conviction of Jeremy Bamber.

I am aware that Mr Bambers appeals have not been upheld in the past. Nevertheless he is entitled to fair treatment under the law and it is important for the integrity of our justice system that the evidence is considered by the CCRC as promptly as possible.

'I have no view on whether Mr Bamber is guilty or innocent but it is important for public confidence that the issues raised by this case are addressed.

Jeremy Bamber (centre) at the funeral of Neville and June Bamber and their daughter Sheila Caffell, a year before he was convicted of their murders

Andrew Hunter, a former MP who has investigated the case, received an anonymous call from an alleged whistleblower in February 2005 after raising the case in Parliament.

He said: The caller told me that he was a serving Essex Police officer. He told me that he was one of the many officers called to attend White House Farm on the morning of 7th August 1985.

He was within hearing distance of police forward control and could hear much of the ball by ball, running radio commentary coming from the officer with a walkie-talkie radio in the farmhouse.

He wished me to know that the official police version of events wasnt the whole story. He urged me to continue digging.

Essex Police said that numerous appeals have never found anything other than Bamber is the person responsible for his familys killings.
The Queen and Tom Cruise 'really hit it off' when she invited the Hollywood star for tea in her final weeks at Windsor Castle - and even let him land his helicopter on her lawn, it has emerged.

Her Majesty had been disappointed that she had not got to meet the Top Gun star during a Platinum Jubilee event.

But insiders said the late monarch 'loved seeing him' when she invited him for tea over the summer.

The Queen and Tom Cruise 'really hit it off' when she invited the Hollywood star for tea in her final weeks at Windsor Castle - and even let him land his helicopter on her lawn, it has emerged

Her Majesty had been disappointed that she had not got to meet the Top Gun star during a Platinum Jubilee event

And Cruise was even invited back for lunch - but sadly the Queen passed away before that could happen.

They had originally been due to meet in May at A Gallop Through History, an equestrian event in the Castle grounds

The Hollywood star, who had been filming his latest Mission Impossible film in the UK, said: 'She's just a woman that I greatly admire. I think she is someone who has tremendous dignity and I admire her devotion.

'What she has accomplished has been historic. I just remember always as a kid seeing photos of her.'

Cruise was even invited back for lunch - but sadly the Queen passed away before that could happen

A source told The Times: 'The Queen let it be known she was really disappointed not to have met Tom at the pageant.

'So he was invited to have a special tour of Windsor Castle with everything laid on for him. Afterwards, just the two of them had tea together.

'She loved seeing him and they really hit it off, so much so that she invited him back for lunch.'
Minister of State for Immigration Robert Jenrick has vowed to 'swiftly' deport any detainees who took part

Armed with makeshift weapons, more than 100 male detainees set fire to common areas and rioted

Migrants were able to leave their cells when a blackout automatically caused electronic doors to open

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Staff at an immigration removal centre near Heathrow Airport feared for their lives and locked themselves inside panic rooms as more than 100 armed detainees rioted with makeshift weapons and set fire to common areas, it was claimed last night.

Rita Biddulph, who works with the Home Office's independent monitoring board, alleged there are seven units within the Harmondsworth Immigration Detention Centre in West Drayton, Middlesex, each housing 28 detainees and assigned just two staff members.

In the early hours of Saturday, a power outage led to a blackout and automatically opened electronically locked doors to migrants' cells. Violence erupted shortly thereafter and peaked at about 2am. None of the staff, nor detainees, were injured.

As the detainees found makeshift weapons - including smashed up tables and chairs and the metal slats from under their beds - terrified staff retreated into manually lockable safe rooms and called riot police for backup.

Ms Biddulph told The Sun: 'Inside each unit there is a safe room, which is manually lockable. Because there were more detainees than staff, they had to lock themselves in panic rooms for their safety.'

It comes as Minister of State for Immigration Robert Jenrick vowed to 'swiftly' deport any detainees who took part in the riots. He promised that the 'perpetrators of this disturbance will be held to account'.

The National Tactical Response Group attended the immigration hotel as tensions escalated

The Metropolitan Police were called to the scene at 7.45pm on Friday night and sent along Territorial Support officers, along with riot police

Images from the scene show multiple police officers outside the centre along with police vans.

The centre is known as Europe's largest detention facility and can house up to 670 men. The Home Office could not confirm exactly how many detainees are currently in the centre, nor provide exact figures on how many were involved in the riots.

A source at Harmondsworth told the publication 'it was chaos' when the power went out, cutting off lighting and heating for hours.

'The migrants got angry,' the source said. 'The decision for them to gather in there could have saved lives, It certainly prevented injuries.

'Tensions boiled over because migrants did not know what was going on and it was pitch-black... All the staff were panicking. The situation only started to come under control when riot police went in.'

Images from the scene show multiple police officers with riot gear outside the centre along with police vans

Home Secretary Suella Braverman (right) is coming under increasing pressure to fix horrific conditions at migrant centres around the UK

Mr Jenrick said in a statement: 'There was disruption overnight at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre after a loss of power. Thankfully no staff working or individuals detained there were hurt, despite clear evidence of unacceptable levels of violence and disorder.

'The priority now is to move people to other centres while engineers fix the power fault and repair any damage.

'The public should be reassured that offenders and others waiting removal from the UK are being held securely. The perpetrators of this disturbance will be held to account and, where appropriate, removed from the country as swiftly as is practicable.

'The Home Secretary and I have been kept abreast of events throughout the night and today by our hard-working teams. I have also visited the site today and I expect the centre to be empty by the end of the day.

'I am grateful to Home Office staff, contractors and officers from HMPPS and the Metropolitan police for their professionalism and practical support.'

The detainees are said to have broken into Harmondsworth's courtyard (pictured) during the power outage (stock image)

Met Police were initially called to the scene at 7.45pm on Friday. Officers from the National Tactical Response Group (NTRG) and Met's Territorial Support Police, as well as fire and rescue workers were also called to the site.

A Home Office spokesperson said: 'The welfare and safety of staff and individuals detained at Harmondsworth is our key priority.'

Among those at the site are thought to be vulnerable men seeking asylum, foreign convicts awaiting deportation and others who have been ruled to be in the UK illegally.

In March, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons said of Harmondsworth that many detainees had 'complex needs' and that the 'lengthy detention of people with substantial vulnerabilities who had, in some cases, been declared unfit for detention, was also a serious concern'.

It added that detainees had been held for very lengthy periods due to 'systemic problems with the provision of suitable release accommodation'.

The report found: 'Eight people had been in detention for over a year and 26 for more than six months. Yet the majority (58 percent) were simply released after a potentially damaging period of detention.'

Harmondsworth is operated by the private firm Mitie Care and Custody on behalf of the Home Office.

Some of those who arrive in the UK in Dover are later transported to other centres around the country such as Harmondsworth

Minister for Immigration Robert Jenrick (pictured) promised that the 'perpetrators of this disturbance will be held to account'

Kent MP: Conditions at Manston are a 'breach of humane conditions' The situation at a migrant facility in Kent is a 'breach of humane conditions', according to an MP for the area. Sir Roger Gale, Conservative MP for North Thanet, told Sky News on Monday there are now more than 4,000 people at the facility in Manston. He said: 'Up until about five weeks ago the system was working as it was intended to, very well indeed. 'It's now broken and it's got to be mended fast.' Asked whether Suella Braverman is the right person to handle this situation, Sir Roger said: 'I'm not seeking to point fingers at the moment but I do believe whoever is responsible, and that is either the previous home secretary or this one, has to be held to account, because a bad decision was taken and it's led to what I would regard as a breach of humane conditions.' Sir Roger said he was told that the Home Office was finding it very difficult to secure hotel accommodation, adding that he now understands that this was a policy issue and a decision was taken not to book additional hotel space. 'That's like driving a car down a motorway, seeing the motorway clear ahead, then there's a car crash, and then suddenly there's a five mile tailback. 'The car crash was the decision not to book more hotel space,' he said. He said he believes it was a decision taken by the Home Secretary, but is not sure whether it was Priti Patel or Suella Braverman. Sir Roger said he has put forward an urgent question. Advertisement

Mitie said in a statement: 'The Harmondsworth site of Heathrow immigration removal centre lost electrical power because of an outage in the local area.

'We are working closely with the Home Office to ensure the safety of those in our care while work is carried out on site to resolve the issue.'

It comes amid growing scrutiny over conditions at British immigration centres after it was reported the Manston site in Dover was massively overcrowded and people were being forced to sleep on the floor.

The number of people coming to the UK on small boats has spiked this year, with 40,000 having made the life-threatening journey so far.

Agency staff at Manston were also subjected to attacks this week, suffering minor injuries as tensions boil over allegations of overcrowding and lack of care. Three male asylum seekers were arrested in relation to the assaults but later released without charge.

Earlier this week a child ran to the fence at the edge at Manston and handed a note in a bottle to a photographer.

The note described harrowing conditions with dozens kept at the centre for at least a month - instead of the 24 hours it was designed for.

It claimed there were pregnant women and sick detainees inside, and that a disabled child was not being cared for.

The letter, written in broken English, said: 'We are in a difficult life now... we fill like we're in prison (sic).'

Witnesses said they saw security guards at the site ushering detainees back inside when members of the press were walking by the fence.

The young girl was among a group of children who broke past security guards and ran over to the fence to throw the bottle to the photographer.

It said: 'Some of us very sick... there's some women's that are pregnant they don't do anything for them (sic)... We really need your help. Please help us.

'It's not easy for someone who has children... There's a lot of children they shouldn't be here. They should be in a school not prison.'

The letter added: 'We wanna talk to you but they don't even let us go outside.'

More than 1,200 people had left the centre by Friday morning as Home Office staff scrambled to frantically book hotels for those detained at the centre in a bid to shift attention away from the poor conditions.

No10 said the number of people at Manston in Kent had fallen to 2,600, with 1,200 people taken off site in the last four days.

Its capacity should be 1,600 who stay for around 24 hours before being found further accommodation. But as many as 4,000 have been kept there in recent weeks.

Police and specialist officers were seen outside the detention centre preparing to enter with riot gear including shields
Matt Hancock has sparked uproar by appearing on ITVs Im a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! just weeks after filming Channel 4s Celebrity SAS.

Channel 4 chiefs agreed to the former Health Secretarys request to remove a clause from his contract preventing him appearing in any similar reality show.

But it is alleged that Channel 4 was told this was for parliamentary reasons.

Now sources on Celebrity SAS, which will be shown next year, say that they have been left with sloppy seconds, despite paying Hancock, 44, up to 40,000.

One said: Channel 4 and the production company that makes Celebrity SAS are raging about this. They trusted that Matt wouldnt take part in any other programmes, so agreed to remove the clause.

Matt Hancock has sparked uproar by appearing on ITVs Im a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! just weeks after filming Channel 4s Celebrity SAS

Now sources on Celebrity SAS, which will be shown next year, say that they have been left with sloppy seconds, despite paying Hancock, 44, up to 40,000

It means Matt hasnt breached any contract but it has caused total uproar at Channel 4.

They thought they had a coup but ITV put a spanner in the works.

Hancock filmed Celebrity SAS in Thailand while the Tory conference was on in September.

He will have taken seven weeks away from his constituency work in West Suffolk since the end of August.

His Celebrity SAS co-stars include glamour models Danielle Lloyd and Melinda Messenger.

Hancocks spokesperson said he was doing TV work to highlight his fight to have all children screened for dyslexia. A second reading of his Bill will be heard on December 2.

Among contestants arriving last night were Love Island star Olivia Attwood  who braved a skydive

Boy George also arrived in Australia for the start of Im a Celebrity, wearing a geometric outfit

ITV scriptwriters have vowed to embarrass him like no other Im A Celebrity contestant when he arrives in the jungle later this week.

Sources on the show, which starts tonight, say jokes for hosts Ant and Dec are likely to include jibes about his affair with his aide Gina Coladangelo and their breaching of Covid rules.

Matt is a gift for the writers, said one insider.

They are rubbing their hands thinking about the fun they are going to have with him, as are Ant and Dec.

They are telling people to brace themselves for lots of gags about Matt breaking lockdown rules after he was caught on CCTV with Gina. They reckon it will be TV gold.

Sources on the show, which starts tonight, say jokes for hosts Ant and Dec are likely to include jibes about his affair with his aide Gina Coladangelo and their breaching of Covid rules

Among contestants arriving last night were Love Island star Olivia Attwood  who braved a skydive  and Boy George, in an eye-catching outfit.

Fellow contestant Chris Moyles has apologised in advance to viewers for his excessive swearing.

My biggest concern is that in real life I swear a lot, said the ex-Radio One DJ, 48. I really enjoy swearing and I think swearing done properly and in the right context with the right word can be really funny.

You know theres that moment before a trial when the boys go how are you feeling? and Ill be hanging from my testicles over alligators with their mouths wide open. I think its going to be beep, beep, beep. I apologise to everyone in advance.
Instant coffee mix is on display at a supermarket in Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap



By Park Jae-hyuk



Dongsuh Foods and other food firms producing instant coffee mixes have drawn public attention, since it was confirmed that two miners, who walked out alive of a collapsed zinc mine in Bonghwa County, North Gyeongsang Province, last Friday had survived on instant coffee mix, when they were trapped in the mine for more than nine days.



Their doctor told reporters on Saturday that the miners survived as they had been able to drink coffee for the first three days of the accident by mixing groundwater with 30 packs of the mixture of instant coffee, sugar and cream.



Most instant coffee mix sold in Korea is a high-calorie food containing essential nutrients.



Around 50 kilocalories are in a 12-gram pack of Dongsuh Foods' Maxim Mocha Gold Mild Coffee Mix, which occupies over 80 percent of the market share. The product contains 5 milligrams of sodium, 1.6 grams of fat, 9 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of sugar and 1.6 grams of saturated fat.






Their tiny folded ears and saucer-wide eyes have made them a favourite with celebrity cat-lovers including Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran.

But Scottish Folds, which owe their distinctive appearance to a genetic disorder, could be banned if animal campaigners get their way.

Welfare charity Cats Protection wants breeding of the cats to be outlawed because of concerns about their health. It is also unhappy with A-listers for sparking a huge rise in demand for the pets.

Scottish Folds, which owe their distinctive appearance to a genetic disorder, could be banned if animal campaigners get their way

The cartilage in the ears of Scottish Folds is abnormally weak due to a hereditary condition called osteochondrodysplasia, which causes defective cartilage elsewhere in their body, especially the joints.

As a result, the cats are highly prone to crippling arthritis at a far younger age than other breeds.

Pop star Taylor regularly shares pictures of her two Scottish Folds with her 230 million Instagram followers, while Sheeran has created a separate social-media profile for the one he owns.

The Mail on Sunday has found sellers offering Scottish Folds online for more than 1,000 each, as part of a wider trend for pedigree breeds  created by mating cats that have the same aesthetically desirable characteristics.

The cartilage in the ears of Scottish Folds is abnormally weak due to a hereditary condition called osteochondrodysplasia, which causes defective cartilage elsewhere in their body, especially the joints

However, this lack of genetic diversity increases the risk of inherited diseases.

A Cats Protection report revealed that 38 per cent of cats bought in the past 12 months were pedigrees, with Scottish Folds soaring from negligible quantities in 2021 to 110,000  one per cent of the UKs entire feline population  this year.

Our report found that rising numbers of prospective owners want pedigree cats with rare physical characteristics, like Scottish Folds, which can have serious health concerns, said Madison Rogers, Cats Protections head of advocacy.

Ms Rogers also said the increase in popularity had potentially been fuelled by influential celebrities.

We urge them to be aware of the health problems that occur when a cat has extreme features and to consider their own position as role models, she added.

There are currently no feline breeding regulations in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, but Scotland bans breeding cats with poor health, including Scottish Folds

There are currently no feline breeding regulations in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, but Scotland bans breeding cats with poor health, including Scottish Folds.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: Anyone breeding cats in England must protect them from unnecessary suffering. Failing to may lead to imprisonment, a fine or both.

Owners considering breeding cats should seek advice on the risk of inherited conditions.
But trans people are still legally obligated to disclose their past identities to DBS

Keep Prisons Single Sex report said this could be 'abused' by criminals and that it 'destroys confidence in the system' by putting the onus on the individual

They have to personally notify officials of their past identities, a report has found

Transgender people are able to withhold their previous name and biological sex

Transgender criminals could exploit a 'loophole' by withholding their birth name to hide previous convictions when applying to work with children.

People who don't identify as the gender they were assigned at birth are able to withhold their previous name and their biological sex when applying for jobs in settings like schools, nurseries and hospitals.

Transgender people, unlike others who have changed their names, have to personally notify officials of their past identities, a report by Keep Prisons Single Sex has found.

While they are still legally required to inform the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) of their current and previous identities, the report author has told the Telegraph that it 'destroys confidence in the system' by putting the onus on the individual.

Miriam Cates, Tory MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge told the paper: 'The purpose of criminal records checks is both to protect the public and to deter those who mean harm from trying to gain access to children and vulnerable people.

'If predators can evade scrutiny by changing their name or claiming to be the opposite sex, we can be sure that this DBS loophole will be abused and children will be harmed.'

Transgender people, unlike others who have changed their names, have to personally notify DBS officials of their past identities. (Stock image)

The report claims that the system could be 'abused' by 'nefarious criminals' wanting to hide their previous convictions to gain access to vulnerable people.

The report warns: 'The current DBS system relies on the assumption that these disclosures will be made accurately and fully when there are reasons why they might not be. Omission could be deliberate, including for nefarious reasons.'

But criminals withholding their previous identities is not a new concept. Soham murderer Ian Huntley - who murdered 10-year-olds Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells in 2003 - was famously able to get employed by a school after changing his name by deed poll and hiding his real identity from a criminal record check.

Ministers are currently reviewing an existing loophole which relies on sex offenders notifying them when they change their names by deed poll.

The DBS, part of the Home Office, set up a 'sensitive applications route' for people who are transgender. These individuals are exempt from listing their previous identities on the application form and instead have to phone and tell officials.

This means the information is not disclosed to their prospective employer.

A report by Keep Prisons Single Sex has warned that transgender criminals could exploit a 'loophole' by withholding their birth name to hide previous convictions when applying to work with children

Dr Kate Coleman, Director of KPSS, said that the 'enhanced privacy rights' given to transgender individuals means that there is 'no guarantee' that the information on a criminal record check is correct.

The loopholes are 'serious risks to safeguarding that compromise the validity and reliability' of the system, she warned.

The report calls for criminal record checks to instead be carried out using National Insurance numbers, which never change.

A spokesman for the DBS said: 'All applicants for DBS checks are required to sign a legal declaration confirming they have disclosed both their current and previous identities. This, therefore, applies to transgender applicants.

'The Disclosure and Barring Service provides a Sensitive Applications process under the Gender Recognition Act (2004) for transgender applicants. The previous identities (including the birth sex) of transgender individuals are legally protected.

'Our Sensitive Applications route allows these applicants to provide their full information to DBS whilst not disclosing this information to a prospective employer.

'Our Sensitive Applications process introduces no additional risk to DBS checks; it merely affords transgender applicants with the legal protections that they are entitled to.'
The author of Akenfield, the much-loved portrayal of Suffolk village life, today celebrates his 100th birthday  with an appeal for the world to slow down.

Ronald Blythes book became a surprise bestseller in 1969.

Speaking from his cottage on the Essex-Suffolk border yesterday, he said he was delighted to have received a congratulatory message from King Charles.

To mark his centenary, a new book titled Next To Nature, A Lifetime In The English Countryside is being published.

Ronald Blythe, author of Akenfield, the much-loved portrayal of Suffolk village life, today celebrates his 100th birthday - with an appeal for the world to 'slow down'

Blythe said it contained an important message  to slow down and appreciate the natural world. He said: I am for ever telling people to take longer walks  to walk more slowly so that they can really see.

Akenfield: Portrait Of An English Village is described by the Natural History Book Service as a celebration of one of our greatest living writers, and an unforgettable ode to the countryside.

It tells of life in a Suffolk village from the late 19th Century to the mid-1960s and is about, says Blythe, time, and change.

Five years later it was made into a film by Sir Peter Hall, in which locals starred. Blythe played a vicar

It wove his love of nature with an unflinching realism that rural life could be oppressive.

Five years later it was made into a film by Sir Peter Hall, in which locals starred. Blythe played a vicar, a part he mirrored in real life, becoming a Church of England lay canon.

He said he would be celebrating his centenary by greeting friends at home  and perhaps enjoying a glass of sherry.
The liberal elite of this country  a very real and very influential group of people  often claim to be horrified by objections to unlimited migration.

They have many responses. The first, increasingly impossible to sustain, is to pretend that nothing much is going on, that unregulated immigration is not taking place on any significant scale. The dogged work of the organisation Migration Watch has largely put paid to that line of argument.

The facts are that large-scale migration is a significant cause of social change and has some severe costs  though these fall mostly on the poor, rather than on members of the liberal elite in their comfortable postcodes.

Pictured: tA group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dungeness beach by the Dungeness lifeboat following a small boat incident in the Channel in October

When that case fails, they like to insinuate that opponents of mass migration are racial bigots, a charge which can be made without evidence in most places, as progressive media will endorse and amplify it.

Finally, they refuse to accept that economic migrants to this country are in many cases arriving on our shores claiming, with little evidence, to be seeking asylum from persecution. One effect of this controversy has been a cruder-than-necessary division on the issue.

Any intelligently-run nation welcomes some controlled migration, which brings talent into the country and helps to overcome labour shortages.

All civilised people recognise the absolute duty of free nations to take in refugees from persecution. It is not just that this is the right thing to do. Such refugees, as it happens, generally greatly enrich those societies which welcome them.

This country benefited hugely, for example, when it rightly took in large numbers of refugees from Uganda and Kenya half a century ago. It is quite clear that such migration should be legal and under the control of the authorities.

Just as we welcome those who have good reason to come here, we reserve the right to refuse those who have no such claim, or who have criminal pasts which make them undesirable. A country is not truly sovereign if it cannot decide who it allows on to its territory.

So the current unprecedented arrival of significant numbers across the Channel, brought here in defiance of the rules by criminal people smugglers, undermines our sovereignty.

In hard practical fact, very few who arrive here by this route will ever leave.

Suella Braverman, Home Secretary, arrives in Downing Street for a Cabinet Meeting, Nov. 1

International law, and the incessant activities of pro-immigration pressure groups, ensure that this is so.

As the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, rightly says in The Mail on Sunday today: It cannot be right that thousands of people are paying smugglers to make a lethally dangerous journey across the Channel before disappearing into the black economy or seeking financial support from taxpayers.

Nor can it be right, thanks to such queue-jumping, that the British people face a bill of 2 billion a year to pay for the consequences.

Mrs Braverman is taking this seriously. She is plainly working hard to ease the crisis in the asylum system  and her critics should note that this crisis has been caused by people smugglers, not by her policies.

She is also seriously pursuing what must be a key option, greater co-operation with France. As she points out, France, with our support, has stopped more than 29,000 illegal crossings since the start of the year  twice as many as last year  and destroyed over 1,000 boats. This is something to build on.

Rather than sneering at Mrs Braverman, who grasps that this is a major issue and is exploring practical ways of dealing with it, responsible people in this country should support her in upholding law, fairness and sovereignty by regaining control of our beaches and borders.
Rishi Sunak has asked his Home Secretary to sign the biggest ever deal with the French to tackle illegal migrants on the south coast.

The PM will meet French President Emmanuel Macron tomorrow at the COP27 summit in Egypt to thrash out the details.

The agreement, which the UK hopes to sign in the coming weeks, would mean an increase in French officers patrolling beaches.

It comes as Suella Braverman warns in an article for The Mail on Sunday that many Albanians make spurious claims that they are modern slaves, despite paying thousands to get to the UK.

Rishi Sunak has asked his Home Secretary to sign the biggest ever deal with the French to tackle illegal migrants on the south coast

Mr Sunak is now being accused by allies of Boris Johnson of backsliding on Brexit to appease Mr Macron to obtain more help from Paris to resolve the Channel migrants crisis.

MPs close to Mr Johnson raised fears that Mr Sunak was backpedalling on ditching EU-related laws, that he was possibly ditching a pledge to set up a Brexit delivery unit and also softening his stance on the Northern Ireland protocol.

And there were also reports that Mr Sunak was considering whether to press ahead with the planned 2023 sunset clause which would involve scrapping or reforming all EU law by the end of next year.

The scale of that task appeared to have grown last night after the MoS was told that the number of EU-related laws to be scrapped had soared from 2,400 to 3,800.

The PM will meet French President Emmanuel Macron tomorrow at the COP27 summit in Egypt to thrash out the details

Brexiteer Tory MPs conceded that the Retained EU Law Bill always included the provision for some Brussels-related laws to be kept till 2026  the 10th anniversary of the referendum.

But they fear that Mr Sunak is now planning to let many EU rules survive until then as part of a conciliatory approach towards the EU  and France in particular. The PMs pledge to set up a Brexit delivery unit was made last summer in his first bid to become Tory leader.

Last night, one senior Tory said: There is no doubt the Channel migrants crisis is the single biggest issue in MPs postbags now.

It comes as Suella Braverman warns in an article for The Mail on Sunday that many Albanians make spurious claims that they are modern slaves, despite paying thousands to get to the UK

But I would warn that giving in to Brussels over Northern Ireland or going slow on scrapping EU laws is not the way forward. The experience since the referendum shows you only get anywhere with the EU by being resolute.

Reports of a slowdown on scrapping EU rules came after warnings from some business leaders that replacing them with new UK standards could be a drag on growth. However, Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg said last night: I have total confidence the PM will do what he promised  and will continue with the Retained EU Law Bill in its current form.

Downing Street denied it was soft-pedalling on Brexit to appease the French president. It added: The PM is absolutely committed to getting on with the Bill at the same time as providing some steadiness and certainty for business.
The use of the words sausage, bacon and steak to describe plant-based vegan imitations should be banned, say food consultants, retail experts, farmers and butchers.

In the week of World Vegan Day on November 1, plant producers are accused of using meat terms as a marketing ploy to boost sales.

Experts said Britain should follow France, which is moving towards a ban on words such as sausage and steak for vegetarian versions of meat products.

Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research, who lived as a vegetarian for 20 years, said: There should be a new rule saying vegan products cannot be called sausages, steaks or bacon. We ought to follow what the French are doing.

Farmers claim plant producers are using meat terms as a marketing ploy to boost sales

Youd think Trading Standards would have been onto it already, as what it says on the tin is what should be inside.

This is not an argument against people eating vegan food. But the idea you can call a product whatever you like, irrespective of whats inside, goes against labelling laws. Research shows some vegan products are very refined.

Calling something a veggie sausage is a sales tactic as the producer thinks it will sell more than if its called a vegan stick.

If they said the product was made in France when it was really made in Wales, the authorities would come down on them like a ton of bricks.

Nellie Nichols, one of Britains leading food consultants, who works with manufacturers and retailers, said: Producers should be honest about which products are used. They should admit it is not the meat product, and not try to pull the wool over consumers eyes.

They need to make clear the product they are copying is from pea or soya protein and not say it is a version of a sausage, for example.

Its a marketing challenge, and will probably become a legal challenge.

A clever way to get people get around it is to say something isnt what you think it is, such as with the brand This which sells products including This Isnt Chicken Plant-Based Pieces.

Professor Joshua Bamfield of the Centre for Retail Research said: There should be a new rule saying vegan products cannot be called sausages, steaks or bacon'

We should be eating more than twice as much veg as we do. But if you call a product vegan, people link the food to people who demonstrate and throw paint and behave badly. Its much better to call it plant-based.

Farmers agreed. An spokesperson for the National Farmers Union said: Farmers have long called for clear, unambiguous labelling to help shoppers understand where products have come from and make informed decisions on the food they buy.

We would like to see labelling legislation revised to further protect traditional meat terms. All food products have specific ingredients and their own nutritional properties. This is why using the same term for products in different food categories should be avoided.

A spokesperson for The Vegan Society said: As consumers are increasingly moving away from eating animals, the demand for vegan products is growing. Theres no denying that those in the animal farming and meat industries are feeling threatened by this and desperately trying to restrict the marketing of vegan products.

These terms explain to people the context in which the plant-based food item can be eaten or prepared.

There are around two million vegans in the UK, and around six million vegetarians.
A Ukrainian teacher blinded in a Russian missile attack has been given the green light for an operation in Britain which could help to restore her sight.

Horrifying images of Olena Kurylos bloodied and bandaged face sent shockwaves around the world when a missile destroyed her apartment on the first day of Putins invasion of Ukraine.

The Mail on Sunday helped the mother, 52, flee the warzone and undergo treatment in Poland to save the sight in her right eye.

When the Polish doctors concluded they could do no more for Olena, the MoS secured 10,000 of Mail Force donations to fund specialist treatment with consultant eye surgeon Tom Williamson at Centre for Sight, a world-leading clinic based in London, Surrey and Sussex.

Horrifying images of Olena Kurylos bloodied and bandaged face sent shockwaves around the world when a missile destroyed her apartment on the first day of Putins invasion of Ukraine

Prof Williamson first examined Olena in Britain in August and said he was confident he could operate in January  but only if tests conducted two months later showed that the eye had remained stable.

Last week Olena returned to London for her second appointment.

Its good news, shes doing really well, said Prof Williamson. There is a lot of scar tissue, but everything in the eye has stayed where it is supposed to.

The surgeon gave the go-ahead for the operation in January, which aims to restore her vision by up to 50 per cent.

I am so happy. Thank you for giving me hope, said Olena, who was so delighted she jumped up and hugged Prof Williamson.

I am incredibly grateful to each and every Mail reader who has donated money. People in Britain have such big hearts, she added.

Olena was left with glass lodged inside her right eye following the assault on her home in the city of Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, in February.

Olena was left with glass lodged inside her right eye following the assault on her home in the city of Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, in February

After the MoS helped her escape the besieged city, surgeons in Poland managed to save Olenas vision by filling her damaged eye with silicone oil in a gruelling three-and-a-half-hour operation.

But complications developed  leading the MoS to swing into action and secure Olena a visa to travel to Britain to get private treatment funded by generous Mail Force donations for the Ukraine Appeal, the fastest newspaper fundraiser in history.

I am very grateful to the MoS. There were so many others who wanted to interview me, but no one else offered me help, she said.

Olena has been offered a paid job in Poland teaching theatre and dance to Ukrainian children after her operation.

To inspire her, the MoS took Olena to see the West End musical Mary Poppins, which she described as the most incredible opportunity of her life.
William went missing aged three from his foster grandma's house in 2014

The investigation into missing boy William Tyrrell has been majorly 'stuffed up' by police, an expert criminologist has claimed.

University of New England associate professor Michael Kennedy said the case had been chaotic because of political pressure police were under to find the three-year-old who went missing.

William disappeared from his foster grandmother's home in Kendall, on the NSW north coast, on September 12, 2014, and has not been seen since.

William's foster mother was on Friday found not guilty of knowingly giving false or misleading evidence to a secret NSW Crime Commission hearing.

Three-year-old William Tyrrell (pictured) went missing on the NSW Mid North Coast in 2014

Police stated that they believed William's foster mother knew where the body was buried (pictured a police search in November 2021)

Dr Kennedy, an expert criminologist who has been a police officer, said this was yet more drama surrounding the long-running but fruitless investigation.

'There's been a major stuff up and police have been expected to get outcomes that aren't possible,' he told the Daily Telegraph.

'We need to revert back to a time where police were able to be in control of their own investigations and you couldn't put pressure on them to get outcomes because it worked politically.

'If that means a case remains unsolved then so be it, the end doesn't justify the means.

'This is not just about protecting a victim, it's about protecting everybody. And everybody deserves the presumption of innocence.'

Former NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller stated in November that police had a particular 'person of interest' in the case

The woman, who cannot be identified, was almost overcome with tears as she told media she hoped police would 'focus on finding William and what happened to him'.

Senior detective Andrew Lonergan had told the court that police believed the foster mother knew where the body was buried.

The area, near the town of Kendell on the NSW Mid North Coast, has been searched by police and volunteers without finding anything of relevance.

Police have been saying since November 2021 there was 'one person in particular we are looking at closely', which was disclosed by former NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller during a radio interview.

William's disappearance has become one of Australia's most publicised mysteries during the eight-year search

William's foster mother has not been charged in relation to the boy's disappearance and no evidence of her involvement has been made public.

Dr Kennedy said the NSW Crime Commission needed to explain its role in the matter because due process had been eroded 'for the sake of getting an outcome' in the highly publicised case.

'It needs to explain itself and who agreed to this course of action but it never will,' he said.

'Rather than attack an individual copper involved, why don't we attack the system and say this is prevalent across the board, this eroding due process.'

Police declined to comment on the hearing or on the state of their investigation other than that 'every effort' was being made to solve the case.
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Pennsylvania Democratic Senate hopeful John Fetterman and stroke victim mangled his words yet again on the campaign trail, accidentally saying he was against abortion.

'I run on Roe v. Wade. I celebrate the demise of Roe v. Wade,' he said.

Fetterman, who is going head-to-head with celebrity doctor Dr. Mehmet Oz, may well have been trying to say his opponent 'celebrates the demise of Roe v. Wade.'

Fetterman and his Republican rival have been neck-and-neck in the bitterly fought race, but his performance when it comes to public speaking has drawn concerns after a number of garbled answers, much of which has been blamed on his recovery from a May stroke.

John Fetterman appeared to misspeak saying he 'celebrated the demise of Roe V Wade' during a speech to voters on Saturday night

Fetterman appeared alongside Barak Obama, Pennsylvania Governor candidate Josh Shapiro and President Biden

'I run on Roe v. Wade. I celebrate the demise of Roe v. Wade.' he could be heard stating on camera, while holding a microphone in his hand

Fetterman at the campaign rally held at Temple University Liacouras Center in Philadelphia

Last week Oz for the first time surpassed John Fetterman in polling just days before the midterms and a week after their debate where the lingering effects of his Democratic rival's stroke were on full display.

The two point gap  48 percent to 46 percent  continues a steady improvement for Oz, whose support from likely Pennsylvanian voters has increased by 5 percentage points since September, according to polling from The Hill/Emerson College.

Real Clear Politics' average of polls has Oz with just a 0.1 per cent lead, and is projected to win - even if it is by then narrowest of margins.

It also mirrors a national trend as Republicans surge in polls, with some tying or overtaking their Democratic challengers in the days ahead of the election after months of trailing.

Meanwhile, Fetterman's support only ticked up by 1 percent from the September poll from the one taken October 28-31. The split between the two candidates is within the poll's plus or minus 3 percentage point margin of error.

Consistently, this particular polling has shown Fetterman, 53, ahead of Oz, 62.

A televised debate performance last month shocked some viewers and only sowed further concerns of his ability to hold political office.

'Hi, goodnight everyone,' Fetterman said, before addressing his health. 'Let's also talk about the elephant in the room: I had a stroke. [Oz] never let me forget that.'

At one point Fetterman was asked to clarify his position on fracking, as moderators pointed to a 2018 interview where the lieutenant governor expressed broad opposition to the practice, but not a ban.

'I do support fracking - I don't, I don't - I support fracking, and I do support fracking,' he answered to the sheer confusion of voters.

Over the course of the debate, Fetterman twice demurred to release his full medical record to the public.

'My doctor ultimately believes that I'm fit to be serving and that's what I believe,' Fetterman said.

A new poll from The Hill/Emerson College shows Dr. Mehmet Oz pulled ahead of Democrat rival John Fetterman for the first time  with just five days until the 2022 midterms

Republican hopeful Dr. Mehmet Oz participated in the Pennsylvania Senate debate last month

Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (left) debated Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz (right) last month

It had previously been revealed how Fetterman used massive screens on the ground to help him deliver his message

Former President Barack Obama (left) and President Joe Biden (right) strolled onstage together in Philadelphia at a rally for Democrats John Fetterman and Josh Shapiro.

At Saturday Philadelphia rally, (from left): Gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro, former President Barack Obama, President Joe Biden and Senate hopeful Lt. Gov. John Fetterman

In advance of the debate, Fetterman's campaign had tempered expectations, saying there would be 'awkward pauses' and 'delays and errors,' because the Democrat would be reading closed captioning due to his auditory processing issue.

When asked about small business owners who are concerned about raising the minimum wage, he said: 'We all have to make sure that everyone that works is able to- that's the most American bargain, that if you work full time you should be able to live in dignity is well true.

'We can't have businesses being subsidized by not paying individuals that just simply can't evade to pay their own way,' he said.

After it wrapped, a CNN panel of lawmakers and pundits shared a damning assessment of Fetterman's performance.

Charlie Dent, a former Republican congressman for Pennsylvania, said he was 'astounded' and 'stunned' by Fetterman's poor performance, while Alyssa Farah Griffin, Donald Trump's former communications director, said she found it 'painful to watch.'

Even CNN host Alisyn Camerota said she was disturbed by the spectacle.

'I've interviewed him many times as lieutenant governor,' Camerota said. 'And he sounds - he's sounded different before the stroke. In the interviews, he was much more, sort of, clear spoken than what I'm hearing.'

Dent said Fetterman was not fit to be on the debate stage.

'I thought someone should have invoked the mercy rule 20 minutes into the debate,' he said. 'I don't know if it was the stroke or he's just a lousy debater or if he doesn't understand the issues.

'He was flustered he, was confused. He should have not been out there.

'And I've had a number of people say why was this guy in on the ballot after that?

'I don't know if the debates matter that much. But people watch that, they are going to question his capacity to serve.

'The bar was set very low. It should've been set lower.'

A day later, Fetterman delivered a smooth 13-minute stump speech in Pittsburgh as his campaign tried to downplay Tuesday's performance, saying Fetterman has always been lousy at debates and that the closed-captioning system he used as an aid was faulty.
A woman has died and two others injured in the third car crash in one stretch of road in less than a month.

The trio were riding in a Kia Sorento when it veered off the road along Goomalling Road in Wongamine, Western Australia, about 7.20pm on Saturday.

A 34-year-old woman suffered critical injuries and died at the scene and the 34-year-old driver and a 37-year-old passenger were rushed to hospital with serious injuries.

A woman passenger has died and two others have been injured in the third car crash in the dangerous Wheatbelt region in less than a month (pictured, mum-of-six Hannah Fraser died in a car crash on October 26)

It was the third crash in the two weeks after a mother-of-six died in a head-on collision between a Kia Carnival and cement truck on October 26.

Hannah Louise Fraser, 30, was driving west on Goomalling-Toodyay Road, in Wongamine, when it smashed into the truck about 6.20am.

Ms Fraser died at the scene and her six children, aged between 14 months and 12 years old, were rushed to hospital for treatment.

Four children were airlifted from the confronting scene and two were rushed in an ambulance to Perth.

Leighton Fraser posted an emotional tribute to his late wife on October 28 and vowed to raise their six children to the 'absolute best' of his ability.

Ms Fraser died at the scene with her six children, aged between 14 months and 12 years old, rushed to hospital for treatment

'To the love of my life,' the Facebook post began.

'I'm sure I got the chance to tell you just how much your presence in my life made me a better man or just how much you meant to me.

'I hope that in the years we spent side by side my actions told you every day that I love you more than words can describe.'

Less than two weeks earlier a 41-year-old man had died when his Holden ute rolled over into a nearby paddock off Rossmore Road in Hulongine on October 13.
Cho Joo-wan, left, CEO of LG Electronics, poses with Kassim Mjaliwa, prime minister of Tanzania, at the senior official's office in this photo provided by LG, Sunday. The LG Electronics CEO recently visited three African countries including Tanzania, Ivory Coast and Ethiopia to promote Busan City's bid to host the World Expo 2030. Courtesy of LG Electronics

By Baek Byung-yeul



LG Electronics has gone all-out to promote Busan's bid to host the World Expo in 2030 as its CEO recently visited three African nations  Tanzania, Ivory Coast and Ethiopia  and met officials there to explain why Korea's southern port city is the right fit for the global event, according to the tech company, Sunday.



The company said Cho met with government officials in these countries including Kassim Mjaliwa, prime minister of Tanzania and stressed why Busan is the best city for World Expo 2030.



Busan is currently competing for the host city spot for the international event with Saudi Arabia and Italy. The host city will be decided in November 2023 by the votes from the member countries of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE).



"During the meetings, CEO Cho asked for their interest and support for Busan, a city of Korea that has experience and capability to present answers that encompass both the interests of developed and developing countries," LG Electronics said.



To support Busan's bid to attract the 2030 event, LG Electronics has set up a task force and its CEO has led the special team.



In October, the company also invited ambassadors from six African countries  Rwanda, Sudan, Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania  and other diplomatic officials to LG Science Park in Seoul and asked for their support in Busan's bid.



Also, the company installed videos that promote Busan as a host candidate for the World Expo at airports in Busan, Gimpo and around 300 LG Best Shop stores nationwide.



In overseas countries, the company also has been playing promotional videos at popular places such as Times Square in New York and Piccadilly Circus in London.


Drug syndicates have been coercing elderly passengers caught in online scams to smuggle drugs into Australia to pay off their debts.

The Australian Federal Police said on Sunday that the drug mule trend was exposed through a series of drug detections by the Australian Border Force.

The detections at Sydney International Airport involved elderly and vulnerable passengers since the reopening of international border.

Since October 2021, the AFP has arrested 18 alleged drug mules coming off international flights.

Since October 2021, the Australian Federal Police has arrested 18 alleged drug mules coming off international flights. Pictured is an airport luggage carousel

This included two elderly US nationals who were caught at Sydney with 15kg of methamphetamine and 1.5kg of cocaine stashed in the linings of their luggage.

Some of the accused smugglers carrying illicit drugs in their luggage told the AFP they had been 'coerced into the role' after they became victims of online financial scams.

AFP Commander Kate Ferry said it was not surprising criminal syndicates were trying out new tactics to bring drugs into the country.

'Criminal syndicates, by their very nature, exploit vulnerable communities and will undertake whatever tactics necessary to import drugs into our country,' she said.

'We have unfortunately seen instances where people have not only fallen victim to classic inheritance or investment scams and lost their money.

'But they are then offered false hope to regain their money, some unwittingly working as drug mules for the criminal syndicate.'

Commander Ferry said the consequences for victims can be severe, including lengthy terms of imprisonment.

Two elderly US nationals were caught at Sydney with 15kg of methamphetamine and 1.5kg of cocaine stashed in the linings of their luggage.

The elderly US nationals who were caught with methamphetamine and cocaine told police they had flown into Zimbabwe where they received the suitcases from a criminal syndicate.

Drug syndicates have been coercing elderly passengers caught in online scams to smuggle drugs into Australia to pay off their debts. Pictured is an elderly man with his head in his hands

They were forced to act as drug mules after being fleeced out of $US500,000 in an online scam.

Their travel arrangements had allegedly been made by a Nigerian and a UK national.

The Australian Border Force also arrested a pair of elderly German nationals at Sydney with two suitcases allegedly containing a total of 18kg of methamphetamine.

That couple also told police they had flown into Zimbabwe where the suitcases were provided to them with arrangements made via a UK phone number.
The Albanese Government has been forced to water down its attempt to give unions power to give pay rises to entire industries.

In the face of stiff and growing resistance from business and industry groups, Albanese's Workplace Minister Tony Burke has allowed employees to decide if they want their workplaces to join blanket deals or opt out of them.

The bill's most controversial part gives unions power to force employers to negotiate one deal for workers at multiple businesses in low-paid occupations such as hospitality, child care, and cleaning.

The Albanese government is trying to pass laws that will affect the wages and conditions of people in the lowest-paid sectors of the economy such as child care (generic picture)

Mr Burke on Sunday made a concession to business, saying a majority of workers under each employer must agree to join the 'single stream' of negotiation and if this does not occur businesses will opt out.

The major concern voiced by bosses was that medium-sized businesses would be forced into offering the same pay and conditions as multinationals, although a business has to be over a certain threshold to be included.

This could mean that an owner with a couple of hamburger outlets would have to offer the same deal to workers as McDonald's.

Mr Burke also indicated the government was considering a six-month grace period before employers in a sector could be made to be part of a collective agreement.

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has signalled the bill will be changed to allow employees at each workplace to decide if they join a blanket deal struck by a union

The agreements will be backed by the right to strike as long as certain measures are met.

The business community has been pushing for a 12-month wait before the bill comes into full effect.

'We are considering that there's some drafts going back and forth at the moment between us and business, not on a 12-month thing, but six months,' Mr Burke told Sky News on Sunday.

Business have been so opposed to the threat of having blanket union enforced agreements they threatened to run a major publicity campaign against it.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese struck a defiant note when asked about the threat of some business groups to run a campaign against the new laws

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took a defiant stance while talking to reporters on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

'I do note that there's an issue of credibility if companies are saying we've got a whole lot of money to throw at a campaign but we don't have any money to pay workers better,' he said.

'The government that I lead wants to see wages lifted, wants to see living standards improve.'

The opposition claimed Labor's bill would lead to strikes and job losses.

Nationals leader David Littleproud said wage cases should be just left to independent umpire, the Fair Work Commission.

'We think that's the best mechanism to allow those determinations to take place, rather than give more power to the unions and rights of vetoes,' he said.

'I get the ideology, Labor's very much aligned to that, but ultimately in life someone has to pay and that ultimately means the Australian taxpayer will pay that's why businesses have been concerned.'

The changes announced to the bill attracted flack from Labor's side of the political fence.

Senator David Pocock is set to be a pivotal vote in passing the laws and he believes they have been 'rushed'

Peak union body the ACTU said having each workplace voting on whether to join a collective bargaining effort made the system more complex and more likely to stem wage increases.

A key vote the Albanese Government will rely on to get the laws past the Senate also needs more persuading.

Independent ACT Senator David Pocock, who must be won over to ensure the numbers, said the new amendments did not go far enough.

He also believed the bill contained too many new laws and it needed to be split in two to allow for a more thorough and detailed working out of what the implications were likely to be.

Senator Pocock said he did not want to 'stand in the way' of low-paid workers getting a pay rise but the bill had been 'rushed' and he only saw details of it recently.

'It's a massive omnibus bill that is seeking to do a lot,' he said.

'The Senate is there to ensure that bills are adequately scrutinised and that is my primary concern with this bill  the lack of time for scrutiny and consultation.'
Drinking water for residents of Wenden, Ariz., has started to dry up as megafarms owned and backed by sovereign nations use it to grow their crops instead.

Groundwater is a necessity to grow agriculture in the Southwest, and while the Colorado River Basin is going through a prolonged drought, overused aquifers in Arizona are rapidly being exhausted, affecting the local lifestyle and economy.

In fact, workers with the state's water district watched, with the aid of a camera lowered into the town's well, the water moving, CNN reported.

That's because, according to Gary Saiter, a resident and head of the Wenden Water Improvement District, the water was being literally and rapidly pumped out of the ground by a neighboring well belonging to a United Arab Emirates-based company.

It's important because residents of towns Wenden and Salome get their water from the same source as farms - underground pools - but declining water tables in the area show levels have dropped from about 100 feet in the 1950s to about 540 feet in 2022.

While Arizona's La Paz County is experiencing its worst drought in 1,200 years, as are other areas in the state and Southwestern region of the Unite States, foreign-owned farms growing crops requiring extensive amounts of water, such as alfalfa, are being blamed for the dry spell.

Aquifers allowing groundwater to stream through Wenden and Salome, Ariz., have seen its levels decrease significantly since their construction in the 1950s.

To make matters worse, the crops grown by these megafarms are eventually shipped to feed cattle and other livestock in other places around the world, particularly in the United Arab Emirates, rather than the state's own.

In Salome, local water utility owner Bill Farr claimed his wells, which supply water to local schools and 200 other purchasers, are 'nearing the end of its useful life,' CNN reported.

Water tables in the area suggest that water levels have dropped from about 100 feet in the 1950s to about 540 feet in 2022

Al Dahra Agricultural company, based in Abu Dhabi, and Fondomonte Arizona LLC - a commercial farming venture wholly owned by Almarai, one of the biggest dairy companies in the Gulf region - 'have depleted their [water], that's why they are here,' La Paz County supervisor Holly Irwin said.

She added: 'That's what angers people the most. We should be taking care of our own, and we just allow them to come in, purchase property and continue to punch holes in the ground.'

In 2018, a law prohibiting farms to grow thirsty crops like alfalfa and hay passed in Saudi Arabia in 2018, resulting in the necessity of 'feedstock from abroad,' Eckart Woertz, director of the Germany-based GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies, told CNN.

The UAE now imports 80 percent of its food production, according to My Bayut, the country's 'most popular real estate and lifestyle blog.'

As La Paz County's Irwin said: 'They've definitely increased production.'

Al Dahra Agricultural company, based in Abu Dhabi, owns 30,000 acres of land near Wenden

Al Dahri is one of the biggest dairy companies in the Gulf region and exports alfalfa and hay to its cattle in the United Arab Emirates and other countries nearby

The Almarai Company, which operates under its subsidiary, Fondomonte, in the US, owns approximately 10,000 acres of farmland in Vicksburg, and is one of the biggest dairy suppliers in the Gulf.

As of 2022, it is valued at $14.65 billion, according to Companies Market Cap.

The Saudi-backed company also owns nearly 3,500 acres in Southern California, another popular mass agricultural spot in America, and uses water from the Colorado River to nurture its crops.

Foreign-owned megafarms have become somewhat of an omnipresent sight in Arizona, as they've expanded from around 1.25 million acres in 2010 to nearly three million acres in 2020, the US Department of Agriculture reports.

In the Midwest, farmland owned by sovereign nations has seen a fourfold increase.

'It gives you that sense you're closer to the source,' Woertz told CNN. 'The sense that you own land or lease land somewhere else and have direct bilateral access [to water] gives you a sense of maybe false security.'

Crops grown on these foreign-owned megafarms, mostly alfalfa and hay (pictured), are ultimately exported to Saudi Arabia and other surrounding Gulf nations

In 2014, Fondomonte bought 10,000 acres of farmland for $47.5 million, and it also has leasing ties with the state to grow its ploughland.

Crops grown on these megafarms, mostly alfalfa and hay, are later put on trucks so they can be exported to Saudi Arabia.

Almarai has previously said its business in Arizona is related to 'continuous efforts to improve and secure its supply of the highest quality alfalfa hay from outside the Kingdom to support its dairy business.'

'It is also in line with the Saudi government direction toward conserving local resources,' according to Arab News, the biggest English language daily in Saudi Arabia.

Arizona gets about 36 percent of its total water supply from the Colorado River

'Fondomonte decided to invest in the southwest United States just as hundreds of other agricultural businesses have because of the high-quality soils, and climatic conditions that allow growth of some of the finest quality alfalfa in the world,' Almarai said through one of its spokespersons.

Local residents and officials now find themselves fighting against not only multi-million corporations but countries, which themselves are experiencing similar droughts to the one happening in the Southwestern region in a race for the most important commodity on Earth - water.

'We are literally exporting our economy overseas,' Cynthia Campbell, who is a water resources management adviser for the city of Phoenix, told CNN. 'I'm sorry, but there's no Saudi Arabian milk coming back to Southern California or Arizona. The value of that agricultural output is not coming through in value to the US.'

Arizona gets about 36 percent of its total water supply from the Colorado River as recently as 2020, according to The Associated Press.

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 state's river water use by 21 percent starting in 2023.

It's expected to drop even further in the coming years but nobody knows how much right now.
China has sown off it growing influence in the South Pacific by making a $40 million donation to the Solomon Islands.

Beijing gave two water cannon trucks, 30 motorcycles, and 20 SUVs to the island nation, just days after Australia donated 60 semi-automatic rifles and 13 vehicles worth $1.3 million in total.

The Solomon Islands has become a hotspot in a diplomatic tussle as Australia and the US seek to limit China's influence.

Australia and China's donations to the nation's security forces this week were a year after protests against the government turned violent, killing at least three people.

That's... quite a few vehicles. Looks like China will hand over 30 motorcycles, 20 cars and two water cannon trucks to Solomon Islands police this morning. Shot via the excellent @_Chrisnrita_ pic.twitter.com/kIMSBNyWf1  Stephen Dziedzic (@stephendziedzic) November 3, 2022

Strategic Analysis Australia director Michael Shoebridge said Australia and China were competing to be Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavares 'security partner of choice'.

'It seems our desperation to stop Beijing being Mr Sogavare's major source of arms and training means we have to provide assault weapons to his police, while Beijing provides truck-mounted water cannons,' Mr Shoebridge told The Australian.

'The main losers here are the democratic voices in the Solomons parliament, like opposition leader Matthew Wale, and the Solomons people themselves who are presumably the targets for these assault weapons and water cannons.'

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles denied this was the case.

However, the donation has been slammed by the country's opposition leader Matthew Wale, who said it was 'very disturbing'.

Mr Wale questioned whether the weapons would be used by police to stop unrest.

'Obviously we do not have external threats so why the introduction of these high-powered guns?  Or are we on the pathway of being militarised again?' he said.

'If it is then we are arming ourselves against our own citizens.

'It is clear Australia is anxious that if they do not supply guns then China will. Geopolitical interests have surpassed national interest in this country and it is a sad state of affairs.'

Pictured is part of a $1.3million donation by Australia to Solomon Islands, including 60 MK18 rifles

Mr Marles said Australia was not in competition with China, that Pacific countries were free to engage with any country they wanted to.

'We've just got to focus on our own relationship with the Solomon Islands, and indeed with all the countries of the Pacific,' Mr Marles told ABC radio.

'I genuinely do believe that if we are present and if we are engaged with the countries in the Pacific, they'll want to work with us.'

In 2019, riots in Honiara caused more than $100million worth of damage and left the city's Chinatown district in ruins before a snap deployment of peacekeepers from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea helped restore order.

The Chinese community was targeted partly due to the government's decision to switch diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China in 2019, a move that angered some communities in the aid-dependent nation.

Mr Sogavare said the hardware donated will help police keep the peace on the Solomons as it prepares to host the Pacific Games next year before holding general elections in 2024.

'We must serve our people without fear or favour. The security of our country depends on you,' Sogavare told police officers.

The donation of equipment followed high tensions in the Indo-Pacific after the Solomons' decision to sign a security pact with China.

Pictured are vehicles given as aid by Australia to Solomon Islands in $1.3million donation

Concerns were raised that the deal could lead to military bases being established by China in the Solomon Islands, claims both nations have rejected.

China has also attempted to ink similar security deals with other Pacific nations.

Federal police said the rifles donated to the Solomons were part of a 'rearmament program', saying it would be used to maintain peace and stability.

Australian Federal Police acting commander Clinton Smith said Australia was committed to giving the Solomon Islands forces the best possible resources.

'The AFP is proud to be the Solomon Islands' security partner of choice and will continue to work closely with (Solomon Islands police) officers to ensure they are trained and equipped to provide the Solomon Islands community with an efficient, modern police force,' he said.

'The AFP and (Solomon Islands police) have a deep friendship that is regularly demonstrated through the sharing of resources and capability to ensure current and future security challenges and needs in the region are met.'
Former Greens Party leader Bob Brown was given the cold shoulder by Australia's environment minister after the two ran into each other at the same restaurant.

Labor's Tanya Plibersek was touring Tasmania last week to 'consider the environmental impact on this special part of Australia, understand the cultural and heritage significance, and to hear the views of the local community.'

But taking to Twitter on Friday, Mr Brown shared a photo of himself at a cafe in Tullah, two hours west of Launceston, and complained that Ms Plibersek had snubbed him.

'Last night, Australia's Environment Minister Plibersek dined with senior mining officials not Bob Brown & environmentalists, two tables away,' the Bob Brown Foundation account tweeted.

'The Minister declined an invitation to see rainforests with Bob today. An absolute low in Australian environmental history.'

Bob Brown (centre) shared this photo in which Ms Plibersek is seen dining with a group of men just over his shoulder (pictured)

Mr Brown said she refused his offer to tour the rainforest with him

According to Tasmania's Department of State Growth the pristine Takyna/Tarkine area of northwestern Tasmania contains the largest area of cool temperate rainforest in Australia and a multitude of Aboriginal heritage sites.

But the area is also rich in minerals and is one of Tasmania most 'critically' important sites for the mining and forestry industries which bring in billions in revenue.

Mr Brown is a long-time resident of Tasmania and his Bob Brown Foundation promotes environmental awareness - including pushing for the Tarkine to be World Heritage Listed, which would prevent mining.

Ms Plibersek said as part of her two day tour of the Tarkine she 'met with workers from a zinc and copper mine that's been operating in the area for over 85 years.'

'The mine is seeking federal government approval for a new dam. I take these decisions seriously.'

The Chinese owned MMG heavy metals mine at Rosebery is seeking approval for a 285 hectare tailings dam.

Ms Plibersek (pictured) will need to make an opinion on whether to back the Chinese-owned MMG mine building a tailings dam in the pristine Tarkine area of Tasmania

In July this year, the Bob Brown Foundation argued in court former environment minister Sussan Ley's decision to allow for work to commence at the site was not authorised under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.

The Federal Court ruled in his favour that Ms Ley did not take into account the area is the habitat of Tasmania's rare masked owl.

Ms Plibersek said on Friday she is carefully considering her decision.

'I'll carefully consider what I've seen and heard in making a decision, as I am required to do by law. For now, I have to be careful about what I say publicly, because any suggestion I have prejudged a decision could see it challenged in court,' she said.
A Qantas customer has spoken of her months-long ordeal with the airline after she was wrongly charged nearly $40,000 when she tried to book a holiday.

Sydney woman Carol Johnson only found out something was amiss when she went to buy coffee a few days later and her card was declined, leading to several weeks battling hours-long call centre waits, frozen bank accounts, and a whole lot of stress.

Ms Johnson described the process of trying to speak with Qantas customer service and get her money back as 'slow torture... you don't know if you're ever going to get an answer'.

'I was on the phone for days. I was getting up at three or four o'clock in the morning to be put on hold for four to five hours,' the real estate agent told Newscorp.

Sydney woman Carol Johnson only found out something was amiss when she went to buy coffee a few days later and her card was declined, leading to several weeks battling hours-long call centre waits, frozen bank accounts, and a whole lot of stress

The issues began on March 15 this year when she was organising a holiday for herself, her husband and her son, who is based in the US, and booked five flights with Qantas totalling $16,357.33.

Within the next four days she was double-debited for each of the transactions - adding up to a second $16,357.33 that she only discovered when her bankcard was refused.

The money was eventually returned but only after five days of repeated phone calls to the airline's customer service and waiting in the queue for hours each time.

During those five days her accounts were frozen, adding to the stress.

The family had to delay and then cancel the holiday, but on July 26, Ms Johnson tried again and booked two business class tickets to Honolulu, Hawaii for $13,431.48.

Ms Johnson described the process of trying to speak with Qantas customer service and get her money back as 'slow torture... you don't know if you're ever going to get an answer'

But more than a week later on August 4 she received an email from Qantas informing her the company was 'having difficulty processing' the transaction.

After calling Qantas again and being told the payment was declined she then put the tickets on her husband's debit card while on the phone, with the payment appearing to go through.

A few days later she received a similar email about issues with the payment.

This was repeated another two times, with at one point Ms Johnson having three payments of $13,431.48 pending across three cards, resulting in $40,294.44 being frozen.

On August 19 the issue was resolved when one transaction was finally accepted and the other amounts were returned.

However, the ordeal didn't stop there, with the original booking for the Honolulu flights then being deducted the next month on September 8 - resulting in her being charged twice.

She would also get that money back, but only after another 12 days of dealing with Qantas customer service.

Ms Johnson said she still hasn't received a clear explanation of why she was repeatedly double-charged.

She added she just got a shock one morning when she woke up to find her account was more than $13,000 overdrawn.

Ms Johnson said she still hasn't received a clear explanation of why she was repeatedly double-charged

Qantas told the newspaper they have apologised to Ms Johnson as well as offering her a $2,000 'good-will' Qantas voucher.

'She should not have been charged twice in August and September and we returned the funds to her as soon as we became aware,' the airline said.

'Authorisations for purchases sits with the credit card provider, and Qantas has worked with them to resolve the issue and reimburse the customer.'

She said it isn't enough for the months of stress she endured and wants Qantas to upgrade her to Gold Status in their frequent flyer program.

'I'm not asking for money. I just wanted them to acknowledge that they buggered things up,' she said.
Over 800,000 new refugees could flee Ukraine this winter experts have warned  just as Rishi Sunak's government are said to be considering axing a UK scheme to home them.

Unicef, which provides humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide, said desperate families will continue to leave in their thousands to escape Putin's invasion.

But the warning comes amid a 50 billion black hole found in Britain's finances that Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt are desperate to fill.

And it is understood the Homes for Ukraine scheme which gave members of the public 350 per month for housing refugees could be axed to save cash.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities-administered project is said to be among many areas where cost-cutting is being considered.

A source told MailOnline: 'Nothing has been decided yet, a lot of different schemes and budgets across the board are being looked at ahead of the Autumn Statement.'

A Government spokesman said: 'More than 102,000 Ukrainians have arrived in the UK via our Homes for Ukraine scheme and the vast majority are settling in well.

'The majority of sponsors want to continue hosting for longer than six months but we recognise the challenges households face with the rising cost of living and continue to work to support them.

'All arrivals are able to work, study and claim benefits from day one.'

A children's charity has warned as many as 800,000 refugees could still flee from Putin's war

Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt are trying to find ways to fill a 50billion blackhole

Ukrainian servicemen fire artillery from a self-propelled howitzer toward Russian positions near Bakhmut, Ukraine, on Tuesday

Unicef, which has helped at least 250,000 refugees since the war started, has been welcoming families to five Blue Dot sites in Poland.

Manager Dmytro Tretiak said: 'Ukrainian infrastructure is being damaged. Every day there is no electricity for hours, which can mean no light, water or anything. As the war continues this winter, the threat for people only grows and we know more will come.

'The signs are the numbers are increasing, there's always back and forth across the border but we're seeing way less people going back into Ukraine.'

'Some of them are devastated, some depressed and some have lost someone close to them,' he added to the Mirror.

US officials have said that the request by the Biden administration is not to push Ukraine to the negotiating table, but ensure Kyiv maintains the support of its international backers

People familiar with the discussions are wary that Zelensky's ban on talks with the Russian President has created concern in parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America, where the war's effects are being felt the most

Alarm as Putin tells Macron 1945 atom bomb is proof 'you don't have to launch nuclear strike on a major city to win a war' Russian leader Vladimir Putin alarmed Western leaders by referencing the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in a conversation with French president Emmanuel Macron, diplomatic sources have said. According to the sources, Putin expressed the view that the bombings  which triggered the Japanese surrender and the end of the Second World War  demonstrated that 'you don't need to attack the major cities in order to win'. The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively. The bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians. Japan surrendered to the Allies on August 15. The reported remarks come amid growing concern that the Russian leader could be prepared to use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine, where Russian forces have suffered increasing setbacks in the conflict. Advertisement

As many as 100,000 Ukrainians have been given somewhere to live under Britain's Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Householders who take refugees in are handed 350 a month from the government as well as food and energy help.

But as Sunak and Hunt attempt to start balancing the books, it and other costly projects have come under the microscope.

Tory MP Bob Seely, who sits on the foreign affairs select committee, told The Sun: 'It is absolutely right for Rishi and Jeremy to be looking at everything to make sure we get savings rather than put taxes up.

'But this is a good value for money scheme and they shouldn't make a false economy.

'The Homes for Ukraine scheme has brought out the best in people. The number of people who have come forward to support Ukrainians has been incredible.'

It comes after it was reported the US had been privately encouraging Volodymyr Zelensky to drop his ban on talks with Putin and negotiate an end to the fighting with the Russians amid growing fears of nuclear war.

US officials have said that the request by the Biden administration was not to push Ukraine to the negotiating table, but ensure Kyiv maintained the support of its international backers.

People familiar with the discussions are wary Zelensky's ban on talks with the Russian President has created concern in parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America, where the war's effects are being felt the most.

Several nations are worried about fuelling a war for many years which has already taken a toll on the world economy and had devastating consequences on the cost and availability of food and fuel.
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A 25 million party boat which is set to sail up and down the River Thames with as many as 1,500 passengers is facing opposition from locals concerned about events on it going on into the early hours every night of the week.

Luxury superyacht Oceandiva is set to host high-end conferences and soirees from Spring next year, and promises to be a 'revolutionary' net-zero events space.

Owners Oceandiva London have submitted a planning application to operate the vessel Monday to Sunday between 11am and 2am the next day.

The company has also applied for an extension to all licensable activities on six days of the year, including New Year's Eve.

A 25 million party boat which is set to sail up and down the River Thames with as many as 1,500 passengers is facing opposition from locals

Luxury superyacht Oceandiva is set to host high-end conferences and soirees from Spring next year

The luxury cruise will take guests past some of London's best-known landmarks including Tower Bridge

Spanning across three decks, the boat can carry up to 1,500 guests standing and 500 seated, with attendees flitting between the 'al fresco' deck space and the ship's interior once it sets in motion.

Renderings of the 282ft-long ship show it will have a stylish bar area, a spot-lit dance floor with a stage, and will cruise past some of the capital's most iconic landmarks, such as Tower Bridge and the Houses of Parliament.

But Londoners living along the Thames have expressed their concerns about the late hours and around how the hundreds of partygoers will be able to embark and disembark without disturbing them.

Revelers will be able to climb aboard the ship at six different docking points in the city - Butler's Wharf, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Canary Wharf, Greenwich and Royal Victoria Dock.

Renderings of the 282ft-long ship show it will have a stylish bar area and a spot-lit dance floor with a stage

It will cruise past some of the capital's most iconic landmarks, such as Tower Bridge and the Houses of Parliament

Residents in Shad Thames, a historic riverside community next to Tower Bridge, have voiced their worries about the boats' activities around Butler's Wharf - a private pier the council does not have control over.

Following a community meeting, the boat's operators assured locals that there would not be disembarkment on the central London pier after 10.30pm.

One resident was not satisfied with this, writing: 'Even a mass disembarkation around 10.30 could be hugely disruptive, given the unprecedented size of the boat and the fact that BW's location make it one of the most central of all of the piers OD is claiming to be able to use.'

Residents in Shad Thames, a historic riverside community next to Tower Bridge, have voiced their worries about the boats' activities around Butler's Wharf

Oceandiva London said it was working with the Metropolitan Police to form a management plan for landings at Butler's Wharf (pictured) and added that it would address all of resident's concerns

Others expressed concern about 'static parties' on the pier, something Oceandiva insisted it has no intention of doing.

Meanwhile, some pointed out that as a party boat, Oceandiva would be sailing slowly back and forth along the same route, bothering residents further.

Peter Golds, a Tory councillor in Tower Hamlets, said that allowing the party boat would be highly disruptive for local residents.

'You imagine at one o'clock on a summer's morning when you're trying to go to sleep and there are 1,500 people having a party slowly going past your bathroom windows on the River Thames,' he told the Telegraph, before adding that those getting off the boat would cause even more noise.

The above rendering shows the dance floor and stage area onboard Oceandiva London, which launches in spring

The British events company Smart Group, working in collaboration with Oceandiva, will own, manage and operate Oceandiva London

Councils including Westminster, Southwark and Greenwich, have all submitted responses to the planning consultation.

Oceandiva London said it was working with the Metropolitan Police to form a management plan for landings at Butler's Wharf and added that it would address all of resident's concerns

The company promises its new vessel will 'revolutionise the luxury events and hospitality sector', as the UK's first CO2-neutral venue on the Thames.

Oceandiva promises to 'revolutionise the luxury events and hospitality sector', as the UK's first CO2-neutral venue on the Thames

The swish new party venue has been designed by Oceandiva, a Dutch company that already operates similar ships in The Netherlands and Germany

Spanning across three decks, the boat can carry up to 1,500 guests standing and 500 seated, with attendees flitting between the 'al fresco' deck space and the ship's interior once it sets in motion

Events on the day cruise will be catered by Moving Venue, which creates menus in Kensington Palace and the Victoria and Albert Museum, in collaboration with Last Supper, a luxury catering company that counts high-end names like Gucci, Sotheby's and Mont Blanc among its clients.

To wash it all down, the venue has recruited 'London's leading mixologists' to create the bar's drinks menu, with tailored beverage offerings available for each event.

The swish new party venue has been designed by Oceandiva, a Dutch company that already operates similar ships in The Netherlands and Germany.

The British events company Smart Group, working in collaboration with Oceandiva, will own, manage and operate Oceandiva London.

Greg Lawson, CEO of Smart Group said in a statement: 'We are proud to be the operators of the first ever CO2 neutral events venue in the world, one that raises the bar for luxury venues on the river Thames. Our 30-year reputation as the UK's leading hospitality provider, professionally executing private and corporate events such as Royal Ascot, Lords and Silverstone at an exemplary standard make us the ideal operators of the vessel.

'Quality, passion and integrity is what drives me and my business and Oceandiva London will be no exception. We are a family-run business and are empathetic to residents' concerns, however, we are confident of our reputation and ability to execute events to a high professional standard.

'To date, 80% of enquiries have been for events less than 500, and 95% have been for corporate events. The events we will deliver will be primarily awards and charity dinners, product launches, corporate and governmental conferences - it is important to note that there will not be any ticketed 'on the door' events.'
Victoria Cross winner Johnson Beharry has said he was put on alert for the Queen's funeral on the day the monarch met Liz Truss- two days before she died.

Mr Beharry, 43, revealed that he assumed the email he received was royal protocol.

He added that he never replied to the email and got a call 24 hours later to ask him if he could confirm that he was available.

The 43-year-old assumed it was the palace 'updating the process' and said he would do anything needed.

Victoria Cross winner Johnson Beharry has said he was put on alert for the Queen's funeral on the day the monarch met Liz Truss- two days before she died. Pictured: He receives his Victoria Cross from the Queen in 2005

Then, on September 8, two days on from her last official engagement with Prime Minister Liz Truss, the palace announced that the Queen had died.

Mr Beharry had previously agreed to be part of Operation London Bridge, the process for after the Queen's death- and known about it.

Speaking to the Sun on Sunday, Mr Beharry, who served in Iraq and got the Victoria Cross, he said: 'Her Majesty was like a gran to me.

'Without the Queen I wouldn't have the life I have now.

'I always knew about Operation London Bridge as a member of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association.'

Then, on September 8, two days on from her last official engagement with Prime Minister Liz Truss, pictured, the palace announced that the Queen had died

Mr Beharry attended the Queen's funeral. Pictured: The Queen's funeral procession on September 19

Mr Beharry, pictured, was awarded the Victoria Cross for acts of heroism in Iraq. His actions meant that he saved around 30 comrades and suffered life-threatening brain injuries

Queen Elizabeth II poses for a group photo with holders of the Victoria and George Cross medals including Mr Beharry

What did Johnson Beharry do to win his Victoria Cross? On 1 May 2004, Beharry drove his Warrior armoured vehicle onto the streets of Al Amarah in Iraq, with four other Warriors behind him. A rocket-propelled grenade hit his vehicle, setting it on fire and knocking out his commanding officer. Beharry took over, forcing his vehicle through a barrier blocking the road and driving over a mine that failed to explode before accelerating away. Beharry was shot in the head  the helmet he was wearing at the time can be found with his Victoria Cross in the Ashcroft Gallery at IWM London  but he still managed to lead his own Warrior and the four behind him to safety. Under continuous fire, Beharry then climbed out of his burning vehicle to rescue his commanding officer and their badly burned gunner before leading two other soldiers to safety. Still under fire, Beharry drove his Warrior where it would do no damage if it exploded, disabled the vehicle and its weapons and ran for cover. Once safe, he collapsed from exhaustion. He was sent to hospital but soon discharged himself and was back on duty within six weeks. During the early hours of 11 June 2004, Beharry was again driving a Warrior through the streets of Al Amarah when his company were ambushed and a rocket-propelled grenade hit his vehicle, exploding inches from Beharrys head. Terribly wounded and barely conscious, he drove backwards at high speed and to safety. Despite Beharrys injuries, which included a fractured skull that would leave him in a coma for weeks, he saved the lives of all his fellow soldiers in the Warrior. Johnson Beharry became the first recipient of the Victoria Cross in the twenty-first century on 18 March 2005. Source: Imperial War Museum Advertisement

Mr Beharry was awarded the Victoria Cross for acts of heroism in Iraq. His actions meant that he saved around 30 comrades and suffered life-threatening brain injuries.

The 43-year-old spoke of first meeting the Queen in 2005, explaining that he never dreamed he would meet her.

She told him he was a 'very special person' and spoke to him about his brain injury.

Mr Beharry met the Queen multiple times after that and they spoke about his family and how he was.

He added that she asked about how was feeling and coping.

Mr Beharry explained that the monarch, who called him Beharry, was like a replacement gran for him as his grandmother died in 2003.

The 43-year-old said that she was respectful and communicated with him like 'no one else.'

Mr Beharry and his wife Mallissa were invited to go to the Queen's lying in state for a private moment days before the funeral and he felt himself choking up.

The soldier, who serves with the 1st Battalion Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment and first met the Queen in 2005, was emotional as he spoke to her casket.

He paid his respects to her and thanked her for everything she did for him, adding that he would not be where he was without the Victoria Cross.

He was emotional when he learnt she had died and said he got goosebumps.

The 43-year-old said that it did not sink in for him that she had died until people sang God Save the King outside the palace.

He attended the funeral and explained that he was trying to keep calm. He was pushing the wheelchair of Keith Payne VC.

Mr Beharry said that he was hit with strong emotions when he got to the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior and got goosebumps.

He reflected on the last event he attended, seeing the Queen at Westminster Abbey when he did a reading for the Royal British Legion.

Mr Beharry had not realised that he was in front of President Joe Biden.

He was speaking about security after the funeral with senior officials.

Mr Beharry was told that Mr Biden was annoyed he had to wait for him to walk past.

Mr Beharry, pictured in 2017, is going to be at the Cenotaph next week for Remembrance Sunday and will be thinking of the Queen

Victoria Cross recipient Johnson Beharry arrives at Westminster Abbey in London, to attend a service to mark Armistice Day and the centenary of the burial of the unknown warrior in 2020

The soldier said he felt privileged to have been at the funeral.

Mr Beharry is going to be at the Cenotaph next week for Remembrance Sunday and will be thinking of the Queen.

He said he will also be saying thank you for everything she did and promised to serve the country until the day he dies.
Lisa Wilkinson has taken a brutal swipe at Elon Musk after the world's richest man completed his first week as the new owner of Twitter.

In seven days Musk, 51, has laid off about half of Twitter's 7,500-person workforce, including top executives, and unveiled a plan to sell the blue-tick verification badges for $8US per month.

'I'm still waiting for the bit where Elon Musk is going to improve humanity by owning Twitter, I haven't seen any sign of that yet,' Wilkinson said on the Sunday Project.

Musk made the bold claim when acquiring Twitter, adding he wanted to create 'a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner.'

Lisa Wilkinson took aim at Twitter's new owner Elon Musk on The Sunday Project (pictured)

'There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate hate and divide out society,' Musk said.

He is yet to elaborate on how exactly he plans to fix Twitter's issues, save for taking aim at the 'bots' he says plague the platform.

He has, however, referred to himself as a 'free speech absolutist' so any significant crackdown on trolls or hate-speech seems unlikely.

About 900,000 Twitter accounts have closed since Musk took ownership of the company, appearing to indicate many aren't confident in the direction Musk will take the social media giant.

Wilkinson's The Sunday Project co-host Elfy Scott said she was unsure if she would join those making the exodus.

'I do think there are so many positive aspects to Twitter, that's been proven historically,' she said.

'It is an incredible place for people to meet and join forces, we wouldn't have seen such a huge mobilisation of #metoo or #blacklivesmatter without Twitter.'

'But I do think at this point I'm tending to agree with those 900,000 and I think there are a lot of people in my age group who are doing that too.'

Twitter Blue will also offer subscribers priority ranking for 'quality content,' meaning it will boost subscribers visibility in replies, mentions and reaches

Wilkinson's The Sunday Project co-host Elfy Scott (pictured) said she was unsure if she would join those making the exodus

The company has officially begun launching Twitter Blue, a new subscription-based system proposed by new boss Elon Musk that will allow users to pay US$7.99 per month for a verified checkmark next to their username along with features like less ads and longer videos.

An in-app iOS notification revealed Saturday states the features that will be available to Twitter Blue subscribers, including seeing half the ads a normal user would and the ability to upload longer videos up to 10 minutes long.

The service is currently available in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK to start, but Musk indicated it will be available worldwide soon.

As soon as we confirm it's working well in the initial set of countries and we have the translation work done, it will roll out worldwide,' Musk tweeted Saturday.

Musk (pictured) bought Twitter for Twitter for $44billion after months of negotiations

It will also offer subscribers priority ranking for 'quality content,' meaning it will boost subscribers visibility in replies, mentions and reaches.

According to the company, this will 'lower the visibility of scams, spam and bots.'

The $44billion purchase was finalised on October 27.

Within the first week 3,700 of Twitter's 7,500 employees were laid off by email - a decision Musk defended by saying he had 'no choice' because the company was losing $4 million a day.

He has fired a number of executives and reports suggest the firings targeted teams in the sales, trust and safety, marketing, product, engineering and legal divisions.

Entire sections of the company have also been cut, including Twitter's human rights team and 'ethical AI' team.
Robert Yu, president and CEO of Yuyu Pharma, speaks during a press conference held on the sidelines of the CPHI exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday. Joint Press Corps

By Baek Byung-yeul



FRANKFURT  Robert Yu, president and CEO of Yuyu Pharma, said Wednesday that his mission is to make the company comparable to prominent biopharmaceutical companies in the world. To that end, he said the Korean company is actively diversifying its portfolio by developing new drugs such as a dry eye treatment as well as hair loss medication.



"Yuyu Pharma has two pipelines. One is a dry eye treatment and another one is hair loss medication," Yu said during a press conference held on the sidelines of the CPHI exhibition in Frankfurt.



"We are currently conducting the Phase 2 clinical trial for the new dry eye drug in the United States with 240 patients. The test results will come out in the first half of 2023," he said.



Based on pre-clinical studies, the company said a dose-dependent decrease in several dry eye-associated inflammatory mediators was observed in the cornea and conjunctiva. These findings indicate that its drug eye treatment candidate YP-P10 may have anti-inflammatory activities on dry-eye-induced ocular surface inflammation.



"We are also planning to conduct a clinical trial of our hair loss medication. Dutasteride, familiar to Koreans as Avodart, is actually used to treat an enlarged prostate. But, this medication is widely used as a treatment for hair loss in Korea and Japan. The interesting thing is that clinical trials have not been conducted on whether it can be used as a hair loss medication in Europe and the U.S.," he said.



"We will hold a meeting with the U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in the first half of next year to get approval for launching clinical trials on whether this drug can be used to treat hair loss. If approved, we will start clinical trials in 2024," the CEO added.



Yu is the grandson of the company's founder, Yu Teuk-han, and son of current Chairman Yu Seung-pil. As a third-generation owner, he said it is his task to challenge new drug developments for the future of the next 80 years of the company, which celebrated its 80th anniversary last year.



The company mainly generates its sales from selling pharmaceuticals and health supplements, but its financial situation has worsened due to too much spending on developing new drugs. In 2021, Yuyu Pharma went into the red with an operating loss of 1.6 billion won ($1.12 million).



Nevertheless, Yu said that developing new treatments must go on as that will become a turning point for the company.



"If we stop developing new drugs, we will be easily able to see operating profit right away. When asked whether we are on the right track in the long run, I think Yuyu Pharma can make it. It is not just about taking on new business. I am risking my life for this business," he said.


A hoard of angry vegans have stormed a busy supermarket holding up confronting placards and blocking customers from buying meat.

Members of the Farm Transparency Project occupied the meat aisle of Spencer Street Coles in Melbourne on Sunday, calling for a ban on pigs being kept in cages.

The group claims the supermarket giant is using pork suppliers that keep pigs in small cramped cages known as sow stalls - even though the industry in Victoria committed to phasing out the factory farming practice by the end of 2017.

A hoard of angry vegans have stormed a busy supermarket holding up confronting placards and blocking customers from buying meat (Members of the Farm Transparency Project, pictured)

'These industries are inherently violent,' Farm Transparency Project said on their Facebook page.

'We are ready to do what it takes to reveal the atrocities that go on behind closed doors of farms and slaughterhouses and to take action until all animals can live with freedom and dignity.'

As part of the protest irate herbivores with their hands painted red to symbolise blood, sat in front of the meat fridges holding graphic pictures of pigs in cages.

They then marched around the supermarket playing audio of pigs squealing in pain to the dismay of shoppers.

Grim footage captured two months earlier found 'at least six Victorian piggeries are confining mother pigs to the crates, with some animals spending up to 27 days at a time with no room to turn around,' the group claims.

Despite the use of sow stalls, the Farm Transparency Project alleges top producers are still marketing their products as cage-free at Coles, Woolworths, IGA and Costco.

Members of the Farm Transparency Project occupied the meat aisle of Spencer Street Coles (pictured) in Melbourne on Sunday, calling for a ban on pigs being kept in cages

As part of the protest irate herbivores with their hands painted red to symbolise blood, sat in front of the meat fridges holding graphic pictures of pigs in cages. The group also marched around the supermarket playing audio of squealing pigs

The dramatic demonstration comes after Animal Justice Party MP Andy Meddick tabled a motion in parliament two months earlier to stamp out the practice calling the swine industry's attempt to self-regulate 'woeful'.

Farm Transparency Project leader Chris Delforce, who is also running as a Senate candidate for the Animal Justice Party at the upcoming Victorian election, said there should be a complete ban by the Andrews Government.

'This protest aims to draw attention to the incredible suffering and violence that is inherent to modern animal farming,' he told the Herald Sun.

'We believe consumers deserve to know the reality of these industries.'
People could be heard screaming and running away from the chaotic scene

Riot police were seen descending on the streets of Hyde Park to confront thugs

Fireworks and petrol bombs were thrown at police officers and firefighters

Chaotic scenes were seen across the country in Leeds, Edinburgh and Salford

A schoolboy, 17, has died after falling through a greenhouse on Bonfire Night

A schoolboy aged 17 has died in a Bonfire Night tragedy after falling through a greenhouse running from police investigating reports of fireworks being thrown.

Officers had been called to the residential street in Halifax, West Yorks, just after 8pm after calls that youths were hurling the recreational explosives around.

But as they arrived a group of lads fled, with one jumping over a fence into a house's garden.

It was there he fell into a greenhouse which then collapsed around him. He was thought to have severed an artery and bled to death.

He died from his injuries in hospital despite frantic attempts by paramedics and doctors to save his life.

The area has been sealed off for a painstaking forensic investigation as investigators try to piece together what happened.

West Yorkshire Police said tonight: 'Police were contacted by the ambulance service shortly before 8:15pm yesterday evening following reports of an injured male in the garden of a property.

'The 17-year-old male was taken to hospital where, sadly, he died of his injuries.

Police at the scene of a teenagers death in Halifax last night. The teenage boy died after reportedly climbing over a fence to evade police, crashing through this greenhouse

Trouble flared when yobs were throwing fireworks nearby as police attempted to take control of the incident

'A scene is currently on in the area as officers establish the full facts of what has happened.

'The matter has been reported to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) as police were called to the vicinity due to a report of fireworks being set off prior to the incident.'

It was a shocking tragedy on a night where chaos erupted across the country as thugs chucked fireworks at passers-by, set alight wheelie bins and threw explosives at police.

Scenes of disarray were seen in Leeds and Edinburgh with police in Manchester and Merseyside reporting blockaded roads.

Multiple videos posted on TikTok showed riot police descending on the streets of the Hyde Park area of Leeds last night, with thugs firing explosives at officers.

Footage showed fireworks exploding on the narrow streets and being aimed at a line of police in what resident's last night described as a 'war zone'.

Fireworks exploding in front of riot police holding shields and wearing helmets in the Hyde Park area of Leeds as chaos descended on Bonfire Night

West Yorkshire Police kitted out in full riot gear last night after yobs threw fireworks at them as they struggled to control the crowds

Police officers were seen retreating backwards as explosives were aimed at them, while others ducked down to avoid being hit as fireworks blew up in front of them.

Cars were at a standstill as the explosives were aimed at people's doorsteps and wheelie bins were set a light.

Riot police having fireworks chucked at them in Hyde Park, Leeds

Other videos showed riot police running down the road wearing helmets as those throwing the explosives were seen yelling.

One woman on Twitter wrote that it 'was like being in a war zone in Leeds' last night and 'the air was thick with smoke'.

Those living in the area were left scared after police warned them to stay inside.

Student Sally-Anne Brayshaw, 19, said: 'I live in one of the houses. My housemate and I were watching through my window. Some of the fireworks almost hit us square in the face.

'If the window wasn't in the way or open, we would have been scalded to hell.'

Miss Brayshaw said a group of police officers 'decked out in riot gear' turned up to help with the situation but 'within five minutes there were fireworks launching down at them'.

Arrests were made throughout the night with the Police using Drones and the National Police Air Service to contain the groups.

Another anonymous resident said: 'This affects the whole community every year.

'There are children and animals scared because of immature people using fireworks incorrectly.'

The Scottish capital became a hub of violence and anti-social behaviour last night with around 100 youths chucking fireworks at members of the public and vehicles on Marischal Road.

Elsewhere in Edinburgh a motorbike gang blockaded a road with fireworks and hurled a petrol bomb at a police car.

Footage shared online showed youths on motorbikes racing through the Niddrie area of the Scottish capital launching fireworks and petrol bombs on the ground.

It appears they were being thrown towards frightened passers-by and cars driving down the road.

People in the video are heard screaming and seen running away as the group continued to chuck the fireworks onto the road and near the pavements.

Specialist police officers descended on the area following reports of a serious disturbance, urging people to stay indoors.

Bonfire Night ended in chaos in the NIddrie area of Edinburgh last night, as a gang of youths on motorbikes began launching fireworks and petrol bombs at passers-by

Specialist police officers attended the scene urging people to stay indoors. It also said a police vehicle had been struck with a Molotov cocktail

Passers-by heading back from Bonfire Night celebrations were left terrified as fireworks were hurled at the ground

Police closed Niddrie Mains Road to traffic, where earlier in the night a fire had been lit to block the road to passing vehicles. There were also the remains of a temporary bus stop strewn in the street.

While attending the incident a police vehicle was attacked with breaks resulting in a window being smashed. One officer sustained a minor cut to their lip.

Around the same time in the Sighthill area of the capital, more police vehicles were targeted by youths with bricks.

Two officers had to be taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh where one sustained a head injury, that required stitches, and the other needed treatment for glass in their eye.

The scene in Niddrie after the street was attacked by a gang. The road was blocked off with fire bringing a chaotic end to this year's Bonfire Night celebrations. A police vehicle was hit with a Molotov Cocktail but no one was injured

The footage showed youngsters on motorbikes driving through the area and causing chaos

People in the video are heard screaming and seen running away as the group continued to chuck the fireworks onto the road and near the pavements

In the Duddingston area of the capital police vehicles had petrol bombs thrown at them by another gang of youths.

Police Scotland said specialist officers had been deployed to the area of the city as part of the force's Operation Moonbeam, following 'reports of various incidents including anti-social use of fireworks, a break-in to a shop and road blockages'.

In total the force said 483 calls were made with regards to firework-related offences last night - a reduction from the previous year. Twelve people were arrested but police officers will continue looking for suspects in the coming days.

Officers closed off the road and urged people to stay indoors and avoid that part of the city due to a 'youth-related disorder linked to Bonfire Night'

My mate sending me videos of tonight's "festivities" in Niddrie Edinburgh pic.twitter.com/oJedjoCMgi  David Tolmie (@DavyTolmie) November 5, 2022

The incident echoed scenes seen in Dundee seen on Halloween earlier this week, where a group of youths were seen throwing fireworks at cars and blocking the roads with bonfires.

In Glasgow, however, the mayhem continued when a flare was set off at a Kasabian gig at the Ovo, Hydro last night.

Footage showed the banned object being flying across the fans before being picked up while crowds danced around it.

One concert goer, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Glasgow Times: 'I hope no one was hurt.'

Following the disruption the Scottish Ambulance Service also advised people to avoid Niddrie and stay indoors

A police presence remained outside the area of the capital to ensure the public were safe

A spokesperson from the SEC said: 'We can confirm that an incident involving a flare took place at the Kasabian gig last night.

'It was dealt with swiftly with the person in question apprehended by security and subsequently taken away by police.'

Police Scotland said a man outside the Hydro had thrown a flare into the crowd. He was then detained by security. Two people were arrested in relation to the incident.

Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs said some individuals across the country showed a 'blatant disregard' for the safety of the public and emergency service workers, warning that officers are working to find those responsible for the chaos.

'A robust police presence will be in place to address the ongoing issues and keep the public safe.

'Residents within Niddrie are asked to remain indoors and not hinder the ongoing emergency service response.'

And a spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: 'Please avoid the Niddrie area of Edinburgh and locals please stay inside your properties.'

In the Darnall area, three miles from Sheffield city center, hooded yobs were seen lighting fireworks at a passing bus.

As one of the fireworks explodes on the side of a bus, a sinister voice chants 'it's a warzone fam' as the other gang members burst into laughter as innocent passersby shuffled across.

Firefighters attending a scene in Eccles, Greater Manchester, were attacked as a firework was thrown at them

In Sheffield, firefighters were called after a car was set on fire. Video footage shows crews tackling the blaze.

One resident who witnessed the incident said: 'These teenagers are just getting bolder and bolder.

'I've heard of other incidents in the past week of fireworks thrown at people. Sooner or later it's going to get someone killed and it's just entertainment for them. I'm absolutely fed up.'

In Cheetham Hill, Manchester, a similar incident was reported, with police officers announcing youths were firing rockets at passing motorists, according to Manchester Evening News.

Greater Manchester Police said the first set of rockets had been seized the fireworks from the youngsters.

In a statement on Facebook the force wrote: 'The following fireworks were located in Cheetham Hill near to Crumpsall Lane from youths who were launching them into the street aiming them at cars.

'Antisocial behaviour with fireworks can be extremely dangerous. Keep reporting antisocial behaviour through to 101 and in an emergency 999. Stay safe Manchester.'

In a separate incident, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said their firefighters said been attacked at an incident in Eccles, near Salford.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service tweeted: 'Sadly our crews were met with anti-social behaviour when attending an incident in Eccles.

'A firework was thrown at crews who were trying to extinguish a bonfire. No one should be attacked when trying to keep communities safe.

'It's #BangOutOfOrder and shouldn't be tolerated.'

Officers in Greater Manchester also had to rush out to Salford after a firework had reportedly been shoved in a post box.

A screengrab of footage shows firefighters tacking a car fire believed to have been started be teens on Bonfire Night

Crews were called to the scene in Sheffield on Saturday evening amid the festivities

Images show the aftermath of the blaze, with residents claiming that teenagers are getting 'bolder and bolder'

The force Tweeted: 'Crews from Manchester Central, Salford and Broughton stations attended an incident where a firework had reportedly been put through the letterbox of a home in Salford.

'Firefighters arrived quickly and extinguished a small fire in the hallway of the property.'

Merseyside Police said that eight people had been detained following reports of fireworks being fired at cars and people causing obstruction to roads in the Toxeth area.

Mr Maris, Gold Commander for Operation Moonbeam for Police Scotland said: 'Our initial analysis of the incidents arising on Bonfire Night show that, for the overwhelming majority of the country, people enjoyed the occasion safely and responsibly.

'However, in some areas, particularly Edinburgh, various individuals have shown blatant disregard for the safety of the public and the emergency services and have actively targeted police officers and firefighters during the course of their duties.

'This behaviour is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated. I want to make it abundantly clear that considerable follow-up inquiry will be conducted in relation to all of these incidents, utilising all resources at our disposal to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.

'Do not think that just because you evaded police on the night, that we won't be knocking on your door in the near future.'

West Yorkshire Police have been contacted for a statement regarding the incident.
Jeremy Hunt is being warned against alienating Tory voters following reports the Chancellor could oversee a 10billion tax raid on pensions savings by higher earners.

The Chancellor and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak are continuing to put together their plans for the Autumn Statement on 17 November, as they look to plug an estimated 50billion blackhole in the public finances.

Mr Hunt and Mr Sunak are said to be looking towards those 'with the broadest shoulders' to bear the brunt of the fiscal tightening.

It has now emerged the Chancellor is in talks over changing tax rules designed to encourage workers to save into their pensions pots.

Basic rate taxpayers get 20 per cent tax relief on their pension contributions, while higher-rate taxpayers can currently claim 40 per cent pension tax relief and additional rate taxpayers can claim 45 per cent pension tax relief.

But, according to the Sunday Telegraph, ministers have discussed reducing the rate at which tax relief is applied for higher-rate or additional rate taxpayers from 40 per cent or 45 per cent, to as low as 20 per cent.

A report by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association found a flat rate of 20 per cent would raise between 8billion and 10billion a year.

But former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb warned the Tories: 'If you wanted to alienate your core vote by taking away the higher rate of tax relief then you have done the job.'

Jeremy Hunt is being warned against alienating Tory voters following reports the Chancellor could oversee a 10billion tax raid on pensions savings by higher earners

The Chancellor and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak are continuing to put together their plans for the Autumn Statement on 17 November

Ex-chancellor George Osborne, who was recently been spotted in Downing Street, was warned off changing pensions tax relief in 2016 by Tory MPs threatening a 'riot' over a cut

Reversal of National Insurance hike comes into effect TODAY The cancellation of the 1.25 percentage point hike in National Insurance has come into effect today. The rise was introduced by Boris Johnsons government, with Rishi Sunak as chancellor, in April and reversed by former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in his disastrous mini-Budget last month. The scrapping of the hike is one of few economic policies introduced by Liz Truss and Mr Kwarteng that was not axed by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt last month and has stayed in place with Mr Sunak as Prime Minister. The levy was devised by Mr Sunak when he was chancellor to pay for social care and deal with the NHS backlog from the Covid crisis. Advertisement

A Treasury source told the newspaper the move 'has been discussed' in ongoing talks over the Autumn Statement, but no 'white smoke' had yet emerged.

It reported that under the plans being considered, all pensions contributions could be taxed at 20 per cent, regardless of an employee's income tax bracket.

Other options would be to have the flat rate higher, at 25 per cent, to give a boost to basic rate taxpayers, or to reduce the amount of tax relief enjoyed by higher earners but not to as much as 20 per cent.

Mr Hunt will be wary of fiddling with pensions tax relief after former chancellor George Osborne was warned off such a move in 2016 by backbench MPs threatening a 'riot' over a cut.

Mr Osborne has recently been spotted in Downing Street as Mr Hunt seeks the advice of former Treasury ministers ahead of his Autumn Statement.

Sir Steve, the ex-Liberal Democrat MP who was pensions minister until 2015 and is now a partner at pensions firm Lane Clark & Peacock, said: '10 billion means five million, mainly Tory, voters losing 2,000 per year each.

'If you wanted to alienate your core vote by taking away the higher rate of tax relief then you have done the job.'

Asked about the Sunday Telegraph report this morning, Cabinet minister Oliver Dowden told Sky News: 'There's an awful lot of speculation in the newspapers, some of it's correct, some of it's not correct.

'I can't go into any individual stories. But what I can say is there will be difficult decisions in that Autumn Statement.'
A couple has expressed their 'horror' at being hit with a whopping 13,000 gas and electricity bill after they installed a smart meter in their four-bedroom home in Kilmarnock.

Stewart and Gayle Neely usually keep a close eye on their bills and pay 156 per month for their gas and electricity, which went up to 177 last month.

But after checking his balance on supplier OVO Energy's website, Stewart was shocked to find that overnight it had shot up to over 13,000.

When he logged on last Monday, the 54-year-old found his account had gone from 189.99 in credit to 13,037.71 in debt, the Daily Record reports.

Stewart and Gayle Neely usually keep a close eye on their bills and pay 156 per month for their gas and electricity, which went up to 177 last month

The couple eventually discovered that one of OVO's agents had accidentally entered their gas reading instead of electricity, Gayle said

Stewart, a police officer, was again horrified when he called up the company to ask about the huge sum, with the handler asking him if he would like to settle the balance over the phone.

The father-of-one even claims that previous meter readings were adjusted in line with the higher bill.

The couple think the confusion began when they installed a smart meter just weeks before.

The couple think the confusion began when they installed a smart meter just weeks before

They eventually discovered that one of OVO's agents had accidentally entered their gas reading instead of electricity, Gayle said.

The firm did not sort the error out until it was asked to explain the bill by Scotland's Sunday Mail newspaper.

OVO apologised to the family and informed them they had fixed the error last night, and topped their account up with 150 credit as a good will gesture.

Stewart said: 'We changed to OVO energy for my gas and electricity supply last year after they took over SSE.

'We are always in credit on our account but I have been keeping a close eye on the bills and usage due to rising costs.'

OVO apologised to the family and informed them they had fixed the error last night, and topped their account up with 150 credit as a good will gesture

Gayle, 48, said she had received a 'nice call' from the supplier setting everything right after days of confusion.

When approached by the Sunday Mail, an An OVO spokeswoman said: 'We're very sorry to Mr and Mrs Neely. We have corrected the error and they've accepted a goodwill amount in apology for the inconvenience caused.'

It comes as families across Britain face soaring energy bills, with many keeping a close eye on their bills as the cost-of-living crisis continues and temperatures drop.

After becoming Chancellor last month, Jeremy Hunt announced the Government will drastically cut short the its support scheme from two years to six months.

The scheme, which aims to keep average annual household bills below 2,500 amid soaring energy prices, will be replaced in April, potentially forcing bills up for millions of households.
Bonfire Night descended into horror when two men were shot at a party last night.

Police are hunting for a suspected gunman dressed in all black.

Emergency services were called to Broad Hey, Netherton in Liverpool at 11.20pm after reports of two men being shot outside an address.

The men were taken to hospital for assessment of serious leg injuries.

It was reported that the gunman, described as white and dressed in all black, ran from the scene.

Witness, CCTV and forensic enquiries are underway and further searches will be carried out today.

Emergency services were called to Broad Hey, Netherton in Liverpool at 11.20pm after reports of two men being shot outside an address. Pictured: Broad Hey in Liverpool

Detective Inspector Andy Dykes said: 'This was a horrendous incident which we think was witnessed by multiple people attending a bonfire nearby.

'We have spoken to some of these witnesses and would like to ask anyone who has yet to come forward to do so as a matter of urgency, to enable us to have a full understanding of exactly what happened.

'Your account, dashcam, CCTV or doorbell footage may well be vital in tracking down whoever who responsible for this terrible act.

'We are keeping an open mind as to the reason behind this shooting, but it initially appears to have been targeted. However, we recognise that people who saw it happen or live locally will be concerned and perhaps feel fearful. Officers will be in the area today carrying out our investigation and I'd encourage people to speak to them, or if not comfortable doing so, passing information on anonymously via Crimestoppers.

'Guns and those who use them have no place in our communities. Working together, we can find the person responsible and remove them and their weapon from the streets.'

Anyone with information should contact Merseyside Police on @MerPolCC or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 with reference 22000814419.
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A plane crash has killed 19 people after the aircraft, carrying 43 people, plunged into Lake Victoria in Tanzania after it was affected by bad weather- 100 yards short of the airport where it was due to land.

Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa gave the new death toll, up from the three whose bodies were earlier recovered from the scene.

While the two pilots earlier spoke to local officials from the cockpit, according to the BBC, the prime minister has said they may have died since then.

Precision Air flight PW 494 was scheduled to fly from Dar es Salaam to Bukoba airport carrying 39 passengers, two pilots and two cabin crew when it plunged into the water at around 8.30am local time (5.30 GMT).

Regional commissioner Albert Chalamila earlier said that 26 people were rescued and taken to hospital. It was not clear if any of those who were rescued died at the hospital.

Using ropes, emergency workers have managed to get the plane closer to shore and moved some of the plane's body out of the water.

Kagera province police commander William Mwampaghale told journalists: 'We have managed to save quite a number of people.

'When the aircraft was about 328 feet midair, it encountered problems and bad weather. It was raining and the plane plunged into the water.'

He told journalists that rescue efforts were continuing at the scene. The airport is closed until further notice and authorities will conduct an investigation into the crash.

Speaking to the BBC, Abdul Nuri said he was at the airport waiting for the return flight to Dar es Salaam when he saw the crash.

He said: 'We were really shocked. People panicked and some started crying and shouting.

'At the arrivals gate people panicked as well - most of them were waiting to welcome their relatives.'

Mr Nuri spoke to the fishermen who were the first people to wade into the water to help rescue the passengers.

The rescue could begin because a flight attendant opened the rear door while the plane was in the water so fishermen could get into the plane and help people to escape.

Footage online posted online earlier in the day showed rescuers, including fishermen, wading through water to bring people to safety.

Emergency services using ropes to attempt to lift the aircraft out of the water were assisted by cranes and local residents.

The Precision Air flight PW 494 was flying from Dar es Salaam to Bukoba airport carrying 39 passengers, two pilots and two cabin crew. Pictured: Rescuers in boats are seen around the tail fin of the crashed plane

Regional commissioner Albert Chalamila said that 26 people have so far been rescued and taken to hospital. Pictured: Rescuers in boats at the scene of the crash

Emergency services attempted to lift the aircraft out of the water using ropes, assisted by cranes and local residents also helped. Pictured: People work at the scene to find survivors

Rescuers attempt to recover the Precision Air passenger plane that crashed into Lake Victoria in Bukoba, Tanzania

Rescuers attempt to recover the Precision Air passenger plane that crashed into Lake Victoria in Bukoba, Tanzania

The Precision Air passenger plane that crashed into Lake Victoria in Bukoba, Tanzania (pictured)

Footage online shows rescuers, including fishermen, wading through water to bring people to safety. Pictured: Rescuers at the scene

The aircraft was an ATR-42, manufactured by Toulouse-based Franco-Italian firm ATR.

A statement was released by the airline, confirming the accident, saying: 'The rescue team has been dispatched to the scene and more information will be released in two hours time.'

Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan expressed her condolences to those affected by the accident.

She tweeted: 'Let's continue to be calm while the rescue operation continues as we pray to God to help us.'

The aircraft was an ATR-42, manufactured by Toulouse-based Franco-Italian firm ATR. Pictured: A group of rescuers in the water

A statement was released by the airline, confirming the accident, saying: 'The rescue team has been dispatched to the scene and more information will be released in two hours time.' Pictured: The scene

Pictured: Rescuers use ropes to try and pull the plane out of Lake Victoria in Tanzania

President Samia Suluhu Hassan, pictured, expressed her condolences to those affected by the accident. She tweeted: 'Let's continue to be calm while the rescue operation continues as we pray to God to help us'

Also expressing their condolences was the African Union Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat, pictured, who wrote on Twitter: 'Our hearts and prayers go to the families of passengers on-board a plane that crashed into Lake Victoria, with our full solidarity to the Government & people of #Tanzania'

Elsewhere, the secretary general of the regional East African Community bloc, Peter Mathuki, pictured, said: 'The East African Community joins and sends our condolences to Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan, families and friends of all those who were affected by the Precision Air plane accident'

Also expressing their condolences was the African Union Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat, who wrote on Twitter: 'Our hearts and prayers go to the families of passengers on-board a plane that crashed into Lake Victoria, with our full solidarity to the Government & people of #Tanzania.'

Elsewhere, the secretary general of the regional East African Community bloc, Peter Mathuki, said: 'The East African Community joins and sends our condolences to Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan, families and friends of all those who were affected by the Precision Air plane accident.'

Precision Air is partly owned by Kenya Airways and was founded in 1993. It operates domestic and regional flights as well as private charters to popular tourist destinations such as the Serengeti National Park and the Zanzibar archipelago.

The crash comes five years after eleven people including American and German tourists died in a plane crash in northern Tanzania.

Two Americans, two Germans, six Tanzanians, and a South African pilot were all killed when their Cessna Caravan aircraft crashed in Ngorongoro National Park on 15 November 2017.

'We are deeply saddened to report that eleven people have died after a single-plane accident this morning in Northern Tanzania,' the company said in a statement published on its website at the time.

The crash comes five years after eleven people including American and German tourists died in a plane crash in northern Tanzania. Pictured: A body is carried out of the site of the crash in 2017

Two Americans, two Germans, six Tanzanians, and a South African pilot were all killed when their Cessna Caravan aircraft crashed in Ngorongoro National Park. Pictured: The site of the 2017 plane crash

Pictured: Air accident investigators inspect a crashed plane at the Empakaai Crater, a caved volcanic caldera in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Plane crash, Arusha, Tanzania on 16 Nov 2017

Pictured: Air accident investigators inspect a crashed plane at the Empakaai Crater, a caved volcanic caldera in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Plane crash, Arusha, Tanzania on 16 Nov 2017

In 2019, 157 passengers and crew died when an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft crashed within minutes of take-off in Addis Ababa.

Crash witness Gebeyehu Fikadu, 25, told CNN he was collecting firewood nearby when he saw the plane 'swerving'.

He said: 'I was in the mountain nearby when I saw the plane reach the mountain before turning around with a lot of smoke coming from the back and then crashed at this site.

'It crashed with a large boom. When it crashed luggage and clothes came burning down.

'Before it crashed the plane was swerving and dipping with a lot of smoke coming from the back and also making a very loud unpleasant sound before hitting the ground.'

In 2019, 157 passengers and crew died when an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft crashed within minutes of take-off in Addis Ababa (stock image)

Flight-tracking data revealed that the plane's vertical speed - the rate of climb or descent - varied from 2,624 feet per minute to minus 1,216 within minutes of take-off.

Aviation experts described the data as extremely unusual at the time, saying that once a plane has taken off the vertical speed should rise or remain stable.

Expert Sally Gethin said the plane's rapidly fluctuating speed may indicate that the aircraft stalled in the moments before it crashed.

She said: 'It's the rate of climb or descent - the most critical phases of flight. Instability at that point e.g. too slow - could destabilise the aircraft, potentially risking stalling and other hazardous consequences. It might indicate the pilots had difficulty controlling the climb/ascent.'

A piece of charred luggage from ET Flight 302 can be seen in the foreground as local residents collect debris at the scene

Wreckage lies at the crash site after the Ethiopian Airlines jet came down within minutes of take-off

An experienced pilot told MailOnline the activity was highly unusual.

He said: 'A positive number indicates the aircraft is going up. After takeoff you would expect all these numbers to be positive as the aircraft climbed away from the ground, or zero if they are flying level.

'The small amount of data released so far indicates that after only one minute or so of the flight this aircraft started a descent at a rate of up to 1920 feet per minute down. If the data is correct that is extremely unusual.

'The data then shows the aircraft going up and down until the data stops. That is why some people are referring to unstable vertical speed.

'You would not expect a descent unless you were immediately returning, and if that was the case you wouldn't then expect the aircraft to climb again.

'After takeoff aircraft either climb or fly level for a period then climb again.'

Rescue team collect bodies in bags at the crash site of Ethiopia Airlines near Bishoftu, a town some 60 kilometres southeast of Addis Ababa

The wreckage of the plane - showing the colours of the Ethiopian flag on the plane's livery - lies at the scene of the crash

Another witness, Tegegn Dechasa, told AFP 'the plane was already on fire when it crashed to the ground. The crash caused a big explosion.'

Malka Galato, the farmer whose land the plane crashed on, told Reuters he saw small items that looked like paper coming from the plane.

The jet was making a strange noise and made a sudden turn just before it crashed, he said.

Another farmer Sisay Gemechu, added: 'The plane seemed to be aiming to land at a nearby level open field, but crashed before reaching there.'

The plane seems to have suffered a rapid increase in vertical speed in the moments before its crash

Pictured: A man looks at his phone outside the Ethiopian Airlines offices in downtown Nairobi, Kenya

In 1996 after a hijacking and a failed water landing, 125 people died on Flight 961 in Moroni, the capital of the Union of the Comoros in the Indian Ocean.

And in January 2010, 82 passengers and eight crew died when EA flight 409 from Beirut to Addis Ababa slammed into the Mediterranean shortly after take-off.

In 2007, a Kenya Airways flight from the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan to Kenya's capital Nairobi crashed into a swamp after take-off, killing all 114 passengers.

In 2000, another Kenya Airways flight from Abidjan to Nairobi crashed into the Atlantic Ocean minutes after take-off, killing 169 people while 10 survived.
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Japan's Prime Minister has warned the pacifist country needs to step up its military force amid an increasingly 'severe' situation in the region, after North Korea's latest provocation this week saw it fire a missile near the island nation in a record year for launches.

Fumio Kishida made the comments as he took part in an international fleet review today which saw 18 warships from 12 countries paraded in Sagami Bay, southwest of Tokyo.

The remarkable demonstration included some of the world's biggest and most advanced military vessels from the US, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea.

It also involved warplanes from the US and French militaries.

Japan's Prime Minister has warned the pacifist country needs to step up its military force amid an increasingly 'severe' situation in the region

Fumio Kishida (centre) made the comments as he took part in an international fleet review today which saw 18 warships from 12 countries paraded in Sagami Bay, southwest of Tokyo

The remarkable demonstration included some of the world's biggest military vessels from the US, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea. Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter carrier JS Izumo, (pictured front)

Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Asahi, right, and other warships join an international fleet review in Sagami Bay, southwest of Tokyo

South Korea joined the review the first time in seven years, in the latest sign of improvement in badly strained ties between Tokyo and Seoul over Japan's wartime atrocities amid an escalating threat from North Korea.

The North fired four ballistic missiles towards the South yesterday according to Seoul, which came after Washington and Seoul concluded their biggest-ever air force drills.

The recent flurry of North Korean launches included an intercontinental ballistic missile and one that landed near the South's territorial waters.

South Korea joined the review the first time in seven years, in the latest sign of improvement in badly strained ties between Tokyo and Seoul over Japan's wartime atrocities amid an escalating threat from North Korea. Pictured: South Korean Navy's fast combat support ship 'Soyang'

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (right) listens to an explanation from officials aboard the US Navy's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan during an 'International Fleet Review'

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, fifth from left, US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, fourth from left, and Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada pose for a photo with US military officials on the USS Ronald Reagan today

The Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida getting in the cockpit of a US fighter jet during his visit to the USS Ronald Reagan

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sits in a F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet as he visited the USS Ronald Reagan, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier, today

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called the barrage 'effectively a territorial invasion'.

This year has seen a record number of missiles launched by the paraiah state, according to reports.

Referencing this escalation of missile firings and growing concern about the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in Asia, Kishida said: 'The security environment in the East and South China seas, especially around Japan, is increasingly becoming more severe.'

The Royal Canadian Navy's Halifax-class frigate HMCS Vancouver participating in the fleet review. Canada will take part in drills with Japan later this month

Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Shiranui, left, and other warshuips join an international fleet review in Sagami Bay, south of Tokyo

Avoiding disputes and seeking dialogue is important, he added, but it is also necessary to be prepared for provocations and threats to peace and stability. He repeated his pledge to significantly reinforce Japan's military capability within five years.

North Korea launches record number of missiles Wednesday saw the most missile launches ever carried out by North Korea in a single day, with Kim Jong-Un's regime test-firing 25 missiles. The launches involved various short-range missiles as well as a ballistic missile, which landed less than 60 km off South Korea's coast. It was the first time a ballistic missile had landed near the South's waters since the peninsula was divided in 1945. North Korea test-fired a total of 23 missiles Wednesday Seoul responded by firing three air-to-surface missiles back across the maritime border that landed near North Korean territorial waters. Pyongyang is furious at joint US-South Korean war games taking place on its borders which it said are rehearsals for an invasion. Washington and Seoul have denied that, saying the drills are defensive and designed to deter Pyongyang. On Thursday, the allies said the exercises - which were due to end Friday - have now been extended to an indefinite date. On Thursday, one long-range missile looked set to fly over northern Japan, setting off sirens in the Miyagi, Yamagata and Niigata prefectures. North Korea test-fired a long-range missile towards Japan on Thursday morning Advertisement

Kishida said Japan urgently needs to build more warships, strengthen anti-missile capability and improve working conditions for troops.

'We have no time to waste,' the premier said after his review aboard the JS Izumo.

The 813-foot-long Izumo has been retrofitted so that it can carry F-35Bs, stealth fighters capable of short take-offs and vertical landings, as Japan increasingly works side-by-side with the US military.

Kishida said Japan will further strengthen the deterrence and response capability of the Japan-US alliance.

Later in the day, Kishida and American Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel were to visit the USS Ronald Reagan, the US Navy's only aircraft career based outside the US mainland, off the US naval base of Yokosuka.

Emanuel stressed the importance of cooperation among US allies. 'Every time we do things in either a bilateral capacity, trilateral capacity of any other type of exercises that also brings in others, that puts China on their back heels because they realize that's the one thing they do not have is the one thing America has in abundance and we work at it extensively.'

The US military, which had just finished a joint exercise with South Korea that prompted missile barrages and other warnings from North Korea, is set to hold major drills with Japan later this month in southwestern Japan.

Britain will join as part of the drills along with Australia and Canada, while France, India, New Zealand, the Philippines and South Korea are expected to partake as observers.

Naval officers from the countries participating in the review gathered to inspect a demonstration of the frigates, submarines, supply ships and warplanes from around the world.

Japan has steadily stepped up its role in international defense and military spending over the past decade.

It plans to double its military budget in the next five to 10 years to about 2 per cent of its GDP, citing a NATO standard, with threats from North Korea as well as the growing assertiveness of neighbour, China.

China has reinforced its claims to virtually the entire South China Sea by constructing artificial islands equipped with military installations and airfields.

Beijing also claims a string of islands that are controlled by Japan in the East China Sea, and has stepped up military harassment of self-ruled Taiwan, which it says is part of China to be annexed by force if necessary.

Kishida's government is currently working on a revision to its national security strategy and mid- to long-term defense policies.

As part of this it is considering allowing the use of preemptive strikes in a major shift to Japan's self-defense-only postwar principle.

Critics say preemptive strikes could violate Japan's pacifist constitution, amid concerns from some neighbouring countries.

Many, including South Korea, were victims of Japanese aggression in the first half of the 1900s, and an attempt by Japan to increase its military role and spending could be a sensitive issue.

Seemingly addressing these concerns, Kishida said Japan will stick to its postwar pledge as a 'pacifist nation' and continue to explain its security policy to gain understanding while asking other countries to do the same.

Sailors pictured on the Royal Australian Navy's Anzac-class frigate HMAS Arunta (FFH 151) as it participated in the International Fleet Review in Japan today

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida talks with US Navy officials onboard the USS Ronald Reagan

The 813-foot-long Izumo (pictured right) has been retrofitted so that it can carry F-35Bs, stealth fighters capable of short take-offs and vertical landings, as Japan increasingly works side-by-side with the US military

Sunday's international fleet review marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of Japan's postwar navy, called the Maritime Self-Defense Force, seven years after Japan was demilitarized after its World War II defeat.

The naval ships and warplanes are expected to participate in joint exercises later today and tomorrow.

The demonstration marks the first time Japan hosted an international fleet review in 20 years.

China is not taking part but is expected to participate in the two-day Western Pacific Naval Symposium in Yokohama starting Monday with officers from about 30 countries discussing maritime security and cooperation.
Police have launched an appeal for witnesses after a 21-year-old man was stabbed to death in south east London.

Officers and paramedics were called to Bromley Road at 11.50pm on Friday to a report of a man stabbed.

He was taken to hospital but yesterday afternoon died from his injuries.

Police have said that the 21-year-old could have been attacked by up to three men.

Officers believe that they know the identity of the deceased and his next of kin have been informed, but formal identification has yet to take place.

Officers and paramedics were called to Bromley Road at 11.50pm on Friday to a report of a man stabbed. Pictured: Forensic officers at the scene today

He was taken to hospital but yesterday afternoon died from his injuries. Pictured: A large police cordon in place with forensic officers on scene today

Police have said that the 21-year-old could have been attacked by up to three men. Pictured: The cordon in Downham today

Detective Chief Inspector Kelly Allen from the Met's Specialist Crime Command leads the investigation and said: 'We know there were several people in the Bromley Road area who either witnessed this incident or the events leading up to and after this incident.

'I would urge them, along with any road users in the area who may have captured events on dashcam to come forward and speak to police.

'At this early stage we believe the victim was attacked by up to three men, who then fled the scene on foot.

'A young man's family is grieving following another senseless loss of life to knife violence; please help them get justice and speak to police if you know anything that could help us.'

There has been no arrest and enquiries into the circumstances continue.

Anyone with information or any witnesses are asked to call 101, ref 8645/4Nov. To remain anonymous, please contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Cabinet minister Oliver Dowden today admitted the 'totally deplorable' Channel migrant crisis had 'gone too far' and the Government 'need to do more'.

Around 40,000 people have arrived in Britain after crossing the Channel so far this year, with ministers under severe pressure to get a grip on the issue.

The Government is also faced heavy criticism for its handling of the asylum system, with the Manston processing centre in Kent having become hugely overcrowded.

Mr Dowden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, this morning revealed the Government hoped to have the Manston facility back under capacity this week as more people are removed.

He also insisted Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was 'totally committed' to dealing with the wider crisis and had been having 'meetings pretty much every day' about the issue since entering No10.

But senior Labour MP Diana Johnson, the chair of the House of Commons' Home Affairs Select Committee, accused the Government of having 'taken its eye off the nitty gritty' of the asylum system.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman this week admitted Britain's asylum system is 'broken' and illegal migration is 'out of control' amid the small boats crisis in the Channel.

Mr Dowden, speaking to the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, also acknowledged a 'totally deplorable situation'.

Cabinet minister Oliver Dowden today admitted the 'totally deplorable' Channel migrant crisis had 'gone too far' and the Government 'need to do more'

Around 40,000 people have arrived in Britain after crossing the Channel so far this year, with ministers under severe pressure to get a grip on the issue

The Government is also faced heavy criticism for its handling of the asylum system, with the Manston processing centre in Kent having become hugely overcrowded

Home Secretary faces new claims she ignored advice about overcrowded centre Home Secretary Suella Braverman today faced new claims she ignored advice about the overcrowded Manston processing centre for asylum seekers. Mrs Braverman told MPs this week she 'never ignored legal advice' and denied blocking the transfer of migrants to hotels. But the Sunday Times reported that leaked papers sent to Home Office ministers and officials in September and October showed lawyers and officials growing exasperated at the situation at Manston. These are reported to include advice and options to move migrants from Manston amid concerns increasing numbers were being held illegally. A source told the newspaper: 'She knowingly, wantonly and deliberately, even after receiving advice, failed to act to bring the Home Office back within the law.' A Home Office spokesman said: 'Claims that the Home Secretary blocked the use of hotels, or deliberately ignored advice, are categorically untrue. 'Any claims that legal advice was ignored by the home secretary are also categorically untrue. 'At all times legal and operational advice was taken into account, and options were sought to alleviate the pressure at Manston, including the booking of hotels.' Advertisement

'It is unacceptable that we now have a situation... with almost 40,000 people crossing the Channel,' Mr Dowden said.

'It is dangerous for the people concerned. It enriches gangs.

'And it's people going from one safe country, France, to another safe country, the UK.

'That is exactly why the PM is totally committed to gripping this. I can tell you he has been having meetings pretty much every day since he became PM to bring forward proposals to address this.

'Whether that's in relation to preventing people coming across in the first place, deterring them and repatriating them and processing them.'

The migrant processing centre at Manston had more than 4,000 people staying there at one point last week, despite it only having a capacity of around 1,600.

It has seen Home Office officials engaged in a frantic search for alternative accommodation, such as hotel rooms, for asylum seekers in order to bring the numbers at Manston down.

Mr Dowden insisted the Government was 'continuing to make good progress' in removing people from the facility, but admitted it was still over-capacity.

He said: 'The latest numbers I have is that there's about 1,800, so we're confident by next week we'll be back within capacity. That situation is being dealt with.'

The Cabinet minister also admitted it was 'legitimate' for voters to expect the Government to get a grip on the crisis.

'I do not dispute for a second that this situation has gone too far and why people are angry about it,' Mr Dowden said.

'You've seen efforts from the last Government to address this. Clearly we need to do more on this.

'The PM is totally seized of this to make sure that we work through each aspect of this to make sure that we start to control these numbers. I am not saying this is going to be easy at all.

'It would be challenging for any government and were not going to get some sort of panacea to it overnight but it is legitimate for people to expect us to grip this and we will.'

Mr Dowden revealed the Government hoped to have the Manston facility back under capacity this week as more people are removed

But Mr Dowden swerved giving an explicit commitment that the number of migrants crossing the Channel would fall.

'Of course we need to make sure we bear down on those numbers and seek to see a reduction in those numbers,' he added.

'We can't continue with that kind of rate of growth because actually the people that really pay the price of this are the legitimate refugees - whether that's from Ukraine or Afghanistan - where we're less able to accomodate them.'

Ms Johnson told the same programme that a report by her Home Affairs Select Committee this summer had been 'very clear' that the Government 'had taken its eye off the nitty gritty, the day-to-day dealings with immigration'.

She said this included 'having the right number of people dealing with asylum claims', adding: 'The Government said they were going to have 1,000 decision-makers by the end of last year - they missed that target.'
Inmates at a high-security prison have caused chaos after a riot saw prisoners scale the roof of the jail and pelt guards with projectiles.

A code silver was ordered at the Borallon Correctional Centre in Ironbark, west of Brisbane, just after midday on Sunday meaning the entire facility is on lockdown as prison staff and police teams continue to try and talk the men down.

Footage from a hovering Nine news helicopter showed at least six inmates taunting guards, jumping in between buildings and hurling projectiles as the negotiation went on.

A code silver was ordered at the Borallon Correctional Centre in Ironbark, west of Brisbane, just after midday on Sunday

'As is normal protocol, the centre has been locked down to ensure the safety of officers and prisoners while the matter is resolved,' Queensland Corrective Services said.

'Staff are communicating with all prisoners at the centre.'

The notorious prison houses more than 800 offenders and has been the scene of several other emergency incidents in recent years.

In January three prisoners caused a similar furor when they also climbed on top of the roof.

In 2021, three prison guards were rushed to hospital after being brutally attacked by an inmate.

The six prisoners who remain on the roof face further time behind bars if they are charged over the incident.

The notorious prison houses more than 800 offenders and has been the scene of several other riots
This handout photo released by the Vatican Media shows Pope Francis meeting with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa during a farewell ceremony at the Sakhir airbase in Awali, south of the Bahraini capital Manama, Nov. 6. AFP-Yonhap



Pope Francis wrapped up the first-ever papal trip to Bahrain on Sunday by encouraging priests and nuns to keep ministering to the Gulf kingdom's tiny Catholic flock. He specifically mentioned its prisoners, saying ''the way in which these 'least ones' are treated is a measure of the dignity and the hope of a society.''



Francis again raised the plight of prisoners in Bahrain in the final event of his four-day trip. Human rights groups had urged Francis to use his Bahrain visit to call for an end to capital punishment and to advocate for political prisoners, hundreds of whom have been detained since Bahrain violently crushed the 2011 Arab Spring protests with the help of neighboring Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.



Francis praised the prison ministry undertaken by some of the Catholic Carmelite nuns in Bahrain during a meeting with clergy and religious sisters at Sacred Heart Church in the capital Manama. Sister Rose Celine told Francis that her congregation works specifically with women prisoners, offering them counseling and religious direction.



Francis thanked her for her ministry and recalled that whenever he meets with inmates, he asks himself the same question: ''Why them and not me?''



''Caring for prisoners is good for everyone, as a human community, since the way in which these 'least ones' are treated is a measure of the dignity and the hope of a society,'' he said.



Francis has long maintained a prison ministry, staying in touch with Argentine inmates he got to know while archbishop in Buenos Aires. He frequently visits prisons during his foreign trips and has celebrated Holy Thursday liturgies with Rome-area inmates, but no such encounters were scheduled during his Bahrain trip.



Bahrain's government maintains it respects human rights and freedom of speech, and that its criminal justice system is compliant with international law. However, activist groups repeatedly have criticized the condition of prisons and prisoners in the yearslong crackdown on dissent on the island.



According to the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, Bahrain in 2017 ended a de-facto moratorium on the death penalty and has executed six prisoners since. The group and Human Rights Watch have documented a ''dramatic increase'' in the number of death sentences being handed down since 2011, with 26 people currently on death row, half for political activities.



Upon arriving in Bahrain on Thursday, Francis called for authorities to refrain from recourse to the death penalty and to ensure basic human rights are guaranteed for all citizens. The government told the Associated Press the country has a ''zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination, persecution or the promotion of division based on ethnicity, culture or faith.'' Still, the crackdown largely has targeted the island's Shiite majority and those calling for governmental reforms. (AP)


Rally attendees and Twitter users alike were shocked to see a backdrop of American flags blow away at a recent rally of Senate candidate John Fetterman.

With Fetterman slipping in the polls and just days until Pennsylvanians cast their ballots, some wondered if the incident was a final sign of doom ahead of Election Day.

Former first son Don Trump Jr. called it the 'perfect metaphor' for the Democrat's campaign.

It was only a few moments into Fetterman's time onstage that the US flags displayed directly behind him toppled over dramatically, caving to the pressure of high winds.

US Senate candidate John Fetterman holds a rally in the days leading up to the election, in which he is now neck-and-neck with Republican rival Dr. Mehmet Oz

The perfect metaphor for Fetterman's campaign https://t.co/02hts770od  Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) November 5, 2022

One time TV doc Mehmet Oz is now within shooting distance of a win in Pennsylvania, after creeping up in the polls over the last few months

Just before the six flags went down, Fetterman mentioned he was touring that day with former President Barack Obama, who has been brought in to aide a number of ailing Democratic candidates over the last several weeks.

He said that unlike former President Donald Trump, Obama was 'sedition free.'

Prominent right-leaning online journalist Ian Miles Chong wrote that 'someone up there doesn't like it when Fetterman tells lies,' referring to the candidate's claim about Obama.

Conservative actor Nick Searcy wrote, 'The flags know he's a moron.'

Fetterman, currently the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, suffered a stroke in May, just days prior to the primary election from which he emerged victorious.

But after several months of laying low, granting very selective media interviews, and generally hiding his condition from the public, it became clear in the final weeks of the race that Fetterman's recovery has not progressed nearly as far as his campaign led the public to believe.

Oz was former President Donald Trump's favored primary candidate and narrowly defeated former hedge funder David McCormick to become the party's nominee for the contentious seat

John Fetterman appeared to misspeak saying he 'celebrated the demise of Roe V Wade' during a speech to voters on Saturday night

Fetterman - a far-left progressive - defeated more moderate candidate Conor Lamb in the primary. He has struggled to maintain a steady performance following a May stroke that nearly ended his life

Fetterman appeared alongside Barak Obama, Pennsylvania Governor candidate Josh Shapiro and President Biden

In a televised debate last month, Fetterman and his Republican rival one time TV doctor Mehmet Oz went head-to-head in performance that shocked most viewers and further sowed concern about his ability to hold political office.

His statements were jumbled and confusing, including a response he delivered to a question about whether he supports fracking.

'I do support fracking - I don't, I don't - I support fracking, and I do support fracking,' he said.

In a different moment, he was asked why he would not release his full medical records to the public.

'My doctor ultimately believes that I'm fit to be serving and that's what I believe,' he said.

In advance of the debate, Fetterman's campaign had tempered expectations, saying there would be 'awkward pauses' and 'delays and errors,' because the Democrat would be reading closed captioning due to his auditory processing issue.

In yet another public gaffe, Fetterman said at a rally over the weekend that he 'celebrate(s)' the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

'I run on Roe v. Wade. I celebrate the demise of Roe v. Wade,' he said.

The candidate has frequently mangled his words and policy positions in recent appearances due, at least in part, to auditory processing issues resulting from his stroke.

He may have been attempting to bash his opponent's support of the demise of Roe v. Wade earlier this year.

Whereas Fetterman once held a nearly double-digit lead over Oz, that gap has tightened tremendously in the last two months, and especially since the true nature of Fetterman's condition has become known to the public.

The Pennsylvania Senate seat - currently held by retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey - is considered crucial for the GOP to keep red if they wish to flip control of the Senate and equally crucial for the Democrats to win, if they with to preserve their razor thin majority.
Mayhem broke out in the City of Brotherly Love as the Phillies crashed out of the World Series Saturday - with a shooting leaving nine wounded, five critically, and police struggling to find the suspects.

The incident occurred at 10:42 pm ET outside a bar in Kensington, First Deputy Commissioner John Stanford of the Philadelphia Police Department said at a news conference early Sunday morning.

'Multiple suspects' jumped out of a vehicle and opened fire on a crowd standing on the sidewalk, the commissioner said, standing feet away from the dozens of bullet casings littering the crime scene.

At least 40 shots were fired during the incident, and a reported 'three or four people' exited and reentered the car before driving off.

Police did not specify how many people were involved in the actual shooting before the group fled - leaving the nine victims bleeding out on the ground.

All adult men and women ranging from 23 and 40 years old, the victims were taken to an area hospital where they remain as of Sunday morning. Five were reported in critical condition, police said, the other four were in stable condition.

Police had not established a motive for the shootout, nor did they recover any weapons, Stanford said. Cops also could not provide the make of the vehicle.

It remains unclear what sparked the shooting - but it came shortly after Yordan Alvarez's three-run shot in the sixth inning powered the Houston Astros to a 4-1 home victory in Game 6 over the Phillies.

Scroll down for video:

Nine were wounded, five critically, Saturday night when shooters emerged from a car and fired into a crowd on this sidewalk in Kensington, police said Sunday

'Multiple suspects' jumped out of a vehicle and opened fire on a crowd standing on the sidewalk, First Deputy Commissioner John Stanford said during a presser at the crime scene

With that said, no riots were reported after the loss - and police have not said anything to suggest the shootout was part of such unrest, as they continue to assess the scene and search for the suspects.

A frustrated Deputy Commissioner Stanford addressed reporters at the crime scene after the shooting.

'At this point in time, it just looks like these individuals may have spotted someone they wanted to shoot at, exited the vehicle, and began firing at the group of individuals that were there,' the deputy said, adding, 'We don't have much more than that in terms of motive.'

'We have some brazen people in this city that don't care,' Standford continued, addressing the rampant crime that's plagued the city's more than 1.6 million residents since the pandemic.

Shootings in particular have been rife - with at least one occurring every day of the week, at any given hour, since May 31, and nearly every corner of the city impacted.

Crime-ridden Kensington is no exception, with shootouts now commonplace and even on the rise - causing many to speak out against the city's soft-on-crime policies and politicians.

'They don't care how many police officers are out here,' Stanford, a 20-year veteran of the force, said of the city's litany of gun-wielding perpetrators fueling the crime surge.

'And some of them don't care how many people are out here,' the commissioner went on. 'We continue to do what we need to do to get these individuals in custody.'

Deputy Commissioner John Stanford gave the media briefing. Says the community needs to work together to help decrease the gun violence. This is a corridor where theres a large police presence and officers heard the shots. At least 40 shots fired @6abc pic.twitter.com/MRwWdOLBfb  Jaclyn Lee (@JaclynLeeTV) November 6, 2022

Philadelphia residents have decried a recent spate of violent crime that has seen nearly 2,000 people shot since May, as a series of incidents continue to rock the crime-ridden city

The commissioner added that the shooting was likely a planned strike, with at least some of the nine victims - who have yet to be named - being the gunmen's intended target.

Police, however, have yet to come up with a cause for the shooting, which transpired near Kensington and Allegheny Avenues.

'At this point in time, it just looks like these individuals may have spotted someone they wanted to shoot at, exited the vehicle, and began firing at the group of individuals that were there,' said Stanford as officers assessed the scene around him.

'We don't have much more than that in terms of motive.'

The shooting served as a continuation of the citys continuing gun violence epidemic, which has already this year seen more than 2,000 people killed or wounded by bullets - the highest year-to-date tally in seven years.

Police have yet to come up with a motive for the shooting, which transpired near Kensington and Allegheny Avenues in a particularly crime-ridden portion of the already unsafe city

Police Sunday said that the shooting was likely a coordinated strike, with at least one of the nine victims - who have yet to be named - being the gunmen's intended target

It also was also another incident that claimed multiple victims, with just last week a shooting outside a Spring Garden night club saw six wounded, and another earlier this year on South Street seeing 14 people shot - three fatally.

The altercation came as historically blooding, with the highest number of victims in a single incident seen in Philly in years.

The shootout on Saturday, meanwhile, occurred in an area particularly known for drug use and gun violence.

Shattered glass can be seen on the sidewalk in Kensington following the late-night shooting, which transpired as the Phillies were eliminated from the World Series on Sunday

A 2021 Inquirer study found that nearly 300 people had been shot within a five-minute walk of where the shooting took place since 2015, a rate more than 11 times greater than the city's average as a whole.

The city as a whole, meanwhile, has seen a drastic rise in violence, with overall crime up more than 23 percent so far this year compared to the same time in 2021.

While assaults and rapes have seen a drop this year, the number of shooting victims has gone up markedly, with police reporting 1,973 cases so far this year. Shootings in general are also up, to a historic 3512.

Robberies have also seen a substantial uptick, with 2,388 cases reported this year, up 17 percent from last year.

Many have blamed the wave on Philadelphia's controversial District Attorney Larry Krasner, who was re-elected in 2021 but has faced dubious impeachment attempts in 2022.

Krasner, a leader in the progressive prosecutor movement, has battled with police unions and other officials who accuse him of being soft on crime.

AG Josh Shapiro, meanwhile, has been long accused of being soft on crime as the state's twice-elected attorney general.

Earlier this year, Philly police appealed to the mayor that they cant keep up with the rapidly rising homicide rate, and the mayor on Monday signed an order that will ban citizens from carrying guns in public places like parks and schools.

AG Josh Shapiro has been long accused of being soft on crime as incidents are still on the rise

This summer, the Democrat mayor of Philadelphia blasted the 'horrendous, brazen and despicable act of gun violence' plaguing the nation after an overnight mass shooting left three dead and at least 11 injured in his city.

Kenney called for officials to 'address the availability and ease of access to firearms' in the US as a manhunt was underway for the gunmen involved in Saturday's vile attack.

Kenney, like many of his fellow Democrats, has long called for stricter gun laws and stronger measures to curb gun violence.

'Until we address the availability and ease of access to firearms, we will always be fighting an uphill battle. As Mayor, I will continue to fight to protect our communities and urge others to advocate for stronger laws that keep guns out of the hands of violent individuals,' the mayor said.

'The surge in gun violence that we've seen across the nationand here in Philadelphiamakes me not just heartbroken, but angry. Our administration, in partnership with all of our local and federal law enforcement agencies, continues to work relentlessly to reduce violence and create safer communities.'
Police have declared a crackdown on Manchester's Counterfeit Alley where shoppers can buy fake Apple Airpods for 20, Nike trainers for 30 and Chanel handbags for 35  with knock-off products costing the UK economy 8 billion each year.

Bury New Road, Cheetham Hill, which sits opposite HM Manchester Prison, is fuelling organised crime across Britain and must be shut down, Greater Manchester's chief constable has declared.

Stephen Watson, who took up the post 18 months ago, has estimated that fake goods are costing the UK economy around 8 billion a year.

One of the premises raided by police in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, where fake goods are fuelling criminal gangs across the city

Shoppers can buy fake Apple Airpods for 20, Nike trainers for 30 and Chanel handbags for 35 along Bury New Road, Cheetham Hill

Greater Manchester Police and City of London Police during a raid on a property along Counterfeit Alley

'This is an enormous, enormous generator of illicit money. And that money is not going into the local economy. In fact, it is driving out jobs and prosperity. There are people who have been trading in this area for generations who have been pushed out by illegitimate people,' he told The Sunday Times.

Greater Manchester Police has launched Operation Vulcan to crackdown on the issue, working in collaboration with Manchester city council, HM Revenue and Customs, the National Crime Agency and City of London police  which is the country's lead force in fraud.

Counterfeit goods in Cheetham Hill are funding more than 30 organised criminal gangs, according to police intelligence.

Behind the line of half-shuttered shops, criminals buy and sell guns, make and sell drugs, including fake prescription medicine, and force people into sex work and the drugs trade  including vulnerable teenagers dragged into county lines operations, the newspaper reports.

Chief constable Watson said that the money made on fake goods is reinvested in the buying of firearms, having fallen into the dangerous fingertips of criminals.

Chief constable Watson said that the money made on fake goods is reinvested in the buying of firearms. Pictured, police clear away counterfeit goods after a raid on a property

He said the force has found vulnerable people in shocking situations, with prostitution becoming more focused around Cheetham Hill as sex workers are controlled by counterfeit goods-selling gangs.

'We find people who are having to oversee a cannabis cultivation in order to pay off a debt to the criminal gangs that facilitated their entry into the country,' he added.

'We know that restaurateurs in parts of Manchester will drop off their soiled cutlery and crockery to be washed by faceless people in Cheetham Hill, on the basis that it's cheaper to do that than to employ your own pot washer at minimum wage. Now that to me, in Manchester, is an absolute scandal.'

He added that students at a nearby college are being harassed by criminals and abused in the street, particularly heightening fear in young women.

Greater Manchester Police and City of London Police during a raid on businesses along Counterfeit Alley

The chief constable, who has worked at five other forces including the Met, said that Counterfeit Alley should never have been allowed to take hold in Manchester as it did.

Deputy leader of Manchester city council Luthfur Rahman told the newspaper that premises along the road would be shut down and fake goods seized, before opening back up within a few weeks.

The joint operation will see police patrols both day and night as part of a 24/7 push to shut down the criminal gangs.

Recently, 20 tonnes of fake designer clothing was seized at Cheetham Hill.

Between April 2021 and March 2022, Greater Manchester police seized assets worth 13.5 million from organised criminal networks. From March this year, it has seized 8.5 million.
Albanian criminals in British jails cost taxpayers 57 million a year, figures reveal, as secret files say drug kingpins from the country are infiltrating Britain's streets as illegal migrants.

The official report found that there are 1,336 Albanians in jail in England and Wales.

According to the Ministry of Justice, the average cost of jailing a prisoner is 42,670 a year.

The total amount of holding all 1,336 criminals in prison is therefore 57,007,120.

It comes as it was uncovered that so far this year, 12,000 Albanians have come to the UK in small boats.

Albania's director of immigration police Saimir Boshnjaku said that many coming to the UK were working for gangsters to repay the cost of smuggling them into the UK.

He said: 'Those that make money from drugs come back here driving Maseratis and Mercedes and they buy a big villa in the village.'

The official report found that there are 1,336 Albanians in jail in England and Wales. Pictured: Albanian gang Hellbanianz based in Barking in 2018

The brazen gang taunted cops by posting pictures of drug money and flash cars to a public Instagram page in 2018

Elsewhere, the UK government were called on by Albanian political respondent Muhamed Veliu to issue more visas to allow for safe and legal migration.

He said that only a 'small portion' of people arriving on the boat end up in crime.

Mr Veliu said that many people who arrive in the country come as there is a huge market that needs workers in building construction.

He said that higher salaries in the UK also attract Albanians.

Images posted to their public Instagram page include a cake made from 50 notes. The gang's HB logo is meanwhile spelled out in drugs in pictures posted online in 2018

A member of the gang is pictured in his prison cell in designer clothing in 2018

Four years ago, members of an Albanian gang flooding Britain with cocaine were revealed to brazenly be posting pictures online showing off their guns, cash and expensive cars.

The Hellbanianz gang, based in Barking, east London, are understood to traffic millions of pounds worth of drugs into the UK each year.

But rather than hide their illegal activities like other gangs, the group flaunt their wealth and weaponry online, amassing nearly 100,000 followers.

Three leading members of the gang were jailed for a total of 42 years in 2016 after a police operation recovered 6million worth of drugs and a machine gun.

But the jail terms seem to have done little to deter the gang's activities and pictures were posted on their Instagram page.

The east London-based Hellbanianz gang boasted about their lawless lifestyle on Instagram. Pictured: Members of the gang drape themselves on luxury cars in 2018

A gang member in a gas mask is pictured in front of a black super car in 2018

One member, pictured showing his middle finger to the camera, wrote: 'I'm trying to spend It.. You still trying to make it #SnowMoney not #ShowMoney'

Shocking images on their social media channels include a cake laden with 50 notes and videos of gang-members in prison rapping about violent attacks.

Members of the gang have even posted pictures of a small child wearing a gang symbol medallion.

They boast of having 'city control' over London and claim they are 'ready for war' with rival gangs.

One photo of the Instagram account shows wads of 20 notes on the red car seat in 2018

They have leapfrogged other drug gangs in London because of their ruthlessness in violent turf wars, The Daily Express reports.

In a chilling YouTube video members of the gang rap to warn their rivals.

They describe themselves as 'God of the streets' and the video shows them posing with flash cars and glamorous women.

They rap: '[Hellbanianz] is ready for violence, he asked this as proof, ask these or talk about facts, ask this if we shoot.

'London city control, f*** this team with crowns, f*** that bitch from tattoos, the gang has already taken over.

'[Hellbanianz] is ready for war, with two arms arm wrist, we about dat gango bando, how do you compare to me?'

A police operation to crack down on the gang in 2016 recovered 21kg of cocaine and a Skorpion sub-machine gun. Pictured: A photo posted by the gang in 2018

The Gucci-sporting gangsters often pose in their cars wearing masks to hide their identities in 2018

One post from 2018 even shows what is believed to be a small child posing with gangster medallions, which are shaped like guns. The Hellbanianz Instagram page has more than 8,000 posts

One member of the gang, Tristen Aslanni was jailed for 25 years for firearms and drug offences in June 2016.

He was caught after crashing his car into a shop in Crouch End during a police chase.

Police officers searched a house in connection to his arrest and found a staggering 6million pound drug stash, including cocaine, and a Skorpion machine gun with a silencer.

Meanwhile in Albania, a container holding bananas from Colombia unloaded in the main port of Durres was found to contain cocaine worth 160million.

It is likely a large portion of that would have ended up in London had it not been seized by local authorities.

The group even posted a photo with two pistols side by side, complete with ammunition in 2018. They are said to rule London's cocaine trade with an iron fist

The gang were not afraid to show off their ill-gotten gains, often posing with wads of cash in 2018

Albanian gangster Tristen Asllani managed to post this picture online from his jail cell. Asllani was handed a 25-year sentence for conspiracy to supply drugs, dangerous driving and possession of a firearm in 2016

One gang member poses masked with a gold medallion. The Hellbanianz run a public Instagram page which flaunts their gangster lifestyle

Because Albanian gangs import so much cocaine into Britain, the National Crime Agency believes this is what contributed to the so-called 'county lines' gangs epidemic in Britain.

Some gangs groom young children to take drugs out of London to sell it in quiet towns, and in other areas of the country.

A spokesman at the National Crime Agency said groups like these are expanding and increasing in number.

The spokesman said: 'Albanian crime groups have established a high profile and degree of influence within UK organised crime, and have considerable access to the UK drug trafficking market, particularly cocaine.'

Instagram later took down five of the Hellbanianz accounts. A spokesman said: 'We do not allow illegal behaviour, threats of physical harm or organised crime on Instagram. The account @hellbanian.z and related accounts have been removed for violating our community guidelines. We encourage anyone who comes across this type of content to report it via our in-app tools. We work 24/7 to review and remove anything that violates our terms.'

Many of the pictures appear to have been taken inside prisons, presumably with mobile phones smuggled in. Members often scrawl the name of the gang on their cell walls. Pictured: A gang member in 2018

Recently, Albanian gangster rappers drove military vehicles fitted with heavy machine guns around a British housing estate while shooting a music video that glorified drug crime and violence.

In an online video viewed more than 17 million times, fearsome masked men cruised around the Gascoigne Estate in Barking, East London, in an armoured fighting vehicle equipped with a .30 calibre machine gun.

The gang also brandished a .50 calibre Browning machine gun fitted on to a military jeep.

It is believed neither of the guns could be used and were either decommissioned or replicas.

The video, entitled Poppin Smoke, is the latest to be posted on YouTube by the notorious Hellbanianz rap group.

A video shared on YouTube showed Albanian gangster rappers driving military vehicles fitted with heavy machine guns around a British housing estate

The masked men cruise around the estate in an armoured fighting vehicle equipped with a .30 calibre machine gun

They share the same name as a violent gang of Albanian drug dealers that has terrorised the area for years.

It is feared the slick videos  featuring Barking-based rappers Ervin Selita, currently believed to be in jail in Albania awaiting trial for an alleged firearms offence, and Fatjon Dibra  are encouraging others in Albania to enter the UK illegally to join criminal gangs.

'These songs are glorifying violence and drugs and showing off a lavish lifestyle,' said Muhamed Veliu of Albania's Top Channel TV station.

'Young men watch these videos and want to move to the UK to enjoy this wealth. They help attract more recruits for gang bosses.'

The video, entitled Poppin Smoke, is filmed in the Gascoigne Estate in Barking, East London

It comes after a major leak of secret files has exposed how Albania is in the grip of dangerous criminal gangs feared to be infiltrating Britain as illegal migrants.

Albanian government documents plundered by hackers reveal how police lost track of 17,000 criminals as its justice system became 'backlogged' by the scale of illegal activity. Secret talks between the UK and Albania on stamping out organised crime and illegal migration are also revealed in the documents, seen by The Mail on Sunday.

The Albanian prime minister has accused the British Government of discriminating against Albanians to distract from its 'policy failures'.

In return, Home Secretary Suella Braverman has hit back, promising a raft of iniatives to stem the flow of illegal cross-Channel migrants, 42 per cent of whom are now Albanian.

Thousands of files  many marked 'Sensitive' and including detailed intelligence briefings and emails from prime minister Edi Rama  have been leaked in a highly embarrassing diplomatic incident.

The files reveal:

100,000 'suspects' are allegedly on the Albanian police system, including some convicted after illegally entering the UK to establish vast drug networks;

British officials were so afraid the nation was falling behind in the fight against mobsters that they offered to genetically profile a backlog of 17,000 Albanian criminals;

The names, locations and contact details of Albania's intelligence agents have been made public in a 'catastrophic' security breach;

One Albanian drug lord illicitly purchased luxury property in the UK under the name of a British-Albanian relative as part of his multi-million-pound criminal empire;

Albanian mobsters plotted a series of assassinations 'with a hunting rifle', including the prime minister of neighbouring Kosovo in an attempt to establish a foothold.

The Albanian prime minister Edi Rama (pictured) has accused the British Government of discriminating against Albanians to distract from its 'policy failures'

Intelligence experts described the leak as a 'devastating blow' and warned it could set back efforts to tackle Albanian organised crime by years.

The massive data haul was stolen from Albanian government computers in July and has been released gradually online, with the latest disclosure last Wednesday.

Albania has accused Iran of being behind the attack, and last month cut diplomatic ties and expelled Iranian embassy staff following a joint investigation with the FBI.

The number of Albanian migrants arriving on Britain's shores has swelled in a record year for small-boat crossings. More than 12,000 Albanians  between one and two per cent of its adult male population  have arrived so far this year.

Albania, a country of just 2.8 million people, makes up the largest proportion of foreign inmates in British jails, and Albanians are ten times more likely to be incarcerated than the average person in the UK.

Among the disclosures is a file titled 'Suspects' containing more than 100,000 people, complete with mugshots, that the hacking group claims was taken from the Albanian police database  although authorities deny this.

The leader of the Albanian opposition, Sali Berisha, said that this disclosure has informed crime bosses they are under surveillance and they will already be fleeing the country.

'This is a moment when Albania has become the most dangerous country in the Balkans and Europe,' he said.

The number of Albanian migrants arriving on Britain's shores has swelled in a record year for small-boat crossings. Pictured: an inflatable craft crossing the English Channel in July

The Mail on Sunday has verified that the names of many of the most high-profile Albanian drug kingpins to have operated in Britain are included in this list.

It includes a 37-year-old suspected Albanian crime boss who was banned from the UK for his alleged involvement in flooding the country with cocaine and cannabis last year after a battle with the Home Office.

Also on the list is a convicted killer who was arrested by the Metropolitan Police in 2019 after spending 22 years on the run, and was deported to Albania last November. He had used a fake name to claim asylum in the UK as a bogus Kosovan refugee.

Contained in the files are tip-offs from informants to security services that expose how the tentacles of Albanian organised crime have extended to Britain.

One tip-off, sent in October last year, reveals that an 'Albanian drug lord' has bought luxury property worth millions of pounds, including 'many properties' in the UK, in the name of his Albanian-British uncle. The uncle, the message adds, 'is dangerous and carries weapons at all times'.

Extensive British efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and crime in Albania are also revealed in the files.

This includes British Border Force assistance at the airport in the capital Tirana and a formal arrangement to shore up the port of Durres, the largest in Albania. A delegation including officials from Felixstowe port travelled there as part of that agreement.

Significantly, the leaked cache also includes a draft agreement marked 'Official' to clear an alleged backlog of 17,000 DNA samples from people detained and arrested in Albania since 2018 that needed to be added to an online database as a 'matter of urgency'.

The agreement was due to last for 24 months from August 2021, but it is not clear if it went ahead. Failure to put criminals in an online database could allow them to cross borders without raising an alert on immigration computer systems, experts warned. Albanian officials expressed their thanks for the UK's assistance, with one email from the former police chief thanking the British ambassador 'for all your support so far', adding: 'We need your support for our joint efforts against organised crime.'

Perhaps the most damaging leak is a 16-page document detailing the names, passport information and phone numbers of members of Albania's state intelligence service SHISH, the equivalent of MI5.

Also contained within the files are the names of officers from the National Crime Agency, Britain's version of the FBI, who are in Albania attempting to combat organised criminal gangs.

TikTok videos show dozens of Albanian migrants making the crossing, with this group unfurling the nation's flag on the boat

Classified intelligence reports have also been leaked, including one that details a plot by Albanian criminals to carry out a string of assassinations with snipers and a hunting rifle, including that of Kosovan premier Albin Kurti. It was intended to destabilise the country so gangsters could gain a foothold. The plot was confirmed by the Kosovan government in September.

Philip Ingram, a former colonel with British military intelligence, warned the leaks could seriously hamper British efforts to thwart Albanian criminals who control small-boat people-smuggling as the gangs 'change their tactics to stay one step ahead'. 'These leaks are a devastating blow not only for Albanian security services, but also our own law-enforcement agencies who work to protect our shores from criminal gangs,' he said.

The Home Office said it did not comment on leaks, while a spokesman for the Albanian government said the material was a 'mix of truth and lies' and disputed some of the figures mentioned in official documents as 'totally made-up numbers'. Asked for clarification, they did not respond.

He added: 'Albania has been the victim of a cyber attack by Iran that has been condemned by Nato.'
Labour's Ed Miliband today backed calls for taxpayers' money to be given to countries such as Pakistan and the Maldives for 'loss and damage' from climate change.

The shadow climate and net zero secretary insisted it was 'morally right' to hand money to poorer nations that are 'on the frontline of the climate crisis'.

As the Cop-27 climate change summit begins in Egypt, Mr Miliband stressed it would also be in Britain's 'self-interest' to boost aid to developing countries.

But, while he highlighted both Pakistan and the Maldives as possible recipients of 'loss and damage' payments, he denied it would also see China handed cash.

Mr Miliband also shied away from describing payments to developing countries as 'reparations' for climate change damage, adding that 'lots of people are allergic to the term "reparations"'.

A debate over 'loss and damage' is expected to be a key issue at the Cop-27 summit, with developing countries having already made demands ahead of the Egypt gathering.

The G77+ China group of nations are also set to repeat their call for a dedicated financing facility for loss and damage.

Ed Miliband insisted it was 'morally right' to hand money to poorer nations that are 'on the frontline of the climate crisis'

As the Cop-27 climate change summit begins in Egypt, the Labour shadow minister stressed it would also be in Britain's 'self-interest' to boost aid to developing countries

A debate over 'loss and damage' is expected to be a key issue at the Cop-27 summit, with developing countries having already made demands ahead of the Egypt gathering

Pakistan has recently suffered devastating flooding

Asked whether a Labour government would pay reparations to developing countries for climate change, Mr Miliband told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show: 'I don't see it as about reparations and, actually, when you talk to lots of campaigners they don't either.

'This is about the issue also called loss and damage. This is the fact that poorer countries are facing massive effects of climate change.

'We see it all round the world.'

Pressed on whether China - the world's second-largest economy - could be a recipient of climate payments, Mr Miliband said: 'It's not about China, no it's not about China. I don't think China is necessarily asking for money.

'This is about poorer countries that are on the frontline of the climate crisis - Pakistan had these disastrous floods recently, 30 per cent of the country under water.

'So this is about global solidarity. Yes we have some historical responsibility but this is about global solidarity and it's absolutely part of our aid commitment.'

Pakistan's receipt of foreign aid from Britain has often been criticised due to the Asian country's development of a space programme and nuclear weapons.

Asked to confirm whether Labour, if they won power at the next election, would give money to developing nations to combat climate change, Mr Miliband replied: 'Absolutely it's about supporting poorer countries, completely right.

'It's morally right but it's also in our self-interest too. Because if we don't act and we don't help countries around the world, we're going to end up with the problems that countries face - in terms of refugees, for example - coming back onto us.'

Mr Miliband added: 'We should recognise loss and damage, absolutely. But it's not about China. This is not about giving money to China. I promise you it's not about giving money to China.

'That's not what this is about. This is about countries like the Maldives, like Pakistan and others.

'And we have aid commitments - unfortunately the Government has resiled from many of our aid commitments - but it is absolutely about recognising our moral responsibility.'
The Sunshine State is bracing for a political battle on Sunday that could set the stage for a messy 2024 primary race.

Donald Trump is holding his third rally of a four-state swing on Sunday evening, gearing up to take the stage in Miami, Florida just two days before Election Day.

Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is hitting three separate counties for his own speaking events - but will be giving Trump a wide berth in Miami-Dade.

The former president is set to speak at 5 p.m. after a litany of fellow Republicans warm up the crowd.

Those set to appear on stage before Trump include Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, and House Reps. Matt Gaetz, Vern Buchanan and Michael Waltz among others.

DeSantis was notably excluded from the event - not a surprise given the increasingly hostile relations between the GOP rising star and its de facto party leader.

At his second of four rallies on Saturday night, Trump mocked DeSantis as 'Ron De-Sanctimonious' in Pennsylvania while dismissing a list of potential 2024 Republican challengers.

The popular Republican governor has resisted taking public shots at Trump, perhaps aware of how intertwined their bases are, but has not ruled out the possibility of challenging him in 2024.

Donald Trump mocked Ron DeSantis as 'Ron DeSanctimonious' at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday night

While Trump appears in Miami, DeSantis will speak at three rallies closer to Tampa on Sunday

His reluctance to do so has rankled Trump, who has widely taken credit for DeSantis' rise to political stardom from being just another House Republican to winning a close race for the Tallahassee governor's mansion in 2018.

But more recently, DeSantis made a national name for himself with his vocal criticism of the Biden administration's COVID-19 precautions and other attacks, as well as legislation targeting LGBTQ youth.

The vast majority of early 2024 GOP voter polls have put DeSantis right behind Trump in terms of who Republicans want as their next presidential nominee.

Trump has not yet formally declared his intent to run but he's dropped several hints making it clear where he leans.

'Were winning big, big, big in the Republican Party for the nomination like nobodys ever seen before,' the former president said on Saturday night.

He asked for poll numbers to be put up on the screen above him.

'There it is, Trump at 71, Ron DeSanctimonious at 10 percent,' Trump said derisively.

'Mike Pence at 7, oh, Mike is doing better than I thought. Liz Cheney theres no way shes at 4 percent. Theres no way. Theres no way. But were at 71 to 10 to 7 to 4.'

Surprisingly, among the first high profile Republicans to rush to DeSantis' defense was Mike Pompeo - Trump's former secretary of state and a potential 2024 contender himself.

'Not tired of winning. [Governor Ron DeSantis] youve proven conservative policies work. Florida is better for it. Vote for [DeSantis].'

Trump's inner circle has been eyeing November 14 as the expected date for him to announce a third bid for the White House, Axios reported last week.

DeSantis, meanwhile, is making the closing arguments for his own re-election bid.

He's running for a second gubernatorial term against Charlie Crist, a House Democrat who previously governed Florida from Tallahassee as a Republican.

Despite staying mum on his presidential ambitions, DeSantis has amassed a massive $200 million war chest for his 2022 re-election bid - an eye-popping sum for a gubernatorial candidate.

His Sunday rallies are part of his 'Don't Tread on Florida' tour.

It's seeing him go to Lee, Hillsborough and Sarasota counties to gin up voter support today.
Sadiq Khan has hailed the 'huge success' of the Elizabeth Line as Sunday services and more direct routes were opened.

The Mayor of London joined transport leaders to ride the 19 billion railway from Stratford to Paddington on Sunday morning.

The trip marked the opening of direct routes across the line as well as a seven-day service for the first time since the line opened in May.

The railway has so far operated in three separate sections, requiring passengers to walk for several minutes to change trains at Liverpool Street and Paddington.

As of Sunday morning, passengers can travel across the entire line stretching from Reading in Berkshire and Heathrow Airport in south-west London, to Abbey Wood in south-east London and Shenfield in Essex without changing platforms.

Sadiq Khan has hailed the 'huge success' of the Elizabeth Line as Sunday services and more direct routes were opened

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan (centre) joined transport leaders to ride the 19 billion railway from Stratford to Paddington on Sunday morning

Passengers on the Elizabeth Line can travel across the entire route stretching from Reading in Berkshire and Heathrow Airport in south-west London, to Abbey Wood in south-east London and Shenfield in Essex, without changing platforms

The trip marked the opening of direct routes across the line as well as a seven-day service for the first time since the line opened in May

Sunday services are also now operating after they were suspended in the London tunnels almost every weekend since the line opened on May 24 to allow more testing to take place.

Speaking at Paddington, Mr Khan said: 'Today's fantastic news and not just for the Elizabeth but also for the south of our country.

'London benefits but also if you live in the west in Reading or in the Shenfield, if you live in Essex or in Windsor you benefit as well.'

Mr Khan met several transport leaders, including Transport for London's acting commissioner Andy Lord and transport minister Richard Holden, at Stratford Station on Sunday morning.

The group boarded the 10.16am train, which took just over 18 minutes to reach Paddington after the removal of the interchange at Liverpool Street.

They could be heard discussing the complex signal system, size of platforms and the confusion around the Elizabeth line not being part of the Tube network.

At Paddington, the group was greeted by two apprentice railway workers and posed for photos.

Mr Khan called the Elizabeth line 'a huge, huge success' but also urged the Government to invest more in London infrastructure, including projects like Crossrail 2, which has been halted indefinitely.

Sunday services on the Elizabeth Line (pictured) are also now operating after they were suspended in the London tunnels almost every weekend since the line opened on May 24 to allow more testing to take place

Khan (centre) called the Elizabeth line 'a huge, huge success' but also urged the Government to invest more in London infrastructure, including projects like Crossrail 2, which has been halted indefinitely

'I think what the Elizabeth line shows is that if you invest, people will use,' he told PA, adding that 60 million journeys have been made on the railway since it opened in May.

'That shows the difference good public transport can make but the really great news is that we as a global city have a new piece of infrastructure - but we can't stand still because when I speak to colleagues in Singapore, in Hong Kong, in Paris, New York, they are investing in infrastructure.

'So my message to the Government is if you invest in London the whole country benefits.'

He added: 'We need to now start investing in Crossrail 2, we need to start investing now in the southern extension of the Bakerloo line, we need a new tram in Croydon, we can't stand still as a global city.'

Asked about the prospect of further investment amid the 50 billion hole in public finances, Mr Holden told PA: 'I think what we've got to do is wait for the financial statement, see exactly where we are in two weeks' time'.

The transport minister said the Government is already putting 'huge amounts of investment' in transport across the country, including HS2 and the Trans-Pennine A66 road.

'I'd like to see more but we need to do it in a balanced responsible way, delivering as much growth as possible,' he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Lord said TfL is in talks with the Government about projects like Crossrail 2 and the southern extension to the Bakerloo line.

He said they hope to 'demonstrate through the Elizabeth line what that investment does for the city and the wider UK economy'.

'It's very difficult economic times at the moment but I think this shows the benefits are there when you make the long-term investment decisions,' he added.

The line's central section between Paddington and Abbey Wood will also now stay open later, with the last daily departure from Paddington at 12.22am, instead of 10.58pm previously.

The frequency of services in the central section between Paddington and Whitechapel will increase from 12 trains per hour to up to 22 trains per hour in peak times and 16 trains per hour during off-peak.
A noticeable uptick in violent crime across the city has prompted some NYC residents to reconsider the progressive platforms of its many liberal lawmakers

Hirsch added that bail reform laws have led to an increasingly dangerous city, and in particular Times Square area

Despite pot being legal for recreational use, the unpleasant smell of cannabis has become a bother to many New Yorkers walking the city streets

Comedy icon Caroline Hirsh, owner of Times Square's Caroline's on Broadway, condemned the ubiquitous usage of marijuana around New York City

Comedy icon Caroline Hirsch is the latest New Yorker of note to condemn the condition of the city.

The owner of famed comedy club Caroline's on Broadway recently noted the 'smell of pot' that seems to be 'on every goddamn corner' in the city.

'I mean, I'm very susceptible to smelling it...not that I smoked pot, but Im an ex-cigarette smoker,' she said.

In particular, Hirsch was complaining about the current state of Times Square - the location of her comedy club - which, in her view, has deteriorated in the last handful of years.

Caroline Hirsch - owner of famed comedy club Caroline's on Broadway - condemned the state of New York City. She complained of rising crime and the stench of pot on every corner

Recreational cannabis usage has been legal in New York state since August 2021 - though there are currently few ways to legally buy the drug

Hirsch's club has played host to many enormous comedians over the year, and is responsible for nurturing the start of the A-list careers of performers including Robin Williams, Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld

Recreational cannabis has been legal in New York for more than a year, though as of August 2022, no recreational cannabis is actually for sale legally anywhere inside of the state - sans for American Indian reservations.

Despite possession of marijuana being legal, its rampancy on New York City streets is not something that many city dwellers are celebrating.

Cannabis users are currently allowed to smoke any place that cigarette users are allowed to smoke - though not in vehicles and not in outdoor dining areas.

But the smell, which is strong and spreads fast, has pushed some New Yorkers to advocate for further limitations on use of the drug - similarly to alcohol being legal to consume, but not in public.

Hirsch added that crime in general is thriving in New York City, 'and certainly, the bail reform has not helped,' she said, citing a progressive soft-on-crime policy that allows violent, repeat offender criminals to roam the streets.

Crime in NYC has risen dramatically since the bail reform law was first passed in 2019, under then-Governor Andrew Cuomo.

In the last year alone, overall crime in the city is up by close to 30% - something New Yorkers have noticed as the midterm election draws near.

Even MSNBC is calling out Democrat Kathy Hochul.



"Here's the problem: We don't feel safe...I walk into my pharmacy, and everything is on lockdown because of shoplifters. I'm not going in the subway. People don't feel safe in this town." pic.twitter.com/JUKhxXCk4c  RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 5, 2022

Phanor was asked questions by reporters as he was escorted out but did not acknowledge or answer them

Even among progressives, the sense that the city is far less safe than it once was runs deep.

MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle recent told incumbent Governor Kathy Hochul that New Yorkers 'don't feel safe.'

'You might be working closely with Mayor Adams, you may have spent a whole lot of money, but I walk into my pharmacy and everything is on lockdown because of shoplifters.

'I'm not going in the subway. People don't feel safe in this town. So, you may have done these things. But right now, we're not feeling good. We're worried we could be San Francisco?' she said.

Hochul retorted that she has been working to tackle increases in crime, which was an unsatisfying answer to Ruhle.

'It doesn't matter what's happening in other cities or other states. The reason people don't feel safe in New York is why they're starting to say, can Kathy Hochul be the right governor, right? It doesn't really matter what's happening in Pennsylvania or San Francisco, you need to get New Yorkers' votes. And safety is a top issue for us,' said the host.

Hochul's Republican opponent, congressman Lee Zeldin, has promised to overturn bail reform on his first day in office.

Headline grabbing violent crime has plagued New York City in recent weeks as subway-shovings and brutal sexual assaults have become somewhat common.

In the latest shocking incident, a woman was jogging by Pier 45, near West and Christopher Streets in the West Village, at around 5:30 a.m. earlier this week, when Carl Phanor, 29, grabbed her from behind and choked her until she passed out.

Phanor, who has 25 priors and who is wanted for at least two other sex crimes, then removed her clothes, raped her, and fled the scene on a CitiBike with her headphones, cell phone and wallet.

The shaken victim was spotted by a fellow jogger, and first responders took her to a nearby hospital.

Phanor is also wanted for an attempted rape in October, and the sexual assault of another jogger long Pier 40 in March.
Migrants could be seen smiling and waving at the group of demonstrators chanted 'stop Manston now'

In the UK activists gathered outside Manston immigrant processing centre in Kent earlier today

PM Giorgia Meloni wants migrants picked up by German charity-run ships to be taken to Germany

The captain of the German charity ship refuses to leave the port until all of the migrants have disembarked

More than 100 'vulnerable' migrants were allowed to leave the charity ship but the rest remain onboard

Italy's new government is refusing to let 35 migrants picked up in the Mediterranean sea disembark a ship

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Italian authorities have refused to let 35 migrants disembark a charity rescue ship at Sicily, as the new far-right-led government attempts to cracks down on people-smuggling from the Mediterranean.

Giorgia Meloni's new government is allowing only those identified as vulnerable to disembark from four ships docked in the port of Catania.

The Humanity 1 has been ordered to vacate the port after disembarking 144 rescued migrants - which included women with children, more than 100 unaccompanied minors and people with medical emergencies.

The captain refused to leave the port 'until all survivors rescued from distress at sea have been disembarked,' said SOS Humanity, the German charity that operates the ship. The vessel remained moored at the port.

Later today, a second charity ship arrived in Catania, and the vetting process was expected to be repeated with the 572 migrants aboard the Geo Barents ship, operated by Doctors Without Borders.

Two other boats run by non-governmental organizations remained at sea with no immediate change in status.

New Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi is targeting non-governmental organizations, which Italy has long accused of encouraging people trafficking in the central Mediterranean Sea. The groups deny the claim.

While the new government is insisting the countries whose flags the charity-run ships fly must take in the migrants.

Italian authorities are refusing to let 35 migrants disembark a charity ship docked in Sicily (Pictured: Migrants asleep on deck of NGO rescue ship 'Ocean Viking')

More than 100 migrants deemed vulnerable were let off the NGO ship The Humanity 1, but the rest were not and the ship was ordered to leave

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni's new government is insisting the countries whose flags the charity-run ships fly must take in the migrants

Three more ships full of migrants are waiting to dock in Sicily and the vetting process was expected to be repeated

Humanitarian groups and two Italian lawmakers who traveled to Sicily protested the selection process as illegal and inhumane.

'Free all the people, free them,' Italian lawmaker Aboubakar Soumahoro said in an emotional appeal directed at Meloni from the Humanity 1 rescue ship, calling her government's new policy 'inhuman.'

The passengers have faced 'trauma, they have faced everything that we can define as prolonged suffering, a hell,' said Soumahoro, who spent the night on the ship.

He said neither translators nor psychologists were on hand during the selection process, and that many of the migrants had suffered torture at the hands of traffickers as they traversed Libya, where they boarded unseaworthy smugglers' boats. Many were from rural areas of Gambia.

'Their fault is to speak another language. Their fault is to have another color,' Soumahoro said, accusing the government of using the migrants to distract from more pressing issues, including high energy prices.

After the Humanity 1, carrying 179 rescued passengers, disembarked women, children and more than 100 unaccompanied minors, Italian doctors then identified people needing urgent medical care after the ship's doctor refused, said SOS Humanity spokesman Wasil Schauseil. Thirty-six people were declared non-vulnerable were not permitted to disembark, prompting one to collapse and be taken away by an ambulance.

'You can imagine the condition of the people. It is very devastating,? he said.

SOS Humanity considers all of the passengers vulnerable after being rescued at sea, and deserving of a safe port under international law.

'The survivors remaining on board the Humanity 1 are in an emergency condition,' the charity said. 'They fled inhumane conditions from Libya and have since had to endure over two weeks at sea. '

The new Italian government is insisting the countries whose flags the charity-run ships fly must take in the migrants

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi is targeting non-governmental organizations, which Italy has long accused of encouraging people trafficking in the central Mediterranean Sea

Charity SOS Humanity considers all of the passengers vulnerable after being rescued at sea, and deserving of a safe port under international law

The Norway-flagged Geo Barents, carrying 572 migrants, arrived in Catania on Sunday afternoon. Migrants on board cheered as the ship entered the port and later the Red Cross brought food and water to the ship.

Two other ships carrying rescued migrants remained at sea. The charity ships say the rescued migrants are sleeping on floors and decks, spreading respiratory infections and scabies as food and medical supplies are nearing depletion. Some migrants have been on the ships for more than two weeks.

The German-run Rise Above, carrying 93 rescued at sea, sought a more protected position east of Sicily due to the weather, but spokeswoman Hermine Poschmann said Sunday that the crew had not received any communication from Italian authorities.

Poschmann described cramped conditions on the relatively small 25-meter (82-foot)ship.

The Ocean Viking, operated by the European charity SOS Mediteranee, with 234 migrants on board, remained in international waters, south of the Strait of Messina, and did not receive instructions to proceed to a port, a spokesman said Sunday. Its first rescue was 16 days ago.

The confrontational stance taken by Meloni's government is reminiscent of the standoffs orchestrated by Matteo Salvini, now Meloni's infrastructure minister in charge of ports, during his brief 2018-2019 stint as interior minister.

In a Facebook video, Salvini repeated his allegations that the presence of the humanitarian boats encourages smugglers.

Nongovernmental organizations reject that claim, saying they are obligated by the law of the sea to rescue people in distress and that coastal nations are obligated to provide a safe port as soon as feasible.

Two men, believed to be migrants, seen smiling and waving out of Manston immigration centre in Kent as protesters chanted outside the site

Protesters from the campaign group Stand Up To Racism and Freedom of Torture gathered for the Stop Manston Now demonstration. One woman held a sign which read 'Braverman out now! Refugees welcome here'

Migrants were seen smiling and waving through the windows of Manston immigrant centre today as angry protesters gathered demanding the Home Secretary to resign.

It comes as the Government admitted this morning that there was still overcrowding at the crisis-hit, former RAF base in Kent.

Demonstrators from the campaign groups Stand Up to Racism and Freedom from Torture braced the rain this afternoon and stood outside the site, demanding for it to be closed.

People, believed to be migrants inside Manston, looked out at the demonstrators below.

One video showed a man holding a baby and woman huddled at one of the centre's window. The woman was seen waving a handkerchief at the Shut Manston Down protesters who cheered, rang bells and beeped horns in response.

Other activists held up signs that said 'no human is illegal' and 'you are welcome'. Footage from the protest showed a man holding a baby and a woman waving at the protesters from inside the centre

At the Shut Manston Down protest.



We can see a detained mother, father and baby inside their detention prison. They are waving.



We say: FREE THEM!#closemanstoncamp pic.twitter.com/fqOR8gXOay  Benny Hunter (@BennnyH) November 6, 2022

Benny Hunter, who shared the video, said: 'We can see a detained mother, father and baby inside their detention prison. They are waving. We say: Free them.'

Other footage showed a group of people from inside the centre standing on what appears to be a balcony outside, waving handkerchiefs in the air.

Angered activists chanted 'Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho detention centres have to go' and 'stop Manston now' while holding up umbrellas to shield themselves from the pouring rain.

Freedom from Torture placed a large, mocking placard on the fence of the centre which read: 'HM Government. Suella Braverman: Centre for Cruelty to Refugees.'

Campaigners from the group Freedom from Torture placed a placard on the fence of the centre, imitating an official sign from the Government. It read: 'Suella Braverman. Centre for Cruelty to Refugees'

Protesters braced the rain to hold up a large banner outside the centre that read 'the enemy doesn't arrive by boat - he arrives by limousine'

A man, woman and baby look out from Manston immigration centre onto demonstrators. The woman is then seen waving a white handkerchief as protesters cheer

It comes days after the Home Secretary Suella Braverman was ridiculed for arriving at the immigration centre in a RAF Chinook (pictured)

Other protesters, stood out in the rain this afternoon, helped up a long banner reading: 'The enemy doesn't arrive by boat - he arrives by limousine.'

It comes days after the embattled Home Secretary, who is under mounting pressure to get a grip on the Channel migrant crisis, was ridiculed for arriving at the immigration centre in a Chinook helicopter.

The military vehicle costs approximately 3,500 an hour to operate.

The protest comes after it was revealed 4,000 people being detained for weeks at the site that was only meant to hold 1,600 people for a few days at a time

Police officers arriving at Manston immigration centre as the Shut Manston Now protest continues

A sign outside Manston immigration centre reads 'no one is illegal'

Other signs being held up at the protest said 'Braverman out now' and said 'no human is illegal'.

People, who are believed to be migrants, peered out of the centre's windows this afternoon grinning at the demonstrators below.

Today cabinet minister Oliver Dowden admitted the 'totally deplorable' Channel migrant crisis had 'gone too far' and the Government 'needed to do more'.

Cabinet minister Oliver Dowden today admitted the 'totally deplorable' Channel migrant crisis had 'gone too far' and the Government 'need to do more'

Demonstrators from the campaign groups Stand Up to Racism and Freedom from Torture braced the rain this afternoon and stood outside the site, demanding for it to be closed

Mr Dowden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said the Government hoped to have the Manston facility back under capacity this week as more people are removed.

He also insisted Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was 'totally committed' to dealing with the migrant crisis and had been having 'meeting pretty much every day' about the issue since he entered No10.

Speaking on the Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday how, he added: 'It is unacceptable that we now have a situation with almost 40,000 people crossing the Channel.'

A protester holds up an 'every child matters' sign outside Manston immigration centre in Kent

The situation came to a head after it was revealed that at one point last week there were 4,000 people being detained for weeks at the site that was only meant to hold 1,600 people for a few days at a time.

The overcrowded conditions has led to outbreaks of diphtheria, MRSA and violence.

This morning Mr Dowden said there were 'about 1,800' people within the centre, insisting the Government was 'continuing to make good progress' but admitted it was still over capacity.
A video shows dozens of 'drunk' Russian mobilised troops in a brawl in the latest case of major indiscipline among Vladimir Putin's draftees.

The bloody fight in Omsk left one man with a suspected severe head injury.

The conscripts went on a vodka binge as they wait to be sent to the frontline in Ukraine.

'Alcohol, idleness and the doom they face are all factors that push the mobilised into anti-social behaviour,' said anti-war Omsk_ogo Telegram channel.

Police were seen intervening in the fight at Leninisky market - near a major training base - seeking to restore order.

The ugly brawl follows multiple mutinies in recent days with Russian men refusing to be sent to the front or protesting about being 'cheated' over payments.

In one last week, 2,500 mobilised Russian men in Kazan faced down a 'drunk' general in a protest over their training camp conditions and rusty weapons.

The men claimed they were being treated like 'pigs'.

Stills from a video which shows dozens of 'drunk' Russian mobilised troops in a brawl in the latest case of major indiscipline among Vladimir Putin's draftees

'The general was kicked out of here - the brute arrived drunk and [making complaints about our behaviour],' said one conscript.

'We have rusty machine guns from the 1970s that are not [tested], it is dangerous to shoot with them.

A day earlier it was revealed that 39 men from the 252nd motorised rifle regiment had walked off the frontline in Ukraine's Russian-occupied Luhansk region and demanded to go back to Russia.

They were left alone at the front, abandoned by their commanders, said a source.

'For several days they hid from shelling, some were seriously wounded, others were killed,' she said.

'Our men ran out of provisions and water, there was no ammunition.

The ugly brawl follows multiple mutinies in recent days with Russian men refusing to be sent to the front or protesting about being 'cheated' over payments

'They ate what they could find, and drank from a puddle.

'Nothing was brought to them, they were simply sent to their deaths.

Separately, enlisted troops from the Chuvashia republic refused to leave their training base for the front because they claimed they were cheated by Russian officials over payments.

Riot police were called to a barracks in Ulyanovsk to quell the uprising.

'It's clear - we were f***ing fooled,' said a mutineer.

It comes as Russian efforts to make ground and hold onto parts of Eastern Ukraine continue to be repelled by the Ukrainian military.

Dramatic footage shows the moment a Russian tank received a direct hit from a Ukrainian anti-tank missile as it moved through Donetsk Oblast.

The Ukrainian armed forces claim to have repelled 14 attacks in Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia in the last 24 hours.

Dramatic footage shows the moment a Russian tank received a direct hit from a Ukrainian anti-tank missile as it moved through Donetsk Oblast

The Ukrainian armed forces claim to have repelled 14 attacks in Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia in the last 24 hours

Meanwhile, Ukraine said that 35 Ukrainian settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Mykolaiv were struck by the enemy.

In a statement on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: 'The most fierce fighting throughout this week has been concentrated in Donbas near the cities of Bakhmut and Soledar. We are holding our positions.

'On these and some other fronts in the Donetsk region, the Russian army has lost so many lives of its citizens and so much ammunition that it probably surpasses the losses in the First and Second Chechen Wars combined. But the real level of the losses of Russia is being hidden from Russian society.'
This photo taken overnight on Nov. 6 and obtained from Italian news agency Ansa, shows the rescue ship "Humanity 1" of German organization SOS Humanity, which carries 179 rescued migrants, after it arrived at the port of Catania, Sicily. AFP-Yonhap



Italian authorities prevented 35 migrants they did not deem vulnerable from getting off a boat in Sicily on Sunday as Italy's new far-right-led government takes a hard line against privately run maritime rescue ships operating in Italian waters.



Humanitarian groups and two Italian lawmakers who traveled to Sicily protested the selection process as both illegal and inhumane. The procedure was part of a directive ushered in by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi as Italy again targets the non-governmental organizations it has long accused of encouraging people trafficking in the central Mediterranean Sea.



"Free all the people, free them,'' Italian lawmaker Aboubakar Soumahoro said in an emotional appeal directed at Premier Giorgia Meloni from the Humanity 1 rescue ship, calling the new policy "inhuman.''



The passengers have faced ''trauma, they have faced everything that we can define as prolonged suffering, a hell," Soumahoro said.



Italian authorities completed the process of identifying vulnerable migrants on the German-operated Humanity 1 overnight and asked the Geo Barents, with 572 rescued migrants, to proceed Sunday to the port of Catania for the same vetting.



Two other boats run by non-governmental organizations remained at sea, with no immediate change in status. The NGOs reported people sleeping on floors and decks, the spread of fever-inducing infections and scabies, and food and medical supplies nearing depletion. Some migrants have been on the ships for more than two weeks.



The Humanity 1, carrying 179 rescued passengers, entered the Sicilian port late Sunday, and two Italian doctors began the process of identifying people needing urgent medical care after the ship's doctor refused, said SOS Humanity spokeseman Wasil Schauseil.



SOS Humanity considers all of the passengers vulnerable by definition after being rescued at sea, and deserving of a safe port under international law.



Authorities allowed three women and a baby off the ship first, then one family followed by unaccompanied minors, who numbered over 100, Schauseil said.



"As we feared, not everyone was allowed to disembark,'' Schauseil said.



"The doctors declared 36 people not in an emergency. After receiving the news, one person collapsed and lost consciousness and had to be taken by an ambulance,'' Schauseil said. "That is why 35 people are on board.



"You can imagine the condition of the people. It is very devastating,'' he said.





Italy's only Black lawmaker in the lower chamber, Abourbakar Soumahoro, talks to reporters as migrants disembark from the Humanity 1 rescue ship run by the German organization SOS Humanitarian, in the port of Catania, Sicily, southern Italy, early Sunday. AP-Yonhap
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel pledged her party would work with President Joe Biden if they win control of Congress in the midterm elections just two days away.

Speaking to CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, McDaniel also refuted questions about GOP-driven election denialism by referencing times that Democrats like Hillary Clinton and Stacey Abrams have also doubted the legitimacy of US races.

Looking ahead to 2024's election, McDaniel refused to say whether Donald Trump is readying to announce his candidacy for the White House - but gave a clear answer when asked whether the RNC would continue footing his many legal bills - more than $2.3 million of which the organization has paid so far.

'We cannot pay legal bills for any candidate that's announced,' McDaniel said. 'So these are bills that came from the Letitia James lawsuit that started while he was president. It was voted on by our executive committee for our former president that this was a politically motivated investigation. And that's what it's been for.'

However she suggested Trump would have no issue paying them himself, adding: 'Right now, he's the former president who's being attacked from every which way with lawsuits. And he's certainly raised more into the RNC than we have spent on these bills.'

It comes as Democrats' abortion rights-driven surge of momentum appears to have dissipated, with polls suggesting that most voters' primary concern is the economy.

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel expressed confidence in her party taking back the House of Representatives and the Senate in the midterms on Tuesday

"Nobody should be intimidating voters."@GOPChairwoman Ronna McDaniel speaks out after right-wing activists with guns were spotted near Arizona dropboxes. @CNNSotu #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/uaRTzQsnK7  CNN (@CNN) November 6, 2022

The most recent RealClearPolitics analysis says the GOP is expected to have at least 228 seats after Tuesday's election, while Democrats are likely to win 174.

That means even if they win the races ranked as 34 toss-ups, they'd still fall short of the 218 members needed for a majority.

In the Senate, the analysis shows Republicans on a clearer path to winning the majority - but neither party has a hold on 50 safe seats.

The GOP is projected to win 48 states, and Democrats are projected to keep 44. Less than a week ago, Republicans were poised to pick up four seats for a decisive Senate majority of 54. It's a testament to how close November 8 is expected to be.

'I think we will take back the House and the Senate,' McDaniel said on Sunday.

Asked if that governing majority would be more than a 'roadblock' to Biden, McDaniel pledged, 'We have to [be]. We have to work on behalf of the American people.'

'I don't live in Washington, D.C. I live in Michigan. I talk to people every day. I talk to restaurant owners who are desperate to find labor. I talk to families who are dealing, including mine, with these education deficits with our kids being locked down,' the RNC chair said.

When asked about GOP election denialism, McDaniel shot back: 'Well, I would say the same to Stacey Abrams, right, or Hillary Clinton, who's already saying, in 2024, we are going to rig the election. That's not helpful'

McDaniel also said the RNC would cease paying Trump's legal bills against New York Attorney General Letitia James if he declares his run for president

'They really want to see government start functioning.'

The bipartisan well ran dry when McDaniel was grilled about the myriad Republican candidates casting doubt on the 2020 election results in a bid to gain Trump's favor - and some, like Arizona gubernatorial hopeful Kari Lake, who would not outright say if they'd accept a loss on Election Day.

It comes after Wisconsin GOP Senator Ron Johnson, locked in his own unexpectedly tight race against a left-wing challenger, said when asked if he's accept the results no matter how they fell: 'I sure hope I can. But I can't predict what the Democrats might have planned.'

Host Dana Bash asked, 'So, simple yes or no, should Republican candidates, Ron Johnson, all of them, accept election results?'

'Well, I would say the same to Stacey Abrams, right, or Hillary Clinton, who's already saying, in 2024, we are going to rig the election. That's not helpful,' McDaniel retorted.

'Listen, you should have a recount. You should have a canvass. And it'll go to the courts, and then everybody should accept the results. That's what it should be.'

She added that there are 'real problems' with elections, and 'everyone should be able to address that.'

'And I think Ron Johnson and Stacey Abrams, in the end, once all their avenues are exhausted, right, they will accept the results,' McDaniel said.
Five people are dead after a fiery car crash occurred on Pacific Coast Highway early Sunday morning.

Officers responded to the collision north of Point Mugu Rock in Ventura County - about 55 miles east of Los Angeles - around 4.30am to find a blue Subaru and another SUV in flames, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Officials haven't released the identities of the deceased but said one of the cars was driving toward ongoing traffic when the collision occurred, according to KTLA.

One person was in the Subaru and the others were in the SUV.

CHP announced the highway around the crash site is closed amid the ongoing investigation. It's unclear when it will reopen.

Five people are dead after a fiery car crash occurred on Pacific Coast Highway north of Point Mugu Rock in Ventura County early on Sunday

A blue Subaru and an SUV were involved in the collision that occurred when one of the cars was driving toward ongoing traffic

Officials haven't released the identities of the deceased but said one of the cars was driving toward ongoing traffic when the collision occurred

Officers have shut down the highway where the crash occurred as the investigation continues and it is unclear when it will reopen

The crash near Mugu Rock is where another fiery crash occurred in June, leaving a 51-year-old man dead.

The victim was driving on PCH around 6pm in a 2016 Range Rover when he drove his vehicle off the highway after missing a curve, according to Ventura County Star.

Officials said at the time that the car launched into the air before rolling down the side of a mountain and catching fire.

The 51-year-old flew out of the vehicle upon impact and was pronounced dead at the scene.

No one else was injured.

PCH's narrow pathway was also the cause of a fiery wreck in February 2020 after a car with two passengers went off a cliff near Big Sur.

Another driver was riding along the highway when they saw what they thought was a brush fire around 4.40am.

Firefighters were working to extinguish the flames when they later realized a car was responsible for the fire and there was at least one person inside.

Investigators at the time didn't expect alcohol or drugs to be involved in the crash.

As Big Sur Fire, USFS Los Padres, and Cal-Fire Hand worked to extinguish flames they realized the vehicle appeared to have been the origin of the fire
Rishi Sunak has told the family of a British-Egyptian activist that he will campaign for his release on his Cop 27 trip to Egypt.

In a letter to the family of detained writer Alaa Abd El-Fattah, the Prime Minister said that he would raise his imprisonment with the Egyptian government and reply again by the end of the climate summit.

But the family fear this could be too late and that the Foreign Office is 'setting up the Prime Minister to fail' because Mr Abd El-Fattah's hunger and water strike may mean he will die before the end of the summit.

Mr Abd El-Fattah, a figurehead of Egypt's 2011 uprising, has been imprisoned in Cairo since 2006 over his pro-democracy writing.

Last year he was sentenced to an additional five years in prison on charges of 'spreading false news', for sharing a social media post about torture.

In a letter to the family of detained writer Alaa Abd El-Fattah (pictured), the Prime Minister said that he would raise his imprisonment with the Egyptian government and reply again by the end of the climate summit

He gained British citizenship from his mother last year while incarcerated in a prison two hours outside Cairo.

He has been on hunger strike in prison, eating only 100 daily calories for the past 200 days, and will stop drinking water as the summit begins to escalate his protest.

Mr Sunak wrote to his family on Saturday saying he was 'totally committed' to resolving the case, which he described as 'a priority for the British Government both as a human rights defender and as a British national'.

He described Cop 27 as 'another opportunity to raise your brother's case with the Egyptian leadership' and said Middle East minister Lord Ahmad would update the family on negotiations after the summit - which finishes on November 18.

Mr Abd El-Fattah's sister, Sanaa Seif, said she was worried her brother, who looked 'very, very frail' with 'sunken eyes' last time she saw him in August, would die before the end of Cop 27.

She told Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday: 'It's good that we have a commitment from the Prime Minister's office, but what worried me is he said we would get confirmation after the conference.

'I feel like the Prime Minister needs to understand the urgency - after the conference it could be too late.

Mr Abd El-Fattah's sister, Sanaa Seif (pictured), said she was worried her brother, who looked 'very, very frail' with 'sunken eyes' last time she saw him in August, would die before the end of Cop 27

'I know it's not the Prime Minister's mistake, but the Foreign Office, the embassy, they have been working on this for a very long time, and I feel like they are setting up the Prime Minister to fail in this trip.'

'I'm worried that he could die while the conference is happening and while the Prime Minister is over there,' she added.

'We don't have a way to know, so I would urge the Prime Minister and the British Government to be responsible for getting us proof of life.'

Ms Seif said she hoped the Prime Minister would not merely be paying 'lip service' to their cause, adding that since Britain has a 'very strong' relationship with Egypt, it should be 'easy' to secure the release.

Speaking about her brother's hunger strike, Ms Seif said: 'He is putting his body on the line not because he wants to die but because he wants to live and he wants his life back, and he's really tired of this.

'Alaa has a 10-year-old boy and he has spent the last nine years in prison. He hasn't had time with his kid.'

Ms Seif said she will be travelling to Cop 27 as a civil observer.

Shadow climate secretary Ed Miliband is also attending the summit, and he told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme he will be 'raising the issue' with the Egyptian authorities while he is there.

In his last letter to his family, Mr Abd El-Fattah said he has chosen to begin his water strike on the eve of Cop 27 'to escalate at a time I see as fitting for my struggle for my freedom and the freedom of prisoners of a conflict they've no part in'.

Mr Sunak wrote to his family on Saturday saying he was 'totally committed' to resolving the case, which he described as 'a priority for the British Government both as a human rights defender and as a British national'

Former British ambassador to Egypt, John Casson, described Mr Abd El-Fattah as 'like a young Mandela', and said Egypt was blocking visits from British Embassy officials.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Mr Casson said: 'Abd el-Fattah is not the typical prisoner languishing abroad.

'Like a young Mandela, the 40-year-old British-Egyptian writer has a global voice and moral stature forged by years of imprisonment.

'Today he will give up water, after 200 days of a hunger strike.

'His demand is for his basic right to a visit from British Embassy officials.

'In most cases visits happen in two days, but Egypt has blocked our access to Abd El-Fattah for a year.'

The Foreign Office said ministers are 'deeply concerned' about the incarceration of Mr Abd El-Fattah and they are 'working hard' to secure his release.

A spokesperson for the department said: 'We are deeply concerned about the continued detention of Alaa Abd El-Fattah, a British citizen and human rights defender.

'The Government is working hard to secure his release and continues to raise his case at the highest levels of the Egyptian Government.

'We recognise how difficult this is for both Alaa and his family.

'The Foreign Secretary has spoken to the family this week to assure them we are doing everything we can, and the Prime Minister intends to push for progress when he visits Egypt for Cop 27.'
Israel's prime minister on Sunday issued a plea for national unity, days after he was defeated in national elections by the former premier, Benjamin Netanyahu, with the backing of a far-right ultranationalist party.

In a memorial ceremony for the assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid warned of the deep divisions plaguing the country after the bitter campaign, Israel's fifth election since 2019.

He appeared to take aim at Religious Zionism, an extremist party whose leaders have made repeated anti-Arab, anti-LGBTQ comments. Religious Zionism emerged as the third-largest party in Parliament and is expected to play a key role in in Netanyahus government.

'There is no `us and them, only us,' Lapid said in his first public comments since last weeks election. 'An absolute majority of this countrys citizens believe in the rule of law, democratic values and mutual respect.'

'The absolutely majority of Israelis want a Judaism that unites us, not a Judaism that is a political tool and certainly not a Judaism that is an endorsement of violence,' he added.

Netanyahus Likud Party, along with Religious Zionism and a pair of ultra-Orthodox religious parties, captured a 64-seat majority in the 120-seat Parliament in last Tuesdays election. They are expected to put together a new governing majority in the coming weeks.

Israeli Prime Minister and the head of Yesh Atid party, Yair Lapid, speaks to his supporters after first exit poll results for the Israeli Parliamentary election at his party's headquarters in Tel Aviv

Lapids outgoing coalition, a diverse collection of parties that included the first-ever Arab party to be part of an Israeli government, won just 51 seats.

The election, like the previous four, focused on Netanyahus fitness to rule while he faces corruption charges.

Religious Zionism has promised to push through new reforms that could weaken Israels judicial branch, grant Netanyahu immunity and possibly make the criminal charges against him disappear. Critics say this agenda would deal a tough blow to Israels democratic institutions.

Religious Zionism also promotes a hard line against the Palestinians and Israels own Palestinian minority.

'The absolute majority of Israels citizens are not willing to let hatred dictate their lives,' Lapid said during the ceremony at Israel's national cemetery. 'We have to decide now, at this moment, where this country is going.'

Netanyahu did not attend the ceremony. But speaking later in Parliament, Netanyahu said that following the election, 'it is time to get out of the trenches and know how to work together.'

The leader of Religious Zionism, Bezalel Smotrich, complained that his voters have been unfairly 'demonized' as supporting Rabin's killing, an act he called 'horrendous'.

Smotrich's running mate, Itamar Ben-Gvir, famously held up a hood ornament pulled off Rabin's car weeks before the assassination. 'Just as we got to this emblem, we can get to Rabin,' Ben-Gvir, who is now up for a senior Cabinet post, said at the time.

Rabin was killed on Nov. 4, 1995, by a Jewish extremist who opposed his peace efforts with the Palestinians.
Two men who ran from police with a baby were arrested after a wild car chase in north Texas.

Andy and Marvin Guevara tagged teamed in their attempt to escape Dallas police with a baby in a car seat on Thursday after cops identified Andy's blue Dodge Charger as stolen.

Police were following behind the blue Dodger for miles until Andy unexpectedly pulled over with the baby in the backseat and jumped into Marvin's white Jeep that was following shortly behind, according to Fox News.

The two then drove through lawns and fences of homes in West Dallas before parking at the Lake West Head Start Center and running inside with the baby.

They were later arrested with six offenses and booked at the Dallas County Jail. The baby was safely recovered by police and released to its grandfather, according to The Dallas Morning News.

It's unclear if either the men were the father of the baby.

Two men that ran from police with a baby were arrested after a wild car chase in north Texas

Andy and Marvin Guevara tagged teamed in their attempt to escape Dallas police with a baby in a car seat on Thursday after cops identified Andy's blue Dodge Charger as stolen. Andy was the one with the baby

Police were following behind the blue Dodger for miles until Andy unexpectedly pulled over with the baby in the backseat and jumped into Marvin's white Jeep that was following shortly behind

The suspects were later arrested with six offenses and booked at the Dallas County Jail

Police safely recovered the baby after the two men were arrested. It's unclear what their relationship is to the child

During the chase, footage by Fox News showed Andy speeding away from police and exiting off of Hampton Road while Marvin followed closely behind for miles.

Shortly after, Andy can be seen jumping out of the Dodger with the car seat and into Marvin's car as police tailed closely from behind.

The pair drove for miles and tossed unidentified items out of the car before pulling up to a building that holds a Pre-K center, a YMCA, and a clinic.

Summer Hamilton later arrived at the scene and said she was the baby's mother. Hamilton was also arrested for an outstanding theft warrant, according to the news outlet.

The baby can later be seen in footage surrounded by police.

Summer Hamilton later arrived at the scene and said she was the baby's mother. Hamilton was also arrested for an outstanding theft warrant, according to the news outlet

The two then drove through lawns and fences of homes in West Dallas before pulling over at a childcare center

The baby can be seen surrounded by police

An employee at the childcare center recalled the incident with Fox News and said their facility went on lockdown - a day after they were practicing a lockdown drill.

'When we heard lockdown on the intercom, we weren't sure if it was just another drill,' Elizabeth Newman said. 'But then we heard cop cars going on outside and we knew it was real life.

'So I barricaded the door, we all went into the bathroom.'

A gun was also captured at the scene, according to Fox.

It's unclear why the men went to the childcare center.
Both ended up on hospital drip on their holiday celebrating his cancer recovery

More than 80 British holidaymakers have launched legal action after being struck down with gastric illness during their stay at a luxury five-star hotel in Cape Verde.

Dozens of families say they came down with an illness - which left them with diarrhoea and even forced some to be hospitalised - while staying at the Hotel Riu Palace Santa Maria in Cape Verde, off the west coast of Africa.

The tourists, who booked their holiday through tour operated TUI, reported being served raw chicken and food covered in flies, as well as a strong sulphur smell at the hotel.

Now more than 80 holidaymakers who travelled to the hotel between May and October have instructed specialist lawyers to investigate after their dream trip turned into a 'holiday from hell'.

Among those affected were Nichola Morley, 52, from Paignton and her partner Darren Cartwright, 57, from Torquay who travelled to the Riu Palace in May for a two-week break to celebrate Mr Cartwright's recovery from cancer.

Just one day into their long awaited holiday, Ms Morley began to suffer from stomach cramps, vomiting and diarrhoea, and the following day her partner began to experience similar symptoms.

After several days of not eating the pair went to hospital where they were both put on a drip. On arriving back in the UK Ms Morley was placed on a course of antibiotics by her GP and spent three weeks recovering.

Nichola Morley, 52, and her partner Darren Cartwright, 57, (pictured) are among 80 British holidaymakers who have launched legal action after being struck down with gastric illness during their stay at a luxury five-star hotel in Cape Verde

Ms Morley said: 'We had been looking forward to our holiday for quite some time, but within a day I was really unwell.

'Darren fell ill the following day and he even began hallucinating. We called reception a number of times for help and to ask for a doctor but no-one came.

'We ended up taking ourselves to hospital and were both put on a drip. By this point, we were both so weak as we hadn't eaten for several days.

'On the last day of our trip, we thought it would be a good idea to try and eat a little bit to keep our strength up for the journey home. When we got there, the salad was covered in flies. I grabbed a bit of bread and small piece of turkey, but when I cut it open it was pink and raw inside.

'This was only a few days after I had complained about bloody chicken and I couldn't believe it was still happening. It's no wonder people were ill.

'When we got home, I spent around three weeks at home, mostly in bed recovering. I really wish we had never booked the holiday, it turned into a total nightmare. All we can hope for now is some answers; it's the least we deserve.'

Another tourist, Elizabeth Sutton, 46, was also admitted to hospital during her stay at the Riu Palace, with symptoms so severe that doctors were concerned she was having a stroke.

Ms Sutton, a beauty therapist, travelled to Cape Verde with her mother Patricia Reid in September for a much anticipated first holiday away since the pandemic.

After two days Ms Sutton began to suffer headaches, breathing difficulties and her eyes became sore and red. These symptoms were so severe that Elizabeth was admitted to hospital over concerns that she was having a stroke. She was treated and discharged with medication.

She then started experiencing gastric symptoms, including severe sickness and diarrhoea and was re-admitted to hospital where she was placed on a drip. Following multiple injections and more medication, Ms Sutton was again discharged.

The tourists, who booked their holiday through tour operated TUI, reported being served raw chicken and food covered in flies, as well as a strong sulphur smell at the Hotel Riu Palace Santa Maria in Cape Verde (pictured)

Her symptoms have continued following her return to the UK and she was forced to take time off work. She is still under the care of her GP and awaiting the results of further tests.

Ms Sutton said: 'This was supposed to be a wonderful holiday for me and mum, our first holiday together since the Covid Pandemic, and we booked a stay at a five star hotel expecting a bit of luxury and pampering. Instead the trip turned into the holiday from hell.

'The smell of sulphur in the room was overpowering. It was so bad that mum paid for us to move to a new hotel, but by that stage I was already ill. The food at the hotel also appeared to be left for long periods of time uncovered, allowing exposure to flies and there were cats and birds in and around the hotel.

'I've never experienced anything like it and when I went into hospital for the second time, I was really scared.

'We feel that the hotel, food and facilities were a complete let down and since returning I've heard from more than 130 people on Facebook, some of whom were there prior to us, who say that they had similar experiences.

'I'm angry that I'm still living with the symptoms, but I also feel lucky to have got home in one piece. I feel we all deserve some answers over what happened, especially as it sounds like others fell ill before we stayed there. It's the least we deserve after what turned into an expensive medical nightmare.'

Another complainant is Hannah Smith, 28, who travelled to the hotel with her partner Oliver Dean, 27, for a week's holiday in August.

Ms Smith, a school teacher, said: 'The holiday was such a disappointment. Our symptoms were so bad that we had no choice but to see the doctor in resort and I continued to feel ill for weeks afterwards.

Hannah Smith and her partner Oliver Dean (pictured), from Wolverhampton, were both struck by severe gastric symptoms during their holiday to Cape Verde

'It only really hit Oliver hard at the end of the holiday and, by that point, neither of us was in a fit state to help the other. The flight home was unbelievably difficult and Oliver was so ill, he had to take more time off work when we got back.

'To be that ill on holiday is the last thing you expect, particularly at what is billed as a five star hotel.

'I now wish we'd never booked the holiday, but I think the least we can expect is an explanation of what went wrong and some assurance that other people aren't going through the terrible experience that we did.'

Jennifer Hodgson, an international serious injury lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing those affected, said: 'We're working with more than 80 people whose holidays were ruined by illness. Many of those continue to suffer from ongoing symptoms after returning to the UK.

'Gastric illness can lead to long term health issues and their effect should never be downplayed.

'Understandably, those we represent have many questions about how they fell ill, while many of the group have queried why they weren't informed of illness at the hotel, before they arrived at the resort.

'We're determined to establish the answers our clients deserve and to support all of them following what has been a terrible experience.

'If during the course of our investigations any issues are identified, it's vital that lessons are learned to ensure that other travellers aren't left with ruined holidays and potential long-term illnesses.

'As part of our work and to assist with our investigations, we would be keen to hear from anyone else who may also have been affected by illness whilst staying at the Hotel Riu Palace, Santa Maria, Cape Verde.'

A Tui spokesperson said: 'We are sorry to hear of these experiences at the Riu Palace in Cape Verde. As this is now a legal matter, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.

'Wed like to reassure customers that we regularly audit all of our hotels in respect to health and safety, including hygiene.'

Hotel Riu Palace Santa Maria has been contacted by MailOnline for comment.
An Algerian woman was ruled out as a candidate because she was pregnant

But a volunteer working with undocumented immigrants reported them to police

The five defendants allegedly tried to buy a liver from illegal immigrants in Spain

A millionaire Lebanese politician has gone on trial in Spain for organ trafficking after he allegedly tried to buy a liver from poor illegal immigrants.

Hatem Akouche and four other defendants appeared in court in Valencia for trying to buy part of a liver for a transplant.

The 69-year-old  who has an incurable liver disease  is believed to have solicited vulnerable people for part of their liver in exchange for cash and work.

Akouche  former mayor of the Lebanese city El Kharayeb  allegedly did this via two of his nephews, who managed a marble company in Novelda, Alicante Province, Valencia Region.

But the men were caught when a volunteer for an NGO working with undocumented immigrants learnt of an Algerian woman who had been contacted by them.

The 28-year-old woman had gone for tests in preparation for the organ donation but was eventually ruled out as a candidate because she was pregnant at the time.

The case represents the first time that potential human organ trafficking has been detected in Spain.

Lebanese billionaire Hatem Akouche and four other defendants appeared in court in Valencia for trying to buy part of a liver for a transplant from poor illegal immigrants in Spain

Police in Valencia began investigating and found that at least seven others had gone to clinics to undergo the same tests as the Algerian woman.

They discovered that each potential candidate had been accompanied by the same relative of Akouche during their visits.

Each person was 'especially vulnerable both because of their origin and because of their economic hardship', said the prosecution.

The men's plan failed when staff at a Barcelona hospital became suspicious of a homeless Romanian man who was due to donate part of his liver there.

But all of the trobule could have been avoided. After consulting a second time with doctors, Akouche's son found out that he was compatible with his father, and agreed to the donation.

Akouche eventually received part of his son's liver on 26th August 2013, but he was arrested in the VIP lounge of Valencia Airport five month's later.

The politician claimed he was unaware at the time that buying vital organs from living people was prohibited under Spanish law.

He went on trial in Valencia in 2019, which ended with an agreement between the prosecution and the accused.

The Lebanese millionaire and his relatives did not contest the court's version of events and he accepted a year in prison, while his relatives accepted two years.

He went on trial in Valencia in 2019, which ended with an agreement between the prosecution and the accused. But the group is now back on trial after the Supreme Court annulled the outcome and ordered a retrial

But the group is now back on trial after the Supreme Court annulled the outcome of that trial and ordered a retrial.

The court ordered the retrial to recognise The National Transplant Organization, an independent agency within the Spanish Ministry of Health, as an injured party.

The State Attorney, representing the Spanish Ministry of Health, is now leading the prosecution.

The others now in court are the former mayor's son, the two nephews, and another Lebanese national.

They are accused of promoting, favouring or facilitating the illegal transplantation of human organs of others.

The prosecution is requesting three years in prison for Akouche and seven for the other four defendants.
A teenage boy has been charged with the murder of a 17-year-old male after a stabbing in Birmingham last week.

A murder investigation was launched after Akeem Bailey, 17, was found with serious injuries in Ladywood on October 30.

The teenager was discovered at around 6pm on Springfield Street and immediately taken to hospital where he remained in an induced coma.

Unfortunately his injuries were unsurvivable and he died on Friday night.

A 17-year-old boy, who was also injured and taken to hospital has since been discharged.

A murder investigation was launched after Akeem Bailey, 17, was found with serious injuries in Ladywood on October 30

West Midlands police Detective Inspector Jim Colclough said: 'We'll be doing all we can to support Akeem's loved ones during this deeply distressing time.

'We are continuing to work with the community and are still appealing for anyone with information to get in touch.

'If you don't want to speak to us, information can be given to Crimestoppers anonymously. Tell them what you know, not who you are.'

Zechariah Nelson, aged 18, of no fixed address, was charged with murder, wounding and possession of a bladed article and remanded to appear before Birmingham Magistrates Court on November 7 November.
The event was also condemned by the student union, by other students and staff

Helen Joyce, a 'gender-critical feminist', had been invited to talk at the debate

Comes after head of the college said she would not attend gender ideology talk

Cambridge donors have warned they are considering pulling their funding after a college master boycotted a panel discussion with a 'gender-critical feminist', whose views she described as 'offensive, insulting and hateful'.

Some Cambridge alumni are threatening to stop donating to Gonville and Caius and have said they will urge their children not to attend the university after the college became embroiled in a free speech row, the Telegraph has reported.

It came after the head of the college Professor Pippa Rogerson and senior tutor Dr Andrew Spencer wrote to students telling them they would be avoiding a debate on gender ideology that was being attended by Helen Joyce.

Helen Joyce, an author and former Economist journalist, believes biological sex is binary and immutable and wrote a book entitled Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality which criticises the transgender rights movement.

The debate, hosted by professor of philosophy Arif Ahmed, sparked outrage among students, some of whom accused Dr Joyce of being a Terf (trans exclusionary radical feminist). Around a hundred protested outside the talk chanting 'trans rights are human rights'.

It was also condemned by the student union, who argued that the event would do nothing but 'contribute to the further alienation of trans students, to whom the university has a duty of care'.

But it was the intervention of Prof Rogerson and Dr Spencer, who described Ms Joyce's views as 'offensive, insulting and hateful to members of our community who live and work here', that has left some Cambridge donors feeling 'embarrassed, appalled and absolutely disgusted'.

Cambridge alumni have said they will stop donating to Gonville and Caius college after it became embroiled by a free speech row after 'gender-critical feminist' Helen Joyce (pictured) was invited to speak at an event

Around a hundred students protested outside the talk last Tuesday chanting 'trans rights are human rights'

Head of the college Professor Pippa Rogerson (left), and senior tutor Dr Andrew Spencer (right) described Ms Joyce's views as 'offensive, insulting and hateful to members of our community who live and work here'

One alumnus, Nick Sallnow-Smith, 72, who graduated from Gonville and Caius in 1973, told the Telegraph: 'With people like that in charge I will never donate again.'

But Prof Rogerson has stuck by her words, telling alumni: 'We expressed our personal opinions - as is our right.'

She acknowledged that there were 'difficult and complex discussions' around trans matters but said she had done a 'great deal' of research into the topic, including reading Ms Joyce's book.

She continued: 'Having given the matter a lot of thought I disagree with her views, the way she presents them and the way in which she responds to those who disagree with her.'

The event, which was held last Tuesday, was also criticised by Cambridge's sociology faculty, who apologised for distressing students by circulating the advert.

In the memo seen by MailOnline and the Telegraph, Professor Manali Desai, the head of sociology, said: 'We are very sorry for the distress caused to you by the circulation of an email promoting the Helen Joyce event.

'We have looked at our processes and realised we need an authorisation route for circulation of events to ensure that administrative staff do not inadvertently promote potentially harmful material, as happened in this case.'

An advert for a protest organised outside St Mary's Church in Cambridge, where Dr Joyce's debate on gender ideology took place

She added: 'The department is firmly committed to ensuring that we actively promote events that contribute to increasing awareness of LGBTQ+ inclusion and I would like to reaffirm that the inadvertent circulation of this event via email was not intended to promote it.'

The sociology faculty said it would 'raise concerns' with Gonville and Caius college, Cambridge's fourth oldest, over the event.

A Cambridge University spokesperson said: 'The Department circulated a notice notifying students about the talk. The head of the Department later received complaints from some students opposed to the views of the speaker.

'An email was subsequently sent out to make it clear that the Department was neither actively endorsing or promoting the contents of the talk. There was never any attempt to either persuade or dissuade people from attending.'

In her book Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality, Dr Joyce argues that the trans lobby is trying to 'supplant biology', equating the movement to a 'new state religion, complete with blasphemy laws'.

Writing to undergraduates in a personal capacity, Prof Rogerson and Dr Spencer insisted they wholeheartedly support the principle of freedom of expression but will not attend, according to the Varsity student newspaper.

In her book Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality, Dr Joyce argues that the trans lobby is trying to 'supplant biology', equating the movement to a 'new state religion, complete with blasphemy laws'

The debate was hosted at Gonville and Caius College (pictured) by fellow and professor of philosophy, Arif Ahmed

They added: 'We have worked hard and we will continue to strive to make Caius an inclusive, diverse and welcoming home for our students, staff and Fellows.

'We feel events such as this do not contribute to this aim.

'Caius should be a place for the highest quality of research to be produced and discussed, rather than polemics.'

However, Prof Ahmed defended the planned talk, saying Dr Joyce would be 'discussing important questions to do with sex and gender'.

He said: 'These are matters of great public interest on which it is very important that there is free and open debate. Anyone who would like to learn about Helen Joyce's views and her reasoning, and to discuss them with her, should feel free to come along. Everyone is welcome.'

He claimed that he had to smuggle students into the lecture hall where Ms Joyce was talking because they were 'afraid of ostracism by their student peers'.

A Gonville and Caius spokesman previously said the college 'prides itself on being a welcoming and inclusive community'.

He said: 'The event on October 25 is an external event hosted by Professor Arif Ahmed, a Caius Fellow. It is not a College event.

'We support free speech and would encourage those within the College community and wider society to challenge views they find reprehensible through debate and to celebrate our diversity.'
A family has narrowly escaped serious injury after a woman who was allegedly three times the legal alcohol limit ploughed into their home, causing extensive damage.

A couple and their eight-month-old baby had gone to bed when they were woken by the sound of a car crashing into their Seville home, east of Melbourne, on Sunday night.

The female driver had allegedly lost control of her car on the Warburton Highway before crashing into the home.

The car went through the front wall and the loungeroom before crashing into another car in the garage and eventually coming to a stop in the backyard, leaving behind a trail of destruction.

This is the scene moments after an alleged drunk driver crashed through a home and ended up in the backyard with the occupants and neighbours telling the woman to stay inside the car

Footage from moments after the crash showed the female driver pinned behind the wheel, with the occupants of the home telling her to stay in the car until emergency services arrived.

Fortunately, no one was injured.

The crash caused extensive damage inside the home with the family forced to stay with friends for the night.

It's unknown when they'll be able to return home.

Shocked neighbours rushed to the scene after hearing the commotion.

The crash caused extensive damage to the Seville family's lounge room (pictured)

'I was in bed watching TV about to go to sleep and then, an almighty noise,' neighbour Jack Werner told the Today Show.

'Just enough to make you levitate out of bed. An almighty crunch, sounded like a whole bloody forest was coming down. It was unreal.'

A female driver, 45, from Clayton allegedly returned a positive breath test of 0.154.

Her licence has been suspended and is expected to be charged with drink driving.
The New York Times published a piece Saturday accusing Republicans and prominent right-wing personalities of spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories about the night Paul Pelosi was attacked - while not addressing glaring questions about the assault in their reporting.

After the attack on Pelosi, 82, in the early morning hours on October 28, different theories have circulated in regard to what happened that night.

There have been theories that the attack had been staged, questions about whether Pelosi knew his attacker, and even a theory that the assault was the result of an extramarital gay affair.

Pelosi is recovering at home a week after he was struck in the head with a hammer wielded by David DePape, 42, who broke into the San Francisco property while Pelosi's wife US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi - along with her security detail - was in Washington, D.C.

In the New York Times piece published this weekend, the paper points to 21 elected officials, candidates, and other prominent figures who they claim have spread misinformation or cast doubt on the attack.

Yet, there are still many questions left to be answered and social media users are asking why The Times, long regarded as the 'newspaper of record' in the United States with access to a multitude of resources, has failed to address the glaring holes in the account of the attack.

Nancy Pelosi is seen on Sunday leaving her San Francisco, California, home she shares with husband Paul Pelosi, who was attacked last week by an intruder who struck him with a hammer

Paul Pelosi, 82, (left) is recovering at home a week after he was struck in the head with a hammer wielded by David DePape, who broke into the San Francisco property while Pelosi's wife US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was in Washington, D.C.

DePape is accused of breaking into the Pelosi home and attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer. He reportedly asked 'where's Nancy' and told investigators he wanted to break her kneecaps

Some social media users are criticizing The Times for not using their resources to do their own digging and address the glaring holes in the account of the attack

Social media users are demanding answers to questions like one tweet where the user asked: 'where is the body cam video? Where are the Pelosi security cam videos? Where is the recording of Pelosi's call to police? Why isn't the NYT reporting on this or at least asking questions?'

Another user tweeted: 'The ONLY 'misinformation' I have seen in regard to what happened to Paul Pelosi has come from media outlets like the New York Times. We all know the 'official story' is pure bullsh**...'

DePape, 42, is being held on charges of attempted murder, burglary, and elder abuse for breaking into the Pelosi home and attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer.

He had reportedly asked 'where's Nancy' and told investigators that he wanted to break her kneecaps.

As the story gained traction in the media the next day, with various versions circulating in the news and on social media, the New York Times claims some Republican officials joined in by suggesting that the attack was actually an 'inside job or a lover's quarrel.'

A US senator said that 'none of us will ever know' what really happened at the Pelosis' San Francisco home, The Times reported.

Their piece used an illustration to show the different theories each official and prominent figurehead said in the wake of the attack.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene suggested Pelosi knew his attacker. Representative Clay Higgins suggested the attack involved male prostitution. And Representative Royce White claimed the attack involved an extramarital gay affair.

Former President Donald Trump - along with several other elected officials and Prominent right-wing figures - questioned whether the attack might have been staged.

The New York Times piece used an illustration to show the different theories each official and prominent figure head said in the wake of the attack

Former President Donald Trump - along with several other elected officials and Prominent right-wing figures - questioned whether the attack might have been staged

Fox News host Tucker Carlson demanded on his show for the police to release the body cam footage:

'Just produce the police body cam,  why is that so hard?' Carlson demanded on his show on Wednesday night.

He addressed people criticizing the conspiracy theorizing: 'We're not the crazy people; you're the liars. There's nothing wrong with asking questions, period.'

On Friday, prosecutors in San Francisco refused to release police body cam and surveillance footage from the attack.

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins - a Democrat who defeated 'woke' DA Chesa Boudin in a recall earlier this year - refused to release details beyond what was already in court filings, including video of the attack.

'Mr. Pelosi opened the door, they were both holding a hammer and the police observed Mr. DePape pull that hammer away and then strike Mr. Pelosi,' Jenkins said Thursday. That is the most that we're going to say at this point. Our job is not to try this case in the public or in the press. It's to try it in a courtroom.'

The tight-lipped reporting of the incident comes as NBC News pulled a bombshell report that claimed Paul Pelosi didn't tell responding police officers he was in danger just before he was injured in a hammer attack at his San Francisco home last week.

DePape, 42, is being held on charges of attempted murder, burglary and elder abuse for breaking into the Pelosi home and attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer

DePape, 42, who is charged with breaking into U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco home and clubbing her husband in the head with a hammer, sits next to his public defender Adam Lipson and prosecutor Phoebe Maffei before Judge Diane Northway

More than a week has passed since the hammer attack, but many questions are still unanswered and DailyMail.com compiled five pertient questions related to the assault on Pelosi.

1. Was there a third person involved?

Law enforcement officials confirmed Paul Pelosi and the suspect, DePape, were the only two people at the Pelosi residence when police responded.

The confusion stemmed from media reports that followed a press conference on October 28 when San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) Chief Bill Scott said that when officers knocked on the front door of the Pelosi residence, 'the door was opened by someone inside' and officers spotted Pelosi and DePape 'inside the entryway of the home.'

There was also confusion about the wording in the court documents that referred to 'another man' when Pelosi was on phone with 911.

Social media users were quick to post that there was an unknown third person at the scene of the incident. But law enforcement officials told Reuters that Pelosi and DePape were the only two people at the Pelosi residence at the time.

Paul Pelosi, Jr. arrives at the home of his parents Nancy Pelosi and Paul Pelosi on Sunday, a week after his father Paul Pelosi was the victim of a recent hammer attack in San Francisco

2. How did DePape get inside?

The court filing said DePape smashed his shoulder through a glass window early Friday in the back of the Pelosis' Pacific Heights home and confronted a sleeping Paul, clad only in boxer shorts and a pajama top.

While at the scene, DePape looked at the glass door and told investigators that was where he broke into the house. Officers later recovered his bag outside the damaged glass doors. Inside, there was another hammer, a laptop, and more bags of zip ties.

However, some have raised questions about the glass outside the back door - which some say looks like it may have been smashed from the inside.

On a segment of BlazeTV podcast 'What We Know So Far,' Glenn Beck questioned the back door being broken:

'It appears to be busted from the inside,' he noted. 'I mean I watched enough Colombo excuse me sir one more thing when the glass be on the inside of the door and not the outside of the door but we don't know what kind of glass it was . . . we have no idea.'

Another question is how DePape gets inside the house with his wife being third in line for the presidency.

The San Francisco Police Department often posted a patrol car at the Pelosi house, particularly after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol, but there was no police car present at the home during the time of the attack.

Speaker Pelosi was in Washington at the time and under the protection of her security detail, which does not extend to family members. She quickly returned to San Francisco, where her husband was hospitalized and underwent surgery for a skull fracture and other injuries.

3. What exactly happened when police arrived at the scene?

San Francisco Police officers Kolby Wilmes and Kyle Cagney were dispatched to the residence of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Paul Pelosi around 2:27 a.m. on Friday, October 28, for an 'A-priority' well-being check.

When they rang the doorbell, DePape reportedly told Pelosi not to open the door, but Pelosi did anyway using his left hand.

Pelosi and DePape stood in the dimly lit foyer and faced the officers as Pelosi calmly greeted them, according to the police report

When one of the officers asked the men what was going on, DePape responded 'everything's good' and pulled his hands toward his body.

When an officer turned on his flashlight, DePape could be seen holding the bottom handle of the hammer with one hand and Pelosi's right arm with the other. Pelosi's right hand was also on the handle of the hammer.

When an officer ordered for the men to 'drop the hammer,' DePape raised the hammer and said, 'um, nope' as he tried to pull it away from Pelosi who exclaimed 'hey, hey!'

DePape then gained control of it and struck Pelosi's head, which knocked Pelosi unconscious. Officers immediately tackled DePape and arrested him.

4. How could he have attacked while the police were already there?

The two responding officers witnessed DePape hit Pelosi with the hammer at least once, striking him in the head, the court filing states. The assault was also captured on the officers' body cameras.

5. What exactly are DePape's politics?

While reports indicate that DePape was an unhinged, far-right conspiracy theorist, neighbors noted his politics were much more muddied.

They said he had Black Live Matter flags and an LGBT rainbow flag outside his home, but also said that any liberal leanings appeared to be shallow and performative.

His social media showed he posted conspiracy theories about the origins of the COVID epidemic, the validity of the 2020 election, and the January 6th insurrection on Capitol Hill.

Many of DePape's social media posts were filled with tirades against Jewish people, black people, Democrats, the media and transgender people, under categories such as 'Trannies,' 'Da Jewbs' and 'Great Reset.'

By late August, DePape seemed to become engrossed in Twitter's decision to ban Jordan Peterson for his posts about transgender people after the Canadian psychologist compared being transgender to 'satanic ritual abuse.'

More recently, amid backlash to rapper Kanye West's tweet declaring war on the Jewish people, DePape posted: 'We are ALL the Jews' slave race.

In just the past month alone, DePape had published hundreds of blog posts promoting far-right conspiracy theories before he allegedly broke into Pelosi's home, the Boston Globe reports.

DePape was also active on 4chan, positing memes and debating other anonymous users about his beliefs.
Pope Francis said on Sunday the fight for women's rights was a 'continuous struggle', and condemned male chauvinism as deadly for humanity and female genital mutilation as a crime that must be stopped.

Speaking to reporters on the plane returning from a four-day trip to predominantly Muslim Bahrain, he also praised women he has appointed to managerial jobs in the Vatican, saying they had improved things there.

He made no mention of campaigns to let women move on beyond that and become clergy - the pope and his predecessors have said the question of women priests is closed.

Francis was responding to a question about women protesting in Iran but turned to the topic of women's rights in general.

Pope Francis said on Sunday the fight for women's rights was a 'continuous struggle', and condemned male chauvinism as deadly for humanity and female genital mutilation as a crime that must be stopped

'We have to tell the truth. The struggle for women's rights is a continuing struggle,' he said, listing historic struggles such as the fight for the right to vote.

'We have to continue struggling for this because women are a gift. God did not create man and then give him a lapdog to play with. He created both equal, man and woman,' he said.

'A society that is not capable of (allowing women to have greater roles) does not move forward,' he added.

Francis denounced male chauvinism, acknowledging there was still too much of it around the world, including in his native Argentina. 'This chauvinism kills humanity,' he said.

He also condemned as a 'criminal act' female genital mutilation (FGM), repeating a major call he made in February on the U.N. International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation.

According to the United Nations, FGM is concentrated in about 30 countries in Africa and the Middle East but is also practiced by immigrant populations elsewhere. More than four million girls are at risk of undergoing FGM this year, the U.N. says.

He spoke of women he has appointed to managerial roles in the Vatican, mentioning by name Sister Raffaella Petrini, a nun who as the deputy governor of Vatican City is effectively the most powerful woman there.

'I have noticed that every time a woman is given a position (of responsibility) in the Vatican, things improve,' he said.

He also cited the impact of five women he appointed to a department that oversees Vatican finances.

'This is a revolution (in the Vatican) because women know how the find the right way to go forward,' he said.

Francis also has appointed women as deputy foreign minister, director of the Vatican Museums, deputy head of the Vatican Press Office, as well as four women as councillors to the Synod of Bishops, which prepares major meetings.

Francis denounced male chauvinism, acknowledging there was still too much of it around the world, including in his native Argentina. 'This chauvinism kills humanity,' he said

The Church teaches that only men can become priests because Jesus chose men as his apostles.

On top of these concerns, the Pope added that the Catholic church was working 'as best we can' to fight clerical child abuse but admitted there were shortfalls.

During a press conference on a plane while returning from Bahrain, where he had been promoting dialogue with Islam, the pontiff said child abuse inside the Church was a 'tragic thing.'

'We are working as best we can, but there are people within the Church who don't see it clearly', the 85-year-old Argentinian admitted on the return flight to Rome.

'It is an ongoing process that we are carrying out with courage,' he added.

The abuse scandal erupted in the second half of the 1980s, sparking an avalanche of allegations about paedophile priests around the world, from Australia to Chile, France and the United States.

Pope Francis has insisted the Church will adopt a 'zero tolerance' approach to abuse, but critics say many countries have yet to seriously confront the issue.

While before 'some things were hidden', the pope insisted Sunday that now 'everything is clear and we are moving forward.'

'The Church must be ashamed of the bad things, while thanking God for the good things.'
High school graduates should be forced to spend at least 12 months serving in the military in a bold new suggestion from former prime minister Tony Abbott.

Mr Abbott suggested the relationship Australians had with the government was increasingly becoming unbalanced and urged people to instead see it as a 'two-way street' where governments served the people and the public returned the favour.

He suggested 18-year-olds should give back to the country by taking part in one of several mandatory volunteer options, one of which was military service.

'It's about giving as well as receiving and I think we do have to talk more about what we can give back to our country,' he told the Institute of Public Affairs' Heartland podcast.

'Saying to people who turn 18 or who leave school, "We expect you to spend a significant period of time, six months, 12 months, whatever, doing something for our country, giving something back, whether it's putting on the uniform and becoming at least a basically trained infantry soldier."'

High school graduates should be forced to spend at least 12 months serving in the military, according to Tony Abbott (stock image)

The former Prime Minister claims Australia should operate as a 'two-way street' where governments served the people and the public returned the favour (stock image)

Mr Abbott offered other suggestions including volunteer work in aged care homes, Indigenous communities or with the Australian Peace Corps in the South Pacific.

'There are all sorts of things that I think we could very usefully talk about asking of our young people,' he said.

Australia currently recruits its defence force on a completely voluntary basis and has not conscripted soldiers since World War II.

The former prime minister also aired his concerns about a push by Anthony Albanese's government to introduce an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

Mr Abbott labelled it a 'seriously bad idea' saying it would give Indigenous Australians veto power over the government.

'It's about giving as well as receiving and I think we do have to talk more about what we can give back to our country,' Mr Abbott (pictured) told the Institute of Public Affairs' Heartland podcast

'I just think this is a giant step down the path towards New Zealand style co-governance and I cant think of anything that is more likely to divide our country and further gum up what is already, frankly, a pretty clogged up system of government,' he said.

The Labor government will spend $75million to prepare for a referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

Budget papers revealed the Australian Electoral Commission would get $52.6million over two years to prepare for the nationwide vote, while the National Indigenous Australians Agency will receive a $6.5million funding boost.

To mitigate against low voter turnout in remote communities, more than $16million has been set aside to help Indigenous people enrol and participate.
Your rideshare trip is about to get more expensive under a NSW plan to increase its passenger service levy to help taxi drivers bail out of the industry.

Taxi licence holders would be compensated as much as $150,000 for their number plates in Sydney - but it will come at a cost, with the levy paid by passengers of rideshare services, taxis and hire cars jumping from $1 to $1.20 for every trip.

The higher levy would remain in place until 2030 and is expected to net an extra $260million for the ailing taxi industry.

The increased service levy would help fund the NSW government's plan to to deregulate point-to-point transport services like taxis and Uber rides.

Drivers in other areas of the state will be offered between $40,000 and $195,000, depending on where they live.

All taxi and Uber customers will pay a $1.20 levy on every trip to fund compensation for NSW taxi licence plate holders

The huge compensation for taxi drivers will be paid for by customers through the service levy.

The government was previously offering compensation as low as $25,000 to regional drivers and up to $100,000 for those in the city.

NSW Transport Minister David Elliott told 2GB's Ben Fordham the compensation package was 'the most generous in Australia by a country mile'.

Mr Elliott said he'd been unable to find complaint about the levy.

'When you consider how Uber has dragged down the price of point-to-point (transport), I really don't think that's going to be seen as unfair or unreasonable,' he said.

The NSW government introduced a plan to compensate taxi drivers after transport apps, like Uber, began to crowd the industry

'(The levy) will make sure that taxpayers arent necessarily burdened with this package.'

Mr Elliott also asked the NSW Taxi Council to accept the renewed compensation package after the government faced severe backlash for its previous offer.

'I would appeal to the members of the Taxi Council to talk to their peak body and take the offer,' he said.

'We've only got two weeks of parliament left and if we don't get legislation this will not be endorsed, it will probably end up going to a committee and review.

'That means the taxi drivers won't get their money and there's no guarantee a review will come up with a better option.'

The NSW government introduced a plan to deregulate point-to-point after transport apps like Uber began to crowd the industry.

Taxi drivers in Sydney will be paid up to $150,000 for their licence plate, fully funded by an additional $1.20 charge to taxi and Uber customers until 2030

Deregulation means taxi services will no longer need to pay exorbitant fees to obtain a taxi licence plate, with some costing upwards of $200,000, and there will be no limit on how many taxis can operate in one area.

The scheme was first introduced in 2018 and saw a $1 levy charged to all NSW taxi service customers with the intent to fund the planned $250m.

As of June 2022, the $1 levy had raised more than $259m.

However, the larger compensation offered to taxi licence holders means the levy will be increased to $1.20 until 2030.
Roll out of the new blue check mark subscription system has been delayed until after the midterm election on Tuesday

Employees who kept their jobs were asked over the weekend to nominate names of people who should be asked back to the company

A new report reveals that some of those who were let go on Friday, were fired by mistake

But now dozens of employees are in the process of being asked back to the platform after being abruptly cut off from company access

About half of Twitter employees were laid off Friday in an effort to reduce overhead cost of the financially troubled company

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After laying off roughly 50% of Twitter's work force on Friday following Elon Musk's $44 billion acquisition, the bird company is now reportedly reaching out to dozens of employees to come back to work.

According to a report by Bloomberg, some of those being asked to return were laid off by mistake.

Some were shown the door before new management came to understand that their work might be necessary to build the new features for the short form online platform that Musk wants.

After half the company was fired on Friday, a select number of ex-Twitter employees are being asked back to their positions - some were reportedly fired by mistake

Musk previously said there was no other choice but to impose mass layoffs as the company loses hundreds of millions of dollars every year and needs a financial overhaul

In a move that was widely expected for weeks, Twitter eliminated close to 3,700 jobs via email on Friday. Many employees learned their positions had been terminated after their access to company systems, like Slack and email, were abruptly cut off.

On Friday evening, Musk tweeted: 'unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day.'

'Everyone exited was offered 3 months severance, which is 50% more than legally required,' he wrote.

Musk has previously alluded to a determination to fix the company's financial health that would all-but-certainly involve massive layoffs.

The company still has about 3,700 employees. Those remaining are being pushed by Musk to work quickly to develop and implement new features.

There have been reports of employees sleeping at the office - something Musk himself is known to do - in order to meet freshly imposed deadlines.

The firing and rehiring frenzy is taking place amid a number of new features that the bird app plans to roll out in short order - including the blue check mark subscription program

Change is arriving fast and furiously as the world's richest man assumed his position as CEO of Twitter. His deal to purchase the company for a whopping $44 billion closed at the end of October.

Over the weekend, Twitter rolled out the new Twitter Blue subscription plan, which offers the verification check mark for any user willing to fork over $8 a month.

The company - largely via Musk's personal account - said it will soon be launching additional new features, including reduced ads, the ability to post longer videos and a feature that allows users to receive priority ranking in replies, mentions and searches.

On Sunday, the New York Times reported that the company will delay changes to its blue check program until after Tuesday's midterm elections.

Employees reportedly raised the point that any abrupt change could be used to create chaos on the site in the days before the election.

According to Silicon Valley reporter Casey Newton, employees who remained in the Twitter Slack channel after Friday were asked over the weekend to nominate 'names and rationales' of ex-employees who might still be of potential use to the company.

Twitter has not yet commented on its decision to bring back some of the people who were let go Friday.

Musk is fast implementing major change at Twitter - though the speed of that change may be hindered by his decision to can half the company's work force

In recent days, Musk's own tweets have been half the story coming out of Twitter HQ, the billionaire publicly ponders ways in which the change the product, and mocks some of his high-profile critics.

Following criticism from notable progressives including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and actor Mark Ruffalo, Musk tweeted a 'hot take.'

'Not everything AOC says is 100% accurate,' he wrote - in response to a sentiment from Ruffalo.

One day earlier, Ruffalo had tweeted: 'Elon. Please - for the love of decency - get off Twitter, hand the keys over to someone who does this an actual job, and get on with running Tesla and SpaceX.'

'You are destroying your credibility. It's just not a good look,' he added.

On Saturday, Twitter CEO Elon Musk responded to Mark Ruffalo on Twitter, telling the actor to not believe 'everything AOC' says

Also over the weekend, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey logged on to issue an apology to current and former Twitter employees.

As he addressed Musk's takeover, which he previously indicated he supports, he apologized for growing the company 'too quickly' and said that Twitter employees will 'always find a way no matter how difficult the moment.'

The co-founder rolled over his 18 million shares into the Elon Musk era of the company rather than taking a payout. His shares equal approximately a 2.4 percent stake in the company.

This means he will be one of Twitter's biggest investors in the company, and contributed roughly $1 billion to Musk's $44 billion purchase.

In the course of his takeover, Musk almost immediately dissolved Twitter's board of directors upon purchasing the company, leaving Dorsey as one of few stakeholders with ties to previous leadership.

He joins Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and Qatars Investment Authority as major investors.

Dorsey has faced backlash for his decision to leave Twitter in 2021 to work on his payments company Block, formerly known as Square. He first co-founded the company in 2006, was ousted from the top job in 2008, and returned in 2015. The app went public in 2015.

He addressed the ill-wishes in a subsequent tweet: 'I am grateful for, and love, everyone who has ever worked on Twitter. I don't expect that to be mutual in this moment...or everand I understand.'

In court filings, Dorsey was revealed to have contacted Musk and discussed the direction of the company.

'A new platform is needed. It can't be a company. This is why I left,' he texted Musk.

When Musk asked him what the new model should look like, Dorsey responded that Twitter 'should never have been the company' and that was the 'original sin.'

'I think it's worth both trying to move Twitter in a better direction and doing something new thats decentralized,' he said.

'Elon is the singular solution I trust,' said Dorsey in an April 2022 tweet. 'I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness.'
Donald Trump Jr. mocked Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman as 'brain dead' on Sunday when he took the stage in Miami at his father's Make America Great Again rally.

It's the third rally the former president is hosting in three days and his second-to-last before the contentious midterm elections on Tuesday, November 8.

During his warm-up remarks, Donald Jr. attacked Democrats for rising crime rates throughout the country, including Fetterman for his tenure as mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania.

Like many Republicans, he also suggested Fetterman was not up to the job of senator because of the auditory processing and speech issues he was left with after suffering a stroke in May.

'The Democrats want to release violent offenders,' Donald Jr. said, including 'John Fetterman, the brain dead potential senator from Pennsylvania.'

The crowd standing outdoors at the Miami-Dade County Fair & Exposition Center booed the populist progressive's name.

Junior later returned to his comments about Fetterman, 'We need to overwhelm the nonsense to speak about what we're up against. I mean, I used the Fetterman example earlier.'

He referenced similar comments he made in late October.

'I believe that if you're going to be in the United States senator, you should have basic cognitive function,' Donald Jr. said.

Donald Trump Jr. took the stage at the Miami-Dade County Fair & Exposition Center before his father's headliner speech

He said the media called him an 'ableist' for making fun of Fetterman, which he defined as 'racist against those with disabilities'

'The media, they go after me, they say he's an ableist, meaning he's racist against those with disabilities.'

He continued, 'It's not like he's in a wheelchair, and he can think, but he's incapable of forming a sentence.'

It comes after Fetterman accidentally said he was against abortion at a Saturday rally in Philadelphia.

'I run on Roe v. Wade. I celebrate the demise of Roe v. Wade,' the Pennsylvania lieutenant governor said.

Donald Jr. referenced the incident at his rally, opining, 'They'll put him in there to vote however Chuck Schumer tells him to. You don't have to think, you just have to be able to, like, show up and, like, raise your hand.'

'And his comments on Roe v Wade yesterday doesn't seem like he even can do that right,' he said.

'We're up against a Democratic Party today that doesn't believe that a United States senator should not have mush for brains.'

Fetterman, who is going head-to-head with celebrity doctor Dr. Mehmet Oz, may well have been trying to say his opponent 'celebrates the demise of Roe v. Wade.'

Fetterman and his Republican rival have been neck-and-neck in the bitterly fought race, but his performance when it comes to public speaking has drawn concerns after a number of garbled answers, much of which has been blamed on his recovery from his stroke.

John Fetterman appeared to misspeak saying he 'celebrated the demise of Roe V Wade' during a speech to voters on Saturday night

Fetterman appeared alongside Barack Obama, Pennsylvania Governor candidate Josh Shapiro and President Biden

'I run on Roe v. Wade. I celebrate the demise of Roe v. Wade.' he could be heard stating on camera, while holding a microphone in his hand

Fetterman at the campaign rally held at Temple University Liacouras Center in Philadelphia

Last week Oz for the first time surpassed John Fetterman in polling just days before the midterms and a week after their debate where the lingering effects of his Democratic rival's stroke were on full display.

The two point gap  48 percent to 46 percent  continues a steady improvement for Oz, whose support from likely Pennsylvanian voters has increased by 5 percentage points since September, according to polling from The Hill/Emerson College.

Real Clear Politics' average of polls has Oz with just a 0.1 per cent lead, and is projected to win - even if it is by then narrowest of margins.

It also mirrors a national trend as Republicans surge in polls, with some tying or overtaking their Democratic challengers in the days ahead of the election after months of trailing.

Meanwhile, Fetterman's support only ticked up by 1 percent from the September poll from the one taken October 28-31. The split between the two candidates is within the poll's plus or minus 3 percentage point margin of error.

Consistently, this particular polling has shown Fetterman, 53, ahead of Oz, 62.

A televised debate performance last month shocked some viewers and only sowed further concerns of his ability to hold political office.

'Hi, goodnight everyone,' Fetterman said, before addressing his health. 'Let's also talk about the elephant in the room: I had a stroke. [Oz] never let me forget that.'

At one point Fetterman was asked to clarify his position on fracking, as moderators pointed to a 2018 interview where the lieutenant governor expressed broad opposition to the practice, but not a ban.

'I do support fracking - I don't, I don't - I support fracking, and I do support fracking,' he answered to the sheer confusion of voters.

Over the course of the debate, Fetterman twice demurred to release his full medical record to the public.

'My doctor ultimately believes that I'm fit to be serving and that's what I believe,' Fetterman said.

A new poll from The Hill/Emerson College shows Dr. Mehmet Oz pulled ahead of Democrat rival John Fetterman for the first time  with just five days until the 2022 midterms

Republican hopeful Dr. Mehmet Oz participated in the Pennsylvania Senate debate last month

Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (left) debated Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz (right) last month

It had previously been revealed how Fetterman used massive screens on the ground to help him deliver his message

Former President Barack Obama (left) and President Joe Biden (right) strolled onstage together in Philadelphia at a rally for Democrats John Fetterman and Josh Shapiro.

At Saturday Philadelphia rally, (from left): Gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro, former President Barack Obama, President Joe Biden and Senate hopeful Lt. Gov. John Fetterman

In advance of the debate, Fetterman's campaign had tempered expectations, saying there would be 'awkward pauses' and 'delays and errors,' because the Democrat would be reading closed captioning due to his auditory processing issue.

When asked about small business owners who are concerned about raising the minimum wage, he said: 'We all have to make sure that everyone that works is able to- that's the most American bargain, that if you work full time you should be able to live in dignity is well true.

'We can't have businesses being subsidized by not paying individuals that just simply can't evade to pay their own way,' he said.

A day later, Fetterman delivered a smooth 13-minute stump speech in Pittsburgh as his campaign tried to downplay Tuesday's performance, saying Fetterman has always been lousy at debates and that the closed-captioning system he used as an aid was faulty.
Investigators trying to determine whether they were in an unauthorised zone

Statement on the rally's website said two others have been taken to hospital

Two teenagers, aged 16 and 18, were hit by cars taking part in a rally in Belgium

Two teenagers have been killed after a car competing in a rally in Belgium veered off the road amid slippery conditions and crashed into them.

A 16-year-old girl and 18-year-old man died after being hit by the vehicle taking part in the Condroz-Huy Rally near the town of Wanze, to the south-east of Brussels, at around 3.30pm.

A statement on the rally's website said a competitor and one other person were taken to hospital, but were not in a critical condition.

A spokesman for the local prosecutor's office said a 'number' of people had been injured, without specifying how many.

A 16-year-old girl and 18-year-old man died after being hit by the vehicle taking part in the Condroz-Huy Rally near the town of Wanze, to the south-east of Brussels, at around 3.30pm

A statement on the rally's website said a competitor and one other person were taken to hospital, but were not in a critical condition

'An expert said the road was slippery at the time' from rain, Renaud Xhonneux said.

An alcohol test on the driver and co-driver came back negative, and investigators were trying to determine whether the two teenagers were in a zone authorised for public access.

The rally statement said organisers and participants were 'in mourning' and extended their condolences to the teenagers' relatives.

The rally organisers added that the last leg of the race was cancelled and no end-of-race trophy ceremony was held.
A woman protesting at a Manhattan rally for Governor Kathy Hochul was choked by another person in attendance Saturday evening, footage shows.

The video, posted by Viral News New York, shows the moments when a supporter of Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin was attacked by at least two people while protesting the Governor's campaign appearance.

Hochul was holding an event alongside Bravo's Andy Cohen near the Stonewall Inn.

In the video, a man in shorts and a plaid shirt can be seen choking the woman, now identified as Angelica Torres, who was wearing a black sweatshirt.

The man in the plaid shirt and the woman to the left of him were both accused of physically harming the woman in the black sweatshirt as she protested Gov. Hochul's rally in NYC

Tensions remain high in the final days of the campaign for New York's governorship between Republican Lee Zeldin and Democrat Kathy Hochul

Also involved in the physical altercation was Councilwoman Crystal Hudson, a Democrat. Hudson represents Prospect Heights in Brooklyn.

An individual with Viral News New York spoke with Torres who was choked. After the incident, she claimed she 'never wanted to get physical.'

'I was here holding my sign, and -- peaceful protest, against you know, Gov. Hochul, and a woman  a very large heavyset woman, I'm assuming, you know, might have been a man  came and took my sign,' the woman told the outlet.

It's unclear what led to the altercation as the beginning of the fight was not caught on video.

'As I was trying to retrieve my sign, there was another man that came and choked me, and there were two other people that were coming and preventing me from trying to get my sign,' she said.

Torres, seen wearing a 'vote them out' sign with pictures of Hochul and other Democrats running in the November election, said she had no intention of doing anything but peacefully protesting.

'[I] never wanted to get physical with anyone, I was just there peacefully just holding my sign, and you know, they didn't want to hear what I had to say,' she said.

Torres also spoke with FOX News Sunday, saying she was upset she was attacked for having a difference of opinion.

'I was very shocked and upset that I couldn't express my opinions openly without violence. Crime and violence is a big issue in our city,' she said.

Torres also said that she sought medical treatment and reported the incident to the police.

Photos taken after the incident showed the man appearing to speak with police officers. It is unknown if he has been arrested and charged, however.

#Breakingnews

A fight breaks out during the @GovKathyHochul rally in NYC between Hochul supporters and Zeldin supporters

For licensing email viralnewsnyc@gmail.com #NEWS pic.twitter.com/TPzI4nDi43  Viral News NY (@ViralNewsNYC) November 5, 2022

The woman told Viral News New York she just wanted to peacefully protest outside Hochul's rally near the Stonewall Inn Saturday night

Photos taken after the incident showed the unidentified man speaking with NYPD officers after the assault occurred

The initial video that shows the woman being choked is just 24 seconds long but has nearly 300,000 views on Twitter.

Those on the social media appp who saw the video were quick to react to the incident, calling out Hochul and her supporters for the violence.

'Yet Hochul says there's no rise in crime,' said one Twitter user.

'This was awful,' wrote one person.

'Third world politics in action,' responded another.

The Saturday incident came just hours after Zeldin was confronted at his own rally by Hochul supporters who accused him of using rape to 'promote his campaign.'

The group was referencing Zeldin's choice to hold a speech at the scene of an horrific sex attack in the West Village.

Screaming protesters waved boards daubed with messages which branded Zeldin 'as dangerous as Trump' as they disrupted the campaign event on Friday.

Zeldin delivered a speech at the riverside location where a woman was choked, raped and robbed a day earlier.

Outrage over the attack grew after it emerged the suspect, homeless man Carl Phanor, has 25 prior arrests and was also wanted for at least two other sex crimes in the city.

Protesters screamed over Zeldin's campaign speech at the scene of a rape in the West Village

Phanor's criminal past prompted furious questions about why he was free to prowl the streets and allegedly launch the attack.

Zeldin hit back at the protesters on Twitter: 'There is no crime emergency' Kathy Hochul's people scream out at the site of yet another rape yesterday in the Big Apple.

'These protestors & their far-left, pro-criminal agenda have somehow managed to dangerously set the agenda in the NYC Council & Albany.'

The attack on the jogger is part of an alarming rise in crime that continues to plague New York City, where violent incidents are up nearly 30 percent compared to last year.

Zeldin said rising crime under Hochul's watch meant New Yorkers were 'forced to live in fear'

Crime continues to run rampant in the Big Apple, with violent offenses up nearly 30 percent

So far this year, police have reported 1,384 cases of rape in the city, up nearly 11 percent from the same time last year.

Felony assaults are also up by nearly 14 percent, with 21,767 cases reported so far this year, and robberies are up more than 32 percent compared to last year.

There have been 102,914 serious offenses reported since the beginning of the year, compared with 78,892 in the same period of 2021, the latest NYPD data reveals.

Speaking after, Zeldin said he chose to hold the event at the scene of Thursday's attack because of the 'impact in shocking the local community'.

Zeldin's rival, current governor Kathy Hochul, has been criticized for her silence about the rape

The most recent outbursts at the rallies comes at a critical point in the campaign for the governorship.

With just days to go, polling from the Trafalgar Group showed Hochul and Zeldin in a nearly neck and neck race.

The poll showed each both candidates with 48 percent of the vote. Hochul's average lead is still about 4 per cent in other polling, however.

A recent poll put New York Governor Hochul and Zeldin neck and neck in the governor race

Since winning his party's nomination back in March, Zeldin has made his 'tough on crime' stances well known.

'It's about restoring order, it's about backing the blue,' Zeldin told convention attendees.

'This is a rescue mission to save our state that will be successful.'

Zeldin called for a law enforcement bill of rights that would ensure police officers have the right to self-defense.

He has also vowed to repeal criminal justice reforms passed by the Democratic-led Legislature in recent years, including a 2019 law that barred money bail and pretrial detention for most misdemeanor and nonviolent felony charges.
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Around 4.5 million people are without electricity, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address to the nation on Sunday.

He called on Ukrainians to endure the hardships and said: 'We must get through this winter and be even stronger in the spring than now.'

Russia has focused on striking Ukraine's energy infrastructure over the last month, causing power cuts and rolling outages across the country.

Kyiv was having hourly rotating blackouts in parts of the city and the surrounding region on Sunday.

Rolling blackouts were also planned in the Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Kharkiv and Poltava regions, Ukraine's state-owned energy operator Ukrenergo said.

Kyiv plans to deploy about 1,000 heating points but it is unclear if that would be enough for a city of three million people.

The mayor of Kyiv is warning residents to prepare for the worst this winter if Russia keeps striking the country's energy infrastructure.

It means having no electricity, water or heat in the freezing cold cannot be ruled out in the Ukrainian capital.

People walk in a park during a blackout in Kyiv. The Ukrainian capital was having hourly rotating blackouts in parts of the city and the surrounding region on Sunday evening

People walk on a dark street, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues. The Kremlin has focused on striking Ukraine's energy infrastructure over the last month, causing power cuts and rolling outages across the country

People wait at a tram stop during a blackout in Kyiv on Sunday. Rolling blackouts were also planned in the Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Kharkiv and Poltava regions, Ukraine's state-owned energy operator Ukrenergo said

A tower of the National Bank of Ukraine is seen during a blackout in Kyiv. Around 4.5 million people are without electricity, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address

'We are doing everything to avoid this,' mayor Vitali Klitschko said. 'But let's be frank, our enemies are doing everything for the city to be without heat, without electricity, without water supply, in general, so we all die.

'And the future of the country and the future of each of us depends on how prepared we are for different situations.'

As Russia intensifies its attacks on the capital, Ukrainian forces are pushing forward in the south. Residents of Ukraine's Russian-occupied city of Kherson received warning messages on their phones urging them to evacuate as soon as possible, Ukraine's military said on Sunday.

Russian soldiers warned civilians Ukraine's army was preparing for a massive attack and told people to leave for the city's right bank immediately. Russian forces are preparing for a Ukrainian counteroffensive to seize back the southern city of Kherson, which was captured during the early days of the invasion.

In September, Russia illegally annexed Kherson as well as three other regions and subsequently declared martial law in the four provinces.

The Kremlin-installed administration in Kherson has already moved tens of thousands of civilians out of the city. Russia has been 'occupying and evacuating' Kherson simultaneously, trying to convince Ukrainians they are leaving when in fact they're digging in, Nataliya Humenyuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraine's Southern Forces, told state television.

'There are defence units that have dug in there quite powerfully, a certain amount of equipment has been left, firing positions have been set up,' she said.

Russian forces are also digging in in a fiercely contested region in the east, worsening the already tough conditions for residents and the defending Ukrainian army following Moscow's illegal annexation and declaration of martial law in Donetsk province.

The attacks have almost completely destroyed the power stations that serve the city of Bakhmut and the nearby town of Soledar, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the region's Ukrainian governor, said. Shelling killed one civilian and wounded three, he reported late on Saturday.

An Ukrainian Orthodox faithful lights a candle during the Sunday mass at St. Volodymyr's Cathedral, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continue

Worshippers pray and light candles in St. Volodymyr's Cathedral, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate

Ukrainian Orthodox faithful attend the Sunday mass at St. Volodymyr's Cathedral. The city has been under attack for months, but the bombardment picked up after Russian forces experienced setbacks during Ukrainian counteroffensives in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions

'The destruction is daily, if not hourly,' Mr Kyrylenko told state television. Moscow-backed separatists had controlled part of Donetsk for nearly eight years before Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.

Protecting the separatists' self-proclaimed republic there was one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's justifications for the invasion, and his troops have spent months trying to capture the entire province.

Between Saturday and Sunday, Russia's launched four missiles and 19 airstrikes, hitting more than 35 villages in nine regions, from Chernihiv and Kharkiv in the north east to Kherson and Mykolaiv in the south, according to Mr Zelensky's office.

The strikes killed two people and wounded six. In the Donetsk city of Bakhmut, 15,000 remaining residents were living under daily shelling and without water or power, according to local media.

The city has been under attack for months, but the bombardment picked up after Russian forces experienced setbacks during Ukrainian counteroffensives in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions.

The front line is now on Bakhmut's outskirts, where mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a shadowy Russian military company, are reported to be leading the charge.

A ferris wheel is reflected in a puddle during a blackout in Kyiv on November 6. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said: 'Our enemies are doing everything for the city to be without heat, without electricity, without water supply, in general, so we all die'

eople play a piano in a street during a blackout in Kyiv on Sunday. The Mayor of Kyiv warned residents to prepare for the worst this winter if Russia keeps striking energy infrastructure

A tram travels in a street during a blackout in Kyiv. Between Saturday and Sunday, Russia's launched four missiles and 19 airstrikes, hitting more than 35 villages in nine regions, from Chernihiv and Kharkiv in the north east to Kherson and Mykolaiv in the south

Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the group, who has typically remained under the radar, is taking a more visible role in the war.

In a statement on Sunday, he announced the funding and creation of 'militia training centres' in Russia's Belgorod and Kursk regions in the south west, saying that locals were best placed to "fight against sabotage" on Russian soil.

The training centres are in addition to a military technology centre the group said it was opening in St Petersburg. In Kharkiv, officials were working to identify bodies found in mass graves after the Russians withdrew, Dmytro Chubenko, a spokesman for the regional prosecutor's office, told local media.

DNA samples have been collected from 450 bodies discovered in a mass grave in the city of Izium, but the samples need to be matched with relatives and so far only 80 people have participated, he said.

In one sliver of good news, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station was reconnected to Ukraine's power grid, local media reported on Sunday. Europe's largest nuclear plant needs electricity to maintain vital cooling systems, but it had been running on emergency diesel generators since Russian shelling severed its outside connections.
Donald Trump was talked out of announcing his 2024 presidential bid during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania for Senate candidate Dr. Oz, a report suggests.

NBC News claims the former president was told to stand down by advisors on announcing his White House intentions during the rally where he attacked Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, by calling him 'DeSanctimonious' and bragged that he is beating him in the polls.

His inner circle said it could distract from the Republican bid to take the House and Senate in Tuesday's midterms.

But a source told the outlet that he is 'itching' to reveal his bid for a second term in office. DailyMail.com has reached out to a Trump spokesman for comment.

Conservatives including Mike Pompeo have criticized Trump for his tirade at DeSantis with just two days before millions of Americans head to the polls.

'Not tired of winning. [Governor Ron DeSantis] you've proven conservative policies work. Florida is better for it. Vote for [DeSantis],' Pompeo tweeted.

Donald Trump was talked out of announcing his 2024 presidential bid during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania for Senate candidate Dr. Oz, a report suggests

Donald Trump steps off of 'Trump Force One' to address supporters in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, for a campaign rally ahead of the midterms

Rod Dreher, a senior editor at The American Conservative called Trump an 'idiot' for the attack.

'DeSantis is a far more effective leader of the Right than Trump was, if, that is, you expect a leader to get a lot done, rather than just talking about it and owning the libs.'

Guy Benson, an editor at Town Hall added: 'When Desantis wins huge on Tuesday, it will be despite Trump  not because of him, as Trump will try to claim. Despite his instinctive, childish pettiness, hes doing Ron quite a favor.'

Axios reported last week that Trump is planning on announcing his campaign on November 14.

Doing so too early means donations and campaign finances are restricted by election laws.

Trump did the crowd on Saturday night: I don't want to do that right now because I'd like to do it  I want to have the focus tonight be on Dr. Oz, and Doug Mastriano. Because we have to win, alright?'

Republicans are expected to make gains on Tuesday night, but the margin could determine Trump's decision.

Popular Republican governor DeSantis has resisted taking public shots at Trump, perhaps aware of how intertwined their bases are, but has not ruled out the possibility of challenging him in 2024.

His reluctance to do so has rankled Trump, who has widely taken credit for DeSantis' rise to political stardom from being just another House Republican to winning a close race for the Tallahassee governor's mansion in 2018.

But more recently, DeSantis made a national name for himself with his vocal criticism of the Biden administration's COVID-19 precautions and other attacks, as well as legislation targeting LGBTQ youth.

While Trump appears in Miami, DeSantis will speak at three rallies closer to Tampa on Sunday

Trump stands behind Senate candidate Dr. Oz, who is in a tight race for the Senate in Pennsylvania with Democrat John Fetterman

The vast majority of early 2024 GOP voter polls have put DeSantis right behind Trump in terms of who Republicans want as their next presidential nominee.

Trump has not yet formally declared his intent to run but he's dropped several hints making it clear where he leans.

'Were winning big, big, big in the Republican Party for the nomination like nobodys ever seen before,' the former president said on Saturday night.

He asked for poll numbers to be put up on the screen above him.

'There it is, Trump at 71, Ron DeSanctimonious at 10 percent,' Trump said derisively.

'Mike Pence at 7, oh, Mike is doing better than I thought. Liz Cheney theres no way shes at 4 percent. Theres no way. Theres no way. But were at 71 to 10 to 7 to 4.'

Surprisingly, among the first high profile Republicans to rush to DeSantis' defense was Mike Pompeo - Trump's former secretary of state and a potential 2024 contender himself.

'Not tired of winning. [Governor Ron DeSantis] youve proven conservative policies work. Florida is better for it. Vote for [DeSantis].'

Trump's inner circle has been eyeing November 14 as the expected date for him to announce a third bid for the White House, Axios reported last week.

DeSantis, meanwhile, is making the closing arguments for his own re-election bid.

He's running for a second gubernatorial term against Charlie Crist, a House Democrat who previously governed Florida from Tallahassee as a Republican.

Despite staying mum on his presidential ambitions, DeSantis has amassed a massive $200 million war chest for his 2022 re-election bid - an eye-popping sum for a gubernatorial candidate.

His Sunday rallies are part of his 'Don't Tread on Florida' tour.

It's seeing him go to Lee, Hillsborough and Sarasota counties to gin up voter support today.
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Donald Trump told supporters at his Miami, Florida rally on Sunday to re-elect Ron DeSantis as their governor - one day after bashing the popular GOP leader as 'Ron De-Sanctimonious.'

He said Floridians 'are going to re-elect a great friend of mine, Marco Rubio' in two days when Americans head to the polls on November 8. Rubio is facing a challenge to his Senate seat from House Democratic Rep. Val Demings.

'You're going to elect DeSantis as your governor,' he added to cheers from the crowd. It was the first and only time Trump mentioned the governor during his lengthy speech.

On the other side of the aisle, Trump also seemed to reference House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the recent break-in of her house, that resulted in her 82-year-old husband being brutally attacked with a hammer by an intruder who allegedly espoused QAnon beliefs.

'Crazy Nancy Pelosi, how's she doing lately?' the ex-president asked sarcastically. He also called on voters to 'fire' her from the House Speakership, a line echoed by most of Sunday's rally speakers.

He took the stage 40 minutes early, much to the apparent surprise of rally-goers and the crowd.

Trump told rally-goers at the Miami-Dade County Fair & Exposition Center in reference to Democrats in general, 'You have to crush the communists,' noting that he's ratcheted up his rhetoric from calling the left 'socialists.'

'The communist and Marxist direction of the radical Democrat Party is one of the biggest reasons that...Americans are joining our movement,' Trump said.

It comes as Republicans have experienced a last-minute surge in momentum heading into the Tuesday elections, with RealClearPolitics projecting a decisive GOP victory in the House of Representatives and possibly a win in the Senate.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in support of the campaign of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., at the Miami-Dade County Fair and Exposition on Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022, in Miami

Supporters packed in at the outdoor Miami-Dade County Fair & Exposition Center despite the rainy weather

Trump took the stage 40 minutes early, much to the apparent surprise of rally goers and members of the media

Trump even continued speaking when the sky opened up into a fierce downpour

He capped off his speech by blowing a kiss up to the rainy sky

Trump at one point also rolled out a gaffe reel of President Joe Biden that he's featured at many recent rallies

If they clinch majorities in both houses of Congress, Trump said on Sunday, the GOP 'must immediately force the restoration of our southern border.'

He went a step further, calling on the number of Customs and Border Patrol agents and ICE officers to be 'doubled.'

Border security has been among Republicans' core attack points for Democrats, amid a record surge in migrant encounters at the US border with Mexico.

He also teased his own future 2024 plans while touting the number of voters he received in 2020.

'I did much better the second time,' Trump said, referencing the number of votes he got when he lost to President Joe Biden. 'And now, in order to make our country successful and glorious, I will probably have to do it again.'

Rain began to pour at the end of his over-90-minute speech, but Trump, undeterred, continued.

He said it was probably the best rally he'd ever held, blowing a kiss up at the sky to cap off the night.

The Sunday rally was Trump's third in three days, part of a four-state swing leading up to Election Day.

Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis hit three separate counties for his own speaking events - but will be giving Trump a wide berth in Miami-Dade.

He was excluded from the litany of GOP figures who spoke before Trump, like Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, and House Reps. Matt Gaetz, Vern Buchanan and Michael Waltz among others.

DeSantis' absence is not a surprise given the increasingly hostile relations between the GOP rising star and its de facto party leader.

At his second of four rallies on Saturday night, Trump mocked DeSantis as 'Ron De-Sanctimonious' in Pennsylvania while dismissing a list of potential 2024 Republican challengers.

The popular Republican governor has resisted taking public shots at Trump, perhaps aware of how intertwined their bases are, but has not ruled out the possibility of challenging him in 2024.

Donald Trump mocked Ron DeSantis as 'Ron DeSanctimonious' at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday night

While Trump appears in Miami, DeSantis will speak at three rallies closer to Tampa on Sunday

His reluctance to do so has rankled Trump, who has widely taken credit for DeSantis' rise to political stardom from being just another House Republican to winning a close race for the Tallahassee governor's mansion in 2018.

But more recently, DeSantis made a national name for himself with his vocal criticism of the Biden administration's COVID-19 precautions and other attacks, as well as legislation targeting LGBTQ youth.

The vast majority of early 2024 GOP voter polls have put DeSantis right behind Trump in terms of who Republicans want as their next presidential nominee.

Trump has not yet formally declared his intent to run but he's dropped several hints making it clear where he leans.

'Were winning big, big, big in the Republican Party for the nomination like nobodys ever seen before,' the former president said on Saturday night.

He asked for poll numbers to be put up on the screen above him.

'There it is, Trump at 71, Ron DeSanctimonious at 10 percent,' Trump said derisively.

'Mike Pence at 7, oh, Mike is doing better than I thought. Liz Cheney theres no way shes at 4 percent. Theres no way. Theres no way. But were at 71 to 10 to 7 to 4.'

Surprisingly, among the first high profile Republicans to rush to DeSantis' defense was Mike Pompeo - Trump's former secretary of state and a potential 2024 contender himself.

'Not tired of winning. [Governor Ron DeSantis] youve proven conservative policies work. Florida is better for it. Vote for [DeSantis].'

Trump's inner circle has been eyeing November 14 as the expected date for him to announce a third bid for the White House, Axios reported last week.

DeSantis, meanwhile, made the closing arguments for his own re-election bid on Sunday.

He's running for a second gubernatorial term against Charlie Crist, a House Democrat who previously governed Florida from Tallahassee as a Republican.

Despite staying mum on his presidential ambitions, DeSantis has amassed a massive $200 million war chest for his 2022 re-election bid - an eye-popping sum for a gubernatorial candidate.

His Sunday rallies are part of his 'Don't Tread on Florida' tour. The stops included Lee, Hillsborough and Sarasota counties.
For more than a century, men and women in the British Army's most secretive section, the Intelligence Corps, have pulled off exceptional feats across the world.

But the clandestine nature of their operations means they often don't get the recognition they deserve. Now, our serialisation of a new book, which started in The Mail on Sunday yesterday, brings their heroism out of the shadows . . .

Since World War II, the Intelligence Corps has deployed on every major campaign and conflict in which British troops have been involved and has developed according to the particular demands placed upon it in each context.

In the Falklands War in 1982, one of the crucial duties of the 30 members of the Intelligence Corps, sent to the South Atlantic with the British task force to wrest back the islands from Argentine forces who had seized them, was interrogation of prisoners.

After an advance raiding party from the Special Boat Service had captured a prisoner, Intelligence Corps officer Nick van der Bijl was helicoptered on to the island with an interpreter. What the paratroopers launching the mission to recapture the islands desperately needed to know was the strength and disposition of the Argentine forces dug in around the strategically important settlement of Goose Green.

Van der Bijl was a veteran of interrogations and had a well-honed technique. 'It's all about psychology. Provided you hit the right buttons, you're halfway there. With decency and kindness, you usually win results, because there is a perception of British fair play, especially from those used to regimes which are prepared to shoot and execute their own people.'

LORD ASHCROFT: For more than a century, men and women in the British Army's most secretive section, the Intelligence Corps, have pulled off exceptional feats across the world. Between 2006 and 2014, four junior NCOs of the Intelligence Corps were killed while serving in Afghanistan, among them Corporal Sarah Bryant (pictured)

He followed the example of Intelligence Corps interrogator, Colonel Alexander Scotland, who, in World War II, questioned hundreds of German prisoners of war at the so-called London Cage (a clandestine centre in Kensington) and was adamant he did not believe in the use of violence to squeeze information from the enemy.

But van der Bijl knew it was also important to exploit the shock of capture if he was to get someone to talk.

The prisoner was being held in a dimly-lit stable and stood up when Van der Bijl walked in. 'He looked at me blankly and was clearly anxious.'

Aged 28, the prisoner was stocky with jet-black hair topped by a khaki woollen hat, wearing a grey-green Argentine army jacket and trousers and calf-high boots.

Under his jacket was a British heavy-duty sweater with Royal Marines shoulder tags and a colour sergeant's rank insignia. In his kitbag was a sleeveless jerkin from Millets, the British outdoor equipment shop. These can only have been purloined from one of the small British garrisons on the Falklands that had been overwhelmed when the Argentines invaded.

He gave his name  Sergeant Rene Martin Colque  and identified his unit, the 25th Infantry Regiment. He said he came from central Argentina, from which van der Bijl concluded he was probably no more used to the extreme cold and damp weather of the Falklands than he was.

'He was therefore subject to a period of discomfort, unpleasantness and pressure, made worse by the approach of night and a cold and dripping wind.' But stubbornly, other than name and regiment, the Argentine maintained his silence about military matters  until van der Bijl produced two photos he had found in the prisoner's pocket. They were of his family.

Colque broke down and reached out for them. Van der Bijl seized the opportunity and told him: 'You can't have them back until you tell me what I want to know about Goose Green.'

At this, the floodgates opened. Colque spilled out details of minefields and trenches, withdrawal routes, the sites where reserves were deployed and the organisation of his regiment.

He said he had been in the first infantry unit to come ashore. When questioned about the British equipment in his bag, he said his quartermaster had given it to him.

Van der Bijl challenged him on this, suggesting he had looted it from the Royal Marines at Port Stanley, the Falklands capital, in contravention of the Geneva Convention.

The clandestine nature of the Intelligence Corps's operations means they often don't get the recognition they deserve. Now, our serialisation of a new book, which started in The Mail on Sunday yesterday, brings their heroism out of the shadows . . .

Colque denied this but the implied threat must have loosened his tongue even more as he declared he had little time for his officers and voiced his belief that Argentina would be defeated. He said he had not eaten for two days.

After this first interrogation, he was allowed to sleep and, after a meal, was transferred to a troopship out in Falkland Sound for further questioning. Not long after, he was repatriated to Argentina.

The vital information he had provided was passed by Van der Bijl to the military commanders, and, after a fierce battle, the Argentine defenders of Goose Green surrendered.

It was a turning point in the war. Until then, the British task force had been struggling to get a toehold. Now, it was on the way to victory.

It is fair to assume that the information Van der Bijl had gleaned from his prisoner must have been a factor.

The Troubles in Northern Ireland placed huge demands on the Intelligence Corps. At times, a quarter of its available manpower served there. Yet to begin with, the intelligence picture was almost non-existent.

When the first reinforcement operators arrived in 1969, there were only a few dozen names on a card index with the details of IRA men, most of whom were almost drawing their pensions. 'The intelligence cupboard was empty,' as one operative put it.

Over the next three decades, the Corps undertook every aspect of intelligence work, from agent-handling and surveillance to imagery and signals, while working in conjunction with Special Branch and the Army.

Prior to Northern Ireland, many in the military  even those at the higher levels of command  had regarded the Corps, its people and its remit with a level of distrust, while others derided the need for intelligence at all.

The Corps' performance during the period changed all those perceptions and proved the point that no military commander should commence a mission without the good, timely intelligence that embedded members of the Corps could provide. The dangers to which these early special duties operators were exposed are well illustrated by the story of Corporal Robin 'Roo' Rencher. A British veteran of the Australian army who had served in Vietnam, he joined the Intelligence Corps in 1971 and was sent to Northern Ireland.

The Troubles in Northern Ireland placed huge demands on the Intelligence Corps. At times, a quarter of its available manpower served there. Pictured: British troops and Irish police stop a People's Democracy march from proceeding through downtown Armagh, Northern Ireland, 1972

There, he was part of an audacious undercover operation known as the Four Square Laundry. From an 'office' in Belfast city centre, this fictional business offered a cut-price door-to-door laundry service in Republican West Belfast. Once collected, dirty clothes and linen were tested for residues of explosives and weapons before being washed and sent back to each customer. If any traces were found, the address the laundry came from would either be raided and searched or placed under surveillance for additional intelligence-gathering.

It worked smoothly for a while. No one in the area took any notice of the laundry's Bedford Commer delivery van as it cruised around, going about its business. They had no idea that, inside, it was fitted with surveillance equipment and there was a false roof compartment enabling undercover soldiers to take covert photos of targets.

The operation came to a sudden and violent an end in October 1972 after the IRA discovered that two of its members had been recruited by British intelligence. One broke under interrogation and revealed the truth about the Four Square Laundry.

One morning, Rencher was alone in the city centre office when, from the back room, he saw two men enter. He knew straight away they were terrorists and flung himself out through the back door, sprinted down the street and lost himself in the city centre crowds. When the gunmen realised the building was empty, they sprayed it with machine-gun fire and drove off. At exactly the same time, a few miles away in the heavily nationalist Twinbrook estate, the laundry van was parked.

No one in the area took any notice of the laundry's Bedford Commer delivery van (pictured) as it cruised around, going about its business

The driver, a Royal Engineers sapper, Ted Stuart, sat at the wheel while the other undercover operator with him, Sara-Jane Warke of the Women's Royal Army Corps, stood at the front door of a house delivering laundry.

Suddenly, two IRA gunmen appeared and peppered the driver's side with machine-gun and rifle fire, killing Stuart instantly. Warke survived the ambush only because the woman to whom she was returning the clean laundry believed wrongly that Loyalists rather than the IRA were responsible for the attack and allowed Warke to escape through her house.

Yet, despite the high number of Intelligence Corps men employed in Northern Ireland, and considering the very high element of danger for those employed on special duties, it is remarkable that there was only one fatality of an actual Intelligence Corps member because of direct terrorist action, and that was the result of an unlucky chance encounter rather than a planned operation.

The Cold War between the Soviet Union and the West that followed the end of World War II provided a battleground of minds that was meat and drink to the Intelligence Corps, with key surveillance operations conducted behind the Iron Curtain after Britain and the Soviet Union cooperated to set up official military liaison missions to each other's occupation zones in Europe.

Officials from each country had freedom of movement to travel in each other's zone of occupation, with certain restrictions. The British mission to the Soviets was known as BRIXMIS and the Soviet mission to the British as SOXMIS.

All this was allegedly in the interests of maintaining good relations but, in reality, these 'tours', as they were known, into the other side's territory were perfect opportunities for intelligence-gathering.

Tours could involve routine monitoring of aeroplanes and trains or they could be a response to specific requests by British military and civilian agencies. Often, this involved collecting evidence on particular Soviet vehicles or new items of equipment.

As the Cold War progressed, and especially after the Soviets completed the wall dividing Berlin in 1961, East Germany became heavily reinforced with advanced Soviet military equipment.

BRIXMIS got into its stride, reporting on troop movements and garrisons, military technological advancements and major structural changes in the landscape. All this would be important means in obtaining advance knowledge of a pending Soviet offensive across the border from East into West Germany.

Some areas in the East were, technically, off-limits to BRIXMIS personnel but often they deliberately flouted the rules by going off-piste to collect vital intelligence.

This put them in danger. Britons suspected of spying were on occasion attacked or even shot at.

As the Cold War progressed, and especially after the Soviets completed the wall dividing Berlin in 1961 (pictured being constructed), East Germany became heavily reinforced with advanced Soviet military equipment

The East German secret police, the Stasi, tried to keep the tours under surveillance but generally failed, outwitted by superior British training and determination.

On more than one occasion, specially adapted and strengthened BRIXMIS vehicles with four-wheel drive and upgraded suspension drove at full speed down a railway line to escape a Stasi surveillance vehicle, which was unable to follow. One Corps officer later received a substantial disability pension for mobility problems caused by wear and tear to his spine after carrying out this manoeuvre too many times.

There were some notable intelligence successes. In 1966, a Soviet Yak-28 fighter crashed into Lake Havel in the British-controlled part of Berlin. This was the first time the aircraft had been seen outside the Soviet Union.

For a whole week, while Royal Engineer divers covertly detached the engines and radar from the aircraft, a BRIXMIS officer stalled Soviet officers who had taken up position on the opposite bank. The parts were sent off to London for analysis, then returned underwater to the crash site before being very publicly 'recovered' and given back to the Soviets.

In 1983, a quick-thinking non-commissioned officer (NCO) spotted several newly-upgraded Soviet armoured fighting vehicles on a stationary train. He jumped aboard to investigate the calibre of the cannon, and, with no other means of getting an accurate measurement, rammed his lunchtime apple into the muzzle to obtain an imprint and then high-tailed it away.

The apple was later 'analysed' and the calibre confirmed as a 30mm.

Some of the work could be pretty dirty.

The long-running Operation Tomahawk involved the systematic secret trawling of rubbish left in Soviet training areas, deployment sites and military installations in East Germany. The detritus of military exercises and garrison rubbish dumps often provided gems of intelligence.

The work sometimes meant handling human excreta. It turned out that Soviet conscripts on exercise used whatever was within reach for lavatory paper  signal message pads, letters from home and technical manuals. When these were recovered, they often provided previously unknown information.

One such find revealed training notes for a new anti-aircraft system. Until then, it wasn't known if this was a combined gun-and-missile system; the notes confirmed it was, and this had a direct impact in the development of countermeasures. But this undercover work could be dangerous.

BRIXMIS cars  usually Opels or Mercedes G-Wagens  were deliberately rammed by East German trucks, resulting in severe injuries.

Sergeant Bob Thomas was with his team, mapping areas that the Russians had designated as permanently restricted and which probably housed their more sensitive bases and training areas. One day, they got too close and their car was forced off the road by two Stasi motorbikes and then deliberately run over by a truck, which landed on top of it.

Thomas was unconscious in the front passenger seat. The other two crew members were uninjured but severely shocked and bruised. When he eventually came round, Thomas was bleeding heavily and his right leg was bent at an unnatural angle.

He passed out from the pain, and awoke in the back of a moving Soviet ambulance. He was operated on in hospital by surgeons who inserted a plate and rod running from his thigh to his ankle.

During the weeks he was recovering, four uniformed East German police burst into his ward late one night, accompanied by a hospital physician who was a Communist Party member. They started to knock him about until the hospital director arrived and ordered them to leave.

Eventually, he was released from hospital and returned to the West. Two years later, his injured leg gave way when the surgical plate fitted by the Soviet surgeon broke apart. All of its components  plate, screws and rod  were cheap East German copies of the Swiss-made original.

Between 1979 and 1990, BRIXMIS crews were rammed and detained 25 times and there were four shooting incidents, though none fatal.

The French and U.S. missions were not so fortunate. Each had one mission member killed.

The Corps' work continues all over the world. Intelligence Corps officers and soldiers provided the full spectrum of intelligence-collection activities during the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and throughout the subsequent counter-insurgency campaign against the Taliban.

Such was the demand for accurate and timely intelligence that junior NCOs of the Corps, many straight out of training, were deployed at infantry company level as Company Intelligence Support Teams (CoISTs), placing them on the front line of combat operations.

One of these was a young female  referred to here only as 'Lance Corporal Jenny'  who served on Operation Herrick 12 between May and October 2010.

'I had zero operational experience and had been out of training all of six months,' she recalls, 'but I was deployed to support the Danish contingent, who were operating out of Forward Operating Base Price in Helmand province.'

Her job was to provide immediate intelligence support and guidance to the company commander in the planning of local operations, targeting and force protection.

'The only way I could do this effectively and have any chance of obtaining any real intelligence was to go forward with the troops on the ground.' On her first patrol to a village with known Taliban sympathies, they came under attack.

'Rounds were coming in from multiple directions,' she said.

'Nothing readies you for the whizz-bang you hear and feel when you are really shot at for the first time. Luckily, the training kicked in.'

On a later patrol, she was perched on a rock writing up her notes when she spotted a piece of string beside the road.

It was a command wire leading to an IED (improvised explosive device) consisting of two 107mm rockets buried right next to where she had been sitting.

Between 2006 and 2014, four junior NCOs of the Intelligence Corps were killed while serving in Afghanistan, among them Corporal Sarah Bryant. She was with four other British soldiers on a mission in a Snatch Land Rover that was to take them deep into Taliban territory.

Corporal Sarah Bryant was the first British servicewoman to be killed during the war in Afghanistan. Pictured: her funeral in 2008

As they passed over a drainage ditch, its rear wheels rolled over an incendiary device which contained 100kg of high explosives. Sitting in the back, Bryant, 26, died instantly, as did three of the others. She was the first British servicewoman to be killed during the war in Afghanistan.

Ironically, her death brought the Intelligence Corps out of the shadows.

Newspapers reported that Bryant was a member of 15 (United Kingdom) Psychological Operations Group based at the Intelligence Corps' headquarters at Chicksands in Bedfordshire.

Her story was told  how, initially, she had wanted to be a vet, but when an Army careers officer visited her school she became interested in the military.

Having completed her A-levels, she joined the Intelligence Corps aged 18.

She was marked out for a potential commission but insisted on rising through the ranks. On the morning of her death, she had just been told she was being recommended for promotion to sergeant.

Her work was chiefly concerned with 'influencing' operations, as her bereaved husband Carl Bryant, who is still in the Intelligence Corps, puts it: 'A lot of the work Sarah was involved in was proper, old-fashioned hearts-and-minds stuff.'

That description perfectly sums up the distinctive Intelligence Corps ethos and echoes its motto: Manui Dat Cognitio Vires  Knowledge Gives Strength to the Arm.

 Michael Ashcroft, 2022

Abridged extract from In The Shadows, by Michael Ashcroft, published on November 8 by Biteback at 25. To order a copy for 22.50, with free UK delivery, go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937 before November 19. Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC is an international businessman, philanthropist, author and pollster. For information on his work, visit lordashcroft.com. Follow him on Twitter and/or Facebook @LordAshcroft.
He is now facing claims that he tried to silence a Tory backbencher in 2016

Sir Gavin said she was using the death of the Queen to 'punish' senior MPs

The texts were sent after he and others were excluded from the Queen's funeral

Sir Gavin Williamson is facing further scrutiny after allegations were made last night that the Tory party's former chief whip raised details about a minister's private life during a conversation in an attempt to silence her while she was on the backbenches.

The Cabinet Office minister is under investigation by the party after a bullying complaint was submitted last week by Wendy Morton, the chief whip under Liz Truss's Government.

Oliver Dowden appeared to defend his colleague yesterday despite the fact that the expletive-laden texts were written over several weeks.

The Times alleges that Sir Gavin called the Tory MP into her office when he was chief whip in 2016 and raised a sensitive issue about her private life, which she interpreted as a tacit threat. The paper reports that the minister was campaigning on an issue that was causing the Government difficulty.

She is said to have contacted the party after it emerged that Sir Gavin had sent abusive texts to Ms Morton, which were sent over a month following the Queen's funeral and they relate to Sir Gavin and others being excluded from the event.

Sir Gavin's allies denied claims he had been trying to silence the MP, telling The Times that he had raised the issue in a 'pastoral capacity'.

Sir Gavin Williamson's abusive texts to the Tory party's former chief whip were sent 'in the heat of the moment', a Cabinet minister has claimed (Sir Gavin is pictured on October 31)

Ms Morton said in her complaint the texts amounted to 'bullying and intimidation of parliamentary colleagues'

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is now facing questions about whether he knew about the incident before bringing Sir Gavin back into the fold.

Mr Dowden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, has admitted the messages were unacceptable but he told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg: 'These were sent in the heat of the moment at a very difficult time.

'Gavin accepts he shouldn't have said these things and that he regrets it. And we should all treat each other with respect and courtesy, and that was not the case there. He has given some context which was that this was at the time of heightened frustration, it was him as a backbencher to the chief whip.'

Ex-ministers rounded on Mr Dowden yesterday, with former culture secretary Nadine Dorries saying his 'casual defence... is wrong and totally indefensible'.

Former party chairman and Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis did not reference this incident, but said he had 'seen the impact bullying can have'.

Sir Gavin had sent a number of messages to Mrs Morton suggesting she was showing 'f*** all interest in pulling things together' and told her: 'Don't bother asking anything from me.'

He had accused her of using the death of the Queen to 'punish' senior MPs who were out of favour with Liz Truss, suggesting Privy Counsellors who were not 'favoured' by the administration were excluded from the funeral's guest list.

When the former chief whip said the claims were unfounded, he said it 'certainly looks it which... is very s*** and perception becomes reality'. He added: '[It's] disgusting you are using her death to punish people who are just supportive.'

Another message, revealed by the Sunday Times, read: 'Let's see how many more times you f*** us all over. There is a price for everything.'

Mr Sunak is now facing questions about whether he knew about the messages before appointing him as a minister.

Mr Dowden yesterday said the PM was not aware of the content until the texts were leaked on Saturday evening, but admitted he knew of the 'difficult relationship' between them.

He also told Sky News: 'He shouldn't have sent those messages but, of course, the Prime Minister continues to have confidence in Gavin Williamson as a minister.'

Last night it was reported that Mr Sunak had been urged not to give Sir Gavin a job until the complaint against him had been investigated. The Telegraph said Sir Jake Berry, then Tory Party chairman, had warned him.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats have called for him to be sacked. Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner said Mr Sunak 'must come clean on exactly what he knew and when.'

No 10 are understood to be waiting for the outcome of the Tory party probe before deciding if any action is necessary.

Sir Gavin said on Saturday: 'I regret getting frustrated about the way colleagues and I felt we were being treated. I am happy to speak with Wendy and I hope to work positively with her in the future as I have in the past.'

Oliver Dowden, a more senior minister to Sir Gavin at the Cabinet Office, today admitted the PM knew Sir Gavin was subject to a complaint

ANDREW PIERCE: So will he now face cabinet for the third time?

During his first speech as Prime Minister on the steps of No 10 Downing Street, Rishi Sunak mightily declared: 'This Government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.'

So it's only understandable that many Tory MPs were taken aback when, just days later, twice-sacked minister Sir Gavin Williamson was brought back into the Government as Cabinet Office minister with wide-ranging responsibilities.

In the Commons last week, Tory MPs were privately speculating how soon it would be before the gaffe-prone Williamson skidded on another banana skin. But even his most ardent critics never thought it would be quite so soon.

For Williamson is now the subject of a bullying inquiry over a series of threatening, expletive-laden texts that he sent to the Tory party's first female chief whip Wendy Morton.

The 46-year-old was furious he had not been invited to the Queen's funeral and incorrectly blamed Morton for his failure to secure tickets. He warned her 'there is a price for everything' and said she had chosen to 'f*** us all over'.

ANDREW PIERCE: The 46-year-old was furious he had not been invited to the Queen's funeral and incorrectly blamed Morton (pictured arriving at 10 Downing Street on October 17) for his failure to secure tickets

The former culture secretary Nadine Dorries  whose department presided over the responsibility for the funeral  summed up the mood on the Tory benches: 'Beyond stunned... Entitlement is a despicable quality.'

Brandon Lewis, who was sacked as justice secretary by Sunak, was also active on social media yesterday. 'I've seen the impact bullying can have,' he tweeted. Was he referring to Williamson? Almost certainly.

Why, then, did Rishi promote Williamson  a former fireplace salesman who is a poor Commons performer and not noted for his intellectual prowess?

For one reason: Williamson, who studied social sciences at Bradford University, is in fact a shrewd political operator.

As chief whip under Theresa May, he was known as the 'baby-faced assassin' for his combination of guile, charm and bullying to enforce his will. The presence of his pet tarantula Cronus (named after the king of the Titans who came to power by castrating his father) in a glass box on his desk certainly added to his air of menace.

Just as he had done with May and Boris Johnson, Williamson cunningly stuck like a limpet to Sunak in the Tory party's summer leadership contest against Liz Truss.

Former chief whips know where the political bodies are buried, the pressure points to press, and the inducements to offer to swing voters  and Sunak had significantly more MPs backing him than Truss. Williamson made sure he took the credit.

'He's got the largest brass neck in Parliament. He's absolutely shameless at smarming up to the candidate he thinks will win,' said one Tory MP.

'Trouble is, he is good at [building support] and whether it was Theresa, Boris or Rishi, they all owed him.

'By the way, the WhatsApp messages to Wendy Morton were nothing compared to the abuse and threats he sent us when he was chief whip. But he thinks he's still the chief, hence the sense of entitlement.'

This sense of power and self-importance explains why Williamson thought he could bully Morton, who had been chief whip for only days, while he had done the job for 18 months. He did it so well that May promoted him to defence secretary in November 2017.

So it's only understandable that many Tory MPs were taken aback when, just days later, twice-sacked minister Sir Gavin Williamson was brought back into the Government as Cabinet Office minister with wide-ranging responsibilities

However, after he took the post, it became rapidly clear he was out of his depth.

It earned him the nickname Private Pike after the simpering weakling in the Second World War sitcom Dad's Army. He lived up to the moniker in 2018, by saying Russia 'should go away' and 'shut up' at the height of the Salisbury poisoning.

Military boffins must have collectively breathed a sigh of relief when May sacked him in May 2019 for leaking information from a top-secret meeting of the National Security Council, where ministers had discussed the possible security threat from Chinese telecoms firm Huawei.

His frontline career should have sunk but he was brought back as education secretary. Here, too, he was a disaster.

He was criticised over school closures during the Covid pandemic and the shambles over an algorithm that standardised students' GCSE and A-level results.

Johnson sacked him and when he was knighted in March, many Tory MPs told me it was a reward for remaining loyal. 'It will do nothing to enhance the public's view of our discredited honours system,' said one.

After being given yet another chance by Sunak, it's notable that Williamson does not have a department to run.

'His job is to be Sunak's eyes and ears in the ministerial corridors and to spot potential flash points,' said a Whitehall source. Today, though, it's Williamson himself who is a potential flash point.
Police have strip-searched more than 13,000 children since 2016  including at least two under the age of ten, a shocking Daily Mail investigation reveals.

The data exposes an extraordinary racial bias, with black children making up 60 per cent of under-18s strip-searched by some forces.

At least 13,255 children have been strip-searched in the last five years, with more than 3,228 coming after a 15-year-old black schoolgirl known as Child Q was strip-searched at school while she was menstruating.

The real figure is likely to be far higher, as just 28 of the 43 forces across England and Wales provided data to Freedom of Information requests.

Georgia Wood was just 12 when she was strip-searched by two policewomen with no appropriate adult present. She is now 25 and still suffers from nightmares, panic attacks and a distrust of anyone in authority

Data obtained by the Daily Mail suggest that use of the controversial tactic almost doubled between 2017 and 2020 across police forces outside London. In 80 per cent of cases, nothing illegal was found.

More than a fifth of the children searched were aged 15 or under, with at least 136 aged under 13  though most forces did not provide the ages of the suspects. This includes two children aged under ten who were strip-searched by Cumbria Police in 2016.

Cumbria Constabulary said officers had been concerned a man had hidden drugs on his two children and they had been stripped by their father in front of police. No drugs were found, and the force has not provided their exact ages.

A spokesman said: There was no direct contact made by the officer and the childrens safety and welfare was paramount.

Our investigation lays bare the extent of the tactic just days after the Childrens Commissioner asked all police forces in England and Wales to provide figures on how many children have been strip-searched.

The girl, known as Child Q, was searched in 2020 on school premises in Hackney, east London, without another adult present. Police were called by teachers who claimed she smelled of cannabis. The 15-year-old was taken to a medical room and strip-searched by two female officers while teachers remained outside. No drugs were found. Protestors are pictured showing their support for Child Q in London earlier this year

Dame Rachel de Souza wrote to forces after discovering that 650 under-18s underwent intrusive and traumatising strip-searches by the Metropolitan Police between 2018 and 2020.

She was given data that did not provide the full picture, however, and the real figure is more than seven times higher.

Our wide-ranging investigation found that in fact Scotland Yard conducted 4,922 strip-searches over that period  more than three a day on average. It is believed they handed her figures only on more thorough intimate parts searches.

Critics of the controversial practice have now called for an urgent Home Office review into guidance for officers across England and Wales.

At 12, they treated me as an adult  I still have nightmares Georgia Wood was just 12 when she was strip-searched by two policewomen with no appropriate adult present. She is now 25 and still suffers from nightmares, panic attacks and a distrust of anyone in authority. Georgia was shocked to discover that on average more than 1,000 children are strip-searched each year by UK police forces. She said: Why is this still going on? I thought things had changed, its crazy that this is happening. The police are treating young and sometimes vulnerable children like adults  they dont consider the harm this does every time a child is put through it. Even now, if Im in a small room at work with strangers it brings back the memories of what happened. Going through airport security can bring on a panic attack. Im thinking I know I havent done anything wrong but I didnt do anything wrong when I was searched by the police when I was 12. Terrified Georgia was bundled into a police car in South Wales over a drug investigation. Her mother Karen Archer was put in another car and the pair were driven ten miles to Neath police station to be strip-searched separately. No drugs were found and no charges were ever brought against the mother or daughter, who live on a five-acre smallholding near Pontardawe, Swansea. Georgia, who works as a civil servant, said: What happened to me that day was a life-changing event. The police had a duty to protect me that day but instead I was made to strip in front of strangers. They scared me. I understand the police sometimes have to strip-search under-18s but there are strict protocols and they are not always being followed. A relative, a friend or an independent chaperone should always be present. But that doesnt always happen. Georgia says she was treated no differently to a grown-up and was left needing therapy for PTSD. She doesnt see herself as a campaigner but is compelled to speak out to help children. She said: It is just shocking that this is going on. The children involved often cant speak out for legal reasons so I feel I have to say and do something. The police go into situations treating children the same as adults. That has to stop, things have to change. Advertisement

National manager at the Childrens Society, Claire Alldis, said: Strip-searches can be a horrible and intrusive experience for children and national guidance says they should only be carried out when absolutely necessary.

It is very troubling to see the sheer numbers of children being searched  its a big concern that black children are disproportionately more likely to be strip-searched in some force areas when the evidence shows that in the vast majority of cases no illegal items are found. We urge the Home Office and police leaders to review guidance and training for officers across the country to better protect and help vulnerable children and young people.

Police chiefs insisted the searches were a last resort, and were often necessary to protect children enslaved by drug gangs.

The Child Q scandal sparked an outcry in March when a safeguarding report found the search was unjustified and that racism was likely to have been a factor in the officers decision making. The schoolgirl was taken out of an exam and strip-searched by two female officers who were looking for cannabis, without any appropriate adult present. No drugs were found.

Schoolgirl on her period searched for cannabis A black schoolgirl was strip-searched by police while on her period after teachers wrongly suspected her of carrying cannabis. The Metropolitan Police was forced to apologise for the traumatic search and a review found racism was likely to have been an influencing factor. The girl, known as Child Q, was searched in 2020 on school premises in Hackney, east London, without another adult present. Police were called by teachers who claimed she smelled of cannabis. The 15-year-old was taken to a medical room and strip-searched by two female officers while teachers remained outside. No drugs were found. In a written statement to the Mets review, the girl said: The people that allowed this to happen need to be held responsible. I was held responsible for a smell... but Im just a child. Her family said the incident turned her from a happy-go-lucky girl to a timid recluse that hardly speaks, self-harms and needs therapy. Scotland Yard said the incident should never have happened. Advertisement

All 43 forces were asked about the ethnicity of the children they searched, but just three provided figures on race. These statistics showed an astonishing racial bias, with black children accounting for 48 per cent of those searched.

In Britains biggest police force, Scotland Yard, 634 of the 1,085 children who had more thorough intimate parts searches since 2016 were black  almost 60 per cent. Data from the 2011 census shows just 13.3 per cent of Londoners are black.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating the Child Q case from December 2020 along with four others.

Two investigations involve 16-year-old boys strip-searched in custody with no appropriate adult at police stations in east London in January and October 2020.

The watchdog is also examining the search of a 15-year-old girl in a cell in December 2020 and one further case which took place this year. It is expected to reveal its findings in the next few months.

Almost a quarter of 650 more thorough intimate parts searches on children by the Met over two years had no appropriate adult present, an IOPC recommendation after the Child Q scandal.

A spokesman for the National Police Chiefs Council said the alternative to a strip-search would likely be arrest followed by a search in custody.
When night fell last Friday, pandemonium erupted at Britain's biggest immigration deportation centre next to Heathrow.

Electricity and water had been off for 17 hours. In darkness, screaming inmates, earmarked for removal from the UK, broke up furniture and banged it on floors and walls.

They used tables and chairs to make fires in the exercise yard and crafted them into weapons to fight each other.

An acrid smell hung in the air as the inmates, failed asylum seekers and convicted criminals, burned bedding.

During the riot at the Harmondsworth centre in west London, staff locked themselves in offices. The interior of double-storey Beech House  for Albanian, Indian, Vietnamese, African and Algerian deportees  was almost completely destroyed.

When night fell last Friday, pandemonium erupted at Britain's biggest immigration deportation centre next to Heathrow

In a locked induction area for Albanians, a similar violent disturbance took place.

As we can disclose for the first time, the centre  western Europe's largest deportation facility  was without power from midnight on Thursday until Saturday morning, with no lights or water, no electricity for cooking or heating. Toilets and showers were not working. The power cut was caused by an 'outage' in the West Drayton area.

On being asked about the power cut and unrest on Friday evening, Government sources told the Daily Mail we were exaggerating the upheaval. The riot was directly sparked by the lack of electricity and water inside Harmondsworth, say inmates we spoke to.

The Home Office said bottled water and food, including burgers and cheese pasta, were delivered to inmates during the power cut.

During the riot at the Harmondsworth centre in west London, staff locked themselves in offices. The interior of double-storey Beech House  for Albanian, Indian, Vietnamese, African and Algerian deportees  was almost completely destroyed

A 27-year-old Albanian who arrived by boat in early summer as an economic migrant and is now awaiting return to Tirana, said: 'It was a tense situation. There were staff very jittery, too. We could not even use the toilets. When night came on Friday, we were wandering around in darkness. No one could see anything in the corridors or sitting areas.

'No one seemed to know what to do. There could have been a mass breakout. It was dangerous.'

One 44-year-old migrant  a stateless man who had lived in Britain for years before he was deported to Belgium, Germany and France only to return twice by boat  kept us informed hour by hour of the events.

The man, an asylum seeker we will call Amir, was removed from the centre yesterday with hundreds of others by riot police after being locked up for 36 hours.

The Mail had monitored Amir's travels in and out of Britain since 2017 until his arrival at the deportation centre last December.

He watched the Harmondsworth crisis unfold through his cell window, keeping in touch with other inmates by mobile phone, and telling us of the carnage.

One 27-year-old Albanian who arrived by boat in early summer as an economic migrant is now awaiting return to Tirana

He said: 'The power went off midnight on Thursday. Everyone put up with it at first. It was only when it got dark on Friday that things got bad. There was an eruption. No one could see anything inside. People began panicking. The staff looked terrified.

'We had had no water, no toilets, no cooked food, no light, no TV, for 16 or 17 hours. Migrants were getting angry. Staff didn't know what the problem was.

'I went to my room at nine in the evening on Friday because I could sense trouble was developing. It was then locked for the night as is normal by security staff.

'Outside fires were burning. Banging, shouting and screaming was going on. That night things got out of control. Beech House was torn apart. The induction block was also under attack. There were fights between groups, mainly Albanians and others. The noise was incredible.'

Home Office minister Robert Jenrick said the rioters would be 'brought to account' and deported. He promised that the entire Harmondsworth site was due to be cleared by Saturday night following the riot

The 'punishment block' for unruly inmates was damaged.

On Saturday, when the power and water came back on, specialist officers arrived. Amir said: 'I saw armed riot police. There were 70 outside my window. They took people away in buses with a police escort and flashing lights.

Home Office minister Robert Jenrick said the rioters would be 'brought to account' and deported. He promised that the entire Harmondsworth site was due to be cleared by Saturday night following the riot.

But that didn't happen. Amir told us from his locked cell before his removal yesterday: 'Home Office staff seem to be having problems finding where to put 600 or more migrants at short notice.'

The question remains  how could the Home Office expect 600 people to live without water and toilets, no warmth or cooked food for nearly two days without some kind of protest? Government sources told the Mail it was just a little local difficulty. Nothing could be further from the truth.
North Korea's military said on Monday that recent South Korea-U.S. military exercises were an 'open provocation and dangerous war drill,' and it had responded with measures simulating striking their air bases and warplanes, state media KCNA said.

Pyongyang added that it would respond to joint exercises by the United States and South Korea with 'sustained, resolute and overwhelming' military measures.

The warning came amid a spate of missile tests by North Korea in recent weeks, including four ballistic missiles fired on Saturday, days after the United States and South Korea concluded their biggest-ever air force drills.

The 'Vigilant Storm' exercises were an 'open provocation aimed at intentionally escalating the tension' and 'a dangerous war drill of very high aggressive nature' toward North Korea, the General Staff of its Korean People's Army said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.

North Korea has held a recent flurry of missile tests including dozens fired on the same day this week amid fears Kim is gearing up for a nuclear test. Pictured: A North Korean missile test

Kim Jong Un's (pictured in October) military has continued to rattle the peninsula with escalating missile tests, launching more than two dozen missiles over the last two days

It comes after the Pentagon sent a powerful warning to North Korea on Thursday, telling Pyongyang that use of any kind of nuclear weapon against Seoul or other regional allies would result in the end of Kim Jong Un's dictatorial regime.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup, after meeting Thursday at the Pentagon, released a joint statement.

They 'strongly condemned' North Korea's escalating military flexing, including ballistic missile test launches, multiple rocket launches and coastal artillery.

'Any nuclear attack against the United States or its Allies and partners, including the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons, is unacceptable and will result in the end of the Kim regime,' Austin said in a stark warning, according to the statement.

Kim's military has continued to rattle the peninsula with escalating missile tests, launching more than two dozen missiles over the last two days in response to U.S.-South Korean military exercises that began Monday.

This photo provided on October 10, 2022, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects a missile test at an undisclosed location in North Korea, as taken sometime between September 25 and October 9

A South Korean Air Force F-15K fighter fires an air-to-surface missile across the maritime border with North Korea in retaliation for a missile that was test-fired in the other direction early Wednesday

And on Friday morning, Seoul scrambled dozens of fighter jets after more than 100 North Korean aircraft massed near the disputed border between the two nations.

Seoul sent 80 jets - among them F-35A stealth fighters - after sensors picked up 180 of Pyongyang's aircraft massing inland and off the east and west coasts.

The tit-for-tat escalations and launches have sent South Koreans scrambling for shelter and further frayed the nerves of a population already mourning the loss of more than 150 people at a horrific Halloween crowd crush in Seoul on Saturday.

In response to the recent launches, the U.S. extended the 'Vigilant Storm' military exercise, which was scheduled to run through Friday, November 4.

Late Thursday the Pentagon announced the extension would now run through Saturday, depending on the security environment.

'Our combined air exercise with the ROK has currently been extended to Nov. 5,' the Pentagon said in a statement emailed to reporters.

'We remain in close coordination with our ROK ally on any additional changes and the security environment on the Korean Peninsula. Our commitment to the defense of the ROK is ironclad.'
The captain, 32, got inked after Liverpool won the Champions League in 2019

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has revealed how it was Trent Alexander-Arnold's idea to get tattoos after their Champions League triumph over Tottenham in 2019.

Liverpool won the 2019 Champions League final 20, with a penalty which was scored after 106 seconds by Mohamed Salah and a goal by substitute Divock Origi after 87th minute.

Henderson and Alexander-Arnold had planned to mark the occasion by getting tattoos. However, the right-back pulled out last minute after his mum banned him from getting any ink.

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has revealed the full story behind the tattoo on his thigh

Henderson visited Tommy Montoya's Klockwork Tattoo Club in Covina for the special appointment in 2019.

He chose to have the iconic Champions League trophy as the centrepiece of the tattoo with the date of the final written underneath.

The England international then posed with artist Montoya for a picture once his work was complete.

However, Henderson revealed the fact it should have been him and Alexander-Arnold posing for the photo three years ago.

Henderson said: 'I went to get a tattoo with Trent Alexander-Arnold  but his mum forced him to pull out at the last minute!'.

Jordan Henderson has got a tattoo on his thigh to mark his side's Champions League success

Henderson went on to explain the situation in greater detail. He said: 'The days after beating Tottenham in the Champions League final were a blur.

'We returned to Liverpool for an open-topped bus parade with the trophy the following day. Within the week, I was in Trent Alexander-Arnold's room in Portugal.

'We were there for the Nations League finals. We'd just had a training session with England, but our heads were still in the Estadio Metropolitano, and Trent had an idea.

'"Let's get tattoos!" he said. "We should get the Champions League trophy tattooed on our calves."

'I haven't got many tattoos. Just ones of my kids, which are on my ribs. Straight away, I said I was up for it, though.

'"You'll do it, too, right?" I said. It was he who had suggested it, after all. "One hundred per cent," he said.

'We were both going to Los Angeles for our summer break, so I thought I'd send Daniel Agger, the former Liverpool defender, a message.

Trent Alexander-Arnold said they should get tattoos after winning the Champions League

'Dan knows everything there is to know about tattoos; he's covered in them and is a qualified tattoo artist. I was sure there would be someone he would be able to fix us up with in LA.

'I told Trent that we could just turn up and know that they'd do a good job. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," he said. "Brilliant. Love it."

'I wanted to triple-check with him before I organised it. "You're sure, aren't you?" I asked again. "You're absolutely sure?"

'He said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely." So I texted Dan. He said he knew someone not far from LA and that he'd arrange it.

'A week later, he gave us the date, the time, the location, who we needed to see. Everything. Brilliant.

'It was a place called the Klockwork Tattoo Club in Covina, California, about twenty miles east of downtown LA. I'd worked out the route for us and everything.

'The night before, Trent and I had gone out to get food. We were both staying in Beverly Hills. I was in a hotel; he was in a villa somewhere. At the end of the evening, I arranged to pick him up the next morning and we'd head out to Covina.

Alexander-Arnold, 24, has said they should get tattoos of the trophy on their calfs

'I pulled up outside his villa at 11am. I thought he might be waiting, but it was quiet. I waited for a bit, then he came out. He was looking a bit sheepish.

'"Come on," I said. "Get in."

'"Erm," he said quietly. "I can't come".

'"You what?" My face dropped. "What do you mean, you can't come?"

'"I can't come because my mam says I'm not allowed," he said.

This is a wind-up, surely, I'm thinking to myself.

'"You f****** what?"' I said. '"Get in the car, man. We've got to go. Are you serious? Your mam says you can't get a tattoo?"

'It turned out that Trent had mentioned the tattoo to his brother, Tyler, who had mentioned it to his mam, and she had rung Trent up and basically said, "You're not getting a tattoo. End of."

However, when Henderson went to pick Alexander-Arnold up on the day, he said he couldn't go anymore as his mum had banned him from getting a tattoo

'I hadn't known any of this while I was standing there like a lemon, waiting outside his villa. I kept telling him that we needed to go, that everything had been sorted out.

'But he looked serious. Said his mam wasn't happy. It started to sink in that this really wasn't a wind-up.

'I shook my head. I thought about not going at all. But I thought about Dan and the trouble he'd gone to and I didn't want to let him down.

'It was an hour's drive out of LA to get this tattoo on my quad. I waited around for a bit when I got there, but the guy was brilliant.

'He got the details of the trophy, put the date on and everything. That night, I'd arranged to meet up with Trent for some food.

'"Go on then, can I see it?"' he asked when I got there. '"I shouldn't even be speaking to you, should I?"' I said. I forgave him, but I still haven't forgotten. He still owes me a tattoo...

Jordan Henderson: The Autobiography (Penguin Michael Joseph 25) is out now
Emiliano Boffelli is the best player in the world at the high ball contest

Jeronimo de la Fuente goes about his business quietly but hugely effectively

Pablo Matera has grown up a lot and become a great leader in Argentinian team

Michael Cheika has come in and given the team a bit more confidence in themselves. On their day, they can beat any team in the world.

They showed that by beating the All Blacks in New Zealand. They have always been able to deliver a big win but now the focus is on consistency.

Part of the problem was the Jaguares joined the Super Rugby competition where the emphasis was on playing the ball. Scrums were not that important and that had some influence on the national team.

They have gone back to the basics of Argentinian rugby, which is the scrum and maul. The DNA is back.

Michael Cheika has come in and given the team a bit more confidence in themselves

Pablo Matera

Hes learnt a lot playing for the Crusaders in New Zealand. Hes grown up a lot and become a great leader in the Argentinian team.

Forwards need to be aggressive and he has that. He sets the tone with his expression and his hits.

For a back row he also has a good kicking game. Hes an unpredictable player!

Pablo Matera grown up a lot and become a great leader in the Argentinian team

Jeronimo de la Fuente

A player who goes about his business quietly but hugely effectively. From the centres he organises the defence and the attack.

Matias Moroni is the crazy guy who will go and confront Manu Tuilagi but de la Fuente is the guy with experience who thinks about things.

Jeronimo de la Fuente (right) goes about his business quietly but hugely effectively

Emiliano Boffelli

For me he is the best player in the world at the high ball contest. He will always chase and catch. Opponents like to kick the ball a lot and he will always be safe and get the ball away quickly.

Hes one of those guys who can do most things, making him an option at wing, full-back or centre.
Advertisement

The Mail regularly scrutinises hotels and takes readers through their keyholes.

But just what is it about a hotel that impresses - and disappoints? Here members of the travel-writing teams across the Mail reveal their do's and don'ts for hoteliers. And name some of the hotels they think get it right - every time.

Scroll down for verdicts on anti-theft coat hangers, close-up publicity pictures of door handles and dimmer switches from the Daily Mail's hotel Inspector; The Mail on Sunday's Travel Editor, Sarah Hartley; MailOnline's Travel Editor, Ted Thornhill - and Ailbhe MacMahon and Samantha Lewis from his online team.

WEBSITE/PHOTOGRAPHY

Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, A Belmond Hotel is renowned for its food and luxury rooms - it has a very good website, too, says Ted Thornhill, MailOnline Travel Editor

Sarah Hartley, Mail on Sunday Travel Editor

'Do pay the website a great deal of attention,' says Ted. 'And images. They're a hugely powerful sales tool. That photography budget you had? Quadruple it.

'Make sure there's a nice range of perspectives  including drone shots if possible - and not just endless arty close-ups of doorknobs, lamps and vases. Guests need to see the whole room. And don't put models in them, it just looks cheesy (plus, we're unlikely to use them online). Fish-eye lens photos are no-no, too. And I'm flabbergasted at the number of exterior hotel pictures taken on a gloomy day. Don't go there. Unless being haunted is your USP.

'Once you've got a solid selection of images you're all set not only to entice through the website but, crucially, to MailOnline! The quality of the images can be the difference between a property being at the top or bottom of the homepage  or between a Mail writer reviewing it, or not reviewing it.'

Make sure the site works, too.

'A guest isn't going to put much faith in a hotel with a website that has a glitchy booking system,' says Ted.

And don't employ an estate agent to write the descriptions as guests will feel cheated.

'Don't say, for example, that a room terrace is "private" when in reality there's merely an open patio space in front of the room that "feels" private when the hotel is empty,' says Ted. 'And is there really a view of the river? Or only if you have a pair of binoculars?'

Lots of hotels use models in publicity shots, but Ted says they're 'cheesy' and are unlikely to be used online

Hoteliers should avoid too many up-close photographs of their property - guests want to see the whole room, says Ted

Ailbhe adds: 'A hard-to-navigate hotel website is frustrating. It's ideal if all the information is laid out clearly in different sections so you don't have to hunt around for it.

'One big gallery of pictures on the hotel website is preferable - it gives a good overall view of what it's like to stay there.'

Who gets it right? There are hundreds of good examples, but the site for Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, A Belmond Hotel site is a good all-rounder.

DECOR

Ted loves the 'antique-y luxe' of some of the properties operated by the Airelles group in France. Above is a room in hotel Airelles Gordes - La Bastide, in Provence

MailOnline Travel Editor Ted Thornhill

'Some brands make their money from offering a one-size-fits-all look that'll offend no one,' says Ted.

'But if you want top marks from us  and the guests  go for an aesthetic that catches the eye.'

Ailbhe agrees, saying: 'It's disheartening to see cookie-cutter hotel rooms that look like they were picked from a catalogue - or just modelled on other hotels. It makes your stay far more memorable when the decor has some unique character to it even in a small way, giving you a sense of the personality behind the hotel as soon as you step into the room.'

And Samantha is partial to a bold look too. 'I love a hotel with a wow moment,' she says.

So what to do?

'Decide on a theme  and run with it,' says Ted. 'Don't give up halfway otherwise you'll end up with a wonky look and a wonky vibe. Apart from anything else, a decor theme gives us journalists something to hook into when we write about it.'

Need more details? Sarah believes it's all about establishing how guests will use the room.

She says: 'How do you want your guests to feel? Who are they? How much will they spend to stay in this room? Figure out the answers to these questions and then work out how your guests will use the room.

'If I'm in New York, I want sleek city fittings. In Vegas I want kitsch maximalism. If I'm by the sea, I want light and bright with aqua blues, and if I'm in the country I want earthy-toned textures and fabrics that reflect the natural world.

The 'serene' decor of Aman properties is a winner for Ted. Pictured above is Aman New York

Ted is a fan of the decor in Peninsula hotels. Above is the Peninsula Tokyo lobby

'I love to see a freshly painted room  whatever colour, with quality fixtures and fittings that reflect the price I'm paying. I'd rather see a mirror than a bland print badly hung.

'Make a room too glitzy or on-trend and it will date quickly. What works brilliantly is a mix of traditional with a modern twist.'

Who gets it right? Sarah says: 'The late hotelier Peter de Savary uses American designer Kathleen Fraser in his hotels giving them a traditional feel with modern pops of colour  especially at The Eastbury in Dorset, The Cary Arms in Devon, and The Beachhuts at The Beachcroft in West Sussex.' Ted says: 'I love the antique-y luxe of some of the Airelles hotels in France, the serene opulence of Aman and Hoshinoya properties. And you can never go wrong with anything by The Peninsula or Mandarin Oriental.'

THE BEDROOM

Cheval Blanc Paris, above, is a hotel with bedrooms that approach perfection, says Ted

MailOnline senior travel writer Ailbhe MacMahon

'It's all about the bed, isn't it?' declares Sarah. 'You can't beat a superluxe mattress with super pillows  fresh-white cotton bedlinen and right now a supersized fabric headboard. Then the size of the room becomes less of a focus.'

Ted adds that it's worth spending another chunk of cash on the shower and bath fixtures.

'It's harder to tell the difference between a pricey and cheap tub, for instance, than it is between good and bad quality taps and shower hoses.'

And don't forget the shower hose.

Samantha says: 'Rain showers are so luxurious, but what happens if I don't want to get my hair wet? Hoteliers, please provide a hand-held shower too.'

The more enlightened in the hospitality industry also pay attention to the lighting.

'Make the lights simple to use  I don't want a tutorial in how to use them,' says Sarah.

Ted is in agreement, adding: 'If the hotel insists on a complicated lighting system for the bedroom, it should at the very least install dimmers for a relaxing vibe - especially in the bathroom for non-dazzling night visits - and a master off-switch. I've been in rooms where it's taken me 15 minutes to figure out how to turn off all the lights.'

Any other do's? A few.

'No charging points - including USB ports - on both sides of each bed?' asks Ted. 'Do call an electrician right now and get them put in. Everyone likes to lay in bed looking at their phone while it's charging.

'And do pre-fill the water in the coffee-maker. They can be a tad fiddly.'

Windows that open are a must, as well.

'I always like to open the window, even if it's just a little,' says Sarah. 'It's awful when they are jammed shut. And if I do want to open the window  why is it so often likely to take my fingers off or have tricky fittings?

'There should also be good soundproofing. And if creaky floors are part of the deal then at least make sure it's only in the halls and not the floor above guests.'

Dreamy set-up: The bedrooms in One&Only Cape Town are impressive, says Ted

Anti-theft coat hangers (left) are 'a nightmare for the user', says Sarah. Pour money into luxurious ensuite fixtures, says Ted. Pictured right, a hotel that gets it right in this regard - The Mark in New York

And for Ailbhe, a full-length mirror somewhere is a nice touch. She says: 'Without one, you never get a proper look at your outfit before you head out.'

Any other don'ts?

Anti-theft coat hangers ('a nightmare for the user,' says Sarah), 'a TV that requires guests to be techies', says the Inspector, and shampoo and conditioner combined in one bottle - 'your hair never feels as silky as it would if you conditioned it separately,' says Ailbhe.

Who gets it right? The Mark in New York has great shower fixtures, according to Ted, with the bedrooms in the following hotels he's visited verging on perfection: The Peninsula Tokyo, Hoshinoya Kyoto, La Bastide de Gordes in Provence, Mandarin Oriental Tokyo, Angsana Corfu, Cheval Blanc Paris, Aman New York and One&Only Cape Town.

SERVICE

Cameron House hotel, by Scotland's Loch Lomond, is a hotel that gets service right, says Ted

MailOnline Travel's Samantha Lewis

'Yes, service can cost in terms of training, but in the moment there's zero cost attached to being friendly and helpful,' says Ted. 'But it's surprising how many hotels fail on this front. Even at the top level. Even in hotels lauded as award-winners.

'Guests don't expect to become best friends with staff, but it's a grand total of 0/$0 for the hotel for a staff member to say, "How are you today?"'

Sarah elaborates: 'There is an art to service and it's not for everyone  so hotels should not give a customer-facing job to any old candidate. You need to be able to look guests in the eye, listen (and hear what they are really saying) and respond.

'I met a member of concierge at a Cotswolds hotel recently who told me that within a minute of meeting a guest for the first time he could tell whether they would want to chat or not, whether they would like the hotel and whether they would be demanding. Training plus intuitive service is a real bonus for guests.

'A well-trained team works seamlessly together and appears organised and efficient to guests. It doesn't mean squashing the personality out of individual members of staff, but it does give guests a sense of confidence that their stay is being hosted well. '

So, let's have some more don'ts.

Ted says: 'Chefs in open kitchens, we appreciate your endeavours, but try to resist loudly berating waiting staff while guests are dining. I have seen this happen in seriously upscale hotels  it's not the ideal accompaniment to one's sausage and eggs.

'Staff in public areas - don't have standing arguments with each other. Also not conducive to a five-star review. I've witnessed this occurrence in a five-star hotel - astonishing. Just send passive-aggressive messages to each other on your phones/email like the rest of us do.

'French waiting staff - please don't ask me to correctly pronounce a French beer before you'll serve it (even if it's banter.) I'm thirsty! Once a Briton sights a can or bottle of beer, we need it ASAP.

'And don't scoop up an unfinished glass of wine and make off with it without asking if the guest has finished drinking it.

'Also, checking back once or twice during a meal is nice, but you don't need to check if everything is "ok" literally every five minutes. Relax. You're professionals, we're enjoying the food, you're doing great (probably).'

Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms in Nottingham has two Michelin stars - and the service is top, says Ted

And some more do's.

The Inspector says: 'Do offer a friendly, warm and sincere greeting on arrival. First impressions are essential. Do offer to help carry luggage.'

Ailbhe says: 'I love it if staff are chatty and can offer specialised recommendations of things to do in the area - especially if it's tips that you wouldn't necessarily find in a guidebook.'

Ted says: 'America and the Continent, be prepared for the fact that Britons like milk with their tea and coffee. I'm amazed there are still looks of confusion when we ask for it, as if we've started a conversation about particle physics.

'And hoteliers, if possible, should deploy "floating" staff, particularly in restaurants. People who are looking out for customers waiving menus in frustration that they're being ignored, for example.'

Who gets it right? For Sarah - La Mamounia Marrakech; The Hilton, Lake Como; and Almayer Art and Heritage Hotel in Zadar, Croatia. In the UK - The Goring Hotel and The Gainsborough in Bath. For Ted: Any hotel run by the Airelles group in France; The Peninsula Paris; Cheval Blanc Paris; Cameron House by Loch Lomond in Scotland; five-star hotels in Japan in general; Claridge's in London; Aman Le Melezin in Courchevel 1850, France; Aman New York; Mont Rochelle, Franschhoek, South Africa; One&Only Cape Town; Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms in Nottingham; Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, A Belmond Hotel, Oxfordshire.

HYGIENE

The Goring in London, above, is at the top of its hygiene games, writes Sarah

Sarah says: 'Standards are pretty high these days  especially post-Covid - and it's unusual to find anywhere under par. Dazzling mirrors, squeaky-clean sinks, loo and taps, with furniture and floors dust free are essential.

'But it's the knocks and scrapes and scratches on the wall that bother me  I want to feel I'm the first person in the bedroom and don't want to see where the last suitcase scraped the wall or the scuffed skirting board.'

Who gets it right? Sarah says: 'The Goring and Page 8 in London always stand out for me  two very different hotels but both at the top of their hygiene game.'

A luxurious hotel breakfast buffet is a must, writes Ted. Above is one at Angsana Corfu

FOOD

'Who doesn't love a Michelin-starred meal? But forget fancy culinary skills,' says Sarah. 'If a kitchen can get the basics right (and it's not as common as you might think), then eating is a joy. It makes me so happy to eat a simple risotto, or pan-fried fish, prepared so beautifully that you know there's talent in the kitchen.

'Please don't try to impress with swirls and twirls and shavings on a plate to distract from the main event. And those Marmite-looking zigzags of balsamic? Let go of this gimmick that makes a plate of food look tired and dated before you've tasted a mouthful.

'Breakfast is the ultimate test for any hotel - scrimp on ingredients and there's no hiding it from guests. The menu doesn't need to be long. Get the best team on it to serve strong hot coffee, fresh juices, freshly made bread and pastries, good butter  not in a packet - and homemade, locally sourced ingredients.'

The Inspector, meanwhile, is keen on 'generous breakfast cut-off times', while Ted loves a gourmet buffet.

'There's nothing in my book like an indulgent, luxurious hotel breakfast buffet,' he says. 'But please don't play loud music at breakfast. Remember, some of us are hungover. And please deploy massive pots of coffee to save on guests constantly asking for top-ups.'

Who gets it right? 'I still talk about the breakfast at The Beverley Arms Hotel in Beverley, Yorkshire,' says Sarah. 'It was the full English, everything cooked perfectly  sausage, mushroom, fried egg, tomato, bacon. And all immaculately presented just so with a beautiful pot of strong Yorkshire tea served in bone china cup and saucer. The breakfast at The Fleece in Richmond, Yorkshire, was sensational too  avocado on toast with poached eggs and tomatoes. A proper chef was in the kitchen and it showed.'

Ted says: 'I've had dreamy hotel breakfast buffets at Angsana Corfu, Hotel Lutetia in Paris and Hotel Barriere Les Neiges in Courchevel 1850. And for massive pots of coffee - Hotel Frederic Carrion in Burgundy. Cameron House was a great all-rounder for food. My French partner said the best croissant she ever ate was at the Mandarin Oriental in Tokyo.'

DRINKS

'Pull up a stool at Le Bar Josephine [above] in Hotel Lutetia in Paris. You can't go wrong,' says Ted

Beers aren't too difficult to get right, but wines can be trickier. However, there's no excuse for guests' taste buds being assaulted.

'There's no need to stock drain-cleaner wines,' says Ted. 'There are plenty of fantastic good-value wines out there. Get in contact with a good wine merchant if you're not getting positive feedback on the list.'

Follow the example of upmarket Japanese hospitality and make Wi-Fi completely free - and scrap the password altogether Ted Thornhill, MailOnline Travel Editor

For Sarah, close attention should be paid to the teabag inventory.

She says: 'Keep the selection simple and check if they've been used, so need to be replaced. I hate to discover that I've only got some random herbal tea to drink when I'm dying for an English breakfast. And please put a little pot to put used tea bags in  no-one likes slinging a bag into a wastepaper basket or leaving it in a clean cup!'

Who gets it right? 'Pull up a stool at Le Bar Josephine in Hotel Lutetia in Paris. You can't go wrong,' says Ted.

WI-FI

The Inspector says: 'Offer direct access to Wi-Fi without having to put in lots of details which are then used for marketing purposes.'

Ted adds: 'My advice is to follow the example of upmarket Japanese hospitality and make Wi-Fi completely free - and scrap the password altogether.'

Who gets it right? The Japanese lead the way here.

EXTRAS

'It's subtle, but a nice fragrance throughout a hotel instantly elevates the experience of staying there,' says Ailbhe.

Who gets it right? Baccarat Hotel New York.

Hotel owners: Vacuuming all done? The Mail travel team is standing by to inspect!
Tia Mowry draped herself in black on Saturday when she went without makeup for a workout in Los Angeles.

The actress, 44, was seen leaving her gym in Studio City, clutching a jumbo bottle of Fiji water and approaching her car after burning some calories.

The Sister, Sister star appeared to be slightly downcast in front of the cameras, contrasting the smile she flashed on another recent gym sighting since filing for divorce from her soon-to-be ex-husband Cory Hardrict, 42.

Mourning workout: Tia Mowry, 44, draped herself in black on Saturday morning when she went without makeup for a workout in Los Angeles. The actress was seen leaving her gym in Studio City, clutching a jumbo bottle of Fiji water and approaching her car after burning some calories

The Twitches star kept warm with a long black trench coat and rocked a matching designer purse.

The purse's gold chain paired well with the gold buttons on Tia's coat and her workout look was made functional by a pair of black trainers, leggings and a simple gym shirt.

A Nike cap crowned The Mistle-Tones star and her flawless skin was still luminous without the help of any makeup.

This all-black ensemble is almost a case of fashion deja vu for Mowry. She was seen a few weeks ago in another all-black look, sporting the same purse and Fiji water.

The only difference was on that day she flashed a wide, dazzling smile for the cameras as she made her way over to her car.

Gilding her grief: The Indivisible star appeared to be slightly downcast in front of the cameras amid her divorce from Cory Hardrict, 42. She kept warm with a long black trench coat and upped the mood of her outfit with a gilded purse

Exhaustion could have kept Tia from grinning on Saturday, or perhaps the Indivisible star is no longer doing 'fantastic' since announcing the end of her 14-year marriage in October.

'I'm doing fantastic,' Tia claimed to ET at Elle's Women in Hollywood Gala last month. 'I am doing great. I feel very blessed.'

Tia  who first rose to fame alongside her twin Tamera in their 1990s Nickelodeon sitcom Sister, Sister  shares two children with Hardrict, who is also an actor.

The pair reportedly had a prenuptial agreement and met on the 1999 teen slasher film Hollywood Horror, which starred Tia and Tamera.

While Hardrict has gone on Instagram Live to deny rumors that he cheated, Mowry has repeatedly taken the high road and insisted that all is well.

Still luminous: The Twitches star made her workout look functional by donning a pair of black trainers, leggings and a simple gym shirt. A Nike cap crowned Tia's head and her flawless skin was still luminous without the help of any makeup

'I have to be honest with you,' she told ET, 'I am so overwhelmed by the love and support I've received. I'm so grateful for the community and the fans that I have.'

Tia went on to describe the 'inspiring and encouraging' DMs that she has received on Instagram from 'so many' other women who are also going through divorces.

'I feel so blessed!' declared Mowry, adding that her children  11-year-old Cree and four-year-old Cairo  are 'doing amazing.'

The Tia & Tamera reality star cited irreconcilable differences in her divorce filing and announced their separation with a diplomatic statement.

'I wanted to share that Cory and I have decided to go our separate ways,' she said. 'These decisions are never easy, and not without sadness. We will maintain a friendship as we co-parent our beautiful children.'

'I am grateful for all the happy times we had together and want to thank my friends, family, and fans for your love and support as we start this new chapter moving forward in our lives.'
U2 frontman Bono has been accused of rewriting history in his new memoir, in which he describes how he abandoned his friendship with wild-living TV presenter Paula Yates and her rock star lover Michael Hutchence over their spiralling drug use.

The Irish rocker claims he severed ties when the couple asked him to be godfather to their daughter Tiger Lily, and he felt compelled to decline.

But last night his account was branded absurd by Paulas former right-hand woman Gerry Agar-Fennell, who tells me that Bono actually turned down their request because of his close friendship with Paulas ex, Bob Geldof.

U2 frontman Bono has been accused of rewriting history in his new memoir, in which he describes how he abandoned his friendship with wild-living TV presenter Paula Yates and her rock star lover Michael Hutchence over their spiralling drug use

In his autobiography, Surrender, Bono writes: It should have been the greatest honour when Michael and Paula called on my wife Ali and me to ask us to be godparents to Tiger Lily

In his autobiography, Surrender, Bono writes: It should have been the greatest honour when Michael and Paula called on my wife Ali and me to ask us to be godparents to Tiger Lily.

But we were wigged out. They were in freefall, spiralling down the vortex of a recreational drug use that had become hard work for everyone

But Gerry says: Bonos trying to come across as squeaky-clean in his book  its so awful and wrong, its absolutely absurd. He says he grew uncomfortable around them because of their drug use. But I never saw that.

Gerry, who was Paulas publicist and friend, claims she was in the house when INXS frontman Michael made the call to ask Bono to be godfather, and the U2 star had said: Look, Ive got this friendship with Bob, itd tear it up if I accepted, it isnt gonna work. Im sorry, mate. She adds that just a fortnight after Bono turned down the godfather offer, he was happy to go to the South of France with the couple. They were thick as thieves, she says.

Gerry also claims the couples friends dismissed her concerns about Paula and Michaels drug use.

I was alone in trying to help them, she says. I went to all their friends to ask for help, including Bono. But they were all too busy partying, saying they loved each other.

Gerrys story comes almost 25 years after Michael took his own life in a Sydney hotel room, aged 37. Ten months later, Paula died of a heroin overdose, aged 41. Tiger Lily, now 26, lives out of the spotlight.

Bono did not respond to a request for comment last night.
She might be in a stable relationship with rock star Michael Shuman, but Lily James still seems like a hopeless romantic. The Cinderella actress commissioned her close friend, artist Hayden Kays, to produce a 15,000 hand-painted canvas with the message: The trouble with love is that it lasts forever.

I do hope her boyfriend gets the message

She might be in a stable relationship with rock star Michael Shuman, but Lily James still seems like a hopeless romantic

The Cinderella actress commissioned her close friend, artist Hayden Kays, to produce a 15,000 hand-painted canvas with the message: The trouble with love is that it lasts forever

I do hope her boyfriend gets the message

Crush of the week: Olivia Arben

I'm predicting great things for model Olivia Arben, who graces the cover of the latest edition of Portuguese Vogue.

Discovered on Facebook, Londoner Olivia, 25, isnt just a pretty face  shes also an ambassador for the British Heart Foundation and has just created a range of rock chic-style shoes and boots with celebrity favourite Terry de Havilland to raise awareness for the charity.

Shes certainly making strides, but insists her ultimate goal is to work for Versace because she says she loves its Italian, sexy, full bombshell kind of vibe.

How could they resist?

I'm predicting great things for model Olivia Arben, who graces the cover of the latest edition of Portuguese Vogue

Shes rocking the grey-haired look but Maye Musk doesnt think much of the term age-defying beauty.

The 74-year-old supermodel tells me: If people are defining you by your age, ask them if they are saying the same to men. I doubt it.

Maye, who has written an advice book called A Woman Makes A Plan, urges women to have a stylish cut if they want to go grey naturally  or risk the granny look.

She also admits hilarious memes on Twitter keep her laughing  which is handy since her tycoon son Elon now owns the site.

Shes rocking the grey-haired look but Maye Musk doesnt think much of the term age-defying beauty

I don't think climate champion King Charles will be too impressed to hear his old polo pal Geoffrey Kent waxing lyrical about the around the world by private jet trip he is on. The 80-year-old founder and boss of luxury travel firm Abercrombie & Kent is touring (and heating) the world on a 24-day 145,000 expedition, accompanied by third wife Otavia, who is 39 years his junior.
Black Panther director Ryan Coogler sat down with Ta-Nehisi Coates on Thursday to discuss the making of his new film two years after his lead actor and friend Chadwick Boseman passed away.

In the premiere 30-minute episode of the Wakanda Forever: Official Black Panther podcast, which dropped last week, the 36-year-old director recalled his final conversation with Boseman.

A few weeks after Coogler had finished writing the script for the sequel, he spoke to Chadwick for the last time.

Remembering his final days: Black Panther director Ryan Coogler sat down with Ta-Nehisi Coates on Thursday to discuss the making of his new film two years after his lead actor and friend Chadwick Boseman passed away - Coogler and Boseman pictured on February 8, 2018 in London, England at the European Premiere of Black Panther

'My last conversation with him was calling to ask if he wanted to read it before I got notes from the studio,' said Coogler.

Coogler remembered that Chadwick seemed 'tired' during their phone conversation and said he did not feel like reading the script.

Boseman asked his wife to leave the room as he was contractually obligated not to discuss the plot with anyone with a non-disclosure agreement.

The last time: The 36-year-old director recalled his final conversation with Boseman. A few weeks after Coogler had finished writing the script for the sequel, Black Panther, Coogler called Boseman 'to ask if he wanted to read it before I got notes from the studio'

He would not read it: Coogler remembered that Chadwick seemed 'tired' during their phone conversation and said he did not feel like reading the script

'Simone [Chadwick's wife] was with him and he kicked Simone out because he told her he didn't want her to hear anything that could get him in trouble with his NDA, and she didn't want to leave, so I could tell something was up,' said Coogler.

Coogler previously mentioned walking away from Hollywood after Boseman died, but he changed his mind and decided to persevere with the sequel.

The director said he coped with the loss by reflecting on their time working together, looking back at old photos and videos, and remembering their conversations.

Dearly departed: Chadwick, pictured in the first Black Panther movie, died tragically in 2020 at the age of 43 after a secret four-year battle with colon cancer

Original: Chadwick and Janeshia are pictured with Marie Mouroum, Maria Hippolyte and Michael B. Jordan in the original Black Panther film

Earlier this week, Lupita Nyong'o revealed what it was like the first day on set following the passing of her beloved co-star.

'It was hollow. It was very evident that he was missing and we were all feeling it, but also we had each other, so we were able to lean into each other, it was actually the only way to go forward I imagine was to lean into it and be there for each other,' the actress, 39, said on Good Morning America.

'It was good to be making this with a bunch of people who knew him, who had experienced his light and his love and so we could commiserate and really lean on each other,' she added.

'It has an effect on everyone around them': Lupita Nyong'o has shared stories about what it was like on the Black Panther set without Boseman

Lupita explained that all the characters in the movie were dealing with loss.

Playing the role of a grieving character helped Lupita heal the loss she was feeling personally.

'Nakia is a little bit more advanced in the stages of grief than I was, so it was therapeutic to work on this role to get through my grief,' Lupita said.

Wakanda Forever is set to release on November 11 and is expected to be one of the year's biggest draws.
Travis Barker's French Bulldog, Blue, will always be with him.

The 46-year-old Blink-182 star got a tattoo on Friday of his beloved pup who passed away earlier this week.

He tattooed Blue's face on the inside of his left thigh. He shared pictures of the new ink in an Instagram slideshow.

Always with him: Travis Barker's French Bulldog, Blue, will always be with him. The 46-year-old Blink-182 star got a tattoo on Friday of his beloved pup who passed away earlier this week

Barker captioned the social media post, 'Grateful for this tattoo @_dr_woo_ honoring my boy Blue [prayer hands].'

The tattoo artist, Doctor Woo, works with a number of celebs including Miley Cyrus and Emilia Clarke.

Barker announced the tragic news on Wednesday with another heartfelt social media post.

He tattooed Blue's face on the inside of his left thigh. He shared pictures of the new ink in an Instagram slideshow

Barker captioned the social media post, 'Grateful for this tattoo @_dr_woo_ honoring my boy Blue [prayer hands]'

Before getting tatted, a stencil was applied to the rocker's leg to ensure that the image perfectly captured Blue's likeness

The tattoo artist, Doctor Woo, works with a number of celebs including Miley Cyrus and Emilia Clarke

Frenchies typically have a life span of 1014 years and, judging by the wealth of white fur on Blue's cheeks, he appeared to live a long life in the 46-year-old pop-punk drummer's 10K-square-foot Calabasas compound.

Travis - who boasts 13.2M social media followers - wrote via Instastory: 'I'll miss you Blue. You were the best dog. I was always waiting for you to say something. Love you 4ever boy.'

Blue was primarily raised by Barker's 16-year-old daughter Alabama Luella, who posted several touching tributes to her canine companion.

RIP: Grammy nominee Travis Barker announced the death of his beloved French Bulldog Blue on Wednesday

'I love you Blue. You will never understand how much you helped me on my darkest days,' the not-so-typical teenager - who boasts 4.4M social media followers - wrote.

'You slept next to me, the way I would throw your ball and you would run with excitement, or the eyes you had that just touched everybody, I'll never forget you my baby. I know you'll have the most amazing time up in doggy heaven. Until we meet again my love'

Alabama also wrote on TikTok: 'I love you my baby. Your mommy loves you more then life could imagine. [You're] going to have the most amazing life in heaven. Until we meet again my son I love you more then life itself.'

Privileged pooch: Frenchies typically have a life span of 1014 years and, judging by the wealth of white fur on Blue's cheeks, he appeared to live a long life in the 46-year-old pop-punk drummer's 10K-square-foot Calabasas compound

Travis - who boasts 13.2M social media followers - wrote via Instastory: 'I'll miss you Blue. You were the best dog. I was always waiting for you to say something. Love you 4ever boy'

'You will never understand how much you helped me on my darkest days': Blue was primarily raised by Barker's 16-year-old daughter Alabama Luella, who posted several touching tributes to her canine companion

The Pretty Little Thing paid partner also posted a snap of herself age 8 in 2014 petting Blue and holding one of the family's other three French Bulldogs.

Alabama is Barker's youngest of three children - including son Landon, 19; and stepdaughter Atiana De La Hoya, 23 - from his on/off three-year marriage to Miss USA 1995 Shanna Moakler, which ended in 2008.

The DTA Records founder is also stepfather to his neighbor-turned-wife Kourtney Kardashian's three children - son Mason, 12; daughter Penelope, 10; and son Reign, 7 - from her on/off nine-year relationship with Talentless CEO Scott Disick, which ended in 2015.

'Until we meet again my son': The not-so-typical teenager also posted a snap of herself age 8 in 2014 petting Blue and holding one of the family's other three French Bulldogs

'My mini me': Alabama is Barker's youngest of three children - including son Landon, 19; and stepdaughter Atiana De La Hoya, 23 - from his on/off three-year marriage to Miss USA 1995 Shanna Moakler (L, pictured in 2021), which ended in 2008

Travis and the 43-year-old Poosh founder tied the knot over three wedding ceremonies - April 4, May 15, and May 22 - following a whirlwind 16-month romance.

Catch more of the Barkers' wedding and IVF baby journeys in the second season of her dismally-reviewed reality TV spin-off The Kardashians, which airs Thursdays on Hulu.

The Edging rocker reunites with his Blink-182 bandmates Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge for an 87-date World Tour 2023-2024, which kicks off March 11 in Tijuana.

'What's more American than Marilyn Monroe?' Catch more of the DTA Records founder and his neighbor-turned-wife Kourtney Kardashian's (R) wedding and IVF baby journeys in the second season of The Kardashians, which airs Thursdays on Hulu
Havana Brown touched down in Perth on Saturday ahead of her national RnB Live tour.

The Australian DJ, 37, cut a stylish figure in blue jeans and a white crop top as she headed out of the airport with her entourage.

Havana concealed her gaze behind dark sunglasses and accessorised with black heels.

DJ Havana Brown cut a stylish figure in jeans and a crop top as she touched down in Perth ahead of national RnB Live tour

She curled her long brunette locks and opted for a neutral palette of makeup for her flight.

Havana wrapped a grey jumper around her shoulders and also carried a black bag as she strolled through the airport.

The DJ completed her stylish looked with a black belt and several rings.

The Australian DJ, 37, cut a stylish figure in blue jeans and a white crop top as she headed out of the airport with her entourage

Havana's fiance Vince Deltito was also seen standing alongside her as she waited for a car to pick her up.

Havana announced her engagement to Vince in August 2015.

She previously hinted that a secret wedding may have taken place in 2018, telling Daily Mail Australia that 'it's already been'.

Havana's fiance Vince Deltito was also seen standing alongside her as she waited for a car to pick her up

Havana is touring Australia for Fridayz Live where she'll perform alongside a bevvy of rap and RnB legends including TLC, Akon, Craig David and Ashanti

Havana is touring Australia for Fridayz Live where she'll perform alongside a bevvy of rap and RnB legends including TLC, Akon, Craig David and Ashanti.

The gig, hosted by Abbie Chatfield and Fatman Scoop also features Shaggy, Jay Sean, Dru Hill, Lumidee, Macklemore and YO! Mafia.

Fatman Scoop, Macklemore and Rozonda (Chilli) Thomas - a member of TLC - were seen arriving alongside Havana.
Harry Styles canceled three of his sold-out Los Angeles concert dates just hours before he was set to take the stage at The Kia Forum in Inglewood.

The 'devastated' star, 28, revealed the news via his Instagram Story and cited an ongoing flu as the reason for the last-minute postponements.

He was scheduled to perform Saturday November 5, Sunday, November 6, and Monday, November 7, at the 70,000 seat arena. All three concerts have been rescheduled for January.

Styles was also forced to cancel Friday evening's LA show due to 'band illness,' according to a tweet published by the venue.

As part of the North American leg of his 'Love On Tour,' Styles is headlining a 15-night residency at The Kia Forum. It kicked off on October 31.

Canceled: Harry Styles canceled three of his sold-out Los Angeles concert dates just hours before he was set to take the stage at The Kia Forum in Inglewood; seen November 1

Statement: The 'devastated' star, 28, revealed the news via his Instagram Story and cited an ongoing flu as the reason for the last-minute postponements

'Towards the end of the show on Wednesday I started feeling ill and I've been in bed with the flu ever since,' Harry's statement began.

'I've been doing everything I can to be able to sing tonight, but I'm leaving the doctor now and I'm devastated that it's just not possible.'

'Until very recently I haven't had to postpone a show due to illness in the 12 years I've been touring. I'm so sorry to do it, and if there was anyway I could do the show I would.'

'I'm sorry this news is coming so close to show time, but it was my sincerest hope to be able to play for you tonight. I know several of you have planned trips to LA to see the show, and it means the absolute world to me.'

'The shows on November 5th, 6th, 7th will be postponed until January 26th, 27th, 29th 2023. Everything else will play as planned.'

'I can't wait to see you then, and I'm so sorry. All my love,' he wrote in closing. 'H.'

Friday: Styles was also forced to cancel Friday evening's LA show due to 'band illness,' according to a tweet published by the venue

This canceled slate of L.A. shows joins a canceled performance in Chicago on October 6, which was ultimately reschedule for October 10.

'Out of an abundance of caution,' read a last-minute statement from the Chicago venue, 'tonight's Harry Styles show on Thursday, October 6, 2022 at United Center has been rescheduled to Monday, October 10, 2022 due to band/crew illness.'

Even though that concert was pushed back by a mere four days, Harry's ravenous fanbase didn't take the news too well.

'This is may be the worst news I've ever gotten in my life,' lamented one fan on Twitter.

Live to sing another day: 'The shows on November 5th, 6th, 7th will be postponed until January 26th, 27th, 29th 2023,' wrote the megastar on his Instagram story. 'I can't wait to see you then, and I'm so sorry. All my love  H'

The massive undertaking of the Love On Tour appears to be finally catching up with Styles and his entourage.

As illness gradually plagued the pop star's band and now Styles himself, the megastar has been consistently churning out high-octane performances and attending Hollywood premieres.

In addition to the seven legs of his worldwide tour, Styles has launched a movie career with the recent hit Don't Worry Darling and his latest release My Policeman, which dropped on Amazon Prime over the weekend.

The 22-month-long extravaganza is set to finish in Italy next year in 2023. It has become a bonafide pop culture sensation, propelling Styles into the stratosphere.
The film stars Chris, Stranger Things' Millie Bobby Brown, and Stanley Tucci while being directed by Joe and Anthony Russo

The accident reportedly occurred after working hours in Georgia, where the movie is currently shooting

According to Deadline, a source stated that production of the upcoming Netflix film called, The Electric State, was put on pause after news of the accident

Chris Pratt shared a heartfelt message on Instagram earlier Saturday to pay a special tribute to a crew member from his latest Netflix film that passed away in an off-set car accident Friday.

The actor, 43, reposted a statement announcing the saddening loss while sending his condolences to the family and friends of 'our beloved teamster.'

The crew member had worked on set of the upcoming Netflix film, The Electric State, and following the news, production was halted.

Heartfelt tribute: Chris Pratt, 43, uploaded a tribute to the late crew member from his latest Netflix film who passed away in an off-set car accident and also sent his condolences

The Jurassic World actor reposted a statement about the tragic accident shared by directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, along with the production company, AGBO Films.

The statement read, ' The Electric State production family lost a valued production crew member yesterday.'

'We express our deepest condolences to his family and friends. We love our crew like family. And this is devastating news to all of us.'

Chris further added his own personal message, typing out, 'Our prayers go out to the family and friends of our beloved teamster who passed away Friday morning.'

Sending his condolences: In the tribute, the Jurassic World actor typed, 'Our prayers go out to the family and friends of our beloved teamster who passes away Friday morning'; seen in July in San Diego

The star further wrote, 'Reminder to hold your loved ones close,' with a red heart emoji added at the very end.

A source told Deadline earlier Friday, 'Production was paused today, and cast and crew were offered counseling resources.

The tragic accident reportedly took place in Georgia, where the movie is currently shooting. The unidentified crew member's death reportedly happened 'after working hours.'

Recently seen on set: Millie Bobby Brown, a cast member on the film, was recently spotted on set of The Electric State

Pratt and Brown were spotted on the set of the film Wednesday by DailyMail.com cameras just this past Wednesday in Georgia, with the Guardians of the Galaxy star unrecognizable as he sported a wig and a handlebar mustache.

The film is based on a graphic novel of the same name by Swedish author Simon Stalenhag.

The premise follows, 'An orphaned teenager traverses the American West with a sweet but mysterious robot and an eccentric drifter in search of her younger brother,' according to IMDB.

According to Variety, other actors that were recently added to the star-studded production include Billy Bob Thornton, Ke Huy Quan, and Giancarlo Esposito.

The science-fiction film, which is set in the 1990s, is slated to officially premiere on the popular streaming site later in 2024.
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Kim Kardashian nailed edgy glamour on Saturday night as she attended the star-studded LACMA Art+Film Gala in Los Angeles.

The 42-year-old reality TV star slipped her very slender frame into a skintight black vinyl gown with a dramatic train that pooled at her feet.

The dress had a chic mock neck line and matching vinyl gloves creating the illusion of continuous sleeves.

Edgy: Kim Kardashian nailed edgy glamour on Saturday night as she attended the star-studded LACMA Art+Film Gala in Los Angeles

Kim's bleached blonde tresses was parted down the middle and styled in beachy waves.

She kept one side of her hair swept over one shoulder while the rest cascaded down her back.

The mother-of-four strutted her stuff in a pair of black vinyl pointed-toe boots.

As for makeup, Kim achieved a sultry stare with a smokey blend of brown and black eyeshadows.

Vinyl vixen: The 42-year-old reality TV star slipped her very slender frame into a skintight black vinyl gown with a dramatic train that pooled at her feet

Blondie: Kim's bleached blonde tresses was parted down the middle and styled in beachy waves

Strut! The mother-of-four strutted her stuff in a pair of black vinyl pointed-toe boots

For some added drama, her makeup artist applied a pair of fluffy faux lashes along with a classic cateye wing.

Her already sculpted features were warmed up with bronzing powder while a baby pink blush was dusted on the apples of her cheeks.

Kim's plump pout was lined with a deep nude lip liner and topped with a pale pink lipstick.

The SKIMS founder oozed confidence as she made her way down the red carpet solo.

Confident: The SKIMS founder oozed confidence as she made her way down the red carpet solo

Sultry: As for makeup, Kim achieved a sultry stare with a smokey blend of brown and black eyeshadows

The 11th annual gala, presented by Gucci, was held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art located on LA's famed Wilshire Blvd.

According to the official press release, artist Helen Pashgian was honored. She is 'an influential pioneer of Southern California's Light and Space movement, along with trailblazing Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook.'

Academy Award-winner Leonardo DiCaprio and LACMA trustee Eva Chow co-chaired the event.

'Proceeds from the annual Art+Film Gala go toward underwriting LACMA's initiative to make film more central to the museum's curatorial programming, while also funding LACMA's broader mission,' the website reads.

'This includes exhibitions, acquisitions, and educational programming, in addition to screenings that explore the intersection of art and film.'

Drama: For some added drama, her makeup artist applied a pair of fluffy faux lashes along with a classic cateye wing

Kisses! Kim's plump pout was lined with a deep nude lip liner and topped with a pale pink lipstick
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Kim Kardashian stunned in a figure-hugging black vinyl gown at the LACMA Art + Film Gala on Saturday night in Los Angeles.

The megastar, 42, dropped jaws in her skin-tight look as her supermodel sister Kendall Jenner, 27, left little to the imagination in a sheer design of silver and black.

Not to be overshadowed by Kim and Kendall, A-list actress and director Olivia Wilde, 38, brought a much-needed pop of shimmering color and design to the exclusive event when she arrived in an embellished Chevron-cut Gucci dress with red latex gloves.

Kim Kardashian, 42, dropped jaws in her skin-tight look as her supermodel sister Kendall Jenner, 27, left little to the imagination in a sheer design of silver and black. Not to be overshadowed by Kim and Kendall, A-list actress and director Olivia Wilde, 38, brought a much-needed pop of shimmering color and design to the exclusive event when she arrived in an embellished Chevron-cut Gucci dress with red latex gloves

Kim poured herself into the skintight look that pooled at her feet, which were clad in severely pointed stilletoos.

Her atomic blonde hair cascaded down the pitch-black dress in Lolita waves and her glam for the evening was subtle and flawless.

While Kim's incredible silhouette was on display, she covered up more than her sister Kendall as the supermodel showed up in sheer gown with black pieces of fabric covering her breasts and framing her naval.

Olivia Wilde popped against the Kardashian sisters dueling black looks as she arrived in shimmering Gucci creation that featured a low-cut top and red latex gloves.

Blondie: Her atomic blonde hair cascaded down the pitch-black dress in Lolita waves and her glam for the evening was subtle and flawless

Pop: Olivia Wilde popped against the Kardashian sisters dueling black looks as she arrived in a shimmering Gucci creation that featured a low-cut top and red latex gloves

The 11th annual gala, presented by Gucci, was held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art located on LAs famed Wilshire Blvd.

According to the official press release, artist Helen Pashgian was honored. She is an influential pioneer of Southern Californias Light and Space movement, along with trailblazing Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook.

Academy Award-winner Leonardo DiCaprio and LACMA trustee Eva Chow co-chaired the event.

Proceeds from the annual Art+Film Gala go toward underwriting LACMAs initiative to make film more central to the museums curatorial programming, while also funding LACMAs broader mission, the website reads.

This includes exhibitions, acquisitions, and educational programming, in addition to screenings that explore the intersection of art and film.

Skintight: Kim poured herself into the skintight look that pooled at her feet, which were clad in severely pointed stilletoos

Sheer perfection: Kendall showed up in sheer gown with black pieces of fabric covering her breasts and framing her naval

Chevron shimmer: Chevron shimmer: Olivia Wilde commanded attention in a shimmering Gucci creation of amethyst and sparkling silver that featured a low-cut top and red latex gloves

Dazzling: Paris Hilton dazzled in a skimpy glitter cut-out gown. It showcased her toned tummy and slender legs

Paris Hilton and her husband Carter Reum made their usual splash at the A-list soiree.

The iconic heiress served up her enviable midriff and right leg for the cameras in a belly-baring gray design shimmering with stardust.

Paris's legendary blonde hair was up in a glamorous ponytail a waterfall of diamonds cascaded from each ear.

Right by her side was her new husband Carter, who looked like he was still very much besotted to be on the arm of the world-famous DJ.

Carter donned a classic black tuxedo and wore it well, making Paris proud and doing her look justice.

Lovebirds: Paris was joined by her hunky husband Carter Reum. He suited up for the evening out with the heiress in a classic black tuxedo

Plunging: Addison Rae stunned in a brown plunging dress. It was covered in sparkling rhinestones

Addison Rae made jaws drop upon her arrival at the 2022 LACMA Art + Film Gala, which was held at the famed museum in Los Angeles on Saturday night.

The 22-year-old TikTok star flaunted her ample bust in a plunging brown sheer gown covered in dazzling gemstones.

Addison oozed confidence as she showcased the daring dress' backless design that stopped just above her pert derriere.

She accessorized the racy look with a long, black beaded necklace that fell to her navel.

As she turned, onlookers learned that the necklace fell down to her ankles in the back while part of it remained tightly wrapped around her neck like a choker.

Addison's silky brunette hair was worn in loose curls.

The He's All That star let her natural beauty shine by opting for minimal glam.

Slumber party chic: Billie Eilish rocked a lacy Gucci slip dress featuring the iconic 'GG' moniker and daring thigh-high slits up each leg

Billie Eilish and her new boyfriend Jesse Rutherford made their red carpet debut during the star-studded 2022 LACMA Art+Film Gala in Los Angeles on Saturday night.

Billie, 20, and Jesse, 31, put on a bizarre display for photographers as they wrapped up together in a large Gucci blanket.

The couple eventually dropped the blanket to unveil their pajama-inspired getups, both of which were created by the Italian high-end luxury brand.

Billie rocked a lacy Gucci slip dress featuring the iconic 'GG' moniker and daring thigh-high slits up each leg.

The Ocean Eyes hitmaker let a matching, oversized rope fall into the crook of her arms.

For some added drama, Billie threw on some mesh gloves and several silver chain necklaces.

Debut: Billie Eilish and her new boyfriend Jesse Rutherford made their red carpet debut during the star-studded 2022 LACMA Art+Film Gala in Los Angeles on Saturday night

Her voluminous, raven hair was worn down and she had on a Gucci sleeping mask that doubled as a headband.

She opted for her signature grungy makeup look complete with smudged black eyeliner and a bare lip.

Meanwhile, Jesse looked comfy in a silky Gucci button-up and matching relaxed pajama pants.

The rocker had his neck tattoos on full display and wore his brunette hair in an unkempt style.

Salma Hayek left little to the imagination while walking the red carpet with her husband Francois-Henri Pinault at the 2022 LACMA Art + Film Gala in Los Angeles on Saturday.

The 56-year-old actress flaunted her ample cleavage in a dazzling green and pink ombre gown covered in sparkling rhinestones.

The curve-clinging garment belted at the waist and was lined with blush pink on the bust and hem of the skirt.

Vavoom: Salma Hayek left little to the imagination while walking the red carpet with her husband Francois-Henri Pinault at the 2022 LACMA Art + Film Gala in Los Angeles on Saturday

Instead of sleeves, the Grown Ups actress donned elbow-length gloves which perfectly matched her gown.

She offered photographers a beaming smile during her red carpet stint before smoldering for the cameras.

Hayek's plump pout was painted a berry pink shade and her curly brown hair fell in tight curls.

The Frida star walked with her husband of more than decade, Francois-Henri Pinault.

Another glamorous couple in attendance was the dapper pair of Elliot Page and Mae Martin.

Elliot donned a black tuxedo for the evening, looking sharp next to Mae in their navy blue suit.

Dashing: Elliot Page and Mae Martin were another dashing couple at the event. Elliot donned a black tuxedo for the evening, looking sharp next to Mae in their navy blue suit

Pink princess: Sydney Sweeney popped in pink as she arrived in plunging mini dress that accentuated her cleavage and covered her arms in voluminous pink roses

Sydney Sweeney popped in pink as she arrived in plunging mini dress that accentuated her cleavage and covered her arms in voluminous pink roses.

The actress Sofia Boutella looked chic in a strapless sheer gown and cropped hair while fashion model Stella Maxwell exuded severe elegance in her strapless design with a thigh-high slit.

Actress and model Laura Harrier looked gorgeous in her gray-brown gown. Sheathed in her hooded look, Laura made sure all eyes were on her.

Glamazons: The actress Sofia Boutella looked chic in a strapless sheer gown and cropped hair while fashion model Stella Maxwell exuded severe elegance in her strapless design with a thigh-high slit. Actress and model Laura Harrier looked gorgeous in her gray-brown gown, drawing every eye

Leading men: Andrew Garfield looked dapper in a blue suit with white dots while Jude Law oozed his typical charm in a milk chocolate suit. Jared Leto didn't shy away from being fashion-forward as he donned a fuchsia suit with white polka dots and black gloves

A-list leading men were in attendance and they certainly didn't disappoint.

Andrew Garfield looked dapper in a blue suit with white dots while Jude Law oozed his typical charm in a milk chocolate suit.

Jared Leto didn't shy away from being fashion-forward as he donned a fuchsia suit with white polka dots and black gloves.

Jamie Alexander exuded shimmering jet-black glamour when she arrived while Heidi Klum shed her Halloween worm costume to stun in a shimmering purple gown with a plunging neckline.

Shimmer twins: Jamie Alexander exuded shimmering jet-black glamour when she arrived while Heidi Klum shed her Halloween worm costume to stun in a shimmering purple gown with a plunging neckline

Cruella and the space explorer: Alessandra Ambrosio looked like she came from a galaxy far far away in her hooded suit with power shoulders and silver accents. Janelle Monae borrowed slightly from Cruella de Ville in a black-and-white gown that had a line of fringe across the chest

Alessandra Ambrosio embraced the future in her hooded suit with power shoulders and silver accents.

Janelle Monae borrowed slightly from Cruella de Ville in a black-and-white gown that had a line of fringe across the chest.

Sandra Oh's flower was wearable art while Kathryn Hahn kept things simple and chic in an eccentric black suit.

Carey Mulligan dripped in crystals for her show-stopping look. Minimal glam made sure the focus was on Carey's dress for the evening.

Flowers, crystals and eccentricity: Sandra Oh's flower was wearable art while Kathryn Hahn kept things simple and chic in an eccentric black suit. Carey Mulligan dripped in crystals for her show-stopping look. Minimal glam made sure the focus was on Carey's dress for the evening

Mavens of style: Julia Garner exuded power in a green-and-black gothic creation that popped with her crown of blonde curls while Jodie Turner-Smith brought back the roaring 1920s in her flapper-inspired fringe gown with matching gloves. Elizabeth Banks kept it classy in a simple black dress with a sheer skirt that embellished with black flowers

Julia Garner exuded power in a green-and-black gothic creation that popped with her crown of blonde curls.

Jodie Turner-Smith brought back the roaring 1920s in her flapper-inspired fringe gown with matching gloves.

Elizabeth Banks kept it classy in a simple black dress with a sheer skirt that embellished with black flowers.

The Italian rock band Maneskin came in psychedelic looks that played off of one another. All were black-and-white looks of patters, stripes and bohemian designs.

Bohemian black tie: The Italian rock band Maneskin came in psychedelic looks that played off of one another. All were black-and-white looks of patters, stripes and bohemian designs

Debonair: Henry Golding looked dapper as ever in a white tuxedo while Taron Egerton proved his star status in a black tuxedo jacket, white shirt and matching pants

The up-and-coming leading men rounded out the pack at LACMA.

Henry Golding looked dapper as ever in a white tuxedo while Taron Egerton proved his star status in a black tuxedo jacket, white shirt and matching pants.

Marvel star Simu Liu held his own in a simple black suit, as did in Sebastian Stan in a navy blue look.
Addison Rae made jaws drop upon her arrival at the 2022 LACMA Art+Film Gala, which was held at the famed museum in Los Angeles on Saturday night.

The 22-year-old TikTok star flaunted her ample bust in a LILY et Cie plunging brown sheer gown covered in dazzling gemstones.

Addison oozed confidence as she showcased the daring dress' backless design that stopped just above her pert derriere.

Wow! Addison Rae made jaws drop upon her arrival at the 2022 LACMA Art + Film Gala, which was held at the famed museum in Los Angeles on Saturday night

She accessorized the racy look with a long, black beaded necklace that fell to her navel from the LILY et Cie archive.

As she turned, onlookers learned that the necklace fell down to her ankles in the back while part of it remained tightly wrapped around her neck like a choker.

Addison's silky brunette hair was worn in loose curls.

The He's All That star let her natural beauty shine by opting for minimal glam.

Taking the plunge: The 22-year-old TikTok star flaunted her ample bust in a LILY et Cie plunging brown sheer gown covered in dazzling gemstones

Confident: Addison oozed confidence as she showcased the daring dress' backless design that stopped just above her pert derriere

She rocked a muted pink lip paired with a soft brown smokey eye and a light dusting off blusher on her cheeks.

The 11th annual gala, presented by Gucci, was held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art located on LA's famed Wilshire Blvd.

According to the official press release, artist Helen Pashgian was honored. She is 'an influential pioneer of Southern California's Light and Space movement, along with trailblazing Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook.'

Natural glam: The He's All That star let her natural beauty shine by opting for minimal glam

Academy Award-winner Leonardo DiCaprio and LACMA trustee Eva Chow co-chaired the event.

'Proceeds from the annual Art+Film Gala go toward underwriting LACMA's initiative to make film more central to the museum's curatorial programming, while also funding LACMA's broader mission,' the website reads.

'This includes exhibitions, acquisitions, and educational programming, in addition to screenings that explore the intersection of art and film.'
By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan and Turkiye have signed various memorandums of understanding within the business forum held in Baku on November 4, Azernews reports.

In this regard, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Azerbaijans Small and Medium Business Development Agency (SMBDA), the State Compulsory Insurance Agency, and Turkiye's CCN Group on cooperation between the government and business in the development of health infrastructure and organization of medical services in Azerbaijan.

The document was signed by SMBDA Board Chairman Orkhan Mammadov, State Compulsory Insurance Agencys Chairman Zaur Aliyev, and CCN Group Board Chairman Muran Cecen.

The document provides for further expansion of state-business cooperation experience between the two countries in the healthcare sector, implementation of Turkiyes experience in Azerbaijan, strengthening of practical cooperation in the organization of medical services based on the best world practices, as well as promoting the access of local Azerbaijani companies to new technologies, international best practices in this area.

Moreover, a memorandum of understanding was signed between SMBDA and the Turkish company SUR YAPI. The document was signed by Orkhan Mammadov and SUR YAPI LLC Director Cem HAKAN Elmas. The document reflects the exchange of projects in relevant areas, coordination between SMBs of both countries, identification of reliable partners, as well as support for the implementation of mutual investment and implementation of projects for SMBs.

The Azerbaijan-Turkiye business forum was held in Baku with the support of Azerbaijans Economy Ministry, Export and Investment Promotion Agency, and Turkiyes Foreign Economic Relations Board. The forum is attended by government officials of both countries, as well as entrepreneurs working in the food, construction, transport, logistics, industrial sectors, ICT, textile, etc.

"#Azerbaijan-#Turkey #BusinessForum is underway with the participation of Prime Minister Ali Asadov and Turkish Vice-President @fuatoktay. The unity and alliance between our countries make an important contribution to the enrichment of our economic relations and creation of joint platforms," Azerbaijan's Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov tweeted.
Sydney Sweeney looked fresh and flirty as she arrived at the LACMA Art+Film Gala in Los Angeles on Saturday Night.

The 25-year-old Euphoria star hit the red carpet in a plunging pastel pink dress and dramatic sleeves made up of fluffy fabric roses.

Sydney's mini also had a plunging neckline that drew eyes to her ample cleavage.

Fresh and flirty: Sydney Sweeney looked fresh and flirty as she arrived at the LACMA Art+Film Gala in Los Angeles on Saturday Night

She slipped on a pair of opaque pink tights that contrasted with the silver glitter platforms on her feet.

The Emmy Award nominee's dirty blonde tresses were slicked down and styled in a sleek bun.

A pair of sparkly pink studs were fastened to her ears and she rocked a glitzy silver band on one hand.

As for makeup, Sydney's icy blue eyes were lined with black eyeliner and her lids were dusted with shimmery shadows.

Pretty in pink: The 25-year-old Euphoria star hit the red carpet in a plunging pastel pink dress and dramatic sleeves made up of fluffy fabric roses

She achieved a youthful flush with a blend of pink and peach blushes while the rest of her face was warmed up with a terracotta-toned bronzing powder.

The White Lotus star's plump pout was lined with a nude beige liner and toped with a bright pink lipstick shade.

The 11th annual gala, presented by Gucci, was held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art located on LA's famed Wilshire Blvd.

Glittery: She slipped on a pair of opaque pink tights that contrasted with the silver glitter platforms on her feet

According to the official press release, artist Helen Pashgian was honored. She is 'an influential pioneer of Southern California's Light and Space movement, along with trailblazing Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook.'

Academy Award-winner Leonardo DiCaprio and LACMA trustee Eva Chow co-chaired the event.

'Proceeds from the annual Art+Film Gala go toward underwriting LACMA's initiative to make film more central to the museum's curatorial programming, while also funding LACMA's broader mission,' the website reads.

'This includes exhibitions, acquisitions, and educational programming, in addition to screenings that explore the intersection of art and film.'
Dua Lipa looked every inch the rock star on Sunday as she landed in Sydney ahead of the Australian leg of her sold out Future Nostalgia world tour.

The pop star, 27, rocked a smart-casual look in a stylish black Tokyo jumper and exercise pants.

She accessorised her getup with pink glasses and a designer black clutch with a gold buckle which she slung over her shoulder.

Dua Lipa (pictured) looked every inch the rock star on Sunday as she landed in Sydney ahead of the Australian leg of her sold out Future Nostalgia world tour

Dua exuded star power as she disembarked the plane and looked effortlessly stylish as she strutted down the stairs.

The One Kiss hitmaker had a focused expression on her face as she quickly strolled to a waiting van.

A crowd of excited fans eagerly gathered to see their pop idol in the flesh as she power-walked to her ride.

The pop star rocked a smart-casual look in a stylish black Tokyo jumper and exercise pants

The appearance comes after she confirmed that she is single after a wave of rumours she was dating pal Trevor Noah.

The pair were photographed together while enjoying a dinner earlier this month.

She explained it's 'really great just to be alone' as she set the record straight during her iHeartRadio podcast, Dua Lipa: At Your Service.

She accessorised her getup with pink glasses and a designer black clutch with a gold buckle which she slung over her shoulder

Chatting to Charli XCX on the new episode, Dua explained this was the first time in 'years' she has had the chance to be single.

'For me, this is the first year I've not been in a relationship for a very long time,' she said.

Dua ended her two year relationship with Anwar Hadid back in December 2021, which came after a five year romance with Isaac Carew.

Fans were left disappointed as Dua swiftly made her exit from the jet base and failed to acknowledge them - or their CD's - as she drove past in her hire car
They took the leaderboard's joint second place during Saturday night's Strictly Come Dancing.

So it's no wonder Helen Skelton and Kym Marsh were all smiles as they headed back to the contestants' London hotel following the show.

The Countryfile presenter, 39, kept her look simple with a grey hoodie and leather trousers, while the Coronation Street actress , 46, wrapped up warm in a cosy coat.

All smiles: Strictly's Helen Skelton, 39, (left) sported a grey jumper and leather trousers on Saturday while Kym Marsh, 46, (right) wrapped up in a fur-lined jacket as the beaming stars returned to their hotel after a succesful show

Helen opted for a pair of ruched waist and ankle joggers in leather, paired with the boxy hoodie.

She kept comfortable in dusty pink trainers, flinging a black backpack over her shoulder.

Her caramel-hued tresses were still styled from the show earlier in the evening, with a front section pulled away from her face as the rest fell into a curl.

Relaxed: Kym chose comfort for the journey in an all black look which consisted of leggings, an oversized T-shirt and black parka jacket

Pals: The star kept her brunette tresses pulled back out of her face, linking arms with pro dancer Luba Mushtuk

Looking good: Helen and partner Gorka Marquez were hoping to impress with their Jive to 'Tightrope' by Janelle Monae earlier in the evening and they did just that

While the star's radiant complexion was enhanced by a subtle makeup look, as she flashed a huge smile heading into the hotel.

Her partner Gorka Marquez was matching, as he also sported a grey crew-neck jumper and black trousers - keeping his head down as he signed off for the day.

Kym chose comfort for the journey in an all black look which consisted of leggings and an oversized T-shirt.

Keeping with the black theme were her monochrome trainers, as a longline parka jacket finished off the look.

Amazing: Shirley described Kym's performance as : 'It was by far one of the most accomplished routines I've seen you do, that was beautiful'

In sync: Helen's dance partner Gorka was matching her, as he also sported a grey crew-neck jumper and black trousers - keeping his head down as he signed off for the day

Fellow contestants: A slew of their other co-stars were snapped making their way back to the hotel, with Molly Rainford flashing her toned torso in a cropped top and straight leg blue jeans

STRICTLY COME WEEK 7 LEADERBOARD Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystal: Cha Cha Cha to 'I Can't Help Myself' (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) - 38 Helen Skelton and Gorka Marquez: Jive to 'Tightrope' by Janelle Monae - 37 Kym Marsh and Graziano Di Prima: Argentine Tango to 'Assassin's Tango' by John Powell - 37 Molly Rainford and Carlos Gu: Foxtrot to 'You Make Me Happy' by My Sun and Stars - 35 Fleur East and Vito Coppola: Waltz to 'I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues' by Elton John - 35 Ellie Simmonds and Nikita Kuzmin: Charleston to 'Too Darn Hot' by Kiss Me Kate - 33 Will Mellor and Nancy Xu: Quickstep to 'Soda Pop' by Robbie Williams featuring Michael Buble - 33 Tyler West and Dianne Buswell: Viennese Waltz to 'Ive Been Loving You Too Long' by Seal - 29 Ellie Taylor and Johannes Radebe: Rumba to 'Alone' by Heart - 22 Tony Adams and Katya Jones: Salsa to 'I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)' by Pitbull 21 Advertisement

The actress's chocolate tresses were swept away from her face, as she hauled a black holdall into the hotel.

Kym linked arms with professional dancer Luba Mushtuk while leaving, who also dressed in an all black look.

Both Helen and Kym scored an impressive 37 out of 40 points during the earlier live show, with their respective dance partners; Gorka Marquez and Graziano Di Prima.

Dressed down: Pro dancer Karen Hauer (left) and judge Motsi Mabuse (right) also turned down the glam in more off duty ensembles

But at the very top of the leaderboard was Hamza Yassin and his partner Jowita Przystal - who clocked up 38 points out of the available 40.

A slew of their other co-stars were snapped making their way back to the hotel, with Molly Rainford flashing her toned torso in a cropped top and straight leg blue jeans.

She fought off the cold in a long Nike padded jacket, adding Nike Panda Dunk trainers and a camoflauged tote bag.

Professional dancer Karen Haur stepped out of an SUV in a camel trench coat and mid-wash denim jeans, while judge Motsi Mabuse certainly dressed her look down from earlier in the evening.

She swapped the glitz for a pair of burgundy leggings and a bright pink sweatshirt, placing a nude bucket hat on her head.
Eccentric buyer Danny Wallis has become a regular staple on The Block.

The Melbourne-based IT entrepreneur snapped up three homes last year for a combined $12.25million, and he was back in 2023 with more outrageous bids.

But it seems that Danny has worn out his welcome, with many fans slamming his 'annoying' bidding style during Sunday's finale after he held up the auction while he sought 'advice' from his dog.

Eccentric buyer Danny Wallis (left) has become a regular staple on The Block. The Melbourne-based IT entrepreneur snapped up three homes last year for a combined $12.25million, and he was back in 2023 with more outrageous bids

'Do the people at #theblock know the whole 'Danny' thing takes away all and any credibility of this show?!' one person wrote on Twitter.

'How can anyone respect Danny honestly,' another asked, while one more chimed in: 'Danny suuuuuuucks'.

'OH HERE WE GO DANNY PLS STOP it's dragged out already,' another person watching wrote.

But it seems that Danny has worn out his welcome, with many fans slamming his 'annoying' bidding style

'Isn't there a law against nuisance bids? Because that Danny idiot is a prime suspect,' another viewed questioned.

'Channel Nine probably has a deal with Danny to make sure he buys something. They're probably chipping in some cash to make the show successful, otherwise no one will apply in the future,' one more said.

'And here comes Danny #theblock. The show just lost all interest to me,' someone else whined.

During Sunday's finale he held up the auction while he sought 'advice' from his dog

'I actually wish Danny was banned from #theblock (I understand he buys them but he is the most annoying person on this show),' one viewer tweeted.

'He we go.. are ready for the Danny show?' one more person complained while another said, 'F**k off. Is Danny an executive producer?'

Not everyone was unimpressed however, with a fan of the eccentric big spender writing: 'Looking forward to Danny's obscure auction bids'.
She is not afraid of showcasing her enviable frame in her stylish outfits.

And Saturday night was no different for Ashley Roberts who put on a leggy display wearing a black mini dress as she hit up a luxury London night out hotspot with her pal Janette Manrara.

The 36-year-old Pussycat Doll gave a glimpse of her slim pins as she strutted through the central London streets before heading in to French restaurant Bagatelle in Mayfair.

Leggy: Ashley Roberts put on a leggy display wearing a black mini dress as she hit up a luxury London night out hotspot with her pal Janette Manrara on Saturday night

Wearing a mini black dress skimming her thighs, the Heart FM star kept warm with a black crocodile leather blazer.

She slipped her feet into a pair of quirky blue, white and black python print heeled knee-high boots, adding some height to her stature.

Looking excited for the night ahead, Ashley wore her hair in it's signature style, with her bouncy blonde tresses framing her face perfectly with her fringe.

Excited: Friend and Strictly's It Takes Two host Janette, 38, followed closely behind in her very own all black ensemble

She threw it up into a voluminous messy bun and let her outfit and face do the talking.

Her makeup was typically flawless, with a smokey look around her eyes and a flick of nude gloss on her lips.

She held a 2,200 Balenciaga Hourglass crocodile-embossed shiny black leather bag, perfectly matching with her jacket choice of the night.

Glamorous: The 36-year-old Pussycat Doll gave a glimpse of her slim pins as she strutted through the central London streets before heading in to French restaurant Bagatelle in Mayfair

Strut: Wearing a mini black dress skimming her thighs, the Heart FM star kept warm with a black crocodile leather blazer

Friend and Strictly's It Takes Two host Janette, 38, followed closely behind in her very own all black ensemble.

She donned a pair of black leather flared trousers and a fur-panelled leather biker jacket.

On Instagram, the Strictly star revealed she wore a glimmering silver backless crop top, showcasing her taut midriff.

She wore a pair of black strappy heeled sandals and held a black zip clutch bag as she headed into Bagatelle.

All black ensemble: Janette wore a pair of black strappy heeled sandals and held a black zip clutch bag as she headed into Bagatelle

Girl's night out: Ashley slipped her feet into a pair of quirky blue, white and black python print heeled knee-high boots, adding some height to her stature

Her raven tresses were kept sleek in a straight style, while her makeup was smokey like Ashley's, also adding a pair of fluttering eyelashes.

Over on Instagram, Ashley posted a fun dance video to her 702,000 followers showing her and Janette busting a move.

Captioned 'Sister Susan gets down like that', the pair dance to a party tune ahead of their girl's night out.

Party time: Over on Instagram, Ashley posted a fun dance video to her 702,000 followers showing her and Janette busting a move ahead of their night out

Later in the evening, Ashley shared another glimpse of their evening as she, Janette and their pal Scott Ashley clinked their glasses of champagne together.

The pair have had a busy week of nights out, as on Thursday Ashley launched her Quiz fashion collection at The Maine Mayfair brasserie.

The radio presenter and the former professional dancer looked in good spirits as they joined a slew of stars celebrating the release of Ashley's new range.
Jacqueline Jossa looked sensational as she arrived at her own 30th birthday party held at The Grand Marquee in Brentwood, Essex on Saturday night.

The actress showed off her svelte waist in a black satin gown with a lace bardot bodice, in keeping with the 'glitz and glamour Hollywood-style' dress code.

She cosied up to her dapper husband Dan Osborne, 31, on the red carpet, who cut a suave figure in a black tuxedo and bow-tie at the star-studded event.

Emerging: Jacqueline Jossa looked sensational as she arrived at her own 30th birthday party held at The Grand Marquee in Brentwood, Essex on Saturday night

TOWIE's Dan was also seen with his lookalike son Teddy, nine, from a previous relationship, who wore a matching outfit as his dad.

James Argent, who previously appeared on the ITVBe reality show with Dan, dressed to impress in a crisp white blazer and shirt, which he wore with black trousers.

He wrapped up with a black shearling jacket and had styled his brown tresses into a messy do.

Jacqueline's former EastEnders co-star Shona McGarty brought the glamour as she flashed her legs in a thigh-split green dress, which she styled with a matching stole.

Cute: She cosied up to her dapper husband Dan Osborne, 31, on the red carpet, who cut a suave figure in a black tuxedo and bow-tie

Woah! The actress showed off her svelte waist in a black satin gown with a lace bardot bodice, in keeping with the 'glitz and glamour Hollywood-style' dress code

Stunning: Jacqueline never fails to put on a gorgeous display

It comes after Jacqueline and Dan posed in Christmas pyjamas with their daughters on Thursday as they got into the festive spirit early.

The couple looked every inch the doting parents for family shots with kids Ella, seven, and Mia, four.

In one sweet shot they all wore matching red sets with cute white reindeer on them as they beamed next to a Christmas tree and stockings by the fire.

Cute: The couple looked in high spirits as they posed with each other for snaps

Mini-me: TOWIE's Dan was also seen with his lookalike son Teddy, nine, from a previous relationship, who wore a matching outfit as his dad

Happy: The pair appeared to be in high spirits as they walked hand-in-hand

In another they wore black sets with fun snow slogans on while sat on a festively decorated staircase and the kids looked adorable as they smiled.

Jacqueline looked glowing in the snaps as she wore her brunette tresses in glossy waves over her shoulders and opted for a bronzed makeup look.

She penned in the caption: 'IT'S TIME FOR OUR FAMILY XMAS PJS!!! Sooo excited about these you guys know that I LOVE Christmas and we have stepped it up with the matching family pjs this year with @inthestyle.

Smart: James Argent, who previously appeared on the ITVBe reality show with Dan, dressed to impress in a crisp white blazer and shirt, which he wore with black trousers

Chilly? He wrapped up with a black shearling jacket and had styled his brown tresses into a messy do

Hot stuff:m Jacqueline's former EastEnders co-star Shona McGarty brought the glamour as she flashed her legs in a thigh-split green dress, which she styled with a matching stole

'No matter what your family set up we've got you covered!!! Adults, kids, babies and even dogs !!

'I know I've mentioned on my stories too but this year we have introduced a very special 'spend and save' option!

'We know it's tough this year for families at Xmas, but even with costs rising on fabrics and freight ITS have kept prices level to last year and we've also introduced a spend and save  which basically means the more you have to buy for the more affordable it will be for you all!'
Sabrina Elba and her husband Idris wowed onlookers upon their arrival at the 2022 LACMA Art + Film Gala held at LACMA in Los Angeles on Sunday.

The model, 33, commanded attention in a black dress featuring a gorgeous sheer cape with dazzling sequins while her actor partner, 50, wore a black tuxedo.

She accessorised her look with a pair of oversized green earrings as she posed hand-in-hand with her suave husband, who opted for a velvet dark red bow-tie.

Couple: Sabrina Elba and her husband Idris wowed onlookers upon their arrival at the 2022 LACMA Art + Film Gala held at LACMA in Los Angeles on Sunday

The Luther star, who accessorised with a blingy gold watch, shot a thumbs up towards a photographer inside before gazing into Sabrina's eyes.

The couple were joined by Marco Bizzarri, president and CEO of Gucci, for a beaming group shot within the lavish venue.

It comes after Idris revealed the hilarious moment his steamy shower romp with his wife Sabrina was brought to an abrupt end by a rogue bat.

Wow! The model, 33, commanded attention in a black dress featuring a gorgeous sheer cape with dazzling sequins while her actor partner, 50, wore a black tuxedo

Loved-up: She accessorised her look with a pair of oversized green earrings as she posed hand-in-hand with her suave husband, who opted for a velvet dark red bow-tie

Cute: The loved-up pair gazed into each other's eyes

The actor, who is set to star in the upcoming film Beast, shared the amusing anecdote from his time shooting in South Africa, admitting he is 'horrified' by the animal.

Idris, who married Sabrina in 2019, also admitted his never been able to live down his reaction to seeing the bat, and his wife still 'makes fun of him to this day'.

He told Men's Journal: 'I was shooting in Limpopo. My wife was there and we were going to have some fun in the shower.

Happy: The Luther star, who accessorised with a blingy gold watch, shot a thumbs up towards a photographer inside

Looking good: Idris and Sabrina always ensure to put their best fashion feet forward

'Some morning romance, you know? She got in, then I followed her and closed the door. But then I looked down and clinging for life to the inside shower door handle was this bat.

'A tiny, wet bat. I hate bats. It was freaky as f***. I jumped out of the shower so fast. My wife makes fun of me about it to this day  ''You left me in the shower with a bat!''

Idris went onto reveal that he first developed a fear of bats while he was in Australia in 2019.
Dianne Buswell has defended Shirley Ballas after Strictly Come Dancing fans blasted the head judge for calling her by the wrong name during Saturday's show.

The ballroom pro, 33, took to Instagram on Sunday to reveal the blunder didn't offend her while pleading with her followers to stop 'bullying' her co-star.

She wrote in full: 'Firstly thank you guys so much for all the support on our dance last night. It was a tough week but I am forever in awe of the hard work and dedication Tyler [West] brings every single week.

'She's being bullied online!' Dianne Buswell has defended Shirley Ballas after Strictly Come Dancing fans blasted the head judge for calling her by the wrong name during Saturday's show

'Another point want to address is I have seen a lot of hateful comments aimed at Shirley for simply adding an a to the end of my name which doesn't offend me, but what does make me upset is seeing someone being bullied online.

'We are all human and doing the best we can. Let's all please be kind to one another and not put each other down. Once again thank you for all your positive messages it really does mean a lot to us all.'

Dianne added in her caption: 'A friendly reminder to Please be kind guys  I dont think we realise how some comments can effect us no matter how strong we are as people.  #bekind.'

Mishap: Shirley, 62, came under fire from Strictly Come Dancing viewers on Saturday after she called the show's professional dancer Dianne by the wrong name

During the episode, Shirley came under fire from viewers on Saturday after she called the show's professional dancer Dianne by the wrong name.

Despite the pair working together on the BBC show for the past five years, Shirley, 62, used the wrong moniker while giving her critique of Dianne's dance with her celebrity partner Tyler.

While reviewing the pair's Viennese Waltz to Ive Been Loving You Too Long by Seal, Shirley called Dianne, 'Diana', prompting fans to call the show judge out on social media.

Be kind: The ballroom pro, 33, took to Instagram on Sunday to reveal the blunder didn't offend her while pleading with her followers to stop 'bullying' her co-star

Upset: Dianne added in her caption: 'A friendly reminder to Please be kind guys  I dont think we realise how some comments can effect us no matter how strong we are as people. '

Taking to Twitter, one person wrote: 'How after 5 years can Shirley insist on getting Diannes name wrong? #Strictly.'

Another viewer posted: 'How is Shirley still getting Diannes name wrong after 5 years? rude #Strictly.'

Someone else wrote to Shirley: 'FAO: Shirley Ballas. Her name is Dianne, not Diana. Kind regards, The nation. #Strictly.'

Mistake: Despite the pair working together on the show for the past five years, Shirley used the wrong moniker while giving her critique of Dianne's dance with her partner Tyler West

While another audience member at home shared: 'Her name is DIANNE, Shirley. Thats twice shes called her Diana #Strictly.'

'Why does Shirley still not know Diannes name come off it this isnt your first year nor is it Diannes,' wrote someone else.

While someone else tweeted: '@TheAntonDuBeke @bbcstrictly please tell Shirley that her name is Dianne not Diana! Every week. Its so rude! Thanks. #StrictlyComeDancing2022 #strictly #shirleyballas.'

Speaking out: While reviewing the pair's Viennese Waltz to Ive Been Loving You Too Long by Seal, Shirley called Dianne, 'Diana', prompting fans to call the show judge out on social media

One other person posted: '@bbcstrictly can Shirley Balas not get Dianes name right? Every week she calls her Diana. Surely shes been on long enough to know the professionals names by now.'

And someone else wrote: 'Shirley could at least get the professional's name right! That's twice she's called her Diana! #strictly.'

Despite her blunder, Shirley was reasonably complimentary of the pair and their dance, with Tyler and Dianne scoring 29 out of a possible 40 for their performance.

Shirley told them: 'I'll give you the two things that I really enjoyed and that was the delivery of the expression. I really enjoyed that part.

'And I think that you give Diana room to show her fluidity and her flexibility which I rather enjoy as well.

'But I don't quite think it was the most comfortable dance for you... there was too many mistakes, you know that, two or three little mistakes were in there, incorrect footwork. Too much incorrect footwork.

'I can forgive a little bit but too much incorrect footwork.'
Gigi Hadid has become the latest celebrity to leave Twitter after tech mogul Elon Musk completed his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter last week.

On Saturday, the 27-year-old supermodel informed her 76.2 million Instagram followers that she 'deactivated' her Twitter account due to 'its new leadership.'

'It's becoming more and more of a cesspool of hate & bigotry, and its not a place I want to be a part of,' she wrote on her Instagram Story.

Saying goodbye: Gigi Hadid has become the latest celebrity to leave Twitter after tech mogul Elon Musk completed his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter last week; seen last month

The five-foot-ten beauty that she is 'only sorry to the fans' that she has 'loved connecting with for a decade' on the platform.

Ultimately, she explained that she feels Twitter is no longer 'a safe place for anyone, nor a platform that will do more good than harm.'

Additionally, she shared a screenshot of a viral tweet, penned by Shannon Raj Singh, which informed her followers that 'the entire Human Rights team has been cut from the company.'

'It's becoming more and more of a cesspool of hate & bigotry, and its not a place I want to be a part of,' she wrote on her Instagram Story

Sad: Ultimately, she explained that she feels Twitter is no longer 'a safe place for anyone, nor a platform that will do more good than harm'

Despite being terminated, she said she was 'enormously proud of the work we did to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights, to protect those at-risk in global conflicts & crises including Ethiopia, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, and to defend the needs of those particularly at risk of human rights abuse by virtue of their social media presence, such as journalists & human rights defenders..'

Hadid's decision comes after Bot Sentinel, a data firm, found that Twitter may have lost over a million users since Musk bought the tech company for $44 billion, indicating that some users have been suspended by the company and others may have deactivated out of protest.

Before her departure from the microblogging site, the Vogue cover girl had over 10,536,819 followers.

Protesting: Hadid's decision comes after Bot Sentinel, a data firm, found that Twitter may have lost over a million users since Musk bought the tech company for $44 billion, indicating that some users have been suspended by the company and others may have deactivated out of protest

Now, when fans go to her former profile, all it says is 'this account doesn't exist.'

TV screenwriter Shonda Rhimes, actor Mia Farrow, as well as Madam Secretary star Tea Leoni, She Hulk actor Jameela Jamil, as well as authors and activists Shaun King and Amy Siskind have all threatened to boycott the platform.

Musk has already spurred backlash for his new verified checkmark system that will cost $8-a-month.
Lili Reinhart and Camila Mendes shared a pair of glammed-up snaps to their respective Instagram accounts on Sunday.

In the snaps, the beautiful Riverdale costars, aged 26 and 28, respectively, rocked coordinating black ensembles while posing next to each other.

'Smooch,' the Hustlers actress captioned her slideshow, promoting Armani Beauty.

Two of a kind: Lili Reinhart and Camila Mendes shared a pair of glammed-up snaps to their respective Instagram accounts on Sunday

Reinhart opted for a sleek dress and kept a jacket slung over her right shoulder.

The performer's bright blonde hair contrasted perfectly with the dark tones of her clothing.

Mendes rocked a sleeveless top that showcased her toned midsection, as well as a slightly oversized blue velvet jacket.

The actress added a bit of extra shine to her look for the day with a pair of sparkling earrings.

Stylish: Reinhart opted for a sleek dress and kept a jacket slung over her right shoulder, while Mendes rocked a sleeveless top that showcased her toned midsection, as well as a slightly oversized blue velvet jacket

Reinhart went on to share several solo snaps of herself to her Instagram account on Sunday.

The performer rocked a gorgeous blue velvet dress and a dark green jacket while she posed for the photos.

Her bright blonde hair stood out from the darker tones of her clothing during the photoshoot.

She also penned a short message in her post's caption that read: 'She's an Armani baby now.'

Reinhart and Mendes have portrayed Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge, respectively, ever since Riverdale premiered in 2017.

The series follows a set of characters based on figures from the Archie Comics series as they investigate various mysteries while dealing with the trials of high school and young adulthood.

The program features performances from an ensemble cast that includes the likes of figures such as KJ Apa, Cole Sprouse and Madelaine Petsch.

The show has run for a total of six seasons, and its seventh and final run of episodes will premiere next year.

Leading ladies: Reinhart and Mendes have portrayed Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge, respectively, ever since Riverdale premiered in 2017

Mendes previously spoke about working on Riverdale during an interview with InStyle, where she expressed that she had forged a close bond with both Reinhart and Petsch.

'They're like my sisters  we've all seen parts of each other that no one else has seen,' she stated.

The performer went on to remark that her time on the program had served to bring them closer together over the years.

Good friends: Mendes previously spoke about working on Riverdale during an interview with InStyle, where she expressed that she had forged a close bond with both Reinhart and Petsch

'It's like family  you don't choose them. Maybe these aren't people that I would've been friends with had I just met them once at a party, but we're bonded by this experience,' she said.

Mendes then stated that, although she and her castmates have had their differences in the past, although they reconciled after each argument.

'I fought with every one of these girls. We've had drama, we've had disagreements, we've cried, we've made up. We've been through a lot together and we've leaned on each other in those moments,' she said.
Two cheetahs of the eight cheetahs which have been relocated to India (Image: AP)

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday expressed happiness over all the eight cheetahs, translocated from Namibia to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park, being healthy, active and adjusting well.

He also termed as great news two of the eight cheetahs being released into an acclimatisation enclosure from the quarantine area where they were kept since translocated from Namibia mid-September.

Great news! Am told that after the mandatory quarantine, 2 cheetahs have been released to a bigger enclosure for further adaptation to the Kuno habitat. Others will be released soon, Modi said in a tweet and shared a video of the two Cheetahs from Saturday.

I'm also glad to know that all cheetahs are healthy, active and adjusting well, he said.

Kuno National Park Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Prakash Kumar Verma had said that two cheetahs were released in the larger enclosure from the quarantine zones on Saturday. The remaining six cheetahs will also be released in the (acclimatisation enclosure) in a phased manner, he had said.

The cheetahs, released in a bigger zone on Saturday, were together in the quarantine enclosure, the DFO added. The larger enclosure is an area of more than five square km, officials had earlier said.

Eventually, the eight cheetahs will be released into the wild according to plans.

The eight cheetahs -- five females and three males in the 30-66 month age group -- were released in the dedicated quarantine zones at KNP on September 17 by Modi.

The last cheetah died in India in Koriya district in present-day Chhattisgarh in 1947, and the species was declared extinct in 1952.
The health ministry is working to finalise guidelines for doing away with the bond policy based on the recommendations by NMC. (A representational image/ DC)

NEW DELHI: The Union health ministry is working to finalise guidelines to do away with the bond policy for doctors based on the National Medical Commission's recommendations in this regard, official sources said.

According to the bond policy, doctors are required to serve for a specific period in state hospitals after the completion of their undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, failing which they have to pay a penalty (amount specified beforehand by every state and union territory) to the state or medical college.

In August 2019, the Supreme Court upheld the bond policy of states and observed that certain governments impose rigid conditions. It suggested that the Centre and the then Medical Council of India should frame a uniform policy regarding the compulsory service to be rendered by doctors trained in government institutions which will be applicable across states, an official source told PTI.

In pursuance of the Supreme Court's directions, the health ministry constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Dr B D Athani, Principal Consultant, Directorate General of Health Services, in 2019 to examine the matter. The committee submitted its report in May 2020 and it was forwarded to the National Medical Commission (NMC) for comments.

The NMC furnished its comments in February 2021. It said the report does not clearly address the origin of the policies on compulsory imposition of bond conditions by the various state governments for students.

The NMC, in its comments, stated that since the promulgation of the bond policy by the various states, much has changed in medical education in the country and therefore, it may be worth reviewing the merits/effectiveness of this policy by the various states.

The NMC submitted its detailed observations. In view of its observations and notwithstanding the observations of the SC upholding the legalities related to the bond policies of the state governments, the commission was of the considered view that medical students should not be burdened with any bond conditions and doing so may run contrary to the principles of natural justice, the source said.

Further, the matter was thoroughly examined by the ministry and it was proposed that there is a need to re-examine the entire bond policy de-novo along with the views of all states, union territories and other stakeholders.

Since then, meetings have been held to deliberate on operationalisation of the uniform bond policy, including finalisation of quantum of bond, manner of enforcement and timely availability of posts in states after completion of internship etc., the source said.

There is no provision of a bond under the NMC Act, 2019 or the erstwhile Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 and regulations made thereunder. The condition of bond is imposed by the state to increase access to improved healthcare services, especially in rural areas by filling the vacant position in community health centres (CHCs) and primary health centres (PHCs).

The amount of bond is decided by the state in lieu of subsidised education being provided in the government medical colleges.

The amount of bond varies from state to state and ranges widely between Rs 5 lakh (Goa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu) and Rs 1 crore (Uttarakhand) for MBBS and up to Rs 2-2.5 crore (Kerala, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra) for PG and super-speciality.

The duration of compulsory service also varies between 1 year and 5 years.

In a meeting, it was observed that there is a consensus that there should be mandatory rural service to enhance availability of doctors in rural and remote areas with flexibility. Also, the bond could be non-financial and implemented through an administrative mechanism, the source said.

The health ministry is working to finalise guidelines for doing away with the bond policy based on the recommendations by NMC, the source added.
HYDERABAD: As a consequence of industrialist Cyrus Mistrys fatal road accident on September 4 in Maharashtra, the traffic police intends to make seat belts compulsory for rear seat passengers in four wheelers.

DCP Traffic (I) N. Prakash Reddy said that police would take up a drive to create awareness on the need for rear passengers to wear seat belts after a week, and would start penalising motorists from November 14.

A senior official of Hyderabad traffic police said cars which are not equipped with seat belts for the rear seat needed to get them fitted.

Following Cyrus Mistrys death, the Union road transport ministry had made it mandatory for all car manufacturers to install seat belts for rear passengers. Mistry was also found to be sitting in the rear seat without wearing a seat belt.

Following this, the Mumbai police last month first made it compulsory for rear passengers to wear the belts, followed by the Karnataka police. In Mumbai, 185 citizens were fined for violating the rule on the first day it was implemented. Though Telangana is following suit, its implementation remains a challenge as most motorists in the rear seats, as well as a lot of them even in the front seat, do not wear seat belts across the country.

Aditi Sharma, whose family often commutes in a car, said her family members, even in the front seats, would not wear seat belts. To stop the seat belt alarm from going off, they insert the seat belt buckle into the groove from behind the sea

She said she also knew of people who had purchased only buckles and fixed them to the groove so as to prevent the alarm. Apart from this, some older models of cars may not have seat belts installed for rear seats, she said.
Housing discrimination against non-Hindus in recent years seems to have become an all-encompassing feature of Hyderabad's social landscape. (Representational image: PTI file)

Hyderabad: Housing discrimination against non-Hindus in recent years seems to have become an all-encompassing feature of Hyderabad's social landscape, extending to upscale areas like Ameerpet and Begumpet as well as Srinagar Colony.

Several city residents refuse to rent their homes to non-Hindus, making it difficult for the latter to find suitable housing in areas of their choice. In many cases, the owners do not say outright that they do not want to rent their house to non-Hindus, but instead come up with other reasons to deny them the house. The practice is widespread in some areas.

Sadaf Hussain (name changed), a Muslim, said she was repeatedly discriminated against when looking to rent a house, allegedly because of her faith. She claimed that many owners would not directly deny her the house, but would find reasons to do so once they knew her name.

"Their tone would change after I told them my name, and then they'd give me other reasons for not giving me the house, like me not being a vegetarian or being a single woman," said Sadaf.

She encountered the discrimination in central areas such as Ameerpet and Begumpet. When she was looking to buy a flat, she ran into the same problem when the house owner's neighbour made it clear that the owner did not want to sell the house to non-Hindus.

Another city resident stated that he enquired about three separate apartments in Tarnaka and was told that non-Hindus are not permitted to rent houses in the apartments. Some areas have made this practice a policy. In response to an inquiry about houses in Srinagar Colony, a broker stated that no one in the area rents out houses to non-Hindus.

Many Twitter users have also raised the issue. According to Khadeer Zain's tweet, house owners were denying him housing after he revealed his identity. Anil V., a Christian, claims to have dealt with this problem thrice. Another Twitter user stated that when his brother enquired about renting a house in Lakdikapul, he was told flatly that no non-Hindu tenants were accepted.
Contrary to the expectations that more voters in the 18-to-40 years age group, comprising nearly half the 2.4 lakh electorate, would turn up, it was those in the 40-70 group who made it.  DC Image

HYDERABAD: The government's very many welfare schemes seem to have done the magic for the TRS in Thursdays byelection. Women, farmers and elderly voters who turned up in large numbers were openly appreciative of the schemes.

Contrary to the expectations that more voters in the 18-to-40 years age group, comprising nearly half the 2.4 lakh electorate, would turn up, it was those in the 40-70 group who made it.

Most voters, normally secretive about their choice, discarded caution and said that they had voted for the TRS and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.

"We are getting Aasara pension of Rs 2,016 from 2019. This is our livelihood. There are no middlemen. This is because of KCR," said a 70-year old woman in Narayanpur after casting her vote.

The effective delivery mechanism drew praise. "I own five acres of land. I get Rs 50,000 Rythu Bandhu every year. I also get Aasara pension besides free power for agriculture. If not for this scheme, I would have to pay Rs 2,000 for power every month," said Veeraiah, a 65-year farmer in Chandur.

M. Shilpa, a nursing student, studying in Hyderabad, was the polling agent in Chikatimamidi (booth 147). She said that she felt respect from the voters. "Congress candidate Palvai Sravanthi appreciated me for taking up the job. Police and other officials also appreciated me," she said.
HYDERABAD: The BJP is planning to hold a public meeting to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ramagundam on November 12 when he visits the town to inaugurate the Ramagundam Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited (RFCL), which has been refurbished at a cost of `6,120 crore.

State BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Saturday said that the plan was to ensure the presence of at least one lakh farmers in the meeting. Speaking to party leaders from erstwhile Adilabad, Karimnagar and Warangal districts, Sanjay said that efforts should be made to have farmers from all the 119 Assembly constituencies in the state at the meeting.

They should be informed about how the Modi government at the Centre has been ensuring availability of fertilizers at subsidized prices, despite rising costs in international markets, he said. He pointed out that the quantity of fertilizer produced at Ramagundam will meet the requirements of south India.

On the Munugode byelection, Sanjay said that TRS leaders had indulged in unbridled abuse of power, distribution of cash and liquor. However, it will be the BJP that will win, he said.

The meeting was attended, among others, by senior party leaders Soyam Bapu Rao, Etala Rajendar, G. Vivek Venkatswamy, G. Premender Reddy, Dugyala Pradeep Kumar, Dr. Gangidi Manohar Reddy and N.V.S.S. Prabhakar.
A visit by Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, whose convoy was stopped by police en route, served to increase the political temperature, as the actor-turned-politician undertook a march to the village and consoled the people whose houses were demolished. (DC Image)

VIJAYAWADA: A quaint village, with a population of 4,120 and a house count of 1,277, Ippatam in Tadepalle mandal of Guntur district is turning into a hotspot of politics after a public outcry over the demolition of houses on Friday to widen roads.

A visit by Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, whose convoy was stopped by police en route, served to increase the political temperature, as the actor-turned-politician undertook a march to the village and consoled the people whose houses were demolished.

Residents of the village, meanwhile, demanded that Pawan Kalyan fulfil his promise to donate Rs 50 lakh for the development of the village, announced on the partys formation day on March 14 at an event held in the village.

Meanwhile, officials said that no house was demolished for road widening, with only structures, such as compound walls and toilets that were encroaching on government land razed. In all, the structures of 52 houses were demolished.

Jana Sena leaders claimed a political conspiracy, alleging that the government was targeting its supporters, on whose fields the party had held its programme in March this year.

Ippatam locals S. Penchalaiah, B. Ramulu, Veeranki Baji and Brahma Reddy, said that around 15 acres were given to Jana Sena for its programme earlier this year, by three landowners.

They also said that many people voluntarily removed the structures after notices were repeatedly served in this regard since February 2022, even before the Jana Sena programme was held.

Villagers said that the road widening was in their interest, as it would serve to increase their land value. They also said that most structures were of YSRC supporters, and not of Jana Sena, as claimed by the party.

They said that while supporters of different parties get along in the village, Pawan Kalyans visit may serve to deepen their political differences and create problems among the inhabitants.
Four movies and 15 OTT releases lined up for this week
HYDERABAD: TRS working president and IT minister K.T. Rama Rao, who campaigned in a bypoll for the first time, has proved to be an 'asset' for the party in Munugode after the party lost Dubbak and Huzurabad where minister T. Harish Rao was in charge.

Rama Raos first masterstroke was his promise to 'adopt' Munugode if the people elected TRS, and ensure developmental programmes and funds on fast-track.

Soon after Munugode victory on Sunday, Rao tweeted, "As promised, will adopt the constituency & work towards expeditious progress of pending works (sic)."

The party leadership has confined him to the GHMC election campaign. He ensured a massive victory for the TRS in the 2015 GHMC polls, when the party won 99 out of 150 divisions. although its tally fell to 56 in 2020 polls, Rama Rao ensured the TRS was the single largest party and retained power with the support of the AIMIM.

The party leadership roped him to lead the party's campaign in Munugode keeping in mind the significant presence of 18 to 40-year voters who comprise nearly half of the 2.41 lakh voters. Ge held road shows covering several mandals besides holding the additional responsibility of working as incharge of Ghattuppal municipality.

He wrapped up the campaign by holding several road shows in the constituency on the last day of campaigning on November 1. With prime focus on youth, Rao dwelt deep about the state government's proposed Dandumalkapur industrial park in the constituency that would be spread over 580 acres and provide thousands of jobs to local youth. He assured the young voters that around 200 companies had agreed to set up operations in the constituency.

Rao's aggressive campaign slamming the BJP-led government at the Centre for imposing GST on handlooms also attracted weavers, who form a significant chunk of voters in the constituency.

Rao launched a postcard campaign by writing letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting a roll back of GST on handlooms. This evoked huge response with people sending lakhs of postcards ahead of the polling day.

His charge that BJP candidate Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy was sold out for Rs 18,000 crore also evoked a huge pro-TRS response. In every roadshow that he addressed, Rao asked the people to answer as to the price for which Rajgopal Reddy had sold himself.

When people answered Rs 18,000 crore, Rao made them repeat by saying "I can't hear you properly, please say loudly again".

Party insiders say that all these efforts of Rama Rao played a key role in securing the Munugode Assembly seat for TRS.
Minister K T Rama Rao with his party leaders shows victory sign after Munogodu bypoll results are announced. (DC Image)

Ten factors contributed to the TRS victory in the Munugude Assembly constituency byelection, giving it the shouting rights ahead of the state elections next year.

1. CM's 2 meetings: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao used to avoid campaigning for the bypolls but held two meetings at Munugode, the first on August 20, before the Election Commission issued the bypoll notification, and one on October 30, three days ahead of the poll.

2. TRS' Op Akarsh: As soon as Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy quit the Congress, the CM and K.T. Rama Rao executed 'Operation Akarsh,' drawing disgruntled BJP and Congress cadres to the ruling party and robbing the two parties of ground-level support.

3. Wooing beneficiaries: The TRS contacted the 3,34,994 beneficiaries of welfare schemes who had received benefits woth Rs 10,260 crore since 2014. The CM wrote letters to the beneficiaries and sought their support.

4. Double wisdom govt: TRS projected the importance of having an MLA from the ruling party to secure funds, development and welfare schemes. It convinced the electorate that Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy had not developed Munugode as Congress MLA, and would not do so now.

5. CM, KTR promises: The CM's promised launching development programmes and fulfilling pending promises within 14 days after the TRS victory. Rama Rao said he would adopt Munugode constiutency.

6. TRS strike force: The party deployed over 100 top leaders  14 ministers, 86 MLAs, a few MPs and MLCs  for village-level booth management. The CM himself was incharge of a village. There was an incharge for every 100 voters.

7. Bringing migrant voters: The TRS mobilised nearly 40,000 migrant voters residing in Hyderabad and in other states, staying in touch with them and arranging free transportation to Munugode.

8. Rajgopal 'sold out': TRS aggressively campaigned that Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy has sold out for a Rs 18,000-crore contract awarded by the BJP. "Telangana and Munugode are not for sale," the TRS said.

9. BC, ST support: The TRS reached out to BCs and STs who comprise a majority in the constituency. It announced cash transfer for Gollas, enhanced reservatios for STs.

10. Red tinge: The CM entered into strategic alliance with the Communist parties, which have a significant hold on several areas in the constituency.
For Congress, the campaign saw its state president A, Revanth Reddy stump for Palvai Sravanthi, along with several other senior party leaders.  DC Image

HYDERABAD: The residents of Munugode constituency on Saturday continued to get bombarded with pleas from political parties to vote for their candidates in the November 3 byelection. Leaders from the TRS, BJP, and the Congress, along with those from BSP, fanned out into every nook and corner of the constituency with an increased sense of urgency with just three days left for the campaign.

Even as the political parties had their leaders and cadres stomp through Munugode, the joint chief electoral officer, Ravi Kiran, toured the constituency and visited the command and control room in the collectors office.

Taking to the streets in addition to the candidates themselves, Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy from the BJP, Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy from the TRS and Palvai Sravanthi of Congress, were senior leaders from the three parties. The BJP pressed into service its general secretary and state affairs incharge Tarun Chugh who addressed a meeting of Dalits in Munugode even as the party released a fresh set of posters posing questions to the TRS. Also addressing meeting were state BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Union minister G. Kishan Reddy, Nizamabad MP Arvind Dharmapuri and campaign coordinator G. Vivek Venkatswamy.

For the TRS, in addition to several ministers including Vemula Prashant Reddy, Errabelli Dayakar Rao, Md Mahmood Ali, Gangula Kamalakar, was senior TRS leader and former MP Boinpalli Vinod Kumar, who, accompanied by leaders from the CPI and the CPM parties reached out to voters in Samsthan Narayanpur, Nampally, and Marriguda mandals. For Congress, the campaign saw its state president A, Revanth Reddy stump for Palvai Sravanthi, along with several other senior party leaders.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday hinted at the possibility of the Centre considering restoring state status to Jammu and Kashmir.

She dropped the hint while talking about the distribution of funds to the states by the Centre as per the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission.

Delivering a lecture on Centre-state relations here, Sitharaman said Prime Minister Narendra Modi without any hesitation had accepted the recommendation of 14th Finance Commission in 2014-15 that 42 per cent of all taxes-- an increase from 32 per cent till then-- should be given to the states.

Read | India rejects J&K references in new China-Pak statement

"That Finance Commission said now you raise it to 42 per cent...which means that Centre will have a lesser amount in its hand. Prime Minister Modi, without a second thought about it, fully accepted the Finance Commission and that is why today states get 42 per cent of the amount--now reduced by 41 per cent because Jammu and Kashmir is no longer a state.

"It will soon become may be sometime...," Sitharaman said in her lecture on "Cooperative Federalism: The Path Towards Atma Nirbhar Bharat" organised here by Bharatiya Vichara Kendram in memory of Sangh idealogue P Parameshwaran.

In August 2019, the central government abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, which accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated the state into Union territories.
Recent developments indicate Sangh Parivar-affiliated outfits, such as the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, are stirring out of their stupor and planning to hit the streets against the economic and agrarian policies of the BJP governments at the Centre and, in some of the states.

The most formidable challenge the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government faced on its economic policies was from Dattopant Thengadi-led Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) and other Sangh Parivar affiliated outfits. However, these outfits have been much tamer in their criticism of and holding protests against the Narendra Modi government's policies.

Insiders complain that the organisations will lose their credibility if they do not raise their voices over issues affecting the interests they seek to defend, such as those of workers and farmers. RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale's recent criticism of growing economic disparity has reawakened the dormant Sangh Parivar affiliated outfits.

Since then, the Kisan Sangh and Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) have opposed the approval the Centre's Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) granted to GM mustard's environmental release in October. Kisan Sangh is now part of a citizens' resistance platform, the Sarson Satyagraha, demanding its rollback.

The Kisan Sangh has announced a farmers' rally in the national capital on December 19 to press the government to increase financial assistance under the PM Kisan scheme and remove GST on agricultural equipment and fertilisers. At the meeting of its national executive in the national capital in early October, Kisan Sangh's leadership had agreed that the plight of farmers had worsened.

On November 22, the Kisan Sangh will hold protests in Bhopal and other districts in Madhya Pradesh, demanding the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government in the state should convene a special Assembly session to discuss agrarian issues.

The BMS will hold a rally in New Delhi on November 17 against the harassment employees of the recently privatised public sector undertakings have faced from the new ownerships. It will also demand that the government revive and reconstitute the tripartite committees for labour welfare in the unorganised sector.

However, other trade unions and farmers' outfits blame the Kisan and Mazdoor Sangh for acting as pressure valves on the behest of the BJP governments at the Centre and in states and unwilling to participate in any sustained agitation lest it contributes to BJP's electoral losses.
Walking through the vibrant streets of Bogota, Colombias capital, the place instantly felt a lot like home, Chandigarh, in my case. There is ample greenery despite tall skyscrapers, designated walking paths for pedestrians, and although the beautiful art deco buildings remind me of both Mumbai and New York, Bogota has an aura that is hard to describe with mere words.

On a whim, I try Googling the relationship between Chandigarh and Bogota, only to discover a remarkable coincidence: Le Corbusier, the Swiss-French architect who designed Chandigarh, also drew the original master plan for Bogota. The plan never saw the light of day in its entirety, but at many levels, architects refer to it as a Corbusier city. A month ago, on October 6, was the legendary architects 135th birthday, and my adventures in Colombia take me to the very rich heritage that Le Corbusier left behind, even if he isnt credited for it directly.

A Land of Promise

Le Corbusier, born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, first set foot in Bogota in June 1947, falling in love with the city almost instantly. Despite some of his previous ideas having been rejected, most notably his plan for the United Nations headquarters in New York, Le Corbusier landed in Bogota with optimism and grand plans for the city. In his travels across the city, Corbusier found the elements that defined a lot of his work: sunlight, open spaces, greenery, and abundant natural beauty.

Later, these very elements would come to define Chandigarh. But for the moment, Corbusier devoted himself to Bogota, finding it perfect for a modern makeover. And it was a serendipitous arrival. With the recent conclusion of World War II, the World Bank supported modernisation in Latin America to prevent the spread of communism. Bogota, with a population of six lakh -- almost half of Chandigarhs current population -- had started showing signs of disorder, and its mayor was ecstatic at Corbusiers arrival.

With the World Banks blessing, Town Planning Associates (TPA), a New York-based firm, was directed to lead the project, and sought submission of two design plans: the Pilot Plan, designed by Le Corbusier; and the Regulatory Plan, designed by two of his former students -- Jose Luis Sert, a Spanish architect, and Paul Lester Wiener, a German American architect. Sert and Wiener later went on to design many cities, each with a flavour of Corbusiers trademark style.

Le Corbusier was assumed to be in charge of Bogotas planning from the beginning, and in March 1949, he left for Paris with the scope, objectives, and responsibilities he needed to look into. Returning to Bogota in 1950 with the Pilot Plan, however, Corbusier lost out to the more conservative Regulatory Plan proposed by Sert and Winer. But this did not mean that Corbusiers contribution to Bogota amounted to nothing. He worked as an advisor to Sert and Winer, who themselves had drawn inspiration from their earlier work with Corbusier. In that sense, Bogota is very much a Corbusier City, even though it does not have the Swiss-French architects official stamp on it.

Today, Corbusiers mark remains in the city, not just in the form of buildings and clearly demarcated areas that resemble the well-planned sectors of Chandigarh, Indias first planned city, but also in the form of large, green spaces that were first mentioned in his Pilot Plan.

The tall skyscrapers surrounding these green patches, too, were Corbusiers brainchild. Experts say that but for Corbusiers radical plan that aimed to provide silence and peace, Bogota might have espoused the chaotic madness that is so characteristic of other Latin American capitals like Brasilia, which, too, was designed by one of Corbusiers students. Fortunately for Chandigarh, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indias first Prime Minister, shared Corbusiers vision for silence and peace, which can now be found in every corner of Chandigarh.

On the other hand, some experts felt Corbusiers plans that separated vehicles from pedestrians were too utopian and overwhelming for Bogota.

Today, this can be seen in Chandigarh, where pedestrians walk almost independently of vehicles in most places. Bogota, too, is very pedestrian-friendly, although how much of it can be attributed to Le Corbusier might never be known. Because of Corbusiers radical views of cities, just 1 out of 21 of his plans for cities ever saw the light of day. But that city vindicated him and his ideology.

Corbusiers Moment of Glory

After Indias partition, Indias first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, wanted to create a city that defined modern India. And along came Corbusier, finally getting a clean slate, quite literally, for his dream of designing a capital city. Unlike the other cities that Corbusier planned, Chandigarh did not require redesigning any part of the city or bulldozing historical elements. And so, in 1953, Chandigarh became modern Indias first planned -- incidentally at the exact spot where the Indus Valley Civilisation, one of the earliest planned civilisations in human history -- existed millennia ago.

Interestingly, Chandigarh doesnt boast of a single art deco building, unlike Bogota, even though the two can be called distant cousins. By the time Corbusier reached Chandigarh, art deco had started fading away, and a lot of it was due to Corbusiers personal distaste for art deco. Despite this, the master plans of Bogota and Chandigarh have a lot in common. For this reason, Bogota immediately feels like home, despite the agonising lack of salt in Colombian food.

But Chandigarhs creation, too, did not come without obstacles. The Le Corbusier Centre in Chandigarh, formerly the Chief Architects building and Corbusiers headquarters for Chandigarhs planning, houses several pieces of correspondence that the architect exchanged with the state ministers and bureaucrats. These letters show how Corbusier almost never got his way. The government wanted to build houses in areas that Corbusier had designated as green patches; and the buildings heights were often a point of contention between Corbusier and the state government. These exact issues had troubled Corbusier in Bogota too. Fortunately, whenever things looked down for Corbusier, a personal request to Prime Minister Nehru would find him getting his way. Not that he needed it, but Corbusiers utopian and radical plans were finally vindicated by the BBC in 2015, when they described Chandigarh as a perfect city.

Colombians have spent a considerable amount of effort researching Corbusiers contributions to Bogota. They cannot help but wonder what would have happened had Corbusier been given a free hand in planning Bogota.

Interestingly, Corbusiers influence can also be seen in the city of Medellin, which he often visited as a distraction from Bogota. In 2010, a 3-D exhibition in Bogota showed the contrast between the urban development proposal by Corbusier vis-a-vis the then city of Bogota. Aptly titled Le Corbusier in Bogota, 19471951, the exhibition drew large crowds, some of whom had no idea of Corbusiers contribution to the city.

One wonders if it is to be lamented or celebrated that the only official Corbusier City is in India. A man misunderstood by his peers as too radical, utopian, and far removed from reality, Le Corbusier left his mark across the world in many different ways and is celebrated as a visionary today.

(The writer is a management consultant and freelance writer)
After a long days work, Geeta, the primary provider for her family, returns home. Most nights, she is subject to physical and verbal abuse at the hands of her husband, who comes home drunk. Thirty years ago, the same man had attacked Geeta and her children with acid while they were sleeping in the middle of the night.

While one of Geetas three children lost her vision in the attack, her eighteen-month-old daughter, Krishna, succumbed to an infection soon after.

We spent more than three months in the hospital. I filed a case in court, but had no one to support me and my children. We were scared, and the case was not moving forward. Due to pressure from relatives, we withdrew the case soon after, says Geeta.

Read | An ineffective ban on the sale of acid

The attacker, Geetas husband, was imprisoned for four months. During this time, he contacted her and promised to change. Struggling to provide for her family, unable to pursue justice in court, and worried about the social challenges of raising her daughters alone, Geeta was forced to go back to him. She and her children continue to live with their attacker to this day.

The attack, in Madhus case, came from a man who had been stalking her for months. An undergraduate student with hopes for a bright future, Madhu was attacked with acid on her way to college one morning.

There was a sudden cold (feeling), and an instant later, the burning took over. I remember screaming and when I looked down, I saw that parts of my face had melted. I looked for help but no one came forward, I soon fainted, Madhu recalls.

Today, 25 years later, she is faced with the physical, emotional, financial and social consequences of the attack every day. While her attacker is a free man, a life sentence has been dealt to the survivor.

Madhu and Geeta are representative of the thousands of people across India who suffer the irreversible harm of acid attacks. In the past five years alone, 1,079 acid attacks were recorded in the country, according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. In 2021, 176 acid attacks were reported, along with 73 attempts to acid attack.

While the atrocious nature of the crime already makes these numbers stark, the real number is much higher. It is estimated that about 60 per cent of cases go unreported. The actual number of cases is estimated to be 1,000 annually.

Women are afraid or ashamed. We have seen many who tell us that the stove burst or it was a cooking accident, when the medical analysis actually reveals the truth  an acid attack, says Satya K, who works with Aweksha, a Bengaluru-based NGO for women.

A large number of cases involve a stalker or spurned lover. However, in recent years, acid attacks have also become more common in instances of family disputes and other disagreements. Further, while there is a clear gender dimension to the crime, in a few cases, men have also been the targets of such attacks.

Social workers also report that in many cases, acid attacks are a form of domestic violence. This adds another dimension of complexity to rehabilitation and judicial remedy. Survivors are unable to pursue legal action due to pressure from family.

Take, for example, the case of Suma (name changed). Her husband had attacked her with acid, following arguments due to jealousy and accusations of infidelity.

She arrived at a government hospitals burn ward in Bengaluru with 57 per cent burns. A social worker says, She was recovering and cooperating very well for treatment. However, we were worried about her mental health, as her in-laws were around the whole time, pressuring her to release their son from jail.

With her mental and physical health deteriorating, Suma succumbed to an infection two months after the attack. Five years later, five years too late, the attacker was given 10 years imprisonment for the attack and life imprisonment for murder.

Even in cases where judicial action is pursued, the results are dismal. The conviction rate for acid attacks has seen several lows in the past decade. In 2021, the rate fell from 71.4 per cent to 20 per cent, the lowest recorded by the NCRB so far. Further, the pendency rate of acid attack cases has been at an average of 94 per cent over the past five years. Between 2017 and 2021, only 175 people have been convicted.

Under section 326A of the Indian Penal Code, a person convicted in an acid attack case can be jailed for 10 years, which can further be extended to life imprisonment with a fine. The case also depends on how keenly it is contested. If the police takes the matter seriously and contests bail (of the accused), then there will be a more effective penalty, says former Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava.

As survivors focus on the most urgent need  emergency medical treatment, justice falls out of their reach. Practically, what happens in most cases is this: as soon as a woman is attacked, the victim and family rush to the hospital. For the next few months, they are focused on getting medical treatment. During this time, the attackers family goes to the police and uses their influence or bribes to prevent any legal action from moving forward. By the time the victims family is able to follow up, it is already of no use, says Ajay Tomar, who works with Chhanv Foundation, a non-profit for acid attack survivors in Noida.

Medical treatment

The bodily harm caused by acid attacks includes permanent scarring, deformities, nerve damage, loss of eyesight and hearing, and in severe cases, paralysis, infection and death. When the acid first touches the skin, it causes burning and irritation. Over time it corrodes the skin and causes severe deformities.

The immediate and most important first aid involves washing the acid off with water, to mitigate its corrosive effects. In practice, doctors and social workers find that people are unaware of this procedure, leading to greater and more long-term effects.

Under the National Legal Services Authoritys (NALSA) scheme, acid attack survivors are entitled to free medical treatment at all private and public hospitals.

In practice, however, survivors report being turned away by private hospitals, or being charged for treatment. Even emergency treatment is not provided free of cost. At government hospitals, they make us wait and it worsens the situation as the acid continues to eat away at the skin, says Daulat Bi Khan, an acid attack survivor and founder of Acid Attack Survivors Saahas Foundation, Mumbai.

At private hospitals, a single procedure can cost anywhere from Rs 2 to 4 lakh. In one case, even though we paid an admission fee of Rs 50,000 at a private hospital, the patient was removed from the operation theatre, and treatment was denied until the full amount was paid, says Daulat.

Further, both medical professionals and survivors point out that in cases of acid attacks, beyond emergency aid, there is a need for lifelong treatment, which runs into lakhs. Till date, Daulat herself has had 18 reconstructive surgeries.

The provision for medical treatment does not account for reconstructive surgeries, rehabilitative procedures or psychiatric treatment. At most, there are provisions in place for primary care  which focuses only on saving the patient. Survivors and their families keep having to run here and there for help, unable to afford the expenses of complete and quality treatment, says Dr Priyadarshan, a Bengaluru-based plastic and cosmetic surgeon, who has treated acid attack survivors.

Over time, the financial, social and emotional pressures continue to grow, with little to no avenues for support. Initially, the patients are ready for treatment. But over time, they begin to lose hope, the costs are high and they are all alone, he adds.

The focus of medical care and treatment rests on immediate survival. Unfortunately, the dimension of quality of life is largely missing in the approach to recovery. While NALSA provides for treatment, it clearly excludes psychological support.

Survivors go through complete devastation, but there is hardly anything provided for emotional support. We keep them alive, but do not help them live, the doctor explains.

Compensation

A 2013 directive from the Supreme Court mandated a compensation of Rs 3 lakh to be paid to the victim within three months of the incident. This covers less than 10 per cent of the treatment costs.

Further, while Rs 1 lakh is supposed to be given to survivors within 15 days of the attack, in reality, it takes an average of six to seven years for compensation to reach beneficiaries, if it does at all.

With the cost of treatment, legal fees and day-to-day expenses, the compensation barely covers a few months of recovery.

The more pertinent question is, perhaps, how do we begin to account for the lifelong impact of such an incident? How does a one-off payment address the several layers of long-term consequences that an acid attack holds for a survivor? Acid attacks are not a one-time affair. The material itself remains and continues to corrode the skin. In addition, with social stigma, surgeries every now and then, physical and emotional pain, survivors go through too much trauma, says Swati Maliwal, Chairperson, Delhi Commission for Women.

The compensation scheme fails to address this multitude of implications an acid attack survivor is left to grapple with. A majority of acid attack victims are in the age range of 18 to 22 years. In moments, the attack steals away their dreams, careers, further education and futures.

Following the incident, survivors are shunned and shamed for their deformities. They face discrimination before employers and struggle to find jobs. While some come from poor socioeconomic backgrounds, others, having been forced to discontinue their studies, lack qualifications for the careers they had previously aspired to pursue. Finding jobs and re-building their lives becomes a near impossibility.

Socio-economic support

When our entire joy and future is stolen from us, how can Rs 3 lakh cover that? Is that our worth? asks Daulat. She plans to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the upcoming week, demanding that the compensation policy be expanded to cover socio-economic support, including monthly treatment fees, caretaker fees for those who have lost their vision, and provisions for employment. The PIL will also advocate for the inclusion of men, children and transgender people in compensation and rehabilitation schemes.

Most survivors depend on NGO initiatives, like that of Daulats, to access basic amenities. Despite short bouts of national attention, legislation and the introduction of schemes, acid attack survivors are left on their own to deal with the consequences of anothers actions for a lifetime.

The compensatory mechanism is falling severely short of ensuring recovery for survivors. There is a real need for holistic rehabilitation, says Swati. This would include measures such as provision of employment, shelter, counselling, free-of-cost plastic surgeries and pension.

In the absence of such concrete rehabilitative efforts, a small number of acid attack survivors are able to get back on their feet. Government support depends on how emotionally charged the situation is and thereby fails most survivors. They are never able to recover, says Dr Priyadarshan.

Considering the thousands of cases pending to this day, the magnitude of harm, and the lack of accountability from the point of sale to the point of attack, survivors of this heinous crime continue to bear the heavy weight of a barebones system for rehabilitation and justice.
Northern Irelands five Gas Network Operators have launched their joint plan to fully decarbonise the regions gas network by 2050.

The Pathway to Net-Zero charts out how the gas network will transition away from natural gas to renewable alternatives such as Biomethane and Hydrogen to support Northern Irelands emission targets.

The injection of biomethane into the Northern Ireland gas grid is expected to commence as soon as 2023 whilst significant work is underway to accommodate green hydrogen by the middle of this decade. Fully transitioning to renewable gases will reduce regional CO emissions by around 1.4 million tonnes per annum.

Decarbonising the gas rather than changing the heating system will offer nearly 550,000 gas users an affordable transition to net-zero with minimal disruption, enabling customers to continue enjoying all the convenience and benefits of a gas heating system safe in the knowledge that the gas they use will be 100% renewable by 2050.

Welcoming the launch of the Pathway, Economy Minister Gordon Lyons MLA commented: I welcome these ambitious proposals to decarbonise the Northern Ireland Gas Network. Encouraging the production of renewable gases will create a significant source of indigenous green energy which will reduce our reliance on importing price volatile fossil fuels. This will ensure that in the delivery of self-sufficiency in affordable renewable energy, we will transform our economy, and the whole of our society will benefit from it.

The transition to using renewable gases offers the opportunity for Northern Ireland to grow its green economy by investing in indigenous renewable gas production which in turn will support economic growth and job creation across the region.

Queens University Belfast has established that there is sufficient biomethane production potential from Northern Irelands large agricultural sector to meet over 80% of the regions current gas distribution network demand. Similarly, Northern Irelands significant levels of excess wind generation can be harnessed to produce green hydrogen.

Rather than importing energy, Northern Ireland has the opportunity to take advantage of its excellent renewable gas production potential to become energy self-sufficient and, in the long term, a significant energy exporter.

Welcoming the gas networks ambitious proposals, Declan Billington, Chair of the CBI NI Energy Working Group, commented In the future Northern Irelands world leading products will be judged not just on price but also their carbon footprint. The swift incorporation of renewable gases into the gas network will be crucial to support the decarbonisation of our industrial sector and allow us to remain competitive in global markets.

Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) deputy president William Irvine said, The Gas Network Pathway to Net-Zero further recognises the significant cross sectoral benefits of biomethane injection and demonstrates the opportunity for biomethane, and the wider agricultural sector, to play a major role in Northern Irelands energy transition. We hope its publication will encourage key decision makers to make our aspirations a reality.

Welcoming the publication of the report, firmus energys, Chief Executive Niall Martindale said, The gas industry has a critical role to play in reducing carbon emissions in industry, transport and households and this plan outlines how the gas network will be decarbonised.

PICTURED ABOVE: Left to right, Niall Martindale, CEO, firmus energy; Aine Spillane, Regulatory Affairs Manager, GNI(UK); Michael McKinstry, Chief Executive, Phoenix Natural Gas; Gordon Lyons MLA, Economy Minister; Paddy Larkin, Managing Director, Mutual Energy; and David Butler, Director, SGN Natural Gas.

Moving from home heating oil to gas already provides an instant 52% carbon emission reduction and introducing biomethane and green hydrogen into the exiting network is the next step to achieve decarbonised heat for Northern Ireland. There is no need for existing gas users to upgrade their home heating systems to accept biomethane or a 20% hydrogen blend.

Renewable gas will also be good for business offering companies the opportunity to run their operations on sustainable energy. firmus energy is committed to transitioning to net zero carbon and this plan provides a platform for delivering a more sustainable future."
Samsung Galaxy S series is among the most popular Android smartphones worldwide. Earlier this year, the company revealed the Galaxy S22 Ultra, a hybrid device with the characteristics of a Galaxy S series device and a Galaxy Note device. Even in the last few months of 2022, the Galaxy S22 Ultra remains one of the best Android smartphones. However, that might change in a couple of months.

Samsung Galaxy S23 series to hit the market in February, 2023

The South Korean tech giant is gearing up to release the successor of the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the Galaxy S23 Ultra. As per a new report, Samsung will release the S23 series in February 2023, which could comprise three smartphones, including Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23 Plus, and Galaxy S23 Ultra. The Galaxy S22 series also came out in February, 2022.

The report by Chosun claims that Samsung will announce the Galaxy S23 Ultra, along with other devices in the Galaxy S23 series, in the first week of February 2023, and the release date will follow a bit later. In addition, the report also says that the company will hold a physical, in-person event in San Francisco to reveal its next flagship series.

For those catching up, the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event for Galaxy S23 series will be the first in-person event since the Galaxy S20 series came out in 2020. In 2021 and 2022, Samsung released many devices, such as the Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy S22 series, and two iterations of the Galaxy Z Fold & Flip series, but did not conduct an offline event.

Samsung to ship a majority of units with Snapdragon chipset

A report from 9To5Google says that Samsung "won't be using Exynos in a meaningful capacity on the Galaxy S23 series." For years, Samsung shipped a significant number of flagship Galaxy devices with its Exynos chipset. However, since the chipsets could not maintain parity with Snapdragon chips, Samsung seems to have decided to stick to only Snapdragon processors.

In addition, Qualcomm's CFO Akash Palkhiwala had said in an earnings call that "our [Qualcomm's] share from 75% in G S22 goes up to global share in G 23," which is another indication that all the units sold across the globe will feature Snapdragon processors.

Last month, the Galaxy S23 Ultra visited the popular benchmarking platform Geekbench. Its listing revealed that it runs on Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, a chipset yet to be released. Along with that, the S23 Ultra featured 8GB of RAM and ran on Android 13. As per the Geekbench scores, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 offers about 15% better performance than the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 but is still not close to Apple's A16 Bionic chipset. We should be getting more concrete details in the days leading up to the launch.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in.
The Indian government started kicked off 5G services in the country on October 1, with Jio, Airtel, and other telecom operators working to bring 5G plans to people. Meanwhile, smartphone brands are either gearing up to launch their 5G-supported smartphones or are busy enabling 5G capability on 5G phones already in the market. Following the governments push, the iPhone maker is also apparently activating 5G on iPhones with the forthcoming iOS 16.2 update.

Earlier this September, Apple launched its iPhone 14 series in India. Since the launch, Apple has rolled out some iOS updates, but the one it is currently working on is reportedly crucial for switching on 5G on iPhones. The Cupertino-giant is said to be working on the next iOS version, ie., iOS 16.2, and is testing the beta build with the developers and the public enrolled in the program.

The premium smartphone manufacturer has revealed to The Indian Express that its next iOS update will support 5G services in the iPhones in India. The decision comes after much pressure from the Indian government, kickstarted the plan to expedite the 5G service rollout in the country.

Furthermore, the company is expected to bring the stable version of iOS 16.2 to all supported devices in December.

In the meantime, if you want to test the 5G functionality in India, you can head over to the beta program website and enroll your device. You'll then receive the current beta on your enrolled device, and then the following week, you should get the new build which enables high-speed connections. However, one must remember that the beta is a draft version and might have bugs and things may not always work as you intend. So if you want a hassle-free experience, we suggest you wait for the stable release coming next month after major issues and bugs have been fixed.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in.
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RTE's Arts and Media Correspondent, Sinead Crowley pictured with Pauric Travers at his book launch yesterday as part of the 2022 Allingham Arts Festival in Ballyshannon.

The Book launch was followed by a Hedge School on the Civil War in Donegal chaired by Tommy Graham (History Ireland) with a panel comprising Adrian Grant, Breandan MacSuibhne and Pauric Travers.

Pauric Travers, is a native of Ballyshannon, and is a well respected historian and educator.

A graduate of the National University of Ireland and the Australian National University, he is president emeritus of St Patricks College, Drumcondra and his book, Donegal. The Irish Revolution, 1912-23 was launched yesterday at the annual Allingham Arts Festival, fittingly in Ballyshannon.

This new assessment of Donegal in the revolutionary period expands and refines our understanding of the nature of the Irish Revolution itself. While not in the vanguard of the Irish Revolution, the county was far from a disinterested bystander. Events elsewhere cast long shadows on all aspects of life, but the Donegal experience was active as well as passive.

The political events of the decade of revolution in Donegal examined in this book are set firmly in the context of the underlying social and economic background.

The experiences of the different regions in a disparate county are highlighted, as well as the conflicting loyalties of unionists, home rulers and separatists. Religion and the shadow of partition loom large.

The 240 page paperback priced at 24.95 is available in all good bookshops or online at

https://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/new-year-folder/donegal/
The Old Dundalk Society says it is delighted to announce the commencement of their Winter Lecture series. The first lecture entitled Housing and Living Conditions in Dundalk 1900-1960 will take place on Wednesday 9 November 2022 at 8.00 pm at the Louth County Museum Dundalk.

At the dawning of the twentieth century Dundalk was facing a housing crisis. Many people lived in overcrowded and insanitary conditions in courts opening on to the main thoroughfare Using maps, graphs, and tables this presentation will plot these developments. Contemporary sources, and oral history testimony will lend understanding to the impetus for change, the environment and community spirit prevailing in condemned areas, and the resistance encountered throughout the process.

The presentation will be given by local man, with long family ties to the community, Dr. Charles Flynn B.A., PhD. Charles (Charlie) obtained his degree in Music and History as a mature student at N.U.I Maynooth. Later he was granted a PhD. for his thesis Dundalk 1900-1960 - An Oral History.

Charlie has addressed the Royal Irish Academy, and various other institutes throughout Ireland, and international oral history gatherings in Rome, Italy and Cambridge University, England.

Due to the limited capacity of the venue, attendees are advised to come early. Refreshments served after lecture. Voluntary contributions at door.
Dundalk company Precision Cables Ireland has achieved Business All-Star 2022 accreditation with the All-Ireland Business Foundation.

Precision Cables is a leading supplier of quality cable products and accessories that has delivered excellence in the Irish market for more than 40 years. Through a laser focus on the customer experience, the ambitious company has earned a reputation as a trusted and knowledge focused provider that understands the importance of clients' project requirements

Today, Precision Cables is a modern and progressive leader in the cable industry spear headed by Managing Director Fergus O Callaghan and a team of over 30 professionals delivering renowned services nationwide. The company has been recognised with Business All-Star Accreditation for their contribution to quality and standards in their market.

Business All-Star Accreditation is an independently verified standard mark for indigenous businesses, based on rigorous selection criteria. The accreditation is overseen by the prestigious All-Ireland Business Foundation, whose adjudication panel is chaired by Dr Briga Hynes of the University of Limerick and Kieran Ring, CEO of the Global Institute of Logistics.

Reacting to the announcement, Precision Cables Ireland Financial Director Aideen Flynn said: The team here at Precision Cables are thrilled to receive The Business All-Star 2022 accreditation. We would like to thank the All Ireland Business Foundation for recognising our company and its achievements with this prestigious accolade.

Deputy Chair on the Adjudication Board Kieran Ring, said in support of the announcement: Precision Cables Ireland has achieved Business All-Star 2022 accreditation. This accreditation recognises the teams outstanding contribution to quality and standards in their industry. Furthermore, the AIBF would like to commend Precision Cables for their conduct in the areas of trust, performance and customer-centricity. Precision Cables Ireland is hereby included in the AIBF Register Of Irish Business Excellence.

Managing Director of the All-Ireland Business Foundation Kapil Khanna said the accreditation, which is now held by over 500 firms, is needed by the thousands of small and medium businesses which operate to their own standards but have nothing to measure them by. He said: We evaluate a companys background, trustworthiness and performance, and we speak to customers, employees and vendors. We also anonymously approach the company as a customer and report back on the experience. The business goes through at least two interviews and is scored on every part of the process against set metrics.

The All-Ireland Business Foundation (AIBF) is an autonomous national accreditation body tasked with enterprise development and the promotion of Best-in-Class in Irish business. The Foundation actively engages and supports its network through peer dialogue, collaboration, mentoring and enterprise development activities. Companies are qualified for accreditation by completing an enterprise audit and are identified by their use of the AIBFs Business All-Star Marque.
(Note: This is the third and final part of a series. Part one appeared Monday and part two appeared yesterday.)

First STEPS

Lets say we want to build the TCP/IP stack of an operating system. A traditional implementation might take 10,000 lines of code. What if you rethought the design from the ground up? What if you could make the IP packet handling code look almost identical to the RFC 791 diagram which defines IP? Thats exactly what the Viewpoints team did. This is real code in their system:

and the TCP stack is similar to the RFC 793 diagram:

Thats right; the ASCII art diagram is the code. How did they do it? Well, when you have a powerful meta-meta language-language like their IS, you can define languages in a form that reads like a traditional Backus-Naur Form (BNF) grammar representation:

With packet parsing out of the way, the implementation of their TCP algorithm is a little dense, but readable piece of code that handles the SYN, ACK, and other responses:

With this as our basis, writing a service like the Daytime Service is quite simple:

All told, the entire stack is comfortably under 200 lines of code without using any tricks like code generation wizards. The graphics subsystem is similarly clever. It basically defines everything as a polygon (including fonts, windows, etc). Its well under 500 lines of code. They have to be this compact in order to meet their goal of an entire system in under 20,000 lines.

Another interesting metaphor in the project is the use of massively parallel objects or what they refer to as particle fields, as a fundamental part of the system:

Even less in the mainstream, the particle/field idea [PF] has been found more in specialty areas (such as finite-automata and FEM, swarm programming in biology, etc.), than as a general system building tool (although it is the center of systems such as Sketchpad and TEX, and is even found in an operating system such as MUSE). Traditional object-oriented design has tended to overbalance its attention on the objects and to give too rudimentary attention to message-passing. If the center of attention were to be shifted to messaging of all kinds, then the notion of fields immediately suggests itself as a more general way to think about inter-object relationships (the previous example of ants distributing and sensing pheromones is a good metaphor of this style).

For example, this idea can be applied to text formatting where you essentially treat every letter as its own object. Programming the solution then becomes much easier. You can have simple rules where you just look out for your immediate neighboring letters and then use an extremely efficient message passing system to make your simple code work in a very efficient manner. Heres a sample demonstration from their NSF proposal:

This reminds me of ideas from emergence which is a theory that explains how a flock of birds or an ant colony can do complex things even though each individual in the system thinks simple thoughts. An individual bird is only thinking in terms of simple rules like try to follow the guy in front of you and get out of the way if something dangerous is nearby. Just these two rules alone can lead to the fantastically complicated formations that we see in the sky.

The massively parallel objects with efficient messaging metaphor leads to algorithms that are simpler in concept because you can focus on the behavior of one little object rather than have to worry about how the whole system works.

I want it now!

With the Viewpoints team only in their second year of a five year project, we can get a feel for where the future of software development is going, but we cant realistically put it into production quite yet. What are our options then?

Ted Neward likes to talk about how the next five years will be about programming languages attempting to bridge the huge disconnect between the practitioners, the guys who get stuff done, and the academics, who think about how we get things done. He says this disconnect exists because the academics and the practitioners dont talk to each other. I really think that the next five years well see significant strides towards improving the situation. If you want to jump ahead of the curve, I think its worthwhile start imagining a dream language that would help you cut along the natural joints of a problem you work on. Can you think of an expressive language like the ASCII art for parsing TCP/IP headers that is targeted for your specific problem?

Another interesting observation Ted made was that:

 programming languages, much like human languages, are expressions not just of concepts within them, but also the environment in which they were born.

That is, no language is perfect. Each language has a culture that gave birth to it which was usually focused on a particular type of problem. I often find that I put myself in too much of a language box and unfortunately am happy in that box. This led to me asking Alan Kay about the best way to cope with a design problem I had. The power to think in a highly tailored, but not necessarily general, programming language might end up being the best solution to problems we face.

If you go down this path, there are many tools and some good articles available now to help you get started writing your own custom language. If you want to be a bit more conservative, you can write an internal domain specific language inside of host languages like Ruby or C#. However, if you go down the custom route, youll benefit of doing it now rather than if you had done it 20 years ago because there are huge frameworks at your disposal like Microsofts Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR) that handle most of the goo involved in getting your own language up and running. You can leverage a lot of the libraries built on .net or the JVM so that you dont have to worry so much about supporting concerns like database access and handling XML if thats not youre primary concern. This is in contrast to a decade ago when you would have had to build all these supporting libraries just to get people to even think about your language seriously. Even a popular new language like Ruby has taken about 10-12 years to get enough libraries to make it feasible for development. By standing upon the shoulders of frameworks, you can quickly build something that is production worthy.

You can even use Phoenix, Microsofts new backend optimizing compiler for your language. That way, you dont have to worry about emitting machine code or IL. You just parse your language into a simple intermediate representation and your generated code will be produced with the same efficiency as the compiler being used for Windows 7. To get you started, the Phoenix SDK will include a LISP compiler as a sample app.

Final Thoughts

The future is already here  its not just not evenly distributed  William Gibson

The widespread adoption of virtual machines like .nets Common Language Runtime (CLR) are increasingly making it an option to use custom languages to solve particular problems. This is because your code can be easily used by more mainstream languages like C#. I think this is one of the critical reasons why Microsoft decided to include a functional language, F#, into an upcoming version of Visual Studio. Similarly, I enjoyed watching all the different ideas at the lang.net symposium because they showed the viability of the CLR for many different languages that would also integrate well with mainstream code.

I have to be honest and admit that that I dont envision myself going off and writing my own language right now, but at least Ill be looking for ways where a custom language might be a really good fit. I think I need to apply some meta level thinking by perhaps writing some of my Project Euler solutions in languages that make this easier like Scala or F# even though C# is easy for me to use.

This journey towards a Moores Law increase in expressiveness has been a bit long, but Im starting to see some practical benefits:

Im already feeling expressive differences between C# 2 and C# 3. Im starting to build on LINQs good ideas in my production code by using ideas from C++s Standard Template Library (STL) to make the simple ideas in the code clear and get rid of some of the scaffolding goo that exists. Notable areas of influence on my thinking in the .net arena have been Wintellects Power Collections and the NSTL project. Another variant on this idea is to see more of day to day challenges as graph problems and use a library like Pelis QuickGraph to solve them. The massively parallel objects metaphor made possible by highly efficient message passing has changed the way that I have thought about some of my hobby programs. Instead of focusing on rules for how a single class can orchestrate hundreds or thousands of objects, I am happily thinking of the object as a bird in a flock. The good news is that this metaphor works well and the same overall macro goal is obtained. I think this is just the start to curbing the problem Alan mentioned of [there] has been an enormous over-focus on objects and an under-focus on messaging (most so-called object oriented languages dont really use the looser coupling of messaging, but instead use the much tighter gear meshing of procedure calls  this hurts scalability and interoperability). Reflecting on the Viewpoints IS meta-meta language-language and what can be built with it has really allowed me to see more of the beauty that real computer science has to offer. Even if I cant put those ideas immediately into production code, I could start down that path with something smaller like applying the ideas of code-generation. The latter is one of the ideas that essentially made Rails so popular: its the code that you dont have to write yourself that makes it interesting.

The bad news about going down the path of meta level thinking and writing your own custom languages is that the tools are still relatively young and its a little more work than it will be ten years from now. The good news is that if you spend the time at least exploring what smart guys like Alan and Charles are doing now, youll probably have a comfortable advantage on your competitors when these ideas become mainstream. If it took object oriented programming ideas a good 25+ years to become popular, the ideas behind language oriented programming and things like massively parallel objects will probably take at least 10 years to hit wide adoption.

Real Moores Law software will have what Gordon Moore noticed about the effects of his own law on hardware: it told the industry that they [have] to move that fast or they fall behind. I think some of the ideas mentioned here might help get towards that philosophy. However, Im just a secondhand observer. The best place to get started is to look at the original sources, or at the very least, the Viewpoints project overview video.

Im interested in your thoughts. What do you think might lead to a Moores Law increase in software expressiveness? Do you think its even possible?
Seamie Heffernan was returning to the weighroom at Dundalk Stadium recently after riding yet another winner for his guvnor, Aidan OBrien.

Well done, said a punter. To which Heffernan replied, Someone has to guide them.

Yes, but when that someone is the best is this country and more than a match for the best in any other country, to say guiding them is maybe a little self-depreciating.

The horses are beautifully prepared, but still need to be kept out of trouble, ready to pounce  thats if theyre not being ridden front the front. This time Heffernan employed waiting tactics.

Londoner was the name of the horse Heffernan rode to the easiest of wins in the cards feature. Hes a 2-year-old, and though theres no shortage of precocity in this age-groups battalion at Ballydoyle, this lad could be one for the notebook.

Now well into the second half of his career, 50-year-old Heffernan was again seen to advantage the following day in Leopardstown, riding another winner for OBrien.

And he made it three winning days on-the-trot with the easiest of victories in the long-distance race at The Curragh, taking the mount on Emily Dickinson.

All of which makes it a mystery to this racegoer how Heffernan has never landed to No 1 job at Ballydoyle. Hes been in the yard since 1996, and in that time has ridden the winners of ten Irish Classics, four Derbies among them.

There have also been winners in the Epsom Oaks and Derby. It could be that those who are paying most fees have preference for other jockeys.
After a university-wide recruitment process, Eimear Faulkner from Drogheda, Co. Louth, has been appointed Student Ambassador in St Patricks Pontifical University, Maynooth.

Eimear is a former student of Our Ladys College, Greenhills, Drogheda.

Following a successful pilot programme last year, Ambassadors are a vital link for incoming students, assisting with orientation activities, providing campus tours and being on hand with advice and recommendations on how best to transition from second level into life at university. The Student Ambassadors will also assist at university events throughout the year passing on their firsthand experiences of life at St Patricks.

On her appointment, Eimear said:

From the moment you walk through the gates at St Patricks Pontifical University you feel a sense of belonging and welcome, and I very much want to extend that to this years new students. Starting my own university journey last year, I was worried about having to do this virtually. However, it is safe to say that all of the staff at the University did their utmost to ensure the warm welcome you feel on campus was transferred appropriately online.

A degree with St Patricks Pontifical University gives you the best of both worlds, studying theology on South Campus and an arts subject of your choice on North Campus with Maynooth University allows you to enjoy what both universities have to offer. For me, as I hope to have a career with An Garda Siochana it is the perfect degree to choose.

"In first year, I studied criminology and Irish alongside theology, then majoring in Irish and theology. I think this degree will really aid me in my future career as not only does theology teach you about varying faiths, and beliefs, it also teaches you morality and ethics, why people think what they do and how to appreciate that, she added.
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Now in its third year running, St. Josephs N.S celebrated mental health awareness month in style with their annual well-being week.

On Friday October 21st, the staff and students in St. Josephs N.S wore a silly scarf to school to highlight the importance of minding their mental health.

There was a collection for SOSAD, a local charity for suicide prevention on the final day. The slogan for the week was Its OK to be Different and the activities leading up to the day focused on the importance of being different, developing resilience and understanding our mental health.

Many activities were organised throughout the week, including a peer-mentoring visit from six Colaiste Ris students.

Along with their teacher Irene Lawless, the transition year students visited the school to deliver a programme to the three fifth class groups on the topics of self-esteem, bullying and substance abuse. This was a huge success for all involved.

Despite the wet start to the day, the Parents Association were exceptional helping out with the collection for SOSAD on Friday.

The parents and students were equally exceptional with their creative silly scarves and kind donations to help such a great cause. Teacher, Karol Caulfield, who organised the week said We want to remove the stigma of talking about our mental health in St. Josephs and in the wider community.

We also want to equip our pupils with the skills to help them lead happy, healthy lives.
School leavers in Louth will be able to access information on traineeships on the CAO portal.

The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Simon Harris, confirmed the news, stating it is important students are "aware of all options available to them".

Since last year, students who log onto www.cao.ie/options can view all of their options including apprenticeships and further education and training, with the latest change expanding to include traineeships.

Traineeships are schemes that combine classroom education and hands-on work experience, and are run by Education and Training Boards (ETBs) in conjunction with industry representative bodies and employers.

Minister Harris said, "Today, the CAO will open for applications. As students begin to consider their options post-school, it is important they are aware of all of the options available to them.

"Third level education is not confined to the walls of a university. Apprenticeships are third level. Post leaving cert courses are third level. Traineeships are third level.

"It is vital young people do not see one particular path as success. Success comes in different shapes and sizes."

Seven hundred and fifty further education and training courses will be available on cao.ie/options with 75 traineeship programmes available on the portal from today.

In addition, Minister Harris has confirmed further changes will be made over the next year; a new working group is to be established with a view to creating a single portal - a one stop shop - including all options on education.

This follows on from the Indecon, a review into career guidance in the Irish education and training system which found there is a need to create coherent mapping, messaging and supportive guiding, to enterprises and individuals, regarding education and training opportunities.

This would not be confined to school leavers.

The new Working Group, which is expected to meet for the first time later this month to agree Terms of Reference, will include representatives from ETBI, QQI, SOLAS, the HEA, the National Apprenticeship Office, Skillnet Ireland, the CAO, and the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, as well as the Department of Education.

The minister said, "I want to thank the CAO, SOLAS and ETBI for continuing to work together to ensure our school leavers know all of the paths they can take to get to where they need to get to in life."

He added: "Across the country over the next few months, Leaving Cert students will be considering their next steps in life. We have so many industries offering diverse and interesting careers and there are so many ways to get there.

"The education system will match your needs. We have made important changes in recent years but it is clear we still have a long way to go to change the mind-sets of people across the country."
TWO women are among the applicants for the vacant post of public executioner with the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS), but the Government, which currently has a de facto moratorium on executions, is in discussions with stakeholders to consider abolishing the death sentence.

While the death penalty is still legal, the country has not carried out executions since the hanging of Stephen Chidhumo and Edgar Masendeke in July 2005.

Sixty-six inmates are presently on death row.

Under Section 48 (2) of the Constitution, capital punishment for murder committed in aggravating circumstances is limited to males aged between 21 and 70 years.

Women are, however, exempted.

President Mnangagwa, who survived the hangmans noose on a technicality before independence for acts of sabotage, has reiterated that Zimbabwe should abolish the death penalty.

Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Permanent Secretary, Mrs Virginia Mabiza, said the majority of applicants who expressed interest in taking up the job of an executioner in the past were mainly males, with two females throwing their names in the hat.

She, however, said stakeholders were presently engaged in discussions on the way forward regarding the death penalty.

In the past, we have been overwhelmed with applications for the post of hangman, but, because of the de facto moratorium that we have had for more than a decade, it has not been necessary to employ anyone. At the moment, it (the hangmans post) is not an issue because the real discussion is centred around the abolition of the death penalty, Mrs Mabiza said, adding that ideally the post should not be a full-time job for obvious reasons.

Today, out of 195 United Nations member-states, only 55 still have the death penalty, while 15 of the 54 African countries carry out executions.

In addition, only one of the 16 Southern African Development Community (SADC) member-states, Botswana, metes out capital punishment.

Death row inmates who spoke to The Sunday Mail said they continue to experience trauma, which comes with the uncertainty of when they will be executed.

Murewa-born Benard Chiwenga (71), who was convicted of murdering a woman in 2015, said the uncertainty of when he will appear before the hangman was affecting his sanity.

I cant eat, bathe or clean my cell. I even turned violent. Whenever I hear someone touching my cell door, I scream. Even when there is cleaning going on, I begin to think that this is my last day, he said.

Another death row inmate, 41-year-old Doesmatter Vhore, who was convicted of killing four white farmers, claims he was wrongfully convicted, although overwhelming evidence was presented against him during trial.

At night, I dont sleep; if I hear the sound of footsteps or keys, I begin to think death has finally come. Some inmates who have been here for long say when your time to die has come, they (prison officers) will come to pick you up around 3am, Vhore said.

ZPCS public relations officer, Chief Superintendent Meya Khanyezi, said the institution rehabilitates all inmates without discrimination.

In a recent interview with The Herald, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi noted that the death penalty can only be abolished through an amendment of the Constitution following a referendum.

He said the motion to amend Section 48 (2) can reasonably be triggered by the representative of the people in the National Assembly after a signed petition from the public. Sunday Mail
As part of its ongoing legal and business guidance for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) through a dedicated online Business Guide, the EBRD is issuing updated material for MSMEs in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, with dedicated information for those that have been affected by the war.

The latest update to the EBRDs Moldova-focused Business Guide includes detailed guidance for Ukrainian businesses wanting to relocate to Moldova and for Moldovan businesses wanting to employ Ukrainian refugees.

The guidance provides legal and practical overviews of how to set up and operate a business in Moldova, as well as information for Moldovan employers and e-commerce firms on the employment of Ukrainian citizens.

Interactive webinars, live chat functionality, and a link to the EBRDs Know How Academy are also available on the website.

In Moldova, SMEs are a cornerstone of the local economy. According to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics, 98.6 per cent of all registered enterprises in 2020 were SMEs, generating 48 per cent of the countrys gross domestic product (GDP) and employing 60.1 per cent of Moldovan workers. However, fewer than 17 per cent of SMEs in Moldova have successfully integrated digital technology into their business activities, according to the United Nations Development Programme. The use of new technologies can catalyse further development and contribute to GDP growth.

The guide aims to strengthen the resilience of Moldovan SMEs and enable them to learn about digital trends, such as moving their business online or using BizRadar, an application developed under the guidance of Moldovas Economic Council.

To help users stay aware of the latest developments in legislation and government programmes that could benefit SMEs, the Bank has also published the first of a series of country newsletters on the website.

The EBRD Business Guide was launched in September 2021, and the Moldovan website has seen more than 37,000 users overall, of which 8,016 are high-engagement users. The vast majority of people who use the guide are located in Moldova, followed by users in Romania.

The Guide complements the work of the Banks Small Business Initiative, which aims to integrate tools that the Bank offers to support the growth of SMEs in its regions.

Angela Sax, EBRD Associate Director and Head of Moldova, said: Moldovan SMEs benefit greatly from regularly updated guidance on legislation and business development opportunities. Ensuring that they have access to the latest information is key to supporting their growth. The EBRD Business Guide allows the Bank to continue supporting the competitiveness and development of Moldovas private sector through digital resources and knowledge-sharing.

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Moldova. To date, the Bank has invested more than 1.8 billion in the country through 158 projects.
AN interactive demonstration exploring the physics of flight through circus skills will form part of a quirky event celebrating the wonders of outer space.

Space Fest is set to kick off at the National Space Centre (NSC) in Midleton from November 13 until November 20 as the facility opens its doors to the public for an inaugural celebration of space. The collaboration with Greywood Arts-an organisation developing community art projects, cultural events and educational workshops-evolved from a pilot programme last year into an eight-day space festival to mark Science Week.

The initiative is being made possible by Science Foundation Ireland who provided funding for the initiative. Each addition to the programme will allow for the exploration of space through art and science. Highlights include an astrophotography workshop, an interactive demonstration exploring the physics of flight through circus skills, and an experimental music communication workshop with the final recording sent into space.

Artistic Director of Greywood Arts, Jessica Bonenfant highlighted the importance of such events.

Art and science both begin with curiosity and experimentation in pursuit of understanding, whether we seek answers to the inner workings of the universe or about the human condition, she said.

Space inspires us to look at what lies beyond our planet, but also ultimately to look back at ourselves and our relationship to Earth. CEO at the NSC, Rory Fitzpatrick, spoke of his excitement ahead of the event.

We are living in a time where what was science fiction is now reality, he said. With missions to Mars, passenger space flights and the first Irish satellite, were seeing an interest in space we havent seen since the 1960s and the first moon walk. Space Fest is a great opportunity to capture that fascination and open the science of space to a wide and inclusive audience.

The National Space Centre (NSC) is Europes most westerly teleport and Irelands only commercial ground station. Opened as Elfordstown Earthstation in 1984, the facility celebrated ten years of operation as the NSC in 2020. Tickets for the exhibition include a tour of the National Space Centre. Tickets for all events are free of charge but online booking is essential at https://spacefest.ie
David Jacobson is a professional speaker on leadership, team building, humor and health and overcoming trauma. He is the former Chief of Social Work of the Phoenix VA where he assisted in improving their mental health system. He also is the former Social Work Manager at University Medical Center who worked with the patients and families of trauma's including the tragic shooting event in Tucson that happened at his hospital January 8th, 2011. For over 30 years David, has provided his expertise on leadership, humor and health related topics to audiences around the country and served on the Board of Directors of the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor. He has been featured internationally by various media outlets, including magazines, journals and television from London to Seoul, Korea. He is the award winning author of "7 1/2 Habits To Help You Become More Humorous, Happier & Healthier."

David Jacobson suffered many losses early in his life including a diagnosis with a severe form of arthritis at 22 in 1980. Since then, he has become a living example that you can accomplish anything if you truly believe in yourself. Through his years of struggling with chronic pain, he developed humor techniques that got him through the hard times. He now teaches these skills to audiences around the country in his keynotes and workshops which as entertaining as they are educational.

His many honors include a "President's Award" from Flashnet Marketing, Inc. , A Lifetime Achievement Award and a "National Hero Overcoming Arthritis" award by the Arthritis Foundation National Office for completing a 50 mile unicycle ride at a fund raising event and the Wayne Washburn Memorial Award which reads as follows "We all need someone or something to inspire us to bring out our best. You are that someone"

For the past twenty years, Mr. Jacobson has worked as a hospital administrator in addition to his writing, speaking career. He is currently the Director of Behavioral Health Case Management at Banner University Medical Center in Tucson.

<iframe src="https://www.gigmasters.com/requestquote?type=portable&memberId=28935" width="350" height="626" style="border:0;margin:16px;"></iframe>
Fairfield, MT (59436)

Today

Becoming partly cloudy later with any flurries or snow showers ending by noontime. High 11F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 30%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. Low near 5F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
DHL Express, the worlds leading international express service provider, has inaugurated its latest service centre at a grand opening ceremony in Hanoi, Vietnam. Located in the capitals Bac Tu Liem district, the new West Hanoi service centre is another step in the global logistics leaders ongoing commitment to facilitating global trade for Vietnam.

Representing an investment of approximately 2 million and spanning almost 2,600 square metres, the Hanoi West service centre is almost three times the size of its previous site. With sustainability at the core of DHLs business, the new service centre is equipped with an array of technologies to minimise carbon emissions and maximise operational efficiencies. These include green air-conditioning systems utilising variable refrigerant volume technology, helicopter fans and electric vehicles, DHL said in a press release.

The West Hanoi service centre is also the 100th facility in the Asia Pacific region (excluding China) to achieve TAPA A certification by the Transported Asset Protection Association.

DHL Express, the world's leading international express service provider, has inaugurated its latest service centre at a grand opening ceremony in Hanoi, Vietnam. Located in the capital's Bac Tu Liem district, the new West Hanoi service centre is another step in the global logistics leader's ongoing commitment to facilitating global trade for Vietnam.

According to the DHL Trade Growth Atlas, Vietnam will continue to be one of the top ten countries for trade volume growth in the next five years. We are optimistic that the nations exports and imports will continue to rise, including the northern region where several of the largest exporters from the technology sector are located. This new service centre in Hanoi is well-positioned to provide these businesses with the best possible access to international markets in the years ahead, Bernardo Bautista, general director and country manager, DHL Express Vietnam, said.

Security and corporate success always go hand in hand, especially in todays rapidly changing environments. In Vietnam and across more than 220 countries and territories where we operate, DHL Express treats the security of our supply chains with utmost importance. It is our competitive advantage and our top priority to ensure the safety and security of customers shipments traveling through our network, as well as of our workplaces and people, Mark Komene, senior director for operations at DHL Express Vietnam, said.

TAPA Class A is the highest level of our security standards and denotes a facility as one that offers elevated security protection. DHLs 100th TAPA A certification in Asia Pacific is a significant achievement which enhances their position as an industry leader in the international express service domain. Customers everywhere increasingly demand logistics partners to build resilience and sustainability into their networks. DHL has certainly proved that their network is safe, secure and certified by the internationally recognised TAPA Standards, Tony Lugg, TAPA certified expert and chairman of TAPA APAC, said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (GK)
Launching of the 1st Human Implantation of "DragonRing" - Catheter-based Mitral Annuloplasty Device

HANGZHOU, China, Nov. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On October 28, 2022, a multidisciplinary, and international cardiac team led by Professor Mao Chen from Department of Cardiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, successfully performed the world's first human implantation of "DragonRing", which is the first interventional transfemoral direct annuloplasty ring system innovated in China that simulates the atrioventricular annuloplasty technology from contemporary cardiac surgery. Completely and independently developed by Hangzhou Valgen Medtech Co., Ltd., DragonRing is designed to effectively treat functional mitral valve regurgitation by cinching the dilated annulus, particularly focusing on the patient population with atrial fibrillation as the primary etiology of their mitral regurgitation. Professor David Scott Lim, Director of the Advanced Cardiac Valve Center, University of Virginia, USA, Professor Azeem Latib, Section Head of Interventional Cardiology, Montefiore Medical Center, USA, and Professor Felix Kreidel, Head of the Department of Cardiology, Schleswig-Holstein University, Germany, conducted technique exchanges together with Professor Mao Chen's team through remote video conferencing.





"For atrial functional valve regurgitation, the design of the DragonRing device aims to replicate the surgical standard of care by reducing annular dilation, but in a minimally invasive way, with the advantage of allowing subsequent treatment with other interventional technologies if needed in the future. This First-in-Human experience is encouraging and we look forward to more data from the subsequent study of DragonRing," commented by Professor Scott Lim after the procedure.

DragonRing is a novel technology developed for treating valvular regurgitation. Following the successful launches of "DragonFly" (transcatheter edge-to-edge repair system) and "MitralStitch" (transcatheter artificial chordae implantation system), Valgen Medtech continues its mission in making breakthroughs of interventional structural heart treatment techniques. Valgen is building its reputation with the comprehensive concept of "a Tool Box for structural heart diseases", with additional innovative "Dragon-" series catheter-based products in its pipeline, providing more options and possible technique combinations for future clinical practice, and pushing the boundaries of interventional treatment of structural heart disease into a new era.

CONTACT: Jiamin Yu, jiamin.yu@valgenmed.com, +86-13817553929

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1939070/Valgen_Medtech.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/china-marches-into-the-era-of-interventional-direct-annuloplasty-301669564.html
A renowned Calgary, AB-based digital marketing consultancy, Awareness Strategies (403-861-4095), announces its involvement with the new digital adoption program for Canadian small businesses.

Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - November 6, 2022) - Awareness Strategies announced its position as an advisor for the Canadian Digital Adoption Program, which provides clients with an actionable plan to increase internal efficiency allied with a forward-thinking and scalable growth model. The program helps businesses reach a broader audience for their products and service.

More details can be found at https://www.awarenessstrategies.com/digital-adoption-roadmap







Canadian Digital Adoption Program Advisor Service Update By Awareness Strategies

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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The announcement outlines the scope of the program, which has been designed and developed by a team of experienced and successful marketing professionals. Harnessing state-of-the-art technology, Awareness Strategies can help clients to implement automated marketing systems that ease the burden of commercial outreach while increasing leads and conversions.

The launch of the program coincides with the latest study from Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada (ISED), which found that around 23,500 businesses were created annually between 2014 and 2018. In the same period, 21,500 businesses had to close and cease operations, indicating the challenges facing entrepreneurs in the digital age.

Awareness Strategies' Digital Adoption Program is targeted at small businesses with a revenue of between $1 million and $20 million. The company's expert consultants teach clients how to embrace emerging digital technology to find, attract, and retain new customers. With so many businesses failing to survive longer than a year, the team offers expertise in planning and harnessing digital innovation for long-term growth.

The new program helps Canadian businesses to access funding support from the 'Boost Your Business Technology' grant. This grant covers up to 90% of the cost of retaining a digital advisor up to a maximum of $15,000. Awareness Strategies can advise on effective pathways to building a stronger team and making a business more competitive.

In addition to the new Digital Adoption Roadmap, the company also offers CRM, branding and design services, and its proprietary tech blueprint - a program that analyzes dysfunctional systems and creates and implements a full suite of database integration tools and tracking features.

Co-founder Michelle Nedelec says, "Most companies will spend or waste hundreds of thousands of dollars by not having a Digital Adoption Roadmap in place. It is especially important to have a plan in place during change implementation, client onboarding, and staff onboarding."

Interested parties can find out more by visiting https://www.awarenessstrategies.com/digital-adoption-roadmap

Contact Info:

Name: Michelle Nedelec

Email: Michelle@AwarenessStrategies.com

Organization: Awareness Strategies

Address: Tuscany Ravine Rd NW, Calgary, Alberta T3L3B2, Canada

Website: https://www.awarenessstrategies.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/143196
HONG KONG, Nov. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This November, IIIF150 launched the Air1 Ultra, a new product in the Air1 Series, which is thinner, lighter and more powerful. It follows the June release of the Air1 Pro with its unique Maple color scheme, overturning people's original impression of rugged phones. In particular, its ultra-thin design makes the phone stylish and slim.





Ultra Slim

The Air1 Ultra continues the thin and light design of the Air1 series, ensuring the protective properties of the rugged phone and reasonable battery power, while making the phone an amazing 9.55mm. It is the world's thinnest rugged phone to date.

Ultra Powerful

MediaTek has launched its latest mobile processor, the Helio G99. It is based on a 6nm architecture, and has 2 ARM Cortex-A76 cores with a top speed of up to 2.2GHz, and 6 Cortex-A55 cores at up to 2.0GHz, which is the most powerful MediaTek 4G processor so far. Even though, G99 is a 4G/LTE-only chipset, MediaTek asserts that it will make for some of the highest-performing new phones with this level of connectivity.

Infinix launched the first Helio G99 phone and IIIF150 launched the first Helio G99 rugged phone - Air1 Ultra.

Ultra Smooth

Air1 Ultra is equipped with a 6.8" 120Hz FHD+ screen, which is the world's first 120Hz screen on rugged phones. It is over 460ppi, making the screen clearer and sharper. You can see clearly even in the sunlight.

Ultra Vision

Air1 Ultra has Sony triple camera system (64MP Main Camera, 32MP Front Camera and 20MP Night Vision Camera), which can cover your entire whole day 's use of shooting and recording.

Ultra Stylish

Air1 Pro stylish color Maple has impressed people a lot, so IIIF150 keeps working on its special color scheme.

This time, Air1 Ultra launched three new color schemes, Obsidian Black, Frost White and Epic Purple with a stunning new surface treatment.

Also, the breathing light of Air1 Pro is impressive. Air1 Ultra upgraded it to 4 custom color lights, what's more, it added rhythm light which can flash to the rhythm of the music.

More Specifications

Infrared thermometer: Measure the temperature of the human body, object, or environment.

Measure the temperature of the human body, object, or environment. Android 12 and IP68/IP69K/STD-810H

33W Fast Charging + 5000mAh Battery

Reference: IIIF150 Air1 Ultra

Official Website: www.iiif150.com

Official Store AliExpress: https://iiif150.aliexpress.com/store/912639229

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1937455/IIIF150_Air1_Ultra_Will_It_Be_The_Best_Rugged_Phone_In.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/iiif150-air1-ultra---will-it-be-the-best-rugged-phone-in-2022-301669000.html
Dubai, United Arab Emirates--(Newsfile Corp. - November 6, 2022) - LBank announces receipt of the award for 'Outstanding Contribution to Crypto Adoption in Africa' at Fintech Nigeria 2022. Excitement for Africa's biggest Fintech event as LBank kicked off a momentous week at the Nigerian event with its distinct community members.

The event exhibited by LBank and other crypto companies took place in Lagos on Tuesday, 24th, through Friday, 28rd October, and saw thousands of Web3 builders in attendance.

In addition, over 500 of the industry's prominent and prolific founders shared their insights via speeches, workshops, and board discussions.





Image 1

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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The Nigerian Fintech event attained new levels with its number of attendees, becoming the country's most important tech networking event. "Every year, I always attend Fintech Nigeria, but this year is bigger with a refreshing notion that appeals to the current tech industry's mindset," said a member from LBank.

The exclusive event nurtured quality and lasting relationships for all sectors, from VCs and blockchain innovators to new tech enthusiasts. LBank exhibited and connected with like-minded professionals, marketers, partners, blockchain projects, crypto experts, and much more.

Additionally, LBank maximized the spacious expo floor to showcase its exclusive offers and bonuses. "Fintech Nigeria is the best opportunity to showcase our services to Nigerians and share our amazing plans with them," said Abhinav Mehta, LBank's Head of Marketing.

In recognition of its outstanding contribution to crypto adoption in Africa, LBank received a special award. The top cryptocurrency exchange was decorated with the award for its "Outstanding Contribution to Crypto Adoption in Africa."

To wrap up the event, LBank hosted an exclusive event for its members with thrilling activities.

Beyond these fun activities, the After Party which was hosted on the 27th of October at Shores VI Lagos had many dignitaries in attendance and the team discussed more possible collaborations and partnerships.

The party had Abhinav Mehta, the Head of Marketing of LBank in attendance where he met and expressed his delight with the Crypto community in Nigeria. Some other dignitaries including the Founder of Farmchain Finance, Stanley; Sarah Idahosa, Founder of Women in Defi, and many others also graced the event.

About LBank

LBank is a top cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2015 for buying, selling, receiving, and storing Bitcoin and other digital currencies. It provides its 7 million + users with a secure trading platform and the lowest transaction fees.

The platform supports more than 800+ trading pairs and 149+ fiat currencies. It offers services around crypto trading, specialized financial derivatives, and professional asset management services.

Start trading now: lbank.com

Community and social media:

l Telegram l Twitter l Facebook l LinkedIn l Instagram l YouTube

Contact Details:

LBK Blockchain Co. Limited

Downtown, Dubai marketing@lbank.info

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/143134
On November 2, 2022, when attending the "Global Insight into Enterprises under the Central Government" event, delivering a keynote speech, sharing and exchanging with foreign diplomatic envoys to China his perceptions and thoughts on studying the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress, Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng noted that Chinese modernization, rooted in China and embracing the world, is both an intellectual property unique to China and an open-source code shared by the world.

Xie Feng said that China is working to achieve modernization for more than 1.4 billion people, a number larger than the combined population of all developed countries in the world today. With 9 percent of the world's arable land and 6 percent freshwater resources, we need to feed nearly 20 percent of the world's population, and there is no existing model for us to copy. We will, as always, bear China's realities in mind as we address issues, make decisions, and take actions. We will stay patient in advancing the course of history and take steady and incremental steps to sustain progress.

Xie Feng said that common prosperity represents the great dream of the Chinese nation, and relates to the daily life of every family. Now the average reliability of power supply in China's countryside reaches 99 percent, and what is behind is the input in electricity infrastructure facilities even in some places where "costs may not be recouped for 100 years." We have the world's largest network of high-speed railways, and in some of China's underdeveloped areas, areas inhabited by ethnic minority groups, and revolutionary bases with limited transportation access, we have kept more than 80 "slow trains" - still in operation today as public services - on a routine basis, renowned by the people living there as trains for going to market, school and a better life. These trains will continue to usher the people towards a happier life.

Xie Feng said that we have established the world's biggest education, social security, and medical health systems, and the average life expectancy has increased to 78.2 years. In the past, 400 million people did not have adequate food, while today 1.4 billion people have high-quality and healthy food. We have solved the historical issue of "who feeds China". We have actively developed a whole-process people's democracy. The most prominent feature of whole-process people's democracy is that it integrates process-oriented democracy with results-oriented democracy, procedural democracy with substantive democracy, direct democracy with indirect democracy, and people's democracy with the will of the state. It is a democracy to the broadest extent, of the truest nature, and to the greatest effect possible. Smears by some people in the world of China's institution and practice being "authoritarianism" is completely groundless. If the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government were so-called "autocratic", how could they get long-term support from more than 90 percent of the Chinese people?

Xie Feng said that we adhere to sustainable development, and we protect the Nature and preserve the environment like we protect our eyes. Over the past 10 years, the Chinese people have made great efforts and sacrifices for improving the ecological environment and made remarkable contributions to the global cause of the ecological environment, protecting the environment even if our economic growth has slowed down. China will spend only 30 years achieving carbon emission peak and carbon neutrality which takes most developed countries 50 to 70 years, and China will realize the endeavor with the shortest time in global history. This fully demonstrates a solemn pledge made by a responsible major country to the international community.

Xie Feng said that China is the only country in the world that has pledged to "keep to a path of peaceful development" in its Constitution, the only one among the five Nuclear-Weapon States that has pledged no first use of nuclear weapons, and the largest troop contributor to peacekeeping operations among the five permanent members of the Security Council and the second largest contributor to UN peacekeeping assessments. China surpasses most countries in the number of neighboring countries, the length of the land border, and the complexity of the border situation. We adhere to settling disputes through dialogue and negotiation, and pursue a defensive national defense policy. However strong it may grow, China will never seek hegemony or expansion. China's development strengthens the world's forces for peace.




At the invitation of President Xi Jinping of the Peoples Republic of China, President Samia Suluhu Hassan of the United Republic of Tanzania paid a state visit to the Peoples Republic of China starting from 2 November 2022.

On 3 November, President Xi Jinping held talks with President Samia Suluhu Hassan. The two heads of state had an in-depth exchange of views on China-Tanzania relations, China-Africa relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest, and reached a series of important understandings. Premier of the State Council Li Keqiang and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress Li Zhanshu had separate meetings with President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

The two Presidents spoke highly of the traditional friendship between the Peoples Republic of China and the United Republic of Tanzania (hereinafter referred to as the two sides) and noted with satisfaction the fruitful outcomes of China-Tanzania relations and their friendly cooperation in the past 58 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations. To further develop the bilateral relations and advance cooperation across the board, the two Presidents announced the elevation of the bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership.

I. The two sides agreed to further leverage the political guiding role of head-of-state diplomacy, maintain the momentum of high-level interactions and dialogues, continue to deepen traditional friendship and political mutual trust, strengthen strategic coordination, share experience on governance, and enhance exchanges and cooperation between their central and local governments, legislatures and political parties at all levels.

II. The Tanzanian side congratulated China on the successful convening of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), applauded Chinas historic achievements and transformation in its various endeavours under the leadership of the CPC, and expressed support for China in building a great modern socialist country in all respects. The Chinese side commended the government of Tanzania for the important achievements in its endeavours of national development under the leadership of President Samia Suluhu Hassan and wished the upcoming 12th National Congress of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi of Tanzania a full success.

III. The two sides pledged to continue supporting each other on issues involving sovereignty, territorial integrity and other core interests and major concerns. The Tanzanian side reaffirmed its firm commitment to the one-China principle, regards Taiwan as an inalienable part of China, and opposes any actions or remarks that undermine Chinas sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Chinese side expressed firm support for Tanzania in exploring independently a development path suited to its national conditions.

IV. The two sides agreed to continue elevating their two-way trade and further expand the trade volume. The Chinese side agreed to provide duty-free treatment of 98% tariff lines goods originating from Tanzania exported to China and will actively explore the possibility of providing market access to more Tanzanian products.

V. The two sides will implement the Memorandum of Understanding Between the Peoples Republic of China and the United Republic of Tanzania on Jointly Promoting the Building of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road and deepen high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. The two sides are ready to actively advance the upgrade and renovation of the TAZARA Railway. The two sides agreed to expand investment cooperation. The Chinese side will encourage more Chinese companies to invest in Tanzania and participate in the development of railways, roads, ports, aviation, electricity and information and communications and other infrastructure. The Tanzanian side will further improve its business environment and provide facilitation for Chinese companies to operate in Tanzania. The Chinese side will facilitate Tanzania business people to trade smoothly with China.

VI. The two sides agreed to promote industrial complementarity and production capacity cooperation, with a focus on expanding mutually beneficial cooperation in such areas as energy and mineral development, processing and manufacturing, green development and digital economy, and support Tanzania in moving faster towards industrialization and modernization.

VII. The two sides spoke highly of their cooperation gains in such areas as culture, tourism, education, public health, pandemic response, sports, youth, think tanks and media, and agreed to further expand people-to-people and cultural exchanges. The two sides will provide facilitation for holding tourism promotion activities in each others country and agreed to hold a China-Tanzania Year of Tourism and Culture at an appropriate time. The two sides will facilitate academic and media exchanges. The Chinese side will provide more scholarship opportunities for Tanzanian students and continue to send medical teams to the Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar.

VIII. The two sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation on peace and security and collaborate in combating transnational crimes, capacity building, personnel training, equipment and technologies and other fields. The two sides agreed to step up protection of the safety and lawful rights and interests of each others citizens and institutions within their territories.

IX. The two sides undertook to strengthen coordination and cooperation in international affairs and multilateral institutions, jointly uphold true multilateralism, safeguard the international system with the United Nations at its core and the international order underpinned by international law, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. The Tanzanian side expressed support for the Global Development Initiative put forth by the Chinese side and will actively participate in relevant activities. The Chinese side expressed appreciation for Tanzanias efforts to promote global and regional peace and development.

X. The two sides commended the important role of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in advancing the China-Africa comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership, and agreed to enhance consultation and coordination on FOCAC-related affairs and jointly deliver on the wide-ranging practical cooperation under the Dakar Action Plan (2022-2024).

XI. The two sides agreed that President Samia Suluhu Hassans visit to China was a full success and held great significance for advancing China-Tanzania relations and promoting the building of a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era. President Samia Suluhu Hassan expressed heartfelt appreciation to President Xi Jinping and the Chinese government and people for the warm and generous hospitality accorded to her during her visit. Lastly, two sides agreed the importance of continuing to have state visits and in that regard, President Samia Suluhu Hassan extended an invitation to President Xi Jinping to make another visit to Tanzania in 2024 as part of celebration of the 60th Anniversary of our diplomatic relations.
On November 1, 2022, Premier Li Keqiang sent a congratulatory message to Mohammed Shia' Sabbar al-Sudani on his assumption of post as Prime Minister of Iraq.

Li Keqiang said in his congratulatory message that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the development of China-Iraq relations, and is willing to work with the Iraqi government to continuously consolidate traditional friendship between the two countries, advance practical cooperation in various fields, and work towards new progress in China-Iraq strategic partnership.
Ballots are rolling in, and the spaces where elections officials count votes are filling up with observers.

So many have elected to observe ballot counts at the Linn County Courthouse that courthouse staff may have to limit how long volunteers can watch, said Derrick Sterling, the countys elections supervisor.

Sterling was unable to say how many have signed up to watch the counts on election night.

But we may have to have them rotating in and out, he said.

County-level Democratic and Republican parties are still adjusting their lists of sanctioned watchers, Sterling said. The Linn County Republican Party was expected to coordinate its ballot-watching efforts by Saturday night, Nov. 5.

Elections supervisors in Benton County were holding orientation meetings with observers in October, said James Gonzales, the countys elections and records director.

Gonzalez said his goal was to answer as many questions from watchers before theyre in the ballot-counting room  and before questions can delay the voting process.

Sterling declined to say why elections officials are seeing increased public attention to the voting process.

Im being intentionally vague, he said.

But tension has increased between voters and the officials appointed to oversee their elections since 2020. Former President Donald Trump lost his bid for reelection, then pressured state elections officials in swing states to overturn the election results.

For nearly two years, the former president and supporters have spread theories about fraudulent votes and attempted to paint the 2020 General Election as stolen and election processes as rigged.

Trump and sympathizers filed 64 lawsuits alleging fraud. They pulled out of 14 cases and judges dismissed another 47, many for lack of evidence.

Last month, League of Women Voters of Arizona sued several right-wing groups for interfering in elections in that state.

The Department of Justice decried vigilante ballot security efforts, filing a statement of interest in the case.

In court documents, DOJ calls out video recording, surveillance and armed people guarding ballot drop boxes as likely voter intimidation.

Sterling said his office has detected no deviations in the 2022 General Election.

"We just have more observers earlier this time," he said.

Sterling said ballot returns appear to be on track compared to previous years with nearly one-third, or 30.85%, of eligible votes cast by Thursday evening, Nov. 3.

Benton voters had returned 37.29%, or 22,686 of 60,823 ballots sent out, by the end of Friday, Nov. 4.

Oregons elections in the presidential midterm typically see less turnout.

In the 2018 midterm, Linn County voters returned 55,621 ballots for a 63.67% turnout. Benton County saw more participation in a smaller eligible base of voters, 45,043 ballots returned for a 77.13% turnout.

Statewide, voters returned 67.8% of ballots in 2018. Participation shot up to 78.5% in the 2020 presidential election  87.93% for Benton and 77.97% for Linn counties.
By Laman Ismayilova

With its centuries-old history, Shusha city has been crowned Azerbaijan's cultural center.

Many prominent personalities, like Seyid Shushinski, Uzeyir Hajibayli, Rashid Behbudov, Niyazi, Fikrat Amirov, Natavan, Gasim Bay Zakir, Suleyman Sani Axundov were born in this iconic place.

The National History Museum has highlighted the city's rich culture and history through an exhibition "Homeland of Kharibulbul-Shusha", Azernews reports, citing Trend Life.

Many public and cultural figures, including a member of MP Sevil Mikayilova, the president of the National Academy of Sciences (ANAS), Academician Isa Habibbayli, director of the Azerbaijani National Art, Honored Art Worker Chingiz Farzaliyev, as well as representatives of the Culture Ministry, took part in the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

In her speech, Director-General of the National History Museum Academician Naila Valikhanli stressed the victory in the 44-day Patriotic War as inscribed in golden letters in Azerbaijan's history.

She emphasized that the Azerbaijani Army under the leadership of Supreme Commander-in-Chief, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev achieved a great historic victory and liberated Azerbaijani lands from the Armenian occupation.

Naila Valikhanli also spoke about the exhibition, titled "First snow of the liberated Shusha", which has recently opened at the museum.

"The exposition `Homeland of Kharibulbul-Shusha' has been organized within the Year of Shusha in Azerbaijan. A few days ago, the museum opened another exhibition titled "First snow of the liberated Shusha". The exhibition includes photos by the museum employee Mirnaib Hasanoglu, who visited Shusha in December 2020," Valikhanli said.

The photographer visited Shusha two years ago in winter with the support of the Azerbaijani Culture Ministry. Over 50 photographs were taken by him after the city's liberation.

ANAS President Academician Isa Habibbayli noted that within the Year of Shusha declared by President Ilham Aliyev, scientific, educational and cultural institutions hold numerous events dedicated to the city.

He recalled that Azerbaijan's cultural capital was also declared the Turkic World Cultural Capital for 2023.

Isa Habibbayli also touched upon major restoration and construction works carried out in Shusha since its liberation.

The ANAS president informed those present about conferences, book presentations, and other events to be organized by the Academy within the Year of Shusha.

Then the guests got acquainted with the exhibition. The project curator, head of the Scientific Exposition and Organization of Exhibitions Department, Ph.D. in History Sabuhi Ahmadov spoke in detail about the exhibition.

"The exhibition is dedicated to the city of Shusha - the pearl of Karabakh. Through its exhibits, the National History Museum highlights the history of the city from its foundation to the present day. The exposition consists of two parts which include Mirnaib Hasanoglu's photo works and the museum exhibits related to the city of Shusha", he added.

Next, Sabuhi Ahmadov demonstrated the silver keys of Shusha Castle, dating back to the 19th century, coins of the Karabakh Khanate as well as gold, silver jewelry, and exhibits reflecting trade and craft life.

The exhibition also included personal items of Azerbaijani soldiers, who became martyrs and participated in the Shusha liberation.

The historical exhibits aroused great interest among museum visitors.




PUNE, Nov. 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- "Cloud It Service Management (ITSM) Market" | No. of pages : 130| research report focus on overall information that can help to take decisions on current market situation. ITSM focuses on the management of the IT infrastructure, including hardware, software, processes, and services. While these services can be delivered independently, you'll find more value from solutions that combine capabilities for essential business functions, such as the delivery of business services, support for agile development and DevOps , and support for cloud services.

Cloud It Service Management (ITSM) Market Report Contains: -

Complete overview of the global Cloud It Service Management (ITSM) Market

Top Country data and analysis for United States, Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia, Australia, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, etc. It also throws light on the progress of key regional Cloud It Service Management (ITSM) markets such as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America and Middle East and Africa

Description and analysis of Cloud It Service Management (ITSM) market potential by type, Deep Dive, disruption, application capacity, end use industry

impact evaluation of most important drivers and restraints, and dynamics of the global Cloud It Service Management (ITSM) market and current trends in the enterprise

Detailed profiles of the Top major players in the industry, including. ServiceNow,HPE,IBM,BMC Software,CA Technologies,Cherwell Software,Ivanti,Citrix Systems,Hornbill,Axios Systems,Efecte,ManageEngine,EasyVista,Atlassian,Alemba,SysAid,Microsoft,LogMein,Micro Focus,Freshworks

Get a Sample Copy of the Report at  https://proficientmarketinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample/21946598

Report Overview

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine War Influence, the global market for Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) estimated at US$ 7850.8 million in the year 2022, is projected to reach a revised size of US$ 21230 million by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 18.0% during the forecast period 2022-2028.

The USA market for Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) is estimated to increase from $ million in 2022 to reach $ million by 2028, at a CAGR of % during the forecast period of 2023 through 2028.

The China market for Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) is estimated to increase from $ million in 2022 to reach $ million by 2028, at a CAGR of % during the forecast period of 2023 through 2028.

The Europe market for Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) is estimated to increase from $ million in 2022 to reach $ million by 2028, at a CAGR of % during the forecast period of 2023 through 2028.

The global key companies of Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) include ServiceNow, HPE, IBM, BMC Software, CA Technologies, Cherwell Software, Ivanti, Citrix Systems and Hornbill, etc. In 2021, the global top five players had a share approximately % in terms of revenue.

Report Scope

This latest report researches the industry structure, revenue and gross margin. Major players headquarters, market shares, industry ranking and profiles are presented. The primary and secondary research is done in order to access up-to-date government regulations, market information and industry data. Data were collected from the Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) companies, distributors, end users, industry associations, governments' industry bureaus, industry publications, industry experts, third party database, and our in-house databases.

This report also includes a discussion of the major players across each regional Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) market. Further, it explains the major drivers and regional dynamics of the global Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) market and current trends within the industry.

Cloud It Service Management (ITSM) Market Segmentation: -

researchers latest report provides a deep insight into the global Cloud It Service Management (ITSM) market covering all its essential aspects. This ranges from a macro overview of the market to micro details of the market size, competitive landscape, development trend, niche market, key market drivers and challenges, SWOT analysis, Porters five forces analysis, value chain analysis, etc.

Inquire or Share Your Questions If Any Before the Purchasing This Report  https://proficientmarketinsights.com/enquiry/pre-order-enquiry/21946598

Cloud It Service Management (ITSM) Market segments help decision-makers direct the product, sales, and marketing strategies, and can power your product development cycles by informing how you make product offerings for different segments.

Segment by Type

Service Portfolio Management

Configuration & Change Management

Operations & Performance Management

Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM)

Segment by Application

BFSI

IT & Telecommunication

Retail & Consumer Goods

Key Regions & Countries

This section of the report provides key insights regarding various regions and the key players operating in each region. Economic, social, environmental, technological, and political factors have been taken into consideration while assessing the growth of the particular region/country. The readers will also get their hands on the value data of each region and country for the period 2017-2028.

Market segment by Region/Country including: -

North America (United States, Canada, and Mexico)

Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Spain, etc.)

Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia, Southeast Asia, etc.)

South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, etc.)

Middle East & Africa (South Africa, UAE, Saudi Arabia, etc.)

Key Players in the Cloud It Service Management (ITSM) Market: -

ServiceNow

HPE

IBM

BMC Software

CA Technologies

Cherwell Software

Ivanti

Citrix Systems

Hornbill

Axios Systems

Efecte

ManageEngine

EasyVista

Atlassian

Alemba

SysAid

Microsoft

LogMein

Micro Focus

Freshworks

Get a Sample Copy of the Report at  https://proficientmarketinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample/21946598

Key Drivers & Barriers

High-impact rendering factors and drivers have been studied in this report to aid the readers to understand the general development. Moreover, the report includes restraints and challenges that may act as stumbling blocks on the way of the players. This will assist the users to be attentive and make informed decisions related to business. Specialists have also laid their focus on the upcoming business prospects.

COVID-19 and Russia-Ukraine War Influence Analysis

The readers in the section will understand how the Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) market scenario changed across the globe during the pandemic, post-pandemic and Russia-Ukraine War. The study is done keeping in view the changes in aspects such as demand, consumption, transportation, consumer behavior, supply chain management, export and import, and production. The industry experts have also highlighted the key factors that will help create opportunities for players and stabilize the overall industry in the years to come.

Report Includes:

This report presents an overview of global market for Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) market size. Analyses of the global market trends, with historic market revenue data for 2017 - 2021, estimates for 2022, and projections of CAGR through 2028.

This report researches the key producers of Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM), also provides the revenue of main regions and countries. Highlights of the upcoming market potential for Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM), and key regions/countries of focus to forecast this market into various segments and sub-segments. Country specific data and market value analysis for the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, India, Germany, the U.K., Italy, Middle East, Africa, and Other Countries.

This report focuses on the Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) revenue, market share and industry ranking of main companies, data from 2017 to 2022. Identification of the major stakeholders in the global Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) market, and analysis of their competitive landscape and market positioning based on recent developments and segmental revenues. This report will help stakeholders to understand the competitive landscape and gain more insights and position their businesses and market strategies in a better way.

This report analyzes the segments data by type and by application, revenue, and growth rate, from 2017 to 2028. Evaluation and forecast the market size for Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) revenue, projected growth trends, production technology, application and end-user industry.

Descriptive company profiles of the major global players, including ServiceNow, HPE, IBM, BMC Software, CA Technologies, Cherwell Software, Ivanti, Citrix Systems and Hornbill, etc.

Key Benefits of Cloud It Service Management (ITSM) Market Research Report:

Types, applications, regions, and key players covered in the study

Industry drivers, restraints, and opportunities covered in the study

Recent industry trends and developments

Competitive landscape & strategies of key players

Historical, current, and projected market size, in terms of value

In-depth analysis of the Artificial Intelligence AI Chips Market

Sales, price, revenue, market share, and growth rate are covered in the report sales channels, distributors, traders, dealers, etc. are covered in the report

Detailed TOC of Global Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) Industry Research Report, Growth Trends and Competitive Analysis 2022-2028

1 Report Overview

1.1 Study Scope

1.2 Market Analysis by Type

1.2.1 Global Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) Market Size Growth Rate by Type: 2017 VS 2021 VS 2028

1.2.2 Service Portfolio Management

1.2.3 Configuration & Change Management

1.2.4 Operations & Performance Management

1.3 Market by Application

1.3.1 Global Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) Market Growth Rate by Application: 2017 VS 2021 VS 2028

1.3.2 BFSI

1.3.3 IT & Telecommunication

1.3.4 Retail & Consumer Goods

1.4 Study Objectives

1.5 Years Considered

2 Market Perspective

2.1 Global Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) Market Size (2017-2028)

2.2 Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) Market Size across Key Geographies Worldwide: 2017 VS 2021 VS 2028

2.3 Global Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) Market Size by Region (2017-2022)

2.4 Global Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) Market Size Forecast by Region (2023-2028)

2.5 Global Top Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) Countries Ranking by Market Size

3 Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) Competitive by Company

3.1 Global Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) Revenue by Players

3.1.1 Global Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) Revenue by Players (2017-2022)

3.1.2 Global Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) Market Share by Players (2017-2022)

3.2 Global Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) Market Share by Company Type (Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3)

3.3 Company Covered: Ranking by Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) Revenue

3.4 Global Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) Market Concentration Ratio

3.4.1 Global Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) Market Concentration Ratio (CR5 and HHI)

3.4.2 Global Top 10 and Top 5 Companies by Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) Revenue in 2021

3.5 Global Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) Key Players Head office and Area Served

3.6 Key Players Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) Product Solution and Service

3.7 Date of Enter into Cloud IT Service Management (ITSM) Market

3.8 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion Plans

And More..

Explore Full Report With Detailed TOC Here: https://proficientmarketinsights.com/TOC/21946598#TOC

1.To study and analyze the global Cloud It Service Management (ITSM) consumption (value) by key regions/countries, product type and application

2.To understand the structure of Cloud It Service Management (ITSM) market by identifying its various sub segments.

3.Focuses on the key global Cloud It Service Management (ITSM) manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the value, market share, market competition landscape, Porter's five forces analysis, SWOT analysis and development plans in next few years.

4.To analyze the Cloud It Service Management (ITSM) with respect to individual growth trends, future prospects, and their contribution to the total market.

5.To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks).

6.To project the consumption of Cloud It Service Management (ITSM) submarkets, with respect to key regions (along with their respective key countries).

7.To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market.

8.To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.

Key Reasons to Purchase

To gain insightful analyses of the market and have comprehensive understanding of the global Cloud It Service Management (ITSM) market and its commercial landscape.

Assess the production processes, major issues, and solutions to mitigate the development risk.

To understand the most affecting driving and restraining forces in the Cloud It Service Management (ITSM) market and its impact in the global market.

Learn about the Cloud It Service Management (ITSM) market strategies that are being adopted by leading respective organizations.

To understand the future outlook and prospects for the Cloud It Service Management (ITSM) market.

Besides the standard structure reports, we also provide custom research according to specific requirements

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Proficient market insights is an upscale platform to help key personnel in the business world in strategizing and taking visionary decisions based on facts and figures derived from in-depth market research. We are one of the top report resellers in the market, dedicated to bringing you an ingenious concoction of data parameters.
SHANGHAI, Nov. 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- China Global Advisory is pleased to announce that Mr. Bernardino Regazzoni has joined the company as Senior Partner (Independent Member). Mr. Regazzoni will be based in Lugano, Switzerland.

Mr. Bernardino Regazzoni entered the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland in 1988. From September 2002 until July 2006, he was Ambassador of Switzerland to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and to the Republic of Maldives, with residence in Colombo. From July 2006 to the end of 2009, he has been Ambassador of Switzerland to the Republic of Indonesia and to the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. In July 2009 he was concurrently accredited as Ambassador of Switzerland to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). From December 2009 until May 2014, he has been Ambassador of Switzerland to Italy, concurrently accredited to Malta and to the Republic of San Marino. From May 2014 to August 2018, he has been Ambassador of Switzerland to France, concurrently accredited in the Principality of Monaco. From March 2019 to July 2022, he has been Ambassador of Switzerland to the People's Republic of China, concurrently accredited to Mongolia and to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Ambassador Regazzoni holds a doctorate in Philosophy. He is married and has 2 sons.

Mr. Paul Lam, Chairman and CEO of China Global Advisory stated: "Bernardino has a tremendous experience as a leading global diplomat with experiences in many different cultures and political theaters. As the Swiss ambassador to over eight countries, including China, France, Italy, Indonesia and ASEAN, Bernardino is a living encyclopedia of global issues and more importantly, with great insights of the different points of views from each part of the world. Bernardino has a rare skill of being able to analyze, and explain very complex issues in a clear, frank and concise way that helps one to focus on options and solutions. We are most excited for Bernardino to join our Leadership Team. China Global Advisory prides herself to serve our clients through an ecosystem of consulting services and investment banking services combined in a seamless end-to-end value-added platform. In today's complex world, geo-political issues are intertwined with business issues. We must look at the world with different angles as input to all the business decisions we make. Bernardino's perspectives and input will be most welcomed and needed in the value prepositions we create. Bernardino is a very close friend, and we are going to have lots of fun working together."

China Global Advisory (CGA) is a foreign-funded enterprise registered in Shanghai, headquartered in Pudong, with offices in Haikou (Hainan), and Hong Kong. CGA is a boutique investment banking and consulting firm that presents an Ecosystem to our clients and partners covering many countries around the world in key industries such as green economy, low carbon transformation of key industries, digital economy, health care and senior housing. CGA offers end to end services from research, consulting, fund raising, acquisitions of board members, and IPO, as well as advisory to major boards and industry associations on global political and economic issues and trends impacting their industries and businesses.

For further information, please contact:

Ms. Nilesia Feng at Executive.Offices@ChinaGlobalCapital.com

Contact Information:

Nilesia Feng

Director of Corporate Communications

executive.offices@chinaglobalcapital.com

86-21-20260818



This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.
JERSEY CITY, N.J., Nov. 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Powerball mania has gripped the country, with Lotto.com emerging as the most convenient digital option for those looking to get into the historic action. The Powerball jackpot has grown to an estimated $1.9 billion after no winning tickets were sold in Saturday nights drawing.



Even though nobody hit the record jackpot, a Colorado player became Lotto.coms first million dollar winner on Saturday night. The player registered on November 3 and promptly won on their first ticket.

Lotto.com - the easiest way for folks in New Jersey, New York, Colorado and Texas to safely and conveniently order lottery tickets - including Powerball - is seeing a boom in consumer engagement, with a whopping 1318% increase in Powerball ticket transactions from September through October. Traffic continues to surge as Americans look to get in on the action. With that increased traffic and unprecedented demand, Lotto.com urges its players to please get their orders in as soon as possible.

Part of the traction comes by design, as no app download or deposit is required. The platform enables players to order official state lottery tickets by picking their lucky numbers manually or using its Quick Pick lucky number generator. As a registered and licensed lottery courier enabling user participation in official state lotteries, Lotto.com helps the lottery contribute incremental funds to state-run programs across education, parks, emergency responders, veterans' health, and other important services.

This is why we created Lotto.com - to make it fun and easy for anyone to have a chance for their own piece of a jackpot dream, said Thomas Metzger, CEO of Lotto.com Inc. Our teams are literally working around the clock to support players in our markets, the demand is unreal. Its incredibly rewarding to help so many people experience the rush of Powerball for the first time, bringing incremental players and revenues to the good causes that state lotteries support. Someones gonna win - why not a Lotto.com player!

To access information about previous and future lottery draws, please visit nj.lotto.com , ny.lotto.com , co.lotto.com and tx.lotto.com . Be sure to follow Lotto.com on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news and trends.

ABOUT LOTTO.COM INC.

Headquartered in New Jersey, Lotto.com Inc. is the first digital platform for ordering lottery tickets on any device, requiring no app download or deposit. Offering a secure, convenient and contactless way to play, the platform enables players to order official state lottery tickets by picking their lucky numbers manually or using our Quick Pick lucky number generator. As a registered and licensed lottery courier enabling user participation in U.S. state lotteries, Lotto.com helps the lottery contribute incremental funds to state-run programs across education, parks, emergency responders, veterans' health, and other important services. Lotto.com is currently available in New Jersey, New York, Colorado and Texas, with plans to expand to additional states in the near future.

MEDIA CONTACT

Lotto.com

lotto@praytellagency.com







Graphics accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4937b66d-3c8d-45f3-8b26-dfb9389062c1

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f532bdd4-72b0-4ca3-893c-79ab30101f7b
The Government of Canada has ordered three Chinese companies to divest from three Canadian critical mineral companies: Power Metals, Lithium Chile, and Ultra Lithium. (Earlier post.) Ultra Lithium has now issued a statement noting that the company has been advised that Zangge Mining Investment (Chengdu) Co. Ltd. (Zangge) received the order from Government of Canada to divest. Ultra Lithium and Zangge have also mutually agreed to terminate the definitive agreement with respect to the Laguna Verde property announced in June 2022.

Ultra Lithium said that its Board of Directors and management are very surprised at Canadas policy against Chinese investment in Canadas lithium projects and believe that the announcement has been detrimental to the companys many Canadian shareholders. The company is assessing its legal and other options to preserve value for its shareholders.

Ultra Lithium said it is in full support of Canadas push toward clean energy and has been committed to lithium and green energy since 2009. The company added that as a junior exploration company, it and many of its peers will require significant capital to bring their projects to production and build Canadas critical minerals supply chain.

Ultra Lithium encouraged the federal government to follow through on its commitment to Canadian businesses to identify and find alternative sources of capital and to retain Canadas status as a stable and top-tier mining destination.

Ultra Lithium is proceeding with planned work programs at its properties in Northern Ontario and Argentina.

Power Metals also expressed surprise at Canadas stance towards Chinese investment into Canadas critical minerals industry. However, said Jonathan More, Chairman & CEO:

It clearly shows that they see the opportunity and assets of Power Metals as too valuable for such foreign investment. Power Metals has made a substantial discovery of cesium, lithium and tantalum and this political gamesmanship demonstrates the extreme value of Power Metals assets. Sinomine will respond to the Canadian government shortly as they look at the appeal process.

Power Metals said that drilling and exploration activities will continue as usual.
Solid-state sodium-ion battery company LiNa Energy has closed out a 3-million (US$3.4-million) late seed funding round, primarily from existing investors. (Earlier post.) This funding will accelerate the path to commercialization through developing a next-generation electrolyte, automating manual processes to assemble more cells, and perform pre-FEED studies ahead of investing in the next scale of manufacturing facilities.





In addition, the funding gives LiNa Energy to deliver customer trial programs including feasibility studies and co-testing with the Eden Project and Garic, with whom they have MoUs in place to demonstrate its technology in its beachhead applications. LiNA will also build a presence in India where LiNa has signed an MoU with Social Alpha to optimise product development for the India market and oversee battery cell testing and future pilot projects.

LiNas battery cells utilize proven Sodium-Metal-Chloride chemistry in a planar design made possible with an ultra-thin solid ceramic electrolyte. LiNas solid-state ceramic electrolyte reduces ionic resistance and removes unproductive mass, unlocking a two-fold performance improvement in energy densities versus alternatives. Avoiding the need for conventional flammable liquid electrolytes means that LiNa cells are inherently safe.





This years late seed funding round builds on the foundation of the funding raised in October 2021 which focused on two core activities: accelerating the technology development and progressing commercialization activities.

This funding enabled LiNa in a year to not only double its R&D space to ~5,000 sqft by fitting out a new lab for cell assembly, quadruple cell testing capacity and invest in lab based manufacturing processes and equipment to increase cell manufacturing capacity, but also grow the LiNa team to 29 people.

The company expects to be launching a Series A in Q2 2023 to fund a pre-pilot line. This is critical to LiNas growth as the pre-pilot line will demonstrate the ability to manufacture batteries at consistent quality using automated processes and provide the capacity to meet the demands of customer trial programs.

To date the company has secured more than 10.5 million (US$12 million) in equity seed funding and been awarded several prestigious grants, working with key partners including the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK, Faraday Battery Challenge, Innovate UK and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.

LiNa began work on its novel battery technology as a spin-out of Lancaster University in 2017 and has led several grant research projects to progress and demonstrate the technology including a recent independently validated demonstration as part of Innovate UKs Faraday Challenge of a kilowatt hour scale system inclusive of battery cells, battery management system, thermal management, module housing, and instrumentation.
At an E-Mobility Conference organized by the VDE, the German Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies, the Dusseldorf-based technology group Rheinmetall recently presented a novel solution concept for charging electric vehicles: curbstone chargers.





Rheinmetall curbstone chargers blend into the cityscape almost invisibly, offering a solution to the challenges posed by existing charging systems, such as large space requirements, low point density, aesthetic downsides, and high cost. Unlike other charging solutions on the market, the Rheinmetall approach makes intelligent use of existing urban infrastructure.





By integrating charging electronics into the curbstone, it becomes a de facto charging pole, but without the drawbacks conventional pole-type charging stations cause for other road users. Moreover, electric vehicles can be charged directly at the curb, with no need to stretch a long cable across the sidewalk.

The Rheinmetall system addresses the lack of charging capacity, particularly in city centers and major metropolitan areas. It was developed on the premise of minimizing as far as possible any intrusion into the public space.

In October 2022, the German government published the Master Plan Charging Infrastructure II , which demands robust action to address the charging infrastructure issue. Particularly in city centers, free space is scarce, meaning that the creation of new infrastructure is possible only at the expense of other road space stakeholders such as pedestrians or cyclists.

Conversely, opting for larger, (fast) charging parks at the outskirts is not an option for many consumers, especially due to cost and time considerations. There is thus a real risk that the rise of electromobility especially in metropolitan areas could falter before it even gets properly started.

In recent months, a team at the Rheinmetall Technology Center has been working intensively on a solution that exploits existing urban infrastructure, though without the limitations imposed by charging point density, as is the case with lantern chargers, for example. The result is a modular curb charger capable of charging 22kW AC, which can be integrated into existing backend systems and charging system infrastructures via an open charge point protocol (OCPP).

During the development process, great priority was given to ease of retrofitting and maintenance. As a result, entire streets and parking lots can be prepared for curb chargers, enabling subsequent scalability as well as synergies with respect to planning, permission, construction, etc.

For this purpose, dummy curbs are installed at the desired charging locations. The electronic module can be retrofitted as soon as the number of electric vehicles assures adequate demand. Retrofitting can be carried out within a few minutes, as can maintenance, for which the electronic unit can be easily removed. The systems are designed in accordance with rough environmental conditions in the road space, assuring a long service life.

In addition to roadside charging, various other potential use-cases can be addressed. These include charging at employer parking facilities, in residential settings with single family homes or apartment buildings, or at business parking lots, thus providing users with a fast, easy, comfortable means of charging their vehicles.

The systems are currently undergoing comprehensive long-term testing before being used in the public space as part of a pilot project. The solution put forward by Rheinmetall has the potential to bring within reach Germanys goal of having a million public charging points in place by 2030.
Matsons Daniel K. Inouye containership heads toward the Jose D. Leon Guerrero Commercial Port in this July 14, 2020, file photo. Matson recently announced the company has invested $1 billion for the construction and delivery of three new Aloha Class containerships.
Attendees visit shopping stands by various vendors during the 36th Federated States of Micronesia Independence Day event at Gov. Joseph Flores Beach Park in Tumon on Nov. 5, 2022. Mangilao resident John Howard encourages his fellow Chuukese to learn more about the resources available to help them become active, productive members of the local community.
Dave Lotz is a vocal advocate for protecting Guams unique heritage, a knowledgeable and long-time hiking enthusiast and environmental advocate, and critic of inept government. He has been a resident of Guam since 1970 and retired from the Guam Department of Parks and Recreation, Andersen AFB Environmental Flight and the National Park Service.
Lt. Col. Melvin Pilarca records his grandson, Isaiah Chun, 4, as he bounces on a Pitshop air jumper during a celebration for National Military Family Month at Gov. Joseph Flores Beach Park in Tumon on Nov. 6, 2022.




Haiti - FLASH Agro-Industry : The poultry company Jamaica Broilers (Le Chic Poulet) leaves Haiti





Ian Parsard, Senior Vice President of Jamaica Broilers Group (JBG) Limited announces the closure of the businesses, Haiti Broilers SA and its Haitian subsidiary T&S Rice SA, which were involved in the production and sale of high quality chilled and frozen chicken. quality under the "Le Chic Poulet" brand of laying hens, "HB Oeufs" table eggs and "HI-Pro" animal feed,



After 3 years of accumulated losses caused by multifaceted crises (insecurity, covid, recurring fuel shortage, socio-political crisis, earthquake, etc...), a drop in its turnover in 2022 of 44%, JB, with his departure from Haiti expects to lose approximately US$5.9 million representing all of the company's net assets in Haiti (facilities, property, equipment, inventory, investments and receivables, etc...)



IN the last report for the quarter ended July 30, the assets of the Haitian operation were estimated at $5.5 million, representing 1.3% of the group's total assets. Just a year ago, assets stood at nearly US$13 million.



This week, Ian Parsard, said "As far as Haiti is concerned, we have ceased all operations in the country [since October 29, 2022]. We are not trying to recover anything in the country, because its just not tenable for people to be operating there. To be able to transact business and collect money in the country, its a recipe for disaster, and we are not putting peoples lives at risk [...] So we have paid off all staff and we have no security, nothing. We are out of Haiti."



Parsard said that while JBG has withdrawn from Haiti some aspects of the business may survive under T&S Rice SA, a longtime Haitian company that has become a subsidiary of Haiti Broilers over time. T&S Rice held the rental rights to the Haiti Broiler property in Port Lafiteau which doubled as its head office, distribution center and animal feed manufacturing plant.



"T&S Rice will survive Haiti Broilers if the folks who are taking it over want to continue the business. Thats completely up to them, Parsard concluded.



Let's recall that JBG produced more than 4 million eggs each month or 10% of the monthly consumption of the country and had 182 employees at the time (2015), at its peak, JBG had nearly 500 employees.



Learn more about JBG's operations in Haiti visit : https://www.jamaicabroilersgroup.com/operations/haiti



See also :

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-14705-icihaiti-agriculture-chic-poulet-produces-4-million-eggs-per-month.html



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Joseph Lambert sets justice in motion against the USA and Canada

"On November 4th, the US Treasury Department indexed me unfairly. Together with Canada, they imposed sanctions on me. I affirm that they were wrong and I will fight this unfounded decision. To this end, a law firm has received a mandate. Law and justice are put to the test between the USA, Canada and I, Joseph Lambert" President of the Senate



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-38058-haiti-flashchancellor-of-canada-melanie-joly-announces-sanctions-against-j-lambert-and-y-latortue.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-38056-haiti-flash-j-lambert-and-y-latortue-sanctioned-by-the-usa-all-the-details.html



PNH : Control of the Oil Terminal, towards an improvement if...

The resumption of control of the Varreux oil terminal by the police could mean an improvement, at least partial, of the humanitarian crisis raging in Haiti from Monday "if" the fuel supply resumes as announced (gas stations, hospitals, DINEPA, EDH, industries etc...) as long as the resumption of fuel distribution on Monday is not compromised by the gangs...



Mexico : Tribute to "Mikaben"

On the occasion of the commemoration of the traditional Day of the Dead, celebrated with pomp in Mexico. the Mexican Chancellery in collaboration with the Embassies of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean organized an altar welcoming offerings dedicated to the deceased. The Embassy of Haiti in Mexico took the opportunity to pay tribute to the Haitian artist Michael Benjamin ailais "Mikaben" who died on October 15, 2022 See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37895-haiti-flash-michael-benjamin-mikaben-dies-on-stage-in-front-of-20-000-fans-video.html



Sunrise Airways to Punta Cana

Sunrise Airways Fly to Punta Cana from Port-au-Prince starting December 16, 2022. Flights Fridays and Sundays.

Reservations: https://sunriseairways.net/



UNICEF to the aid of DINEPA

With the socio-political crisis and fuel shortage, UNICEF provided 6,000 gallons of diesel to the National Directorate of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DINEPA) to support the operation of water treatment centers and health services and for the operation of tank trucks for the distribution of water to the population.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Nato membership is a massive change in the foreign policy line of Finland. It also increases political and military tensions. The Left Alliance believes Finland should stress that its Nato membership will be defence-oriented and that it will not host any nuclear weapons, permanent Nato bases or permanent Nato troops, the newly adopted stance reads.

THE NATO STANCE of the Left Alliance shifted noticeably at its party conference in Pori on Sunday.

The stance signals a stark change for the ruling left-wing party, despite its vague formulation; the membership is deemed essentially as a foregone conclusion rather than something to oppose or support.

Chairperson Li Andersson viewed that the decision will allow the party to put to bed its internal debate about whether or not to apply for the membership.

But the debate will continue on many questions, particularly in regards to the foreign policy line of Finland, she commented to Helsingin Sanomat on Sunday. Were now defining the future foreign policy line of Finland.

The sensitive articulation also drew praise from many attendees for successfully representing the majority of the party members regardless of their personal views on the membership, according to the daily newspaper.

It did pretty well at taking into account the partys diversity when it comes to this question, said Veronika Honkasalo, a first-term Member of the Finnish Parliament from Helsinki. The shake-up this has caused has been the biggest for our party, but so far weve done well. There wasnt any discordant debate, not even at the evening event.

The Left Alliances newly adopted policy programme states that the party should advocate foreign and security policy that is in line with its objectives, such as world peace and nuclear disarmament, in the Nato-era Finland.

The party conference also lent its support for the objective of removing the terrorist classification of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) at the EU. Presented by the Left Youth, the initiative was initially to be discussed separately, but it popped up surprisingly during the discussion on the policy objectives.

The programme also states that the party will strive to support the sovereignty of Kurds and halt all arms trade with Turkey.

The Left Youth justified its initiative by arguing that the terrorist classification does not take into account recent changes in the political situation in the Middle East. The PKK, it reminded, was classified as a terrorist organisation by the now 27-country bloc two decades ago, but the party has since engaged in peace negotiations with Turkey and actively participated in campaigns against the so-called Islamic State.

The Left Alliance continues to condemn terrorism in all its forms, Andersson stressed on Sunday.

This shouldnt be unclear to anyone, she stated in a press conference held after the party conference. I think the party has fairly limited possibilities to have an impact [on the issue], but this was the stance the party conference wanted to approve.

Andersson was elected for her third and final term at the helm of the party in Pori on Saturday. Honkasalo, in turn, was elected as the partys first deputy chairperson.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT
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Pittsfield Community Preservation Act Public Hearing Monday

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The Community Preservation Committee will be holding a public hearing at 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 7 related to the use of Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds and the city of Pittsfield's priorities in relation to the Community Preservation Plan.

The hearing will be held in Room 203 on the second floor of City Hall, 70 Allen St.

Also, the committee announces that the project eligibility application process for a new year of CPA funding is open through Nov. 18. The committee will provide an overview of previous allocations of CPA funds and welcomes public participation to understand community priorities as it begins a new year of soliciting potential projects for funding.

Eligibility project applications are due by 3 p.m. on Nov. 18. The application process involves two steps:

 The first is a determination of whether a project is eligible for CPA funds under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 44B. A digital version of the application for this first step is available through the Community Preservation Committee webpage: https://www.cityofpittsfield.org/departments/community_preservation_committee/index.php

 Upon confirmed eligibility, projects will then be invited to submit applications for funding in early 2023.

A link to the Community Preservation Plan and eligibility application is available on the Community Preservation Committee page: https://www.cityofpittsfield.org/departments/community_preservation_committee/index.php

A shortcut to the page is also listed under Hot Topics on the home page of the city's website, cityofpittsfield.org
Linda Wooten of the Brien Center, also a member of the Berkshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention's board of trustees, accepts a donation from Hoosac Valley High students on Friday.

Hoosac Valley Students Raise Money for Suicide Prevention

ADAMS, Mass.  As part of the school's Halloween festivities, several students at Hoosac Valley High School helped to raise $557 for the Berkshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention.

The students collected donations for the cause during the school's Haunted Halls event last Thursday. In addition, the students helped prep the entire building for the event.

"They organized, all the kids, we created all the signs around the school, and they were really excited to just do those simple things," said Ashley Tucker, a Spanish teacher at the high school who helped the students organize the event. "Then that night, they were all there, ready to have different roles while they were here."

Linda Wooten of the Brien Center, also a member of the coalition's board of trustees, visited the students on Friday to accept the donation. She said everyone at the coalition is thankful for the students' efforts.

"I was very impressed that you guys chose the suicide coalition to work for," she said. "It's marvelous, we're thrilled ... We will use this money towards other youth activities and other youth events. It will go to a good place."

The students, Tucker said, were inspired by Kevin Hines, who spoke recently in Dalton, and the work of the Berkshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention and wanted to help raise money for the cause.

"We came across articles for Dalton and the Purgatory Road and all of the things they do. And they were super inspired by that," Tucker said. "They wanted to do something in their own school, and they wanted to get everyone involved."

One of the student's involved in the project, Taylor Reynolds, said she enjoyed raising money for the project and making decorations.

"We realized it was bullying prevention month, so we wanted [the money] to go towards suicide prevention," she said. "Every room, it was a different kind of scenery, like a different kind of theme in each room."

The students are part of a program called the Learning Lab, an alternative learning program offered by the school. Tucker who works with this group of students on various projects.

"We do service-learning projects, we read books, we read articles -- all [English language arts] related," she said. "This was a really great example for them and something they've never done."

Erica Girgenti, the school's family and community engagement coordinator, said the same group of students helped with the school's open house earlier this year. She thanked both students and teachers involved in putting the Halloween event together, noting it was very successful.

"Families and students left laughing, feeding their interest in frightful events. I can't thank the educators who assisted with supporting these students enough," she said.

Tucker said the group hopes to do something holiday themed for its next project. She also said they want to involve the elementary school students as well.

"After the project, we talked to a lot of different faculty members and people in the community, and what was something lacking or something we can do better next time. A lot of people said they wanted another event, but more smaller-children related."

More information on Berkshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention can be found here. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. To contact the Crisis Text Line, text HELLO to 741741.
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SINGAPORE, Nov. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Oncoshot has just announced one of its biggest collaborations to date with Icon Cancer Centre in Singapore, alongside Roche. Together the partners plan to facilitate more comprehensive genomic profiling data to increase access to more trial options for cancer patients. This first-ever collaboration in SEA will help advance the biopharmaceutical research and development ecosystem for healthcare professionals, institutions and patients by taking a more personalised approach to care and offering people with cancer more treatment options. Presently, the cancer genomic testing process encompasses biological sampling from a patient, after which the test results are returned to the requesting doctor. Unless a doctor is aware of an existing clinical trial, they are likely to prescribe their patient a standard therapy at that juncture. Through this collaboration, Oncoshot, Icon and Roche will be able to easily identify cancer patients who are a match for existing clinical trials being run within their networks. Furthermore, real-time population matching will also enable companies and clinical research organisations (CROs) on the Oncoshot clinical trial platform to engage Icon as a preferred clinical trial centre, increasing patient access to clinical trial options for their cancer. "This collaboration marks our commitment to advancing cancer care and increasing access to the latest in cancer clinical trials. By digitising a patient's genomic profile, we are able to accelerate the process of matching patients to the most suitable clinical trials," said Serena Wee, CEO of Icon ASEAN and Hong Kong. "By investing in this partnership, our patients can access new and emerging advances in cancer treatment quicker, giving them and their families new hope and opportunities." "With comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) data, healthcare professionals can make more informed decisions for their patients about potential treatment options, which should include access to clinical trials of investigational new medicines," said Ying Ying Yeoh, General Manager for Roche Singapore. "We are proud to partner with Oncoshot and Icon to help more patients in our collective fight against cancer, and advance clinical cancer research in APAC to bring more medicines to patients sooner." As part of this collaboration, Roche will provide CGP data from tests that analyse over 300 genes known to drive cancer growth. About Oncoshot Oncoshot was founded in 2018 by Medical Oncologist Dr Huren Sivaraj and Data Science Engineer Ruslan Enikeev. As a health insights exchange platform, Oncoshot leverages its proprietary clinical trial-matching artificial intelligence technology to address the inefficiencies of cancer clinical trials. The platform serves as a bridge between leading regional healthcare institutions and CROs and global biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to facilitate data-driven cancer clinical trials while accelerating enrolment into actively recruiting ones. For more information, visit www.oncoshot.com. About Icon Cancer Centre Icon Cancer Centre is a leading private cancer care provider delivering a holistic approach to cancer care. Icon Cancer Centre is part of Icon Group, a global cancer care provider with over 50 centres globally. Icon Cancer Centre has seven specialist clinics in Singapore and a dedicated health screening clinic. With a prominent and experienced team of medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, haematologists, paediatric haematologist-oncologists, palliative care specialists, general practitioners and visiting surgical oncologists, Icon provides end-to-end cancer care from screening and diagnosis, through to treatment and beyond. For more information, visit www.iconcancercentre.sg.
Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav felicitates 4 Young Scholars selected by UNDP and UNICEF for taking climate action.



Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, November 6, 2022: Four young Indians took the center stage during the launch of the India Pavillion at UNFCCC COP27. Winners of the first cohort of the COP27 Young Scholar Programme launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) earlier this year were awarded and felicitated by Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav.



Twitter/@byadavbjp

Nikhil kumar Panchal, from Ahmedabad, Gujarat; Suhana RH, from Trivandrum, Kerala; Prachi Shevgaonkar, from Pune, Maharashtra; and Elizabeth Eapen, from Pathanamthitta, Kerala, shared their stories of climate action, from mobilizing communities, to using mobile applications and emerging technologies like blockchain to tackle pollution and help people reduce their carbon footprint.

The COP27 Young Scholar Programme was launched on September 15 this year, calling on the youth to share their climate action initiatives. More than 350 youth from 27 states across India sent their entries for the programme, which gives them an opportunity to attend and make their voices heard at COP27. After a rigorous, month-long selection process, four youth were shortlisted.

Twitter@airnewsalerts

Speaking about the programme, Ms. Shoko Noda, Resident Representative, UNDP India, said, Young people are leading climate action. They have ideas, are innovating and finding scalable solutions to fight climate change. Their solutions-based approach inspires bolder climate action from people, communities, and governments. Together with MoEFCC and UNICEF, UNDP is committed to providing platforms to young climate scholars and leaders to showcase actions that can secure the future of our planet."

Climate change poses a severe risk to people of every age. Extreme weather events and their effect on food and water insecurity, livelihood losses, famines, and wildfires exacerbate inequalities and disproportionately affect vulnerable groups, young people, and children. The 27thUnited Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP27, comes at the end of a year where we have witnessed extreme weather events from record-breaking heatwaves to floods and droughts.

Twitter/@byadavbjp

The Young Scholar Programme complements the Government of Indias flagship Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE) movement, first announced at COP 26, Glasgow and launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at Kevadia, Gujarat earlier in October this year. It showcases how everyone can take action to protect our only planet, Earth.

Twitter/@byadavbjp

The 4 youth represent diverse ideas to tackle some of the most pressing environmental issues in the country. Nikhil kumar Panchal is the founder of "GREEN AADHAAR," a digital infrastructure for the plastic waste management sector. It uses machine learning and blockchain technology to build aplastic credit model for the industry. Suhana R H is mobilising communities towards better solid waste management.

Prachi Shevgaonkar is the founder of a community-led app for climate action that motivates people to make small lifestyle changes that can have big climate impacts. It has 30,000 users from 110 countries, who have collectively avoided 2 million kg of Greenhouse Gas Emissions through the App, equivalent to planting 1,00,000 trees. Elizabeth Eapen is leadingan enterprise producing paper bags.
If you want an idea of the scale of the longstanding but growing national shortage of vets, the classifieds in the Veterinary Ireland Journal is a good place to start.

That is according to Ian Fleming, a vet of 45 years, based at Duntahane Veterinary Clinic, in Fermoy, Co Cork.

Every month, in that journal you will see 60 to 70 ads, looking for vets, he told the Irish Examiner.

Indeed, this reporter found roughly 80 classifieds seeking vets when it visited the VIJ website this week.

I am case and point of this issue, he said. Im 45 years in practice, 44 of those in Fermoy, so I wanted to pull back a bit.

Not retire completely, he is hasty to add, but pull back from the out-of-hours stuff. I put an ad out in June 2021 and got a couple of replies but no one suitable.

It took 15 months to get somebody to fill the space, shes a lovely girl and were happy to have her, but it still took 15 months.

Recruitment and retention crisis

Mr Fleming is a member of a group of vets who are highlighting the urgent need for new veterinary schools to help tackle a recruitment and retention crisis in the profession.

The country does not have enough vets, and it is also not training enough. It is following a similar pattern to what is happening with doctors in general practice, Mr Fleming believes, where numbers of those qualified are dwindling while demand is booming, all the while we are not training enough practitioners.

Its the same boat, and the fragility of the services are now beginning to be exposed, particularly in rural areas," he explains.

And while there are issues throughout Ireland, it is most worrying for remote rural areas. Take Listowel for example. There are five vets  one is 80, two are in their 70s, and two are in their 60s.

They cant get anybody down there. Dunmanway also has its problems, but you dont have to be in the far distant corners of Cork and Kerry to see problems,

Mr Fleming added he had heard of a busy practice in Galway City struggling to recruit.

The shortage of vets is not a new problem. Ireland has quietly relied on attracting large numbers of vets trained abroad in to address a shortfall known about and acknowledged for more than a decade.

In 2007, the Competition Authority warned Ireland should not be reliant on other countries to train vets for its own needs. Between 2001 and 2007, almost 40% of new vets registered with the Veterinary Council of Ireland qualified outside the country.

Ian Fleming: 'The fragility of the services are now beginning to be exposed, particularly in rural areas.' Picture: Denis Minihane

However, since then, this shortfall has become worse. In 2021, 70% of new vets entering the register were educated outside Ireland, and 45% of these registrations were specifically from foreign vets.

At the same time, demand for vet services has shown no signs of stopping. More people than ever are pet owners now after Covid-19 lockdowns, and the need for vets has also grown across all private, corporate, and State services.

If left uncorrected, a recruitment crisis in the profession will impact severely on animal welfare and food production in the country, which will inevitably comprise the food industry and export trade.

Just one vet school

According to Mr Fleming, a major contributor to recruitment issues is that Ireland currently has just one vet school, at University College Dublin (UCD), offering roughly 80 places annually to students through the CAO.

Every year without fail, it is one of the most sought-after university courses in the country. Last year, it attracted first-round CAO cut-off points of 601, requiring students to achieve top grades in every subject and take higher-level maths.

There are just not enough places to meet demand. In 2007, UCD educated more than half of the new vets to join the register. In 2021, this figure stood at 28%, and less than a quarter of the annual demand over the last four years.

Mr Fleming points to another set of issues associated with the high points bar.

The CAO bar is too high, and the teaching model is not fitting properly with professional practice.

This is leading to a mismatch which is contributing towards a high attrition rate in the profession in recent years, he believes. The average time spent in practice now is seven years before they leave the profession.

Shortage of farm vets

Those who qualify do not typically wish to specialise in larger animals, which is also contributing to the shortage of farm vets for rural areas.

As well as high points, studying in Dublin brings another challenge. The cost of accommodation is simply out of reach for many families across the country.

As a result, every year, hundreds of students hoping to become vets must study abroad, with the majority heading to Eastern Europe.

One of these students is Lucy Buckley Keane, who attended Loreto Secondary School in Fermoy. She is currently a student at the Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences in Poland, one of 35 Irish students to make up a class of 50. This year is the highest number of Irish students the college has had.

Growing up with all types of animals, she spent her free time horse riding, and working in stables and stud farms.

I have wanted to be a vet since I was a very young child and have never ever wanted to do anything else," she said.

However, Dublin was out of reach for a few reasons: the 600 points requirement; the cost of accommodation in Dublin; and even the cost of living in Ireland.

She will be in Poland for the next five and a half years.

The fees are about 8,000 per year, which is less than what accommodation would cost in Dublin, I think for the year."

Going abroad

Students have been going abroad for a good few years now, she added.

"This situation is not good enough. Ireland has a huge love for their animals and with Irelands farming and equine industry, having an adequate number of vets is vital."

Both the Department of Further and Higher Education and the Department of Agriculture confirmed each department is aware of the issues facing the profession.

In October, the Higher Education Authority issued a request to all third-level institutions to register their expression of interest in founding a new veterinary medicine school by November 18.

It is expected a full tender will be issued by January 16, with a view to opening for the academic year 2024/25. This news is very welcome, Mr Fleming said, adding there is more to be done.

Ideally we need three vet schools, but we need the second immediately. One of these schools should be located in Munster."

In the long term, vets would also like to see a change to the current admission system to better meet needs across the country. Mr Fleming would like to see points capped at 450, with students required to achieve good grades in Leaving Cert chemistry, biology, and maths.

This could then be combined with an experience portfolio, where a student came to demonstrate their love of working with animals, as well as an interview stage to measure a students empathy and other tendencies.

Vets would also like to see a new education model as well as a focus on research, with an emphasis on the WHO concept of One Health, One Welfare.

For Lucy Buckley Keane, the cap on points and the introduction of a work experience portfolio would be a welcome change.

Another veterinary school in Munster would be fantastic and I hope it happens. I only wish that it was there already so I didnt have to leave home and come to Poland to follow my dream to become a DVM.

"It was really very hard leaving home and my family and of course my pets, but unfortunately this was the only option I had, or else give up and that wasnt an option for me."
Residents in south-eastern Oklahoma and north-eastern Texas are assessing damage and taking part in recovery work after tornadoes tore through the region, killing at least two people.

After visiting the town of Idabel, Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt said a 90-year-old man had been killed.

The states department of emergency management said the mans body was found at his home in the Pickens area of McCurtain County, about 36 miles north of Idabel.

In Morris County, Texas, Judge Doug Reeder said in a social media post that one person died as a result of a tornado in the far north-eastern Texas County.

A man looks out of a broken window from a home that was destroyed by a tornado in Powderly, Texas (AP)

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol also reported a six-year-old girl drowned and a 43-year-old man was missing after their vehicle was swept by water off a bridge near Stilwell, about 135 miles north of Idabel.

The drowning has not been officially attributed to the storm and will be investigated by the medical examiner, a spokesperson said.

On Saturday afternoon, Mr Stitt declared a state of emergency for McCurtain County, where Idabel is located, and neighbouring Bryan, Choctaw and LeFlore counties.

The declaration is a step in qualifying for federal assistance and funding and clears the way for state agencies to make disaster-recovery related purchases without limits on bidding requirements.

Texas governor Greg Abbott said damage assessments and recovery efforts are under way in the states north-east and encouraged residents to report damage to the Texas Division of Emergency Management.

US National Weather Service meteorologist Robert Darby in Tulsa said the far-reaching storm produced heavy rain in the Stilwell area at the time, around 4in.

Scenes of devastation are visible in all directions along Lamar County Road 35940, west of State Highway 271, after a massive tornado hit Texas (Jeff Forward/The Paris News via AP)

Idabel, a rural town of about 7,000 at the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains, saw extensive damage.

Trinity Baptist Church in Idabel was preparing to complete a new building when the storm ripped apart their sanctuary and flattened the shell of the new structure next door, according to Pastor Don Myer.

The 250-member congregation was to vote after the Sunday service on whether to move ahead with the final work to complete the building, Mr Myer told The Associated Press.

But we didnt get to that. Every vote counts and we had one vote trump us all, Mr Myer, 67, said. We were right on the verge of that. Thats how close we were.

Judge Brandon Bell, the highest elected official in Lamar County where Powderly is located, declared a disaster in that area. Judge Bells declaration stated that at least two dozen people were injured across the county.

People take part in recovery work after a storm struck in Texas (AP)

Powderly is about 45 miles west of Idabel and about 120 miles north-east of Dallas, and both are near the Texas-Oklahoma border.

The National Weather Service in Fort Worth confirmed three tornadoes  in Lamar, Henderson and Hopkins counties  on Friday night as a line of storms dropped rain and sporadic hail on the Dallas-Fort Worth area and continued to push eastward.

The weather services office in Shreveport, Louisiana, said it was assessing the damage in Oklahoma.

Weather service meteorologist Bianca Garcia in Fort Worth said while peak severe weather season typically is in the spring, tornadoes occasionally develop in October, November, December and even January.

Its not very common, Ms Garcia said, but it does happen across our region.
Data exfiltrated from independent co-educational Baptist institution Kilvington Grammar School by the LockBit ransomware gang has been posted on the dark web on 14 October. LockBit only attacks Windows systems.

iTWire asked the school, which is based on Ormond, on 15 October whether it had anything to say about the breach, but there has been a studious silence from the institution.

However, on Sunday, The Age reported that the school had notified the families of children who attend the school that it had suffered a data breach.

In a statement to The Age, the school said: Kilvington Grammar confirms it has experienced a data incident involving unauthorised access to some of its online systems.

Whilst the third party did not gain access to the schools primary database, some data has been accessed.

A notice on the LockBit website on the dark web advertising the fact that data from Kilvington Grammar was posted there in October.

The team has undertaken a forensic investigation to establish the nature of this data and we have notified and provided support to affected parties.

The school said nothing about there being a deadline of 24 October for

LockBit is a relatively new strain of ransomware that was formerly known as "abcd virus". According to security firm Kaspersky, attacks by this malware were first seen in September 2019, with the name being due to the file extension that was created when data on a victim's system was encrypted.

The company said LockBit was a subclass of ransomware known as a "crypto virus" due to the fact that it formed its ransom requests around financial payment in exchange for decryption. It is said to focus mostly on enterprises and government organisations rather than individuals.

Meanwhile, a technology firm that is contracted to work with the Victorian Government has also suffered a data breach.

The Age said PNORS Technology Group had contracts with six different departments, including Education and Training.

PNORS is yet to make any public statement about the attack on its systems. iTWire has sought comment from the company.

Update, 7 November: In a statement on Monday morning, PNORS chief executive Paul Gallo said the investigation into the attack, which was detected on 3 November and affected the Datatime and Netway businesses, was continuing.

"The impacted PNORS Technology Group businesses deal with document and data capture, digital conversion and managed IT support for a number of external clients, including government departments," he said.

"In the early hours of Saturday morning, the criminals behind the cyber attack released to the company, in a private communication, a sample of what is believed to be stolen data.

"We followed strict privacy protocols and notified the Office of Australian Information Commissioner to disclose the data breach."

Gallo said the extent of the breach was as yet unknown. "We are working closely with all authorities to assess how many of our clients have been impacted and the nature of the data that has been stolen," he said.

"Advice from our independent security experts have confirmed nothing has been released in the public domain at this point in time.

"When we were informed about the cyber attack we immediately shut down and isolated all our internal systems and took further measures to secure our network and data, along with pausing all data processing."
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By Laman Ismayilova

The Union of the Azerbaijani Composers will highlight young talents' music achievements, Azernews reports.

The union will hold a plenary session dedicated to the work of young composers on November 7-14, Azernews reports.

The event is timed to coincide with the second anniversary of Azerbaijan's victory in the Second Karabakh War.

The plenary session will start with a symphony concert at the State Philharmonic Hall on November 7.

For the first time, the Azerbaijani State Symphony Orchestra will present to the audience the best patriotic pieces of music by young composers-laureates of the republican competition.

The concert program includes symphonic poems by Azerbaijan's prominent composers Uzeyir Hajibayli, Gara Garayev, Fikrat Amirov, and Ogtay Zulfugarov as well as young composers Tural Mammadli, Vugar Mammadzada, and Elvin Guliyev.

The Azerbaijani State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by People's Artist Fahraddin Karimov and the State Choir Chapel (artistic director - People's Artist Gulbaji Imanova) will perform at the concert.

The program includes chamber music concerts to be held in the concert Hall of the Union on November 10-11.

The session also covers the work of young musicologists who will deliver a presentation on the topic "Problems and Prospects for the creativity of Azerbaijan's Young Composers " on November 11.

The plenum will end on November 14 with a round table discussion. The meeting participants will exchange views on the music of young composers.

Founded in 1934, as a department of the USSR Composers' Union, the Union of the Azerbaijani Composers included 17 composers from the Soviet republics such as Afrasiyab Badalbayli, Zulfugar Hajibeyov, and Niyazi.

The Union carries out activities aimed at promoting Azerbaijan's rich musical legacy.

The organization actively holds music festivals, concerts, art contests, conferences, and joint projects with international partners.

The Union of Azerbaijani Composers always pays great attention to the activities of young composers.

Their works are invariably included in the programs of music festivals and competitions.

The union is regularly engaged in holding concerts of young talents in Azerbaijan and abroad.

So, quite recently, concerts with the participation of Azerbaijani young composers took place in Berlin (Germany), Paris (France), and Moscow (Russia).

The union inspires young composers to compose patriotic music pieces.
Tastely Box, one of the fastest growing online candy companies, announced this morning that it will be launching a monthly candy subscription box.

TORONTO  November 5, 2022  (Newswire.com)

The company is known for having one of the largest candy stores on the web, including a wide selection of low-calorie, sugar-free candies.

When asked why the company decided to create a monthly candy subscription box, Tastely Box CEO Polly Laneville replied, Over the past few years, the team has noticed that many customers send gifts to friends and family during the holiday season want to send family. A gift that will lift peoples spirits during various annual traditions. People strive to bring a smile and joy to their loved ones. A monthly candy subscription box is the perfect treat to spoil someone you care about.

The company says customers receive a selection of delicious sweets each month, including crunchy nuts, chewy caramels, fluffy marshmallows, creamy fruit-filled centers encased in silky milk chocolate, decadent dark chocolate and velvety white chocolate.

Customers are encouraged to leave reviews for various products on the site. One such customer, Austin from California, writes: My search for a constant supply of delicious treats is over with Tastely Box! Pleasantly surprised to see not only great quality for the money spent but also a generous amount.

Indiana native Ethan writes, These were purchased for my father who lives in a nursing home. When they arrive in the mail each month, he eagerly shares them with friends in the community, which gets him quite excited.

A monthly candy subscription box is an amazing idea and a wonderful gift for friends, family and co-workers this holiday season, says Blake. The company recommends placing orders soon in anticipation that their monthly candy boxes will sell out quickly this holiday season due to increased demand.

The company states
Italy on Sunday prepared to let vulnerable migrants off a second rescue ship for charities in Sicily, but sources close to Minister Matteo Salvini warned those not eligible to stay would be pushed back into international waters.

Minors and the sick were left in the port of Catania by the German-flagged Humanity 1 in the early hours of the morning, but 35 adult male migrants were refused permission to set foot on Italian soil, charity SOS Humanity said.

The humanitarian aid ship Geo Barents, operated by MSF and flying the Norwegian flag, said it had also been summoned so authorities could assess vulnerable cases among the 572 people rescued on board.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi previously said those who dont qualify would have to leave territorial waters after refusing requests for a safe harbor from four charity ships.

The Geo Barents, Ocean Viking and Rise Above still carry 900 migrants.

Italys new far-right government, sworn in last month, has vowed to crack down on boat migrants attempting the dangerous crossing from North Africa to Europe.

According to the Interior Ministry, over 87,000 people have landed in Italy so far this year  although only 14 per cent of them have been rescued at sea and taken to safety by charity ships.

Sources close to far-right Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, who controls the ports, said the Geo Barents was only temporarily allowed on Sunday.

Those staying on the ship will be provided with the necessary assistance to exit territorial waters, the sources said.

 Extremely Depressed 

The 35 migrants who were denied permission to leave Humanity 1 are extremely depressed, SOS Humanity spokeswoman Petra Krischok told AFP.

It was unclear whether the ship would be asked to leave the port.

For now, were going to stay here and wait, she said.

The leader of the largest opposition party, the head of the Democratic Party, Enrico Letta, accused the government of breaking international law on Twitter.

Piantedosi should explain his actions to Parliament, the party said.

MP Aboubakar Soumahoro, who was present when the chosen ones disembarked from Humanity 1, criticized the selection of shipwrecked migrants.

He said the government of far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni treats as objects the worn-out bodies of shipwrecked people, already exhausted from cold, fatigue, trauma and torture.

If the remaining castaways are rejected we will challenge this decision in all appropriate institutions, he said on Twitter.

 No responsibility 

Piantedosi said on Saturday that the migrants who are not allowed to disembark would have to be cared for by the flag state  a reference to the national flags under which the ships sail.

Humanity 1s Rise Above and Mission Lifeline sail under the German flag.

SOS Mediterranees Geo Barents and Ocean Viking are registered in Norway.

Norways foreign ministry said Thursday it had no responsibility for those rescued by private Norwegian-flagged vessels in the Mediterranean.
Humanitarian groups said on Sunday Italy had broken international law by refusing to take in migrants snatched from the sea when a German rescue organization announced it would take legal action against Rome.

As rescue ships in Catania waited for permission to disembark the last person, a migrant rescue hotline said about 500 others got into trouble making the perilous Mediterranean crossing.

A father with a baby in a purple cap was among the first to leave the Geo Barents, a ship run by the medical aid organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

He was one of the lucky 357 people who were allowed to leave the country. Italy refused entry to 215 more people.

Earlier in the day, authorities took in 144 people, including children and the sick, from the German-flagged Humanity 1 but turned away 35 adult male migrants, charity SOS Humanity said.

The ship was then ordered to leave the port of Catania, but its captain refused, it said.

The charity said Italian authorities decided the 35 adults were healthy after a brief medical examination but said there was no translator present to assess their mental and physical condition, nor did there have a psychological one. given investigation.

In addition, the 35 survivors have the right to apply for asylum and to undergo a formal asylum procedure, which can only be carried out on land.

 Legal action 

The organization said it would take legal action and appeals against the governments policies would be filed in the courts in Rome and Catania on Monday.

Amnesty International called on Italy to stop discriminating, saying: The Law of the Sea is clear; a rescue ends when all rescued disembark in a safe place.

Italy is violating its international obligations, the human rights organization said.

Those who were denied permission to leave Humanity 1 are extremely depressed, SOS Humanity spokeswoman Petra Krischok told AFP.

MSF said the selective and partial disembarkation was illegal and accused the politicians of gambling with (migrant) lives.

Humanity 1 and Geo Barents were two of four ships that had requested safe harbor. The Ocean Viking and Rise Above are still off the coast of Sicily.

A photographer on the Ocean Viking said there was tension among the survivors who were rescued 16 days ago and faced another cold night on deck as the weather worsened.

While the ships waited, Alarm Phone, a group that runs a hotline for migrants in need of rescue, said it was alerted to a large boat with about 500 people in distress in the Mediterranean.

 Leave High Waters 

Italys new far-right government has vowed to crack down on migrants attempting the dangerous boat crossing from North Africa to Europe.

According to the Interior Ministry, over 87,000 people have landed in Italy so far this year  although only 14 per cent of them have been rescued at sea and taken to safety by charity ships.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi previously said those who do not qualify would have to leave territorial waters.

Sources close to Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, who controls the ports, said they would receive the necessary support to do so.

MP Aboubakar Soumahoro, who was present when the chosen ones disembarked from Humanity 1, criticized the selection of shipwrecked migrants.

The main opposition party said Piantedosi should offer an explanation to Parliament.

 Europes Responsibility 

Piantedosi said on Saturday that the migrants who are not allowed to enter Italy must be cared for by the flag state  a reference to the national flags under which ships sail.

Humanity 1s Rise Above and Mission Lifeline sail under the German flag.

SOS Mediterranees Geo Barents and Ocean Viking are registered in Norway.

Norways foreign ministry said Thursday it had no responsibility for those rescued by private Norwegian-flagged vessels in the Mediterranean.

Germany, in a diplomatic message to Italy, insisted the charities make an important contribution to saving lives and asked Rome to help them as soon as possible.
A touch of a fragrance is all Syrian perfumer Mohammad al-Masri needs to recreate the scent of a luxury brand  without the label and for a fraction of the cost.

Dozens of customers flock to his tiny shop every day, nestled in the historic market of Old Damascus, many flashing photos on their phones of high-end perfumes they wish to replicate.

All I have is my business and Ive been training this nose since I was 15, the 55-year-old told AFP, pointing to his face.

I dont have a big workshop or high-end equipment.

After 11 years of brutal war and economic disruption, most Syrians are struggling to afford basic necessities, let alone perfume.

Before the war, Masri mainly created expensive oriental fragrances with heavy notes of oud, a sweet and woody scent, as his family has been doing for a century.

But after Syria plunged into conflict, demand for cheap imitations of premium brands skyrocketed, and Masris store walls are filled with images of world-famous perfumes.

Perfume is essential for young women, its like food or water, said 24-year-old customer Cham al-Falah.

I used to buy Western perfumes, but I cant afford them anymore because imported products are becoming harder to find in Syria, she said while ordering a scent that mimicked her favorite Italian perfume.

Though Damascus has escaped the worst of the devastation of the war, which began after its government crushed peaceful protests, the local currency has lost nearly 99 percent of its value on the parallel market.

Syrian employees and civil servants reportedly earn an average of about $25 a month  a quarter of the price of a bottle of imported perfume.

Masri sells his fragrances for around $6 and attracts a stream of customers from all walks of life.

Ahmad Dorra, 60, traveled from the mountain town of Zabadani, 50 kilometers away, to buy five bottles of perfume for his family.

He watched as Masri arranged dozens of vials on a tableessences of jasmine, Damask rose, musk, and other scents used in his concoctions.
Thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Lima on Saturday to demand the ouster of President Pedro Castillo, who has been the subject of an unprecedented six corruption investigations.

Opponents of the Castillo government marched through the center of the capital until dozens of riot police used tear gas to prevent them from reaching parliament and the government palace.

Im coming to the march to get this corrupt man out. Castillo has to go, thats what this march is for, to get him out, protester Nancy Huarcaya told AFP.

We are here, representing millions of Peruvians. Peru cant take it anymore. We are on the brink of collapse, economically everything is stagnant, Carola Suarez, who holds a Peruvian flag, told AFP.

Two weeks before a delegation from the Organization of American States arrived to analyze the political crisis, similar demonstrations called for by political groups and civil society groups took place in other cities across the country.

At the same time, a mobilization of collectives and unions in support of the President marched in Limas San Martin Square.

Castillo, a former rural school teacher, has come under constant fire since he unexpectedly seized power from Perus traditional political elite in last years elections.

He has survived two impeachment trials since taking office in July 2021 and is the target of six criminal investigations into alleged bribery and plagiarism of his university work.

Additionally, Perus Attorney General last month filed a constitutional complaint accusing Castillo of leading a criminal organization involving his family and allies.

Castillo, who is serving a five-year term ending in 2026, cannot be prosecuted while in office.

You will keep me until the last day of my term because my people have decided so, Castillo said on Saturday morning at the government palace.
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
Explore South America In An Elegant And Unique Way

History represents one of the most important things for humankind. If we forget history, it will just repeat itself, starting the cycle all over again with no advancement. This is why learning history is very important, but many people do not take this history. Usually, in schools, a lot of things are left unsaid and a lot of interesting and important themes of history are skipped. South American history is one such subject that is both important and beautiful, yet it is skipped often.





Luckily, you can learn a lot more about South America through an elegant and unique trip. There is a lot to uncover here, both in the present and the history of this unique continent. It is important to go beyond what the usual places that people talk about, not just the top tourist destinations. South America is full of beautiful places that you can not see anywhere else and here is how you can explore it.





Explore South America In An Elegant And Unique Way

image from pexels.com

Travel with style





No matter the destination, traveling comfortably with style is very important. Why would you not want to fly to Peurto Rico on a private jet without a care in the world? This is usually seen as a very expensive option, but you would be surprised to see the actual quotes for private jets. Everyone knows how inconvenient commercial flights can get, especially how rude other people can be. This is what you want to avoid if you truly want to travel with elegance in a unique way.





Exploring different cities





South America has a lot of different cities with vibrant cultures and many different people living in them. Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro are just some of the beautiful gems of South American cities. Cartagena in Columbia is another gem that is not talked about enough. It is a small provincial city by the coast with a lot of vibrant colors and places to relax. If you want more history , Cusco is the perfect city for you.





It was once the capital of the mighty Inca empire, the history of this place is irreplaceable. That is what visiting South America is all about, experiencing something unique. You can find beautiful beaches all around the world, but the true and unique elegance of this region is hidden somewhere else. It is hidden in the culture and the heritage scattered all around this beautiful continent.





Exploring the nature





The hidden elegance of South America can be seen throughout the beautifully persevered nature. There are scenes that you have never witnessed before nor can you anywhere else. Many people think that ice glaciers are just reserved for the poles, but what about the El Perito Moreno glacier? Or what about waterfalls straight from fictional movies such as the Iguazu falls in Argentina? Easter Islands are a whole different story when you visit them in person.





Besides wonderful and unique landscapes, there is a lot of life you can not see anywhere else. Nature evolved differently here compared to other regions because of its geographical history. Separated from other continents, life was able to evolve into something else, something unique that we are still exploring. Scientists are still trying to unravel the hidden world of the Amazon rainforest to this day.





Interacting with locals





The best way to make your visit unique is with the help of locals and their vast knowledge. Talking to locals and being respectful towards them will go a long way in making your journey beautiful. They will show you hidden places that other tourists usually have no clue about.





The important thing is to respect both the people and the places they show you, show genuine interest and care for them. This is best achieved by doing some research before the trip and learning a thing or two about the language. You will not be able to learn everything, but it is important to try and show that you care for the culture.





By following these key principles during your visit, you will see what South America has to offer. You will not be able to see everything, because there is too much to uncover on this beautiful continent. It takes a full lifetime and more to experience everything that this and all the other continents have to offer. But, that should not give you cold feet, that should fire your will to see everything in this world.





South America is a very important stop in this journey of discovering the world. And, in this day and age, you can find a lot of information on how to explore the world properly. This short guide serves to do just that, help you to uncover the true beauty this world has to offer.
From "Snowdrop" to "Run On" and more, these "she fell first but he fell harder" K-dramas make us swoon in envy and feel lucky for the girl!

Which of these K-dramas is your favorite?

[Warning: There will be spoilers ahead!]

1. 'Snowdrop'

Starring Jung Hae In and BLACKPINK's Jisoo, retro-romantic series "Snowdrop" tells the love story of Im Soo Ho, a North Korean spy, who is discovered injured by Young Ro, a college student. She hides him in an abandoned room in her dormitory building as she assumes he is a pro-democracy activist.

With his handsome face and amazing physique, Young Ro fell first for the spy.

However, as the story progressed, Im Soo Ho fell harder for the college girl for her sweet and caring personality.

What's more? He was the first one to tell her he loves her! (Although it was also the last. We're not going to revisit the painful scene here.)

2. 'Run On'

Im Siwan and Shin Se Kyung's chemistry was overwhelming when the sports-romance drama "Run On" aired.

This 2020 Netflix series is based on the life of Oh Mi Joo, a translator and an ex-national sprinter Ki Seon Gyeom.

"Run On" talks about how they establish feelings for each other and how things between them grow in time.

3. 'Vincenzo'

Vincenzo Cassano (Song Joong Ki) is one of the best K-drama characters we've met for the past few years.

While the attraction between them was obvious from the start, the fierce mafia lawyer fell harder for his flawless and witty partner Hong Cha Young (Jeon Yeo Bin) as the story continued.

From strangers to becoming each other's strengths, Hong Cha Young began to have a soft spot for Vincenzo. Meanwhile, his gestures towards her speak volumes about how he cares for the female lawyer.

Mind you, they also gave us butterflies with their slow-burn romance!

4. 'Twenty Five, Twenty One'

This coming-of-age series is everything, despite how it shattered us with its ending.

"Twenty Five, Twenty One" follows the love story of two people who first met when they were 22 and 18, then reunited four years later at 25 and 21.

Though Na Hee Do (Kim Tae Ri) fell first, Baek Yi Jin (Nam Joo Hyuk) fell harder for the fencing champ.

5. 'W: Two Worlds'

"W: Two Worlds tells the romance between Kang Chul (Lee Jong Suk) and Oh Yeon Joo (Han Hyo Joo), who are living in different worlds.

Yeon Joo is a surgeon living in the real world, and her father is the author of the famous web comic W, in which Kang Chul was the main character in the story.

Despite knowing he is just a fictional character, Yeon Joo fell in love with him. But he fell harder, much more when their worlds finally collided.

Do you know other "She Fell Hard But He Fell Harder" K-dramas? Tell us in the comments!

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity updates, keep your tabs open here at KDramastars.

KDramastars owns this article.

Shai Collins wrote this.
Yoon Jae (Park Ji Bin) revealed the alliance he and Ryu Sung Hoon (Ha Seok Jin) have. Ryu Sung Joon (Ok Taecyeon), who began to uncover things, remained loyal to his brother in "Blind" episode 15.

'Blind' Episode 15: Yoon Jae Reveals Ryu Sung Hoon as Mastermind of Revenge

After Yoon Jae was caught, Ryu Sung Joon continued investigating and gather more evidence from the Joker Murder Case. The detective was frustrated as Yoon Jae continued to drag Sung Hoon into the case.

Though Sung Joon already knew that his brother is connected to the ongoing case, he remained loyal to him.

But his faith in Sung Hoon got tested after Yoon Jae confessed that it was Sung Hoon, who originally planned the revenge. A flashback occurred and showed the conversation between the judge and Yoon Jae, who were both victims of the Hope Welfare Tragedy.

Ryu Sung Hoon was the one who set up the jurors during the trial of Jung Man Chun at the beginning of the drama. The jury members were all connected to the Hope Welfare Case.

Ryu Sung Joon remembered that Sung Hoon was the presiding judge at that time, who sentenced Jung Man Chun; he also gave the jurors' location on his phone to the police and inserted himself in the investigation.

The detective realized that his brother was either at the scene of the crime or involved in the investigation of all the murders. Sung Joon said that Ryu Sung Hoon's involvement was to interfere with the case and not to purely solve it.

Ryu Sung Hoon Planned the Revenge, Yoon Jae Executed the Killings

In the flashback, Sung Hoon only wanted to threaten the culprit behind the Hope Welfare case, and no one should be killed. But it was opposite to what Yoon Jae wanted. Sung Hoon planned the revenge, but it was Yoon Jae who executed the killings, which was against Sung Hoon's will.

Meanwhile, Bae Chul Ho (Jo Seung Yeon) scammed Yeom Ki Nam (Jung In Gi) and Na Kuk Hee (Jo Kyung Sook) about a video from the past. He gave them a blank tape in return for money.

Unfortunately, after meeting them, Bae Chul died after a mysterious man hit him and stole the bag of money.

When he knew that his mother Na Kuk Hee was involved in the Hope Welfare Center Case, Sung Joon got disappointed and frustrated.

Ryu Sung Joon Remains Protective of Jo Eun Ki

Sung Joon warned Jo Eun Ki (Jung Eun Ji) not to share her new address with anyone, especially Sung Hoon for her safety. The detective was also suspicious of Sung Hoon and wanted to know his next move now that Yoon Jae shared more information about their close relationship.

Sung Hoon visited Yoon Jae and turned cold to him and wanted to stop their alliance since Yoon Jae kept disobeying his rules. Meanwhile, the convict got anxious as Sung Hoon might finally betray him.

As Ryu Sung Joon was figuring out the next move for his brother, he was shocked when Sung Hoon contacted him to meet. Will Sung Hoon finally stop being Yoon Jae's accomplice and start a new life with his family? Let us all find out in the next "Blind" episode.

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity updates, keep your tabs open here at KDramastars.

KDramastars owns this article.

Shai Collins wrote this.
A downed tree is seen on a residential street in Vancouver, B.C., in a Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, handout photo. Tens of thousands of homes remain in the dark after fierce storms with strong winds toppled trees and brought down power lines throughout southern B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-B.C. Hydro, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
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If any of those people get infected, their illness will potentially impact dozens more. COVID infection may now be just a cold, at least for the vaccinated. But no one should think this you do you, Ill do me approach to the pandemic affects only them. Not by a long shot.

Diane Birnbaumer is an emergency physician.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, The impact of a single COVID infection.

The Podcast by KevinMD is brought to you by the Nuance Dragon Ambient eXperience.

With so many demands on their time, physicians today report record levels of burnout. Burnout is caused by many factors, one of which is clinical documentation. Studies indicate physicians spend two hours documenting care for every hour spent with patients.

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Once again, its time to consider universal health care. What are the implications? Could it happen?

After something of a hiatus during the passage of the Affordable Care Act and the battles over its implementation, legislative committees in Oregon and Washington are looking at new proposals for state-based universal health care. Oregons task force report was completed in September, while Washingtons baseline report was finished this month.

While theres a fair amount of vagueness in both documents, especially Washingtons (which calls for more time to consider all the ticklish details), each assumes something like Senator Bernie Sanderss Medicare for All. All state residents would have coverage, covered benefits would be generous and comprehensive, and the new programs would be state-run. Oregons program would be funded from current sources like Medicaid and Medicare plus new individual income taxes and a new employer payroll tax. Washingtons funding isnt yet defined but (in a prime example of politicians kicking the can down the road) would depend on a not-yet-created committees recommendations.

The two proposals offer a mixed bag for health care providers. No insurance companies (good!). Giant state bureaucracy (bad!). Few or no co-pays or deductibles (good!). Lower average rates (bad!). Much higher rates for services to low-income families (good!). Lower rates for everyone else (bad!). Standardized coverage and payment rules (good!). Set by state bureaucracy (bad!). And so on 

So whats the chance of either states proposal being implemented?

The opposition is becoming vocal in Oregon, where the proposal is now public. Health insurers (whod be largely eliminated) argue that the hoped-for savings couldnt happen, business groups oppose the payroll taxes, and conservative individuals oppose the taxes on income. On the other hand, hospital and physician organizations have been conspicuously silent (so far).

In Washington, there have been little media or organized public comment, not surprisingly in view of the lack of firm recommendations, but it seems unreasonable to expect that businesses and insurers will be any more enthused than in Oregon.

The limitations imposed by current federal law may be more certainly fatal to the two proposals.

Universal health care would absorb those now enrolled in Medicare, self-funded employer plans, and Medicaid, but current law makes the inclusion of these groups near impossible. Federal law defines Medicare eligibility and benefits and provides no ability for states to impose their own rules. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) similarly protects self-funded employer plans. Medicaid law allows some waivers of federal regulations but doesnt allow federal costs to increase, meaning that states would have to levy substantial new taxes to cover the difference between Medicaid and single-payer payment rates.

The realistic bottom line conclusion, regardless of the pluses and minuses of the two proposals and regardless of the optimism of their supporters, is that neither is likely to be implemented.

Roger Collier is a health care consultant.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
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I drive through my leafy suburb, awash in beautiful foliage. Its peak color, with vermillion juxtaposed with citrine and crimson. And I see the reality of our ugly world peeking in every so often. Proposition 3 signs are casually sprinkled on lawns, intersections, and billboards; theyre in harsh black and white, implying the proposition is too confusing or too extreme. And the issue it represents is a clear-cut dichotomy.

We are in Michigan, where reproductive rights access may fall by the wayside. We will vote today, tomorrow, absentee or in person, for the right to keep the legislators out of our exam rooms, operating rooms, and conversations with our patients. The ballot initiatives wording is not confusing: the proposal would invalidate an archaic law from 1931 and allow individual reproductive freedom, whether for prenatal care or pregnancy disruption. It would establish and reaffirm an individual right to make these decisions.

The initiative would protect the conversations we have with our teenagers who need proper, comprehensive reproductive care. Physicians and providers would be protected when acting within the standard of care as established by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. We would speak freely and without fear of prosecution, act within the best medical practice when faced with impending emergencies, and treat patients without fear of jail or prosecution.

Nothing about this debate is black and white. How can legislation reduce it to a simple yes or no, a proposal, a billboard, a confusing and extreme movement? What legislator could sit here in my shoes, holding hands with a grieving family who just got the news of an incomplete or inevitable miscarriage and forces them to prolong their grief? Who could watch someone suffer longer while waiting for an ethics consult, which delays the standards of care for miscarriage? Who could listen to proposals like those in Ohio, where the legislators recommend physicians reimplant ectopic pregnancies in a uterus? Where did the science go? And humanity?

There is nothing confusing about bodily autonomy, and we, as physicians, should champion it. We shouldnt be thinking of where our college-age kids are studying, what will happen to them when they are sexually assaulted on campuses, or what will happen if their chronic medication is not filled because of the religious comforts of health care professionals. We shouldnt have to worry about loss of livelihood if they call us, asking for our advice regarding pregnancy prevention.

And worst of all, when ambushed about our thoughts on the proposal, we shouldnt have to hide behind the facade of being a moderate on the issue. We should be able to answer that we support proposal 3 resoundingly, support reproductive autonomy, and respect our patients decision-making process. After all, we trained for this. After all, we trained for this.

Yuliya Malayev is an obstetrician-gynecologist.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
IFA Deputy President Brian Rushe is seeking a meeting with the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee for a commitment to increase garda numbers to tackle rural crime.

Farmers across the country are dealing with the recurring problem of gangs of men with dogs coming onto private lands and working farms, threatening livestock, Mr Rushe said.



During a recent incident in Tipperary, a farmer close to his home encountered men with dogs lamping on his land. Their vehicle was blocking the lane and when he engaged with them, he was badly beaten and left concussed. His injuries included facial lacerations and fractured ribs.

KilkennyLive has also reported on several rural crimes around Kilkenny in recent times.



As a result of these type of events, community meetings have been called around the country and hundreds of people have attended to express fears for their safety.

More than 250 farmers attended a meeting in Adare, Co Limerick this week.



The meetings hear calls for additional garda patrols and the need for more visibility of gardai. Despite assurances that recruitment is ongoing, the failure to get enough replacements for those retiring is leading to gaps in resources, Mr Rushe said.

Mr Rushe said the law in relation to trespass must be changed and tied into the owners and occupiers liability insurance.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
By Kyle Larson and Daniel Silverman



The U.S. and its allies have been engaging in a significant military intervention to help Ukraine resist Russia's brutal invasion for the past nine months. Not only have they given considerable financial, humanitarian and military resources  including sophisticated weapons systems  to Ukraine, but they also have embedded advisers with Ukrainian forces, allowed thousands of their citizens to join Ukraine as foreign fighters and provided a vast amount of real-time intelligence to the country.



While this intervention has enjoyed broad domestic support, it has its share of determined critics. Notably, much of the anti-war camp in foreign policy circles has loudly opposed vigorous U.S. intervention. Its criticism is simple: The U.S. has done this before. With Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria, America's recent interventions have been a parade of mission failures.



In each of these cases, the reasons for failure were similar. As has been highlighted by critics, the U.S. has shown that it is thoroughly capable of using military force to destroy hostile governments, from dislodging the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in 2002 to helping revolutionaries overthrow Moammar Gadhafi in Libya in 2011. But what happens afterward?



These situations have either left America beating a quick retreat and leaving behind a country in ruin, as in Libya, or else undertaking a prolonged and costly occupation to ensure that its chosen proxy faction stays in power, as in Afghanistan. Either way, they have led to absolutely disastrous results for the U.S., the relevant countries and their broader regions.



The anti-war camp's critique of these actions is right on the money. But what it misses is a remarkably simple point: Not all interventions are created equal. Intervening to back a state defending itself in an interstate war is a different strategic proposition from intervening to support a rebel group or revolution against a regime in a civil conflict. In short, U.S. support for Ukraine is more like support for Kuwait in 1991 or South Korea in the 1950s than Iraq or Afghanistan.



Why is this distinction so crucial? The reasoning here is straightforward as well: When backing a state defending itself against foreign aggression, there is a viable situation in the country once the fighting is over. The U.S. won't need to engage in a prolonged and costly military occupation to ensure stability in Ukraine. It won't have to undertake the herculean task of building a new nation. It won't have to stand up a new military and range of governing institutions. And it won't have to conquer Ukraine province by province, fighting a bloody insurgency waged by an ousted regime. In a nutshell, someone will be in charge.



In fact, like most defensive interstate conflicts, the fighting has helped substantially strengthen Ukraine. As political scientist Charles Tilly famously said, "War made the state." He could have added that it makes the nation too. The Ukrainian state and army have been forced to become far more efficient and capable to meet the tremendous threat facing them, and the Ukrainian people have rallied strongly in defense of their beleaguered nation.



The war has congealed Ukrainian society and crystallized the Ukrainian state. Like other states to come out intact from modern defensive wars such as Iran, Israel or Turkey, Ukraine will emerge from this stronger, more cohesive and more prosperous than it was before. This makes concerns about postwar anarchy or quagmire a particularly foolish misreading of the lessons of history and the current situation in Ukraine.



Others will debate the value of the U.S. interests at stake in Ukraine, which include some combination of preserving democracy, upholding territorial sovereignty, restoring the power of deterrence and reassuring frightened allies. And while most analysts agree that the risk of Russia using nuclear weapons in Ukraine is low, it is not something that can be entirely dismissed out of hand. But it is worth stressing that what is perhaps the primary critique of U.S. interventionism over the last 20 years simply doesn't apply here.



Those invoking the specter of America's post-9/11 decade are misunderstanding the situation at hand and the important distinction between involvement in an interstate versus a civil war. The U.S. is not invading a country and installing a new regime  that is what Russia is trying, and failing, to do. Instead, it is helping one country defend itself from aggression by another.



Not all interventions are the same  and this is Kuwait or South Korea, not Libya or Afghanistan.





Daniel Silverman is an assistant professor of political science at Carnegie Mellon University. Kyle Larson is a senior research associate at the Chicago Project on Security and Threats at the University of Chicago. This article was published in the Chicago Tribune and distributed by Tribune Content Agency.




In the latest chapter of Rakhi Sawant and Sherlyn Chopra's ongoing controversy, the former has filed a police complaint against the latter for making derogatory remarks. Sherlyn, who earlier filed a police complaint against #MeToo accused filmmaker Sajid Khan, had recently engaged in a war of words with Rakhi for coming out in support of Sajid and Raj Kundra. Sherlyn Chopra Files Police Complaint Against Sajid Khan for Sexual Harassment and Criminal Intimidation in 2005 (Watch Video).

Reportedly, she made fun of Rakhi Sawant a few days ago by mimicking her in front of the paparazzi and even made several personal allegations against her. On Saturday, after filing a complaint against Sherlyn along with her lawyer in Mumbai's Oshiwara Police Station, Rakhi spoke to the media and said that because of Sherlyn's remarks, her personal life has been affected a lot as her boyfriend has started questioning her.

"I am really sad to say that due to the comments made by her about me there has been turmoil in my life. Because of her, my recent boyfriend has asked me 'whether there is any truth in what Sherlyn is saying', do I really have 10 boyfriends'. She just came and said whatever she wanted to in the media and now I have to pay for it," she said.

Rakhi and her lawyer stated that they have filed a case against Sherlyn and that Rakhi is talking "on the basis of evidence". While interacting with the media they even played alleged videos of Sherlyn Chopra. Rakhi also alleged that Sherlyn "blackmails powerful men for money". Sherlyn Chopra: Not Looking to Settle Scores With Sajid Khan, Just Want to Ensure No Other Woman Becomes a Victim.

Sajid was mired in the #MeToo controversy in 2018 after nine women from the industry - who worked with him on his various projects - had accused the filmmaker of sexually harassing them. Along with Sherlyn, actresses including Saloni Chopra, Aahana Kumra and Mandana Karimi, levelled the allegations against him.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Thane, Nov 6 (PTI) As many as 38 new cases of coronavirus have been detected in Maharashtra's Thane district, taking its tally of infections to 7,46,970, a health official said on Sunday.

Also Read | UP Shocker: Dalit Man Beaten to Death for Stealing Guava in Manena Village; Accused Held.

With the addition of the latest cases on Saturday, there are currently 365 active COVID-19 cases in the district, which is a part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, he said.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Air Pollution: Four Cities Record 'Very Poor' AQI, Noida Tops List.

The death toll in the district remained unchanged at 11,966, he said, adding that the count of recoveries has reached 7,35,369.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Morbi, Nov 6 (PTI) Though the Patidar-dominated Morbi Assembly seat in Gujarat is considered a stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the poll equations this time may change due to many factors, including the recent bridge tragedy which claimed 135 lives, political observers say.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Shocker: 10-Year-Old Boy Rapes Class 3 Girl Student After Watching Porn in Kanpur; Booked.

The entry of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) into the poll fray and the long-pending urban infrastructure issues could also be among the decisive factors in Morbi where the winning margins have been thin in the last three elections, the political experts told PTI.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Shocker: Heartbroken Over Death of Stray Dog, Girl Jumps Off Water Tank in Meerut, Dies.

The erstwhile Morbi princely state was called as the 'Paris of Saurashtra region' before Independence, thanks to its visionary Jadeja rulers.

Today, it is famous for the ceramic and clock industries, providing employment to more than five lakh people who come here from across the country for jobs.

However, the economic development in Morbi has been marred by bad roads and traffic jams, locals claim.

Currently, the BJP is ruling the Morbi Municipality, District Panchayat and Taluka Panchayat.

The Morbi Assembly seat falls under the Kutch Lok Sabha constituency, represented by Dalit BJP MP Vinod Chavda.

Bad roads and traffic problems have been some of the main issues here for many years, according to Morbi Ceramic Manufacturers Association's floor tiles division president Vinod Bhadja.

"Morbi is a ceramic hub with a combined annual turnover of Rs 65,000 crore. Though the BJP has done a lot of work, we are still facing issues of traffic jams, water-logging and bad roads in and around the city," the industrialist told PTI.

"The people of Morbi are somewhat unhappy because our main issues have remained unresolved for more than two decades now," he claimed.

Morbi witnessed some interesting political developments in the last decade, including the Patidar quota agitation spearheaded by Hardik Patel and the defeat of BJP's five-term MLA Kantilal Amrutiya.

Amrutiya, better known as Kanabhai, had won from the Morbi Assembly seat in 1995, 1998, 2002, 2007 and 2012.

In 2017, Congress candidate Brijesh Merja defeated Amrutiya by a thin margin of 3,419 votes, riding on the anti-BJP wave in Morbi, one of the key centres of the Patidar quota agitation.

In 2012, Amrutiya defeated Merja by 2,760 votes. Both of them are Patidars.

Merja, considered as a suave and learned leader, left the Congress in 2020 and joined the ruling BJP. In the subsequent byelection, he managed to defeat Congress's old-timer Jayantilal Patel by 4,649 votes.

In the new cabinet constituted last year under the chief ministership of Bhupendra Patel, Merja was appointed Minister of State with independent charge of panchayat as well as skill, labour and employment departments.

When a suspension bridge on the Machchhu river in Morbi collapsed on October 30 evening claiming 135 lives, Amrutiya hogged limelight as videos showing him jumping into the water to rescue the victims went viral on social media platforms.

Though the BJP has not declared its candidates yet, political experts believe it will once again field Merja and not Amrutiya, despite his brave act and popularity among the masses.

"Most of the people in Morbi want to see Amrutiya as the BJP's candidate. But even if Merja is selected, the BJP's core electorate will eventually vote for him, because for them what ultimately matters is the party symbol," local political analyst Ravindra Trivedi said.

The candidate selection will be crucial this time because the winning margin in Morbi remains thin, he said.

Local grocery store owner Maulik Sanghvi said, "We have no problem with the BJP and its government. But Amrutiya was better than Merja. Amrutiya was an MLA for nearly 25 years and no one came close to his performance. He should be given the ticket because he is perfect for Morbi."

According to Trivedi, the Congress's chances of winning may increase if the party chooses young Patidar face Manoj Panara (Patel) instead of Jayantilal Patel, who lost to BJP candidates five times since 1995.

"Panara is a young Patidar face having considerable popularity. He was once with Hardik Patel during the quota agitation. He has a huge support base here," Trivedi said.

"The Congress's chances would go up if Panara is given a ticket instead of Jayantilal. The AAP candidate may not get more than 5,000 votes. It can change the final equation in view of the history of thin winning margins here," the political analyst said.

The AAP has already declared Pankaj Ransariya as its candidate, who is a known face in some Patidar pockets of Morbi, including Ravapar Road.

Morbi has nearly 2.90 lakh voters, including 80,000 Patidars, 35,000 Muslims, 30,000 Dalits, 30,000 Sathwara community members (from the Other Backward Class category), 12,000 Ahirs (OBC), and 20,000 Thakor-Koli community members (OBC).

According to political analyst and local businessman K D Padsumbia, while Patidar voters are equally split between the Congress and BJP, the ruling party enjoys the support of the majority of Sathwara, Koli, and Dalit community members.

Muslims have traditionally been with the Congress, but the AAP can make a dent in the Congress's vote bank, he said.

"Though Merja's performance as a minister was good and appreciated by the BJP leadership, Amrutiya's popularity among the masses is much higher. But, the chances of Merja and Amrutiya getting the ticket are 70 per cent and 30 per cent respectively," Padsumbia said.

"Nearly 20 per cent of the Muslim votes are expected to go to the AAP this time," 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)
Patna, Nov 6: Counting of votes for bypolls to Mokama and Gopalganj assembly constituencies in Bihar began at 8 am on Sunday amid tight security arrangements.

A senior election official said that trends will emerge around midday. Assembly By-Elections Results 2022 Live News Updates: Counting of EVM Votes Begins in Odisha's Dhamnagar Bypoll.

Of the 6.10 lakh voters -- Gopalganj (3.31 lakh) and Mokama (2.70 lakh)  52.3 per cent had exercised their franchise in the two seats on November 3, he said.

A total of 619 polling booths were set up in the two constituencies.

Fifteen candidates are in the fray -- nine in Gopalganj and six in Mokama.

This is the first electoral face-off between the ruling Grand Alliance (GA) and the opposition BJP in Bihar after the change of government in August this year, when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party JD-U snapped ties with the saffron camp and aligned with Lalu Prasad's RJD-led coalition, comprising Congress and other parties, to form a new government. Uttar Pradesh Air Pollution: Four Cities Record 'Very Poor' AQI, Noida Tops List.

The Mokama seat fell vacant following the disqualification of RJD MLA Anant Singh after his conviction in an Arms Act case, while the by-election in Gopalganj was necessitated following the death of sitting BJP MLA Subhash Singh. BJP leader Kusum Devi, wife of the deceased MLA, is pitted against RJD's Mohan Gupta in Gopalganj. In Mokama, BJP nominee Sonam Devi is up against RJD's Neelam Devi, the wife of Anant Singh.

Mokama has been the stronghold of Anant Singh since 2005. He won the seat twice on JD(U) tickets. Singh fought as an RJD candidate in the 2020 elections and retained the seat. But he was disqualified from the assembly following his conviction in the criminal case.

(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], November 6 (ANI): With the counting of votes in the by-elections to the seven Assembly constituencies spread across six states to be held today, the security outside the voting centres was detailed and beefed up ahead of the counting.

The security arrangements were also hiked at the godown of Food Corporation of India in Telangana's Nalgonda, ahead of the vote-counting for Munugode Bypolls.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Shocker: 10-Year-Old Boy Rapes Class 3 Girl Student After Watching Porn in Kanpur; Booked.

Counting of the votes for the bypolls, which were held on November 3 is all set to take place at the FCI godown today.

The BJP and the ruling TRS had campaigned aggressively in Munugode.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Shocker: Heartbroken Over Death of Stray Dog, Girl Jumps Off Water Tank in Meerut, Dies.

The polling was held on November 3 and the counting of votes will take place today.

In the Assembly bypolls held across six states, the Munugode constituency in Telangana recorded the highest voter turnout with 77,5 pc voting on Thursday, as per Election Commission trends.

Assembly bye-elections were held in seven vacant seats spread across the states of Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar, Telangana, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.

Polling was held between 7 am to 6 pm amid tight security on November 3.

The contest in Telangana's Munugode Assembly constituency was crucial for all major parties in the state - the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and opposition BJP and Congress.

While 47 candidates are in the fray, eyes are on BJP's Raj Gopal Reddy, former TRS MLA Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy and Congress' Palvai Sravanthi.

So far, Reddy has claimed that he is 100 per cent confident of his victory in the 'crucial' elections.

"I am 100 pc confident of winning," TRS candidate for Munugode Bypoll, Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy told media persons.

The bypoll results are a prestige battle for Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who is planning for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Meanwhile, the counting of votes for the Mokama and Gopalganj assembly constituencies of Bihar is also scheduled to be held today at the Aryabhatta Knowledge University in Patna.

Groups of people could be seen gathered at the designated center for vote counting along with the deployed security personnel to handle any untoward incident, here.

According to EC's approximate trends, 48.35 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the Gopalganj constituency while 52.47 per cent was recorded in Mokama in Bihar.

In Bihar, this was the first major election after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar parted his ways with BJP and joined hands with RJD and Congress to form a Grand Alliance government.

The main contest is between the BJP and the RJD in Bihar

For the Mokama bypolls, the BJP has fielded Sonam Devi against RJD's Neelam Devi, whose husband Anant Singh's disqualification has necessitated the by-election.

Notably, Mokama is said to be the stronghold of Anant Singh since 2005. He won the seat twice on JD(U) tickets.

BJP has given the ticket to Kusum Devi, the wife of incumbent BJP MLA Subhash Singh while RJD has fielded Mohan Prasad Gupta for Goapalganj by-election.

For the Adampur seat in Haryana, Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Bhavya Bishnoi has exuded confidence that the people here will "celebrate Diwali" within a few hours.

"This poll was not about winning or losing, but about the victory margin. With the blessings I have received from my Adampur family since the beginning I am confident that people will once again celebrate Diwali within a few hours," BJP candidate for Adampur Byelection, Bhavya Bishnoi said.

The counting for Adampur bypolls is currently underway and three-layer security has been provided as the EVMs reached here.

"CAPF and district police is deployed. Law and order company with anti-riot equipment present in case of any eventuality. Checking is being done," the SSP informed.

Haryana's Adampur seat witnessed the contest between BJP, Congress, Indian National Lok Dal, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) with a total voter turnout of 75.25 per cent.

In Adampur, the by-election was necessitated after former chief minister Bhajan Lal's son Kuldeep Bishnoi resigned as MLA from the seat and switched from the Congress to the BJP in August. Bishnoi's son Bhavya contested the bypoll as the BJP candidate.

The Congress fielded former Union minister Jai Prakash while the INLD picked Congress rebel Kurda Ram Nambardar as its candidate. Satender Singh was AAP's candidate.

Notably, the Adampur seat is considered a stronghold of Bishnoi.

In Odisha's Dhamnagar bypoll, there seems to be a tough contest between ruling BJD candidate Abanti Das and BJP candidate Suryabanshi Suraj Sthitaprajana, the son of Bishnu Sethi, BJP MLA after whose death, the assembly seat fell vacant, as its candidate for the by-election. The EC observed a 66.63 per cent voter turnout recorded in Dhamnagar Assembly constituency bypolls.

In Andheri East, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena faction's candidate Rutuja Latke, the wife of incumbent Sena MLA Ramesh Latke whose death in May necessitated the poll, is expected to comfortably win the by-polls as the BJP had decided not to contest.

This was the first election after the revolt in the Shiv Sena by Eknath Shinde and 39 other legislators which led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

The NCP and Congress have also supported the candidature of Rutuja Latke. (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, Nov 6 (PTI) Counting of votes polled in the high-stakes bypoll to Munugode Assembly constituency in Nalgonda district of Telangana began Sunday morning amid tight security.

A three-layered security has been provided at the counting hall at Nalgonda, official sources said.

Also Read | Assembly By-Elections Results 2022 Live News Updates: Postal Ballots Being Counted, Counting of EVM Votes To Begin Shortly.

The process began at 8 AM with postal ballots being counted first, followed by EVM counting at 8.30 AM.

Counting would be completed in 15 rounds. The result is expected to be out in the afternoon.

Also Read | Delhi Sextortion Case: Three Arrested for Shooting Nude Video for Extortion.

Over 93 per cent polling was reported in the bypoll held on November 3.

The bypoll has been necessitated by the resignation of sitting Congress MLA Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy from the party in August. He has joined the BJP and is seeking re-election.

While 47 candidates were in the fray, the main contest was confined to Raj Gopal Reddy (BJP), former MLA Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy of TRS and Congress' Palvai Sravanthi.

The bypoll has assumed immense political significance as the winner would have an edge over others ahead of next year's Legislative Assembly polls in Telangana.

The TRS, recently renamed as Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), aims to demonstrate its dominance in state politics and go national with a big win here.

The BJP, meanwhile, hopes to give a push to its plans to emerge as the alternative to the TRS with a victory in Munugode.

The saffron party is on a high following its victories in Dubbak and Huzurabad Assembly bypolls and also the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) election during the last two years.

For the beleaguered Congress, it is almost a do-or-die battle in view of its below par performances in the 2014 and 2018 Assembly elections and the subsequent bypolls.

If the Congress loses, it would be a double whammy for the party as Munugode was its sitting seat.

(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], November 6 (ANI): The Ministry of Education under the leadership of Union Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will be celebrating 'Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas' in a grand manner in the schools, skill and higher educational institutions across the country on November 15.

Last year, the Government declared 15th November as 'Janjatiya Gaurav Divas' dedicated to the memory of brave tribal freedom fighters. 15th November is the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda who is revered as Bhagwan by tribal communities across the country.

Also Read | Video of Man Urinating on Delhi Metro Tracks Goes Viral, DMRC Responds.

Birsa Munda was an iconic freedom fighter, social reformer and revered tribal leader of the country, who fought bravely against the exploitative system of the British colonial government, and became a legendary figure in his lifetime, often referred to as 'Bhagwan'. He organized and led the tribal movement, giving a call for "Ulgulan" (Revolt) to the tribals. He encouraged tribals to understand their cultural roots and observe unity.

As per Education Ministry "To commemorate the contribution of the tribal freedom fighters, the Ministry of Education in association with the AICTE, UGC, Central Universities, Private Universities, other HEIs, CBSE, KVS, NVS and Skilling institutions is celebrating 'JanjatiyaGaurav Divas'. The nationwide celebrations of JanjatiyaGaurav Divas will witness a large number of programmes such as debate competitions on the theme 'Contribution of Janjati Heroes in freedom struggle', social activities, etc in educational institutions across the country.

Also Read | Nuclear War Fears Revived As Vladimir Putin Makes Chilling Reference to Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Tells Emmanuel Macron You Dont Need To Target Major Cities To Win War.

"The contributions of brave tribal leaders like Bhagwan Birsa Munda and others will be highlighted during these celebrations. The students will also be felicitated for the good work" Ministry said

Ministry of Education further said that These celebrations will inspire future generations to acknowledge their sacrifices as the tribal freedom fighters for the country, take forward their legacy and conserve tribal culture, art and rich tribal heritage. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chandigarh, Nov 6 (PTI) At a time Punjab is witnessing a rising number of stubble burning incidents, Pathankot is the only district which has not seen a single farm fire so far this season.

It has become possible because of a massive awareness drive launched by the district administration against paddy straw burning, a senior agriculture official said.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Shocker: 10-Year-Old Boy Rapes Class 3 Girl Student After Watching Porn in Kanpur; Booked.

The administration held awareness camps, launched a YouTube channel and formed WhatsApp groups of villagers that resulted in the cooperation of farmers in making the district free of farm fire, the official said.

Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is one of the reasons behind the alarming spike in air pollution levels in the national capital region in October and November.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Shocker: Heartbroken Over Death of Stray Dog, Girl Jumps Off Water Tank in Meerut, Dies.

"We had set a target this season that there should be no stubble burning incident in the district. And so far, no such incident has been reported," said Pathankot Chief Agricultural Officer Amrik Singh.

In the past, Pathankot witnessed a low number of farm fires.

The district administration of Pathankot was keen that there should be not even a single incident of crop residue burning this season which starts from September 15.

Pathankot, a border district, saw 28 farm fires in 2016, 12 in 2017, nine in 2018, four in 2019, 11 in 2020 and six in 2021.

Pathankot grows paddy over 28,500 hectares of land and generates around 1.35 lakh metric tonne of stubble every year.

The agriculture department found the solution to stubble burning through its use as fodder for milch animals and encouraged cattle owners, mainly nomad Gujjars, to collect it from fields.

Singh said the paddy growers are getting Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 per acre by selling crop residue to cattle owners, adding that it helped to a great extent in solving the problem of stubble management.

Before the start of harvesting season, officials of the agriculture department identified the hotspots where farm fires used to take place and persuaded the farmers of these areas not to set the crop residue on fire.

As many as 70 farm awareness camps were held to motivate farmers not to set the crop residue on fire and even pledges were administered against stubble burning, he said.

To ensure messages against stubble burning reach maximum farmers, the department also rolled out a YouTube channel, 'Meri Kheti Mera Maan'. More than 120 videos of experts highlighting the crop residue management machines were uploaded, Singh said, adding that more than 67,000 people have viewed them.

Moreover, WhatsApp groups of farmers at block level were also formed to encourage them not to burn the paddy straw, he said.

Apart from the awareness drive, as many as 201 crop residue management machines were also sanctioned, he said.

With this, 306 such machines are now available in the district for stubble management, said Singh.

Mobile vans were also deployed in the district to persuade farmers not to burn stubble, he said.

The official of the agriculture department also said school students were also made aware about the ill-effects of stubble burning.

Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is one of the reasons behind the alarming spike in air pollution levels in the national capital in October and November.

As the window for the cultivation of wheat (Rabi crop) is very short after the paddy harvest, farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue.

Punjab generates around 180 lakh tonne of paddy straw annually.

Punjab witnessed 26,583 farm fires between September 15 and November 4.

The state recorded 71,304 stubble burning incidents in 2021; 76,590 in 2020; 55,210 in 2019; 50,590 in 2018; 45,384 in 2017; and 81,042 in 2016.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
David Mair Announced as Newest Board Member for Sanford Limited

New Zealands largest seafood company Sanford Limited (NZX: SAN ) is pleased to announce the appointment of David Mair to its board of directors. Mr Mair replaces outgoing director Peter Kean, who will retire as a director at the conclusion of the 2022 Annual Shareholder Meeting.

Mr Mair joins Sanfords board effective today, 07 November 2022, and in accordance with the Sanford constitution and NZX Listing Rules, he will retire from office and stand for re-election at Sanfords upcoming Annual Shareholder Meeting on 15 December 2022.

Sanford Chair Sir Rob McLeod says he is delighted Mr Mair will be joining the Sanford Board. Davids track record as director and CEO of Skellerup Holdings Limited makes him an ideal addition to Sanfords director line up. He will bring valuable skills, experience and energy to our Board. David was recently judged Deloitte Top 200 CEO of the Year for 2021 and given the prestigious Johnson Partners Leadership Award from the Institute of Finance Professionals (INFINZ), which speaks to the quality of his leadership and focus.

Mr Mair has been CEO of NZX listed Skellerup Holdings Limited since 2011, and a director since 2006. During his leadership, Skellerup has achieved significant revenue and earnings growth by focusing on designing and delivering critical engineered products for OEM customers. Mr Mair is also a director of Forte Funds Management Limited.

Mr Mair was involved in a2 Milk from 2008 until the company listed on the ASX in 2015. During that time, he brought a disciplined approach to capital allocation and focused on pricing strategy and structure that was a large part of the transformation of that business.

Mr Mair says he is looking forward to contributing to one of New Zealands oldest listed companies. I look forward to working with the board in an NZ business with great assets and potential. I would like to see Sanford reach its potential as a sustainable high-quality food supplier quickly and in doing so reward shareholders and hard-working staff.

David has a degree in civil engineering and an MBA from Canterbury University. He is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors.

David is considered by the Board to be an Independent Director.

David Mair Announced as Newest Board Member for Sanford Limited

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Islamabad, Nov 6 (PTI) Pakistan and China have agreed to use bullet-proof vehicles for all outdoor movements of the Chinese nationals working on the CPEC projects in Pakistan to protect them from terrorist attacks after Beijing expressed concern over their security, according to a media report on Sunday.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) links Pakistan's Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea with Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Also Read | Afghanistan: Ahmad Shah Massoud's Tombstone Vandalised in Panjshir, Sparks Angry Reactions.

The USD 60 billion CPEC is part of China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a pet project of President Xi Jinping.

The security of Chinese workers has been a huge hurdle in the implementation of its various projects.

Also Read | Imran Khan Will Return to Political Arena in Two to Three Days, Says PTI Leader Hammad Azhar.

According to the draft minutes of the 11th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of the CPEC, both sides have also agreed to strengthen the capabilities of the law-enforcement agencies and investigators, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

It has been decided that bullet-proof vehicles shall be used for all outdoor movements of the Chinese employed on projects, said the draft minutes of the 11th JCC, which had been exchanged by Pakistan and China.

President Xi last week had expressed "deep concern" over the security of Chinese nationals working in Pakistan on the CPEC projects and sought "reliable and safe environment" for them in his talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during his maiden visit to Beijing to bolster the all-weather friendship.

The decisions may help address the concerns of the Chinese government, the report said.

The draft minutes further showed that the Chinese side committed to providing security-related equipment for the capacity building of the Pakistani law-enforcement agencies.

To speed up the investigations into the crimes involving Chinese nationals, it had been decided the National Forensic Science Agency (NFSA) would be built on modern lines.

The Pakistani side requested China's support for a full upgrade of the National Forensic Science Lab in Islamabad. The Chinese side assured their full support for the purpose, according to the draft minutes.

The Chinese side has also committed that it would establish a training centre for the private security guards and law enforcement agency personnel to equip them with modern techniques and modules.

With recurring attacks on its workers, China had even asked Pakistan to let its security personnel protect the Chinese nationals, according to sources.

In view of increasing incidents of terrorism, involving the non-corridor projects, Pakistan had proposed the establishment of a separate joint working group for coordination on security efforts.

But it was mutually decided that a Joint Technical Expert Working Group (JTEWG) would be established for the security of non-CPEC projects. The JTEWG would evaluate the services of private security companies.

The draft minutes suggested that Pakistan had not been able to achieve its goal to fast-track the work on some of the CPEC energy projects, although it once again committed to maintain the tax and tariff policies stable.

The draft document stated that financial closure would remain dependent on clearance by a Chinese insurance company that was suffering badly due to non-payment of energy dues by Pakistan.

China has not backed out from its demand that Pakistan should timely clear the outstanding dues and set up a revolving bank account.

The Chinese side appreciated the efforts made by the Pakistani side to fully pay the tariff of the CPEC energy projects in a timely manner and hoped for a further increase in the tariff settlement ratio to ensure repayment of the bank loan and normal operation of the CPEC energy projects, according to the draft minutes.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Ottawa [Canada], November 6 (ANI): Canada's city of Brampton mayor, Patrick Brown was hackled in a temple by the Hindu community for allowing anti-India elements to conduct their "Khalistan Referendum".

The mayor was asked by the Hindu diaspora to remove hateful banners against Hindus from all over the city that read "Sikh Infants burnt alive by Hindu Mobs," TAG TV reported.

Also Read | Imran Khan Will Return to Political Arena in Two to Three Days, Says PTI Leader Hammad Azhar.

Mayor Brampton, Patrick Brown when asked that would he remove those banners by Khalistanis? "We love everyone," he answered.

Brown was shamed in front of four federal parliamentarians, three provincial parliamentarians, and two city councilors. Liberal MP Chandra Arya appealed to the audience to cool down and said that "We do have strong differences but Mr. Brown is our guest in the temple".

Also Read | King Charles III Coronation: UK Government Declares Public Holiday on May 8 in British Monarchs Honour.

Patrick Brown is a known politician for creating Hinduphobia and Indophobia, according to TAG TV.

According to TAG TV, Brown and other cities' mayors have allowed government-funded auditoriums and arenas to carry on the referendum in the name of freedom of expression, but the Hindu diaspora is shocked that how could Canadian municipal, provincial, and federal governments allow Khalistani ideology to nurture in the name of freedom of expression since Canada's largest terrorism "Air India Bombing" in 1983 was associated with Khalistani ideology.

The diaspora also ponders how would Canadian politicians and authorities feel if Quebec Referendum happens in India.

Previously in October, as many as 400 to 500 people clashed in the Canadian city of Mississauga during the Diwali celebration.

Not too long ago, India asked Canada to stop the so-called "Khalistan Referendums" by the anti-India elements on November 6 in Ontario. The Centre has asked the Canadian government to act against those who promote terror and violence against the largest democracy in the world.

Responding to a media query, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the issue of the referendum conducted by separatist groups has been taken up with the Canadian High Commission in Delhi and as well as with the Canadian authorities.

India has made it clear that it will continue to voice these issues both in New Delhi, Ottawa and elsewhere.

"We have taken it up with the Canadian High Commission in Delhi and also in Canada with the Canadian authorities. We will continue to take up these issues both in New Delhi, Ottawa & elsewhere," MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi stated on so-called "Khalistan Referendums" in Canada. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kabul [Afghanistan], November 6 (ANI): Residents of Day Mirdad district in the southern part of Maidan Wardak Province of Afghanistan demanded the establishment of girls' schools in the province and called for the reopening of schools for girls above sixth grade across the country.

"Go and check that there are no female schools in the upper and lower parts of this district," said Hewadullah, a resident of the Day Mirdad district, as the resident described the plight of girls in the province, TOLOnews reported.

Also Read | Tanzania: Small Passenger Plane Crashes into Lake Victoria in Bukoba (Watch Video).

Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August last year, their draconian measures for women and girls of Kabul have put their future in dark.

Highlighting the situation, another resident of the Day Mirdad district, Rahmatullah said, "Science helps people learn about Allah, and people are not opposed to learning science; instead, they desire education," reported TOLOnews.

Also Read | US: Astronomers Discover Closest-Known Black Hole, Around 1600 Light-Years Away From Earth.

"We want our sisters and daughters to attend school so that they can learn their rituals and be able to write," said another resident Sayed Mohammad, in a separate statement.

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 Afghanistan will soon complete a year in August.

Young girls and women have been compromising with their aspirations as it has been more than 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.

Taliban has imposed draconian restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly and movement for women and girls.

The Taliban's decision to ban female students above grade six from going to school has drawn widespread criticism at the national and international levels. Further, the Taliban regime which took over Kabul in August last year has curtailed women's rights and freedoms, with women largely excluded from the workforce due to the economic crisis and restrictions.

As a result of this, women and girls in Afghanistan are facing a human rights crisis, deprived of the fundamental rights to non-discrimination, education, work, public participation and health. Afghan women are staring at a bleak future due to a number of restrictions imposed by the Taliban governing aspects of their lives since take over.

According to Human Rights Watch, 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. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
London [UK], November 6 (ANI): After the armed detainees caused a 'disturbance' at the London immigration centre, the UK Minister for Immigration, Robert Jenrick, said that the perpetrators of this incident will be held to account.

Taking to Twitter, Jenrick said, "There was disruption overnight at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre after the power outage. Thankfully no staff working or individuals detained were hurt, despite clear evidence of unacceptable levels of violence and disorder."

Also Read | India Votes in Favor of Russian Resolution on Combating Glorification of Nazism.

"The public should be reassured that offenders and others waiting for removal from the UK are being held securely. The perpetrators of this disturbance will be held to account and, where appropriate, removed from the country as swiftly as is practicable," he added.

Jenrick also said that the Home Secretary and the UK Minister himself have kept abreast of events throughout the night.

Also Read | Mukhtar Ansaris Son and Mau MLA Abbas Ansari Sent to 7-Day ED Remand in Money Laundering Case.

On Friday the Armed detainees caused a disturbance at a London immigration centre and following that event, a day later, police were deployed, CNN reported.

Detainees inside the facility had armed themselves with knives and lumps of wood.

In the series of tweets, Jenrick said, "I am grateful to Home Office staff, contractors and officers from HMPPS and the Metropolitan police for their professionalism and practical support."

A spokesperson from the UK's Home Office told CNN that there had been a power outage at the Harmondsworth immigration removal centre "and work is currently underway to resolve this issue."

They added, "the welfare and safety of staff and individuals detained at Harmondsworth is our key priority."

Officers arrived at the Harmondsworth facility on Friday evening to "provide support to staff dealing with a disturbance" and remain there as of Saturday morning, a spokesperson for the city's Metropolitan Police told CNN.

There have been no reported injuries from the site, CNN reported.

This comes amid the outrage against the UK's Home Office's treatment of migrants and asylum-seekers, with London Mayor Sadiq Khan calling for an "urgent review." (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chikkaballapur, November 6: The authorities of a temple marriage hall, which comes under Karnataka's Muzrai Department, have refused to give permission to a Dalit family to conduct marriage.

The incident took place in Gudibande town of Chikkaballapur city. Avulukondappa, a resident of Bramhanara Halli, had approached the temple management for conducting the marriage. Karnataka Shocker: Farmer, His Son Among Three Killed in Electrocution in Mysuru; Case Registered.

The temple Secretary, Machavalahalli Venkatarayappa, told him that the community hall is already booked and not available at all.

Later, it was found that the marriage hall was not booked on the said date and the temple community hall was not given on rent deliberately as the couple belonged to the Dalit community. Avulukondappa has alleged that the marriage hall was not given on rent because he and his wife belonged to the Dalit community. Karnataka Shocker: Woman Brutally Stabbed to Death by 4 Men in Front of Her Child in Gadag.

Therefore, the couple had got married before a locked temple. They have also lodged a complaint in this regard with Tehsildar of Gudibande and the Social Welfare officer.

The Dalit organisations have also staged a protest before the taluk office in this regard and demanded action against the concerned persons.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 06, 2022 03:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
The work of prison chaplains at jails in Portlaoise as well as the problems faced by prisoners has been highlighted on Prisoners' Sunday.

Bishop Martin Hayes, the Liaison Bishop to the Irish Prison Service, did so while focusing on the example set by Sr. Imelda Wickham, who was a prison chaplain for 20 years and held the role of national coordinator of prison chaplains for the Irish Prison Service for three years.

In a statement issued on November 6, Bishop Hayes said Prisoners' Sunday, is a significant date in the Church calendar. He said the purpose is to encourage prayer for prisoners, to highlight their plight and it recognises those who pastorally support the 'dignity of prisoners in circumstances that can sometimes be devoid of humanity'.

He pointed to Sr Imelda's book, Unheard Voices, which he said speaks on behalf of prisoners.

"Drawing on her broad and deep working-life experience, Sister Imelda states that prison chaplaincy has had a significant impact on her life and that  which is perhaps surprising to many - she has been most changed by those who visited prisons on a weekly basis for many years: the families and friends of prisoners.

"While being imprisoned is an experience most of us will never have, Sister Imelda emphasises that it not just those who are incarcerated that serve the sentence. She rightly praises the gifts and skills of those in the prison system who help keep it operational, wisely reflecting in all my years I have never met an evil person. People do evil things and we are all capable of that," he said.

The bishop said politicians should take from what Sr Imelda said.

"Policymakers in particular can learn from Sister Imelda who points to addiction as the greatest disease and cause to destruction in peoples lives, leading to crime and prison: addiction is not a crime. It is a health issue that needs to be attended to medically and psychologically.

"In ensuring that the unheard voices of prisoners are heard, Sister Imelda calls attention to the loneliness of the prisoner speaking of an aloneness reserved for the prisoner where some find there a wisdom that will sustain, while others struggle.

"On this Prisoners Sunday, as we pray for all prisoners, we remember their families, all prison staff and prison chaplains, whose work is vital but unheralded within prison services throughout the world," concluded Bishop Hayes.

The Irish Prison Service has recently invited bids for contract to reconfigure chaplaincy services in jails.
A Catholic parish in Laois has managed to slash its debts totalling over 1 million, partly thanks to generous donations from parisioners during the Covid pandemic.

Mountmellick Parish has published three years of accounts, from 2019 to 2021 that show the recovery of its financial situation.

The parish, led by Fr Micheal Murphy, has managed to reduce its debt from over 1 million in 2015, to just 185,000 now owed in a loan to the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin.

Back in 2015, Fr Murphy had launched a 'ten year debt campaign' and asked parishioners to make "significant contributions".

A full breakdown of donations and debts was listed in the recent parish newsletter, showing what he praised as "steady progress".

Income over the three years totalled 816,861.

That includes 294,838 in the basket and envelope collections, 63,407 taken in at shrines, office etc. Fundraising including bingo raised 263,958. The parish received will bequests 115,316. The parish lotto raised 79,352.

Parish Operating Expenses covered Insurance, Diocesan Levy, Salaries, Church Supplies, Heating and Lighting, Pastoral Activities, Bank Fees, Repairs & Maintenance, Stationery, Printing and Professional Fees and came to 514,155.

That left a surplus of 302,716.

An annual extra springtime collection called Giving Sunday raised the largest amount in 2020, held just after the Covid pandemic began, with parishioners donating a total of 32,000. In 2021 it raised 17,000 and in 2022, 20,950.

The parish says that their current financial position is with a debt of 185,000.

Their Diocesan Solidarity Fund Loan stands at 350,000 and Creditors & Accruals 10,000, less Cash in Bank 175,000.

Fr Murphy has thanked his parishioners for their support.

"Many thanks to all for the generous contributions to Parish Finances.

"As you can see, despite the challenge of the pandemic years, we are making steady progress in clearing our parish debt, while maintaining the services and facilities we cherish so much. Such generous support is magnificent and if it can be maintained we will quickly find our parish finances to be in a very healthy place," he said.

He is introducing a tax refund form for people who donate 250 a year or over, so the parish can claim the tax back.

"This year, at no cost to any parishioner, we will introduce the Tax Refund scheme. Please, if you can, fill out the particular

form for us and help us reclaim this money from Revenue. The Parish as a registered charity is eligible to reclaim from Revenue the tax paid on donations made by any individual during the tax year (calendar year) providing such donations amount to 250 or more. This includes all money donated to the Parish in the year, whether in the collections at mass, weekly envelopes, Giving Sunday, collections for the support of the priests etc by cash, cheque or otherwise. The CHY 3 forms are available in the Church.

"My sincere thanks to everyone for your ongoing generous support for the Parish and for us Priests," Fr Micheal Murphy, PP said.
Local Abbeyleix resident has just received recognition in achieving not one but two professional qualifications and received recognition for this at a recent Graduation Ball.

Anetoinette Gleeson Mills lives in Abbeyleix (Rathmoyle) The professional qualifications are in Human Resources/People Management via the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development.

She was among a record number of CIPD qualification successes in the 2021-2022 year for Bangor-based, DMS Ireland which cumulatinated in a glittering Graduation Ball at the Stormont Hotel, Belfast last Friday evening.

Anetoinette works in Human Resources for a Department within the Irish Civil Service in Dublin. She commenced her studies for her latest qualification part of the Irish Civil People Strategy new strategy implementation along with participants from across the Irish Civil Service Departments.

Anetoinette studied at Carlow Institute of Technology from where she graduated with Honours Degree in Human Resource Management and Bachelor of Business ( Hon) In Human Resource Management.



She has also studied at National College of Ireland graduating in 2008.

Some candidates attending the Graduation Ball were among the first to receive their qualifications from the new framework of 5 qualifications over three levels. In total, over 60 candidates received recognition in achieving their CIPD Qualifications at the Graduation Ball.

Lynn Carson, Managing Director of DMS Ireland, addressed the Stormont Hotel audience.

What an extraordinary two and a half years we have had. Covid threw us into a different delivery model overnight and we then became one of the first centres in the UK/Ireland to be approved on the new qualification framework.

CIPDs vision is to define and represent the international benchmark for excellence in people and organisation management and development. We need to continue to influence relevant stakeholders and encourage them to invest in the People Profession as well as other capabilities which help to champion better work and working lives. As we know, true value

is delivered not by following best practice alone, but by leading with a deep understanding of people, their relationships with work, and each other as well as the business purpose, vision and strategy," she said.

Anetoinette Gleeson Mills receives her DMS Ireland certificate from Richard Kirk (left), CEO and Founder of Workplus,

Principal Sponsor at the Graduation Ball and Lynn Carson (right), Managing Director of DMS Ireland.
The Irish Prison Service has budgeted to spend up to 100,000 on a review of Chaplaincy services at jails in Portlaoise and other parts of Ireland which could lead to new facilities for different religious practice behind bars.

Irish Prison Service is published a tender notice ins which it says it propose to engage in a competitive procedure of the appointment of a single operator to conduct a formal review of the Chaplaincy services within the 12 facility prison service.

It wants the the review to carry out the review in two stages. Phase one involves the review of the current services and protocol relating to Chaplaincy Services within the Service.

Stage 2 will require best practice methodologies to be developed for the delivery of Chaplaincy Services. This will involve proposing facilities for practising diverse religions to be formalised

It is envisaged that maximum spend under the four year framework agreement starting at in quarter 1 2023 will not exceed 100,000 excluding VAT but there is no guaranteed expenditure. It adds that the likely value of contracts to be awarded under the framework will be in the region of 5,000 to 40,000.

The IPS says Chaplains have a crucial supporting role in prison life by providing pastoral and spiritual care to the prison community and seeks to meet the needs of prisoners of all denominations and none. It adds chaplaincy has a significant contribution to make as part of the multi-disciplinary team in a prison, addressing the physical, social and spiritual needs of prisoners in a holistic way.

Explaining the reason for the review it says the IPS has undergone a period of significant change over the past number of years with the current strategic plan setting an ambitious agenda to enhance all aspects of prison operations.

"Given the cross cutting nature of the work of the Irish Prison Service and the commitment to enhance cooperation and co-ordination, this review is timely to make explicit the commitment to working across the services to achieve the IPS vision for a safer community through excellence in a prison service built on respect for human dignity.

"The IPS is committed to deliver the best outcomes for those committed to custody by the courts and to demonstrate how the Irish Prison Service values-led approach to professional practice brings with it the power to transform the lives of those in custody.

"The purpose of the review is to support the Irish Prison Service in the identification of optimal chaplaincy services to support the delivery of its current and future operations," it says.

Due to the complexity of the IPS requirement the service says it understand there may be a need for a number of different stakeholders to be involved. These include everything from prisoners, prison officers and various Christian and non-Christian religions.
A billion euro investment in Irish forestry has been announced by the Irish government.

The Taoiseach, Micheal Martin, Minister of State with responsibility for Forestry, Senator Pippa Hackett, and Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, November 3 announced the proposed investment of 1.3 billion in funding for the next national Forestry Programme.

It represents the largest ever investment in tree-planting by an Irish Government.

Speaking about the news, Taoiseach Martin said, "This commitment by the Government to such a substantial financial package reflects the seriousness with which we view the climate change and biodiversity challenges, which affect all of society.

"Forestry is at the heart of delivering on our sustainability goals and strong support is needed to encourage engagement from all our stakeholders in reaching our objectives."

According to Minister Pippa Hackett, the funding comes at an appropriate time given "the urgency of taking climate mitigation measures".

She said, "Im delighted to have secured a package of 1.318 billion for forestry. This will support the biggest and best-funded Forestry Programme ever in Ireland. Planting trees is one of the most effective methods of tackling climate change as well as contributing to improved biodiversity and water quality. One of my main aims is to re-engage farmers in afforestation.

"Im delighted therefore to be proposing a new 20-year premium term exclusively for farmers, as well as introducing a new small-scale native woodland scheme which will allow farmers to plant up to 1 hectare of native woodland on farmland and along watercourses outside of the forestry licensing process."

Minister McConalogue said, "Today we commit to providing unprecedented incentives to encourage the planting of trees that can provide a valuable addition to farm income and help to meet national climate and biodiversity objectives.

"This funding guarantees continued payments to those forest owners who planted under the current scheme and who are still in receipt of premiums. It also offers new and improved financial supports to those who undertake planting and sustainable forest management under the new Programme.

"We intend to increase premiums for planting trees by between 46% and 66% and to extend the premium period from 15 to 20 years for farmers."

He continued: "We are approaching a new and exciting period for forestry in Ireland. The new Forestry Programme will drive a new and brighter future for forestry, for farmers and for our climate.

The proposed new Forestry Programme is currently out to public consultation as part of the Strategic Environmental Assessment and Appropriate Assessment process.

Consultation closes on November 29 and any changes which result from this process will be incorporated into the programme and strategy.

Minister Hackett said, "I would strongly encourage all interested parties to engage with the consultation in advance of the Strategy and Programme being finalised.

The new Programme is built around the principle of right trees in the right places for the right reasons with the right management. It aims to deliver more diverse forest which will meet multiple societal objectives, economic, social and environmental.

Higher grant rates for forest establishment are also proposed with increases of approximately 20% to reflect rising living costs. The new one hectare native tree area scheme will also make it easier for landowners who wish to plant small areas of trees on their farm.

The Taoiseach concluded: "I welcome this milestone and I believe that this funding injection will be an important catalyst in delivering on the ambition outlined in the new Forest Strategy. Our environmental challenges are huge but so is our commitment to overcoming them and this Forestry Programme is key to delivering so many of our priorities."

The new Programme will be 100% Exchequer funded and is subject to State Aid approval from the EU Commission.
Ukrainian servicemen rest in an underground shelter in the frontline town of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region on October 31, 2022, amid Russia's military invasion on Ukraine. DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP

Iran has admitted for the first time that it sent drones to Russia but insisted they were supplied to its ally before Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Kyiv and its Western allies have accused Russia of using Iranian-made drones in recent weeks to carry out attacks.

Tehran has repeatedly denied the claims but on Saturday foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was quoted as saying that drones had been sent to Russia before the invasion began in late February. "We supplied Russia with a limited number of drones months before the war in Ukraine," Mr. Amir-Abdollahian said, according to Iran's official news agency IRNA. But he again denied Iran had supplied missiles to Russia, calling the accusations "completely false".

For weeks, Russian forces have rained missiles and explosive drones onto Ukraine's infrastructure, as a major Ukrainian ground offensive  propelled by Western arms deliveries  has pushed Russian troops back in swathes of the country. Kyiv claims around 400 Iranian drones have already been used against the civilian population of Ukraine and that Moscow has ordered around 2,000.

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday accused Iranian officials of lying about its drone deliveries to Moscow. "They decided to admit that they did supply drones for Russian terror. But even in this confession they lie," he said. "We shoot down at least 10 Iranian drones every day, and the Iranian regime claims that it allegedly gave little and even before the start of a full-scale invasion."

Read more Subscribers only Iran, a new player in the war in Ukraine

Earlier Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesman had warned Iran that "the consequences of complicity" with Moscow would be "greater than the benefit from Russia's support." Britain and the European Union have imposed sanctions on three Iranian generals and an arms firm accused of supplying Russia with drones.

'Deportations'

Russian strikes over the past month have destroyed around a third of Ukraine's power stations and the government has urged Ukrainians to conserve electricity as much as possible. Ukraine's state energy company on Saturday announced additional power rationing in Kyiv and several other regions of the country.

Ukrainian and Russian forces appear to be gearing up for a fierce battle in Kherson, a southern city with a population of around 288,000 people before the conflict. It was the first major Ukrainian city to fall to Russian forces following Moscow's invasion. Russia has been pulling civilians out of the Kherson region, with President Vladimir Putin saying residents must be "removed" from danger zones. But Kyiv has likened the departures to Soviet-style "deportations".

Meanwhile, soldiers in northern Ukraine are watching out for a fresh attack along the border with Russia and Belarus. Guards have been scanning the horizon at a remote outpost near the Senkivka border crossing, where Russia's 90th armoured division swept in when the war started, cutting through Ukrainian territory.

Read more Subscribers only Russia uses Iranian Shahed drones to sow terror in Ukraine

Inside the well-fortified dugout set up after the Russian pullback in April, a guard in his 30s nicknamed "Lynx" spoke to AFP. "Since autumn began, the enemy has become more active," he said, a machine gun slung over his shoulder. "Everything is more serious now... we have thought through all the possible options to avoid a repeat of what happened before."

'De-communism drive'

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In the southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol, Moscow's occupying authorities said Saturday they had brought back a statue of Lenin, seven years after it was taken down following Kyiv's pro-EU revolution. The Moscow-installed head of the Zaporizhzhia region, Vladimir Rogov, posted a photograph of workers in the city reinstating the tribute to the Bolshevik leader. Almost all cities in Russia have a statue of the founder of the Soviet Union in their central squares. But Ukraine dismantled Lenin statues across the country after its 2014 revolution overthrew a Moscow-backed regime, as part of its "de-communisation drive." It was seen as an effort to break away from Russian and Soviet influence.

Meanwhile tens of thousands of people marched through Italy's capital on Saturday calling for peace in Ukraine  and urging the government to stop sending weapons to fight Russia's invasion. "No to war. No to sending weapons", read one banner carried by protesters in Rome, as a vast crowd broke into cries of "give peace a chance". Some politicians, including former prime minister Giuseppe Conte, have said Italy should be stepping up negotiations But new far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has vowed to keep supporting Ukraine and the government has said it expects to send more weapons soon.

Le Monde with AFP
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A BINMAN cleaned Johnson & Johnson out of over 50,000 worth of laptops and electronic devices but the multinational didnt realise the most expensive items had been stolen until gardai returned them.

During sentencing at Limerick Circuit Court, Judge Tom ODonnell said: No two days are the same in this job but in the out and out strange department this is right up there.

Evaldis Juras, aged 41, of no fixed abode, and originally from Lithuania, pleaded guilty to 10 counts of theft at Johnson & Johnson, National Technology Park, Plassey, Limerick.

Prosecuting barrister, John O' Sullivan, instructed by state solicitor Padraig Mawe, said the total amount of goods stolen was 57,258.61.

The investigating garda, Marcella Maloney, of Henry Street, said she attended at Johnson & Johnson on February 24, 2022, where a senior manager reported the theft of laptops and electronic devices between January 27 and February 14.

In outlining the facts, Mr OSullivan said the items were stored in a metal case in a corridor on a mezzanine floor.

Access is restricted to authorised staff and contractors. The accused was employed by a contractor - a waste management company. He had a swipe card, said Mr OSullivan.

Two of the stolen laptops were located for sale on eBay and Facebook Marketplace through Johnson & Johnson serial numbers.

Garda Maloney contacted eBay and received the name and address of the man who placed the ads. He was referred to in court as Mr X.

The garda confirmed to Mr OSullivan that Mr Xs house and business premises were searched on April 6, 2022. Mr X handed a number of laptops to the garda.

Six days later Garda Maloney said she observed the accused asleep in the back of a Volkswagen Passat at the rear of Tipperary Town Plaza.

Mr OSullivan said two laptops and numerous other items in the vehicle, stolen from Johnson & Johnson were seized.

He was arrested and while being conveyed to Henry Street the accused said: I will fly home after this, said Mr OSullivan. Mr Juras was later refused bail at district and then High Court level.

Mr OSullivan said the defendant is no longer working for Johnson & Johnson because he was caught by security living in the premises for two days.

He was effectively homeless at the time of his arrest, said Mr OSullivan.

During interviews with gardai, Mr Duras told them that he looked after the bins and electronic goods were thrown out all the time and once you filled out a form you could take them home.

The accused told gardai he took 10 laptops in total  bringing them out in a bag he had in a changing room. The laptops were valued at between 700 and 1,400. Limerick Circuit Court heard that a number of the other electronic devices discovered in Mr Duras car were each valued at 5,000.

Mark Nicholas SC, who represented Mr Duras, said his client made full admissions regarding everything he stole before Johnson & Johnson even knew they were gone.

Judge Tom ODonnell asked Garda Maloney if Johnson & Johnson didnt realise the equipment valued at 5,000 each had been taken until you turned up with it?

Yes, said Garda Maloney.

I better not ask any more questions, said the judge.

Limerick Circuit Court heard that the vast majority of the items had been returned to the multinational.

Mr Nicholas said his client claims that he swapped the laptops with Mr X for phones and did not make cash.

He was living in his car. There are no trappings of wealth. His admissions were critical, said Mr Nicholas, who spoke of the deceit, dishonesty and breach of trust of his client.

Having done wrong he did the right thing, said Mr Nicholas, who pointed to his client being in custody since April.

Judge Tom ODonnell said it was a major breach of trust.

It is a very large employer - both direct and indirect employment. Trust is very important in running a business. He made a calculated decision to take these items. They were valued in excess of 57,000. They were substantially recovered and intact.

It is bizarre to me that Johnson and Johnson were not aware of expensive items costing 5,000 each had been taken until Garda Maloney told them, said Judge ODonnell.

The judge imposed a 12 month jail sentence on each of the 10 counts of theft to be served concurrently and backdated it to April 13 when Mr Juras was first remanded in custody.
In his first visit to Gujarat after the announcement of the election schedule for the poll-bound state, PM Modi will address a public gathering in Valsad district on Sunday while also attending a mass marriage programme in Bhavnagar district.

Talking about the Prime Minister's schedule BJP spokesperson Yagnesh Dave said, PM Modi will address a rally in Nana Pondha in Valsad district on Sunday afternoon. He will attend a mass marriage function in Bhavnagar in the evening".

Prime Minister will address the gathering at around 3 pm in Valsad district. He will attend the 'Papa Ni Pari' Lagnotsav 2022 programme at around 5:45 pm. During the programme 522 girls without fathers will be getting married.

Earlier, PM Modi had addressed a public gathering and held a road show in Rajkot's Jamkadorna on 12 October.

The Election Commission (EC) declared the schedule for Gujarat's 182 assembly constituencies on Thursday (3 November) with elections due in two phases on December 1 and December 5. The results for the Gujarat assembly elections will be declared along with the Himachal election results on December 8.

On his earlier visit to Gujarat, the Prime Minister Modi had launched projects of 8,000 crore at Amod, Bharuch. He also dedicated several projects to the nation that will give a boost to the chemicals sector including GACL Plant, Bharuch Underground Drainage, and IOCL Dahej Koyali Pipeline.

BJP is running an intensive campaign to claim its 7th consecutive victory in the Gujarat assembly elections with Home Minister Amit Shah flagging off the Gujarat Gaurav Yatra on October 13.

Gujarat has traditionally been a two-party state with a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress but this time Aam Admi Party (AAP) has entered the contest and has run an aggressive campaign to tackle the might of both parties.

Congress has also started the Parivartan Sankalp Yatra from November 1 under its new President Malikarjun Kharge in a bid to secure power in the state and give a blow to the pair of PM Modi and HM Amit Shah in their home state.
When is it best during the day to hit that buy" button on an ETF trade?

Conventional wisdom says an investor should buy shares when trading volume is highest, at the markets open and toward the close. The idea is that heavier trading generally means narrower bid-ask spreadsthe difference between the bid price of a share (what you can sell it for) and the higher ask price (what you can buy it for). A wider spread at the time of purchase means less profit when the shares are eventually sold.

My research suggests the conventional advice on timing is only half rightbuying near the close is smart. But for all asset classes of exchange-traded funds that my research assistants and I investigated, an investor can save by avoiding placing trades right at the open and instead placing them later in the day.

The average saving is 1 basis point, or 0.01% of the share price, for each share bought and later sold. Thats 1% of the per-share price for every 100 sharesfor instance, a $10 saving on 1,000 shares of an ETF at $100 a share. It might seem like a small amount, but it adds up the more trades you place.

To investigate this issue, my assistants (Luis Paz-Perez and Brandon Gilbert) and I collected trading data throughout the day for 40 of the most heavily traded ETFs on U.S. markets. We sorted these ETFs into several categories: large-cap U.S. equity, small-cap U.S. equity, Asian equity, European equity, international equity, commodities, and bonds/fixed income.

Each day over the course of the third quarter of this year, we recorded the bid and ask prices for each of the ETFs throughout the day. Prices were recorded at the market open (9:35 to 9:40), midmorning (11 a.m.), midday (12:30), midafternoon (2 p.m.) and the close (3:50 to 3:55).

We then calculated the average bid-ask spread for each ETF category at each point in the day. We discovered that for every ETF category we studied, the market open is the worst time for an investor to purchase shares.

For instance, the average bid-ask spread for large-cap U.S. equities was 0.022% of the share price at the market open. The average spread for the same ETFs at 12:30 was 0.013%, and by the close the average spread was 0.012%. This means an investor could save 0.01% of the share price for each share purchased by trading at the end of the day instead of at the market open.

We also found that the bid-ask spread was even worse in the morning on high-volatility days (when the well-known volatility index, the VIX, is over 25) and extreme down days. That means investors who avoid trading near the open will save even more on those days.

So, timing your ETF purchases isnt as simple as trading when market volume is at its highest. The best advice is to avoid buying in the morning.
A ground-breaking agreement to discuss who pays for damages caused by increasingly extreme weather events  a topic that had exposed gaps between rich and poor countries  marked the start of UN climate talks in Egypt.

The agreement, will allow diplomats to discuss "loss and damage" for the first time in an official setting during the two-week conference in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The breakthrough was reached after 48 hours of intense negotiations, according to Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who assumed the presidency of COP27 on Sunday. The goal is for delegates to come to a decision "no later than 2024" on loss and damage.

This creates for the first time an institutionally stable space on the formal agenda of the COP and the Paris Agreement to discuss the pressing issue of funding arrangements needed to deal with existing gaps in responding to loss and damage," he said.

Inclusion of this agenda reflects a sense of solidarity and empathy with the suffering of the victims of climate-induced disasters."

The urgency of this year's climate talks has increased due to the year's record heat, drought, and flooding. The issue of loss and damage is anticipated to be a major topic of discussion at the meeting because it will be held in an African nation that is experiencing some of the worst effects of global warming.

Loss and Damage: An apple of discord

Developing nations and small island states, who historically made relatively small contributions to greenhouse gas emissions but have suffered greatly as a result, have increased their pressure in recent weeks to at least have the issue discussed.

Since the beginning of Conference of Parties, or COP, meetings in the early 1990s, the demand has been on the table.

It was repeatedly attempted to be added to the agenda, but industrialised nations that have thrived for two centuries at the expense of the planet had blocked it out of concern that it would lead to demands for billions of dollars in compensation from developing countries.

Recent climate catastrophes, like the floods in Pakistan, have given their push new momentum.

World in crisis

In the midst of numerous competing crises, such as the conflict in the Ukraine, high inflation, food shortages, and an energy shortage, representatives from all over the world gathered on Sunday in the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for talks on combating climate change.

After two frantic days of preliminary negotiations, negotiators decided to formally discuss the issue of vulnerable nations receiving compensation for the loss and damage caused by climate change, marking a first small victory.

Rich countries, including the United States, have been opposing the idea of climate reparations for years, weighing on the negotiations.

The fact that it has been adopted as an agenda item demonstrates progress and parties taking a mature and constructive attitude towards this," said the U.N.'s top climate official, Simon Stiell.

He further added, This is a difficult subject area. Its been floating for thirty plus years. I believe it bodes well."

The decision was also welcomed by civil society groups.

At long last, providing funding to address losses and damages from climate impacts is on the agenda of the U.N. climate negotiations," said Ani Dasgupta, president of the World Resources Institute.

But he cautioned that participants still have a marathon ahead of us before countries iron out a formal decision on this central issue."

Huge participation reflects urgency

The fact that more than 40,000 people have registered for this year's talks reflects the sense of urgency as major weather events around the world have a significant human impact and result in billions of dollars in repair costs. About 110 world leaders are expected to attend, according to the organisers, with many of them giving speeches at a high-level event on November 78, while U.S. President Joe Biden was anticipated to arrive later in the week.

However, a number of important individuals, including the President Xi Jinping of China, as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, did not plan to attend, raising concerns about whether or not the Cairo talks could produce any significant agreements to reduce emissions without the participation of the two largest polluters in the world.

(With inputs from agencies)
The Supreme Court will pronounce its judgment on a batch of pleas challenging the validity of the 103rd Constitution amendment providing 10% reservation to the economically weaker sections (EWS) people in admissions and government jobs tomorrow, Monday.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit would deliver the verdict in the matter, according to the cause list of November 7 uploaded on the apex court website as quoted by news agency PTI.

On September 27, the apex court had reserved the verdict on the legal question of whether the EWS quota violated the basic structure of the Constitution after hearing a battery of senior lawyers in the marathon hearing that had lasted for sic-and-half-day.

Academician Mohan Gopal had opened the arguments in the case before the bench, which also comprised justices Dinesh Maheshwari, S Ravindra Bhat, Bela M Trivedi, and J B Pardiwala, on September 13 and opposed the EWS quota amendment by terming it as "deceitful and a backdoor attempt" to destroy the concept of reservation, as per PTI reports.

Tamil Nadu, represented by senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, had also opposed the EWS quota and said that the economic criteria cannot be the basis for classification and the top court will have to revisit the Indira Sawhney (Mandal) judgment if it decides to uphold this reservation.

On the other hand, the then attorney general and the solicitor general had vehemently defended the amendment, saying the reservation provided under it was different and had been given without disturbing the 50% quota meant for the socially and economically backward classes (SEBC).

The top court heard as many as 40 petitions and most of the pleas, including the lead one filed by 'Janhit Abhiyan' in 2019, challenged the validity of the Constitution Amendment (103rd) Act 2019, PTI reported.

Meanwhile, the central government had also filed some petitions seeking the transfer of pending cases, challenging the EWS quota law, from various high courts to the apex court for an authoritative pronouncement.

The Centre, through the 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019, introduced the provision for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) reservation in admissions and public services.

Earlier, the Centre, in 2019, had also told the apex court that its law, granting a 10-per cent quota for Economically Weaker Sections, was brought in to promote "social equality" by providing "equal opportunities in higher education and employment to those who have been excluded by virtue of their economic status".

(With PTI inputs)
At the COP27 summit beginning today, November 6, India will seek clarity on the definition of climate finance and nudging developed countries to enhance supply of technology and finance needed to address climate change and resulting disasters.

More than 45,000 registered COP27 participants and over 120 heads of states and governments will attend the summit today, including US President Joe Biden, UK PM Rishi Sunak, and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not travel to Egypt for the summit, while the Indian delegation will be led by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav to the 27th Session of Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 27) from November 6 to 18. Yadav has arrived in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh on Saturday.

Here's a 10-point guide on India's agenda at COP27 summit

1) According to the Union Environment Ministry, India looks forward to substantial progress on the discussions related to climate finance and clarity on its definition, as officials from 200 nations gather on Sunday for the COP27 summit.

2) In an official statement, the Environment Ministry said, As it is a saying that 'what gets measured gets done', more clarity is needed on the definition of climate finance for the developing countries to be able to accurately assess the extent of finance flows for climate action."

3) Yadav said that the absence of a definition allows developed countries to greenwash their finances and pass off loans as climate-related aid, as per PTI reports.

4) Developing countries, including India, will also push rich countries to agree to a new global climate finance target - also known as the new collective quantified goal on climate finance (NCQG) -- which they say should be in trillions as the costs of addressing and adapting to climate change have grown.

5) RR Rashmi, Distinguished Fellow, TERI, and former climate negotiator under UNFCCC said that any consensus on an enhanced scale of financial mobilization could be a welcome takeaway from COP27.

6) "The figure of USD 100 billion for developing countries was agreed upon much before the Paris Agreement was signed. Based on the Nationally determined contributions (NDCs), the total cumulative financing requirements of the developing world is anything in the range of USD 5.8-5.9 trillion till 2030," Rashmi stated.

7) At the meet, India will also discuss the mantra of Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE), coined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to the news agency ANI.

8) The environment ministry also stated that the discussion on NCQG in the ad-hoc working group must focus on the quantity of the resource flow and its quality and scope, PTI reported.

9) "Issues relating to access and suggestions for improvement in the function of the financial mechanisms are also important. Besides, an improvement in transparency to ensure appropriate oversight of the quantum and direction of flows is imperative," the ministry added.

10) At the UN climate conference, India will also emphasise again on its invitation to all countries to join the LiFE movement  "Lifestyle for Environment", a pro-people and pro-planet effort that seeks to shift the world from mindless and wasteful consumption to mindful and deliberate utilization of natural resources.

(With inputs from agencies)
SADARM (Search And Destroy Armor Munitions)-equipped 155mm artillery shells proved so successful in Ukraine against armored vehicles that over 20,000 of these shells were provided to the Ukrainian forces in the last five months. Unlike the United States, Germany produced these shells mainly for use against local threats, like Russia. The Ukraine war saw the Russians using thousands of tanks and losing most of them to Ukrainian troops armed with Western anti-tank weapons featuring top-attack capability.

SADARM tech was developed during the 1980s, perfected in the 1990s and when it was sent to Ukraine, it turned towed and self-propelled artillery into very effective anti-vehicle weapons. SADARM was able to destroy all sorts of vehicles and, because of flaws in tank design and protection, especially Russian tanks. Ukraine asked for all the SADARM shells NATO nations could provide and most European NATO members sent nearly all SADARM shells they had.

Germany, Britain, Italy and Sweden manufacture 155mm artillery shells carrying two each Sense and Destroy Armor Munitions. Originally called SADARM munitions by its American developer (Textron), it had completed development when the Cold War suddenly ended in 1991. SADARM was not as effective as expected and the 155mm version was canceled in 2001. The U.S. Air Force has more success with the SADARM submunitions used in the CBU-105 cluster bomb (40 submunitions per half-ton cluster bomb) because a bomb undergoes much less stress when used than an artillery shell. The air force and six export customers purchased hundreds of these bombs but sales were not high enough to keep CBU-105 in production after 2017.

Meanwhile the U.S. Army noticed the success of an improved German SADARM shell called SMART as well as the similar Swedish Bonus. Both entered service in 2000 and both were successful as Improved SADARM. The U.S. Army began ordering BONUS shells in 2018 and ordered more in 2020.

BONUS is described as a fire and forget guided 155-millimeter ammunition designed for destroying armored targets. BONUS was a joint project by Britain, France and Sweden with the Swedes taking the lead in production. BONUS can be fired from standard NATO 155mm artillery and has a maximum 35-kilometer effective range. The round carries two submunitions, each with their own multiband IR (heat) sensors backed by laser radar. BONUS uses small winglets to slow its descent rather than small parachutes that are used in earlier similar submunitions, like the German SMART shell. The parachutes are easier to spot and more expensive and complex to use.

The submunitions separate from the shell over the target location (using a time-on-target fuze) about 175 meters above the target areas and scan for targets. Each warhead can scan about 32,000 square meters and hit even moving targets within that area. The destruction is achieved by an Explosively Formed Penetrator (EFP) able to punch through more than 130 mm (five inches) of armor. This doesnt seem like much but the tank armor is strongest at the front and not at rear or top. The only defense against this top attack'' EFP is APS (Active Protection Systems) such as Trophy, but even these have difficulty dealing with things like EFPs. The APS systems work great against HEAT warheads because these disperse cumulative streams of superheated gasses, but not against molten metal projectiles formed by an EFP. Moreover, thanks to two submunitions per shell, the artillery halts for a shorter time to fire, so they are less likely to get caught by enemy counter-battery fire. The major defect of SADARM shells is that they are more expensive than GPS guided Excalibur shells.

Each submunition weighs 3.4 kg (7.5 pounds) and uses 945 g (2.08 pounds) of Octol explosives, which was designed to effectively form the self-forging penetrator. Most of the submunition weight goes to the sensors (including batteries) and design elements that slow descent and rotate the sensors to find a target. The use of batteries and various types of explosives in a SADARM shell means they have a limited shelf life. After twenty years or so, SADARM shells must be refurbished or disposed of. Many of the European SADARM shells were approaching their expiration date so it made sense to send all the old, but still functional, ones to Ukraine. Now these SMART and BONUS shells must be replaced. Germany found that many of the key components were no longer available and had to invest over hundred million dollars to revive production. Initially, Germany has ordered 10,000 new SMART shells at a cost of $81,000 each. Because of the components problem it will take five years or more before production is completed. The only new SADARM shell is the Italian V9lcano 155 shell. Several hundred of these were sent to Ukraine because the Volcano shell is currently completing development. Ukraine will get to test the new shell. There are two versions of Volcano 155; one that is similar to SMART and BONUS but with a range of up to 50 kilometers. The Volcano 155 GR has a range of up to 70 kilometers and includes GPS guidance to ensure the shell arrives at the target location. If the war goes on into 2023, the Volcano GR may reach Ukraine.

These SADARM shells plus the effective Ukrainian use of battlefield surveillance UAVs (most of them developed and produced by Ukraine) were a key factor in Russia losing so much territory in the last four months. Russia was forced to keep its armored vehicles away from the front line unless urgently needed. Even then, there were not enough Russian armored vehicles or artillery (self-propelled or towed) left to use. Ukraine used regular and some GPS artillery shells to hammer Russian supply storage sites, towed artillery, supply trucks and headquarters within range. American satellite surveillance also provides some target information, but not as quickly as Ukrainian UAVs and frontline troops.

The original American M898 SADARM dates back to the late 1970s when the army started to look for a smart anti-armor 155 mm projectile. About a decade later SADARM had been developed and prototypes built but budget restrictions in 1990 slowed down the program. In 1993 the first tests were unsatisfactory because SADARM hadn't been able to hit a moving target and overall accuracy was poor. The manufacturer promised to improve the technology, and a year later the program was approved for limited low-rate production. Unfortunately for SADARM the later (1995, 1998 and 1999) tests showed only a little improvement. In all trials, the SADARM struggled to get an 80 percent reliability rate. This together with significant cost overruns were reason enough to end production in 2001. This failure did not mean the end of the SADARM SFW submunition technology, which was subsequently adopted by the U.S. Air Force as well as the developers of the SMART and BONUS shells who achieved effective reliability in the late 1990s. The submunition was always meant to be carried by a wide variety of projectiles including MLRS rockets, mortar shells and cluster bombs.

Reliability of the SADARM submunition improved enough to work as the payload of CBU-105 half ton cluster bombs. Each of these bombs carries and disperses 40 submunitions Each SADARM submunition has its own radar and heat sensor that searches for armored vehicles below and destroys them. SADARM sensors can search and attack vehicles within an area of roughly 150 x 360 meters as they slowly descend. The self-forging metal projectile used by the SADARM submunition punches through the thinner armor on the top of the vehicle. If a target is not found, SADARM self-destructs. CNU-105 has not shown up in Ukraine because the Russians rarely use large enough concentrations of armored vehicles to justify use of CBU-105. Ukraine prefers to save its aircraft for air defense and use artillery and guided rockets for distant targets.

The first use of the CBU-105 was in early 2003, when a B-52 dropped six of them on an Iraqi army column moving south from Baghdad. Most of the vehicles were later found destroyed. Since then, there have been several export customers for CBU-105 and the U.S. Air Force still has them stockpiled for future use even though production ceased in 2017.

The Russians have a version of their own, SPBE-D, for sale to anyone who can pay for it. The American CBU-105 is preferred because the United States pioneered the technology, and demonstrated it could work in combat. India faces a large force of Pakistani tanks, and CBU-105 is an inexpensive and quick way to destroy lots of armored vehicles.

Russia eventually responded to the SADARM submunition threat by developing a new generation of ERA (Explosive Reactive Armor) that now covers the top of the turret and engine compartment of their tanks. In theory the new ERA should protect against SFW or at least reduce SFW effectiveness. The Russian ERA does not appear to be working against SFW and that has terrorized armored vehicle crews who now feel very vulnerable when within range of Ukrainian artillery. This often leads to many armored vehicles being abandoned by their crews when it appears they are under attack by SADARM. Ukrainian forces have captured hundreds of tanks and other armored vehicles and put them to use with a new paint job and Ukrainian crews.
India and Croatia held the 10th session of their Foreign Office Consultations on Friday. The meeting took place in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.

According to a press release by the Ministry of External Affairs, the Indian side was led by Shri Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs. The Croatian side was led by Dr Petar Mihatov, Director General for Political Affairs, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia."

During the Consultations, both sides carried out a comprehensive review of the existing bilateral relations, including strengthening of cooperation in trade and economic relations, defence and maritime, science & technology, innovation, research & development, higher education, tourism, culture, and people-to-people ties.", the release goes on to say.

India and Croatia established bilateral relations in 1992. Foreign Minister Marija Pejcinovic Buric visited India in 2018 while former President of India Ramnath Kovind visited the country in 2019. Ministerial level interactions and cooperation at international forums have helped strengthen the bilateral relationship.

During the recently concluded Foreign Office Consultations, the two sides also exchanged views on international issues of mutual interest, including cooperation in the UN and other multilateral fora, climate change and sustainable development."

According to the MEAs press release, Both sides exchanged views on regional issues such as the EU, QUAD, Indo-Pacific, the Ukraine conflict and developments in Indias neighbourhood."

The next round of consultations will be held in New Delhi next year.
Thousands have gathered for the 27th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) in Egypt. The next weeks present a chance for India to lead the developing world in demanding action on climate change. Mint explains

Why is COP27 significant?

While there is now global political consensus to curb global warming to 1.5 degrees, latest estimates suggest we are on a global trajectory of a 2.5 degree increase. Increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events are impacting the lives and livelihoods of millions of people already. The Russian-Ukraine conflict has pushed many developed countries to backslide towards fossil fuels. Only 24 countries, including India, have enhanced their ambition in the past year under their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and COP27 seeks to raise ambition and achieve agreement among countries.

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What is the most critical ask at COP27?

Developing countries will continue to push hard for a dedicated financing facility or funding channels to compensate for the loss and damage arising due to climate change. The reigning Egyptian Presidency has enlisted progress on this as a key target for COP27, amid continued pushback from the developed world. In fact, our analysis has found that no developed country has included any reference to loss and damage in their NDC. G-77 and China (negotiating block comprising developing nations) has requested that loss and damage be included in the COP27 agenda.

View Full Image Simon Stiell, UN climate chief, speaks at an opening session at the COP27 UN Climate Summit, Nov. 6, 2022, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt (Photo: AP)

What else should we expect from the conference?

Several finance-related discussions are on the agenda. The promised $100 billion of climate finance still remains an ambition and not a reality. However, the order for financing that will be required by India alone to reach net-zero is above $10 trillion. Negotiations will focus on ensuring $100 billion by 2023 and mobilizing higher targets to be actualized from 2025.

Where does India stand in climate matters?

India is significantly vulnerable to the compounding impacts of climate change, and is the fourth largest emitter today after the US, EU and China, which emit significantly more. Prime Minister Modi announced Indias ambition to reach net-zero by 2070 at the last COP. Since then, India has updated its NDCs, which are to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 45% by 2030; achieve 50% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030, among others.

What will India be pushing for at COP27?

Given the US-China impasse on climate change and Europes backsliding towards fossil fuels, COP27 is a critical juncture for India to seek greater accountability on climate actions. India may highlight the fallacy of unmet promises in climate agreements so far from the developed countries, urge for the mobilization of climate finance for loss and damage, and propagate a healthy and sustainable way of living.

Shikha Bhasin is a researcher at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).

Elsewhere in Mint

In Opinion, Manu Joseph argues why it's not democracy that will save Delhi from toxic smog. Nitin Pai tells how we should confront the global 'polycrisis'. Aditya Sinha and Chirag Dudani write how to make states face consequences of their fiscal misadventures. Long Story exposes the governance challenge at MCX.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Speaking following the latest Financial TB Working Group Meeting, Des Morrison, Chairperson of the ICMSA Livestock Committee stated that the Income Supplement increases on the table from the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine are welcome and will certainly improve the financial situation for those impacted by the scourge of TB.



ICMSA has participated in lengthy discussions on TB compensation and it is our priority that farmers who are impacted by TB receive an Income Supplement that better reflects the losses suffered by them during the restriction period. The proposed increases will see an increase of approximately 25% in the Income Supplement, Depopulation and Hardship Grants funded in part by the TB levy on farmers. There are substantial monies being collected from all farmers and we must ensure that there is not an endless levy and runaway fund.



Mr Morrison said that he was hopeful that the potential hurdles that are in the way to get these increased payments across the line can be resolved in the coming weeks and then a greater focus is needed deal with the priority issue of reducing the incidence of TB across Ireland by ensuring that the wildlife programme can be prioritised and ensuring that high incidence areas and herds can see a significant reduction in the coming years.
Food, Wine, & Dining

By Long Island Published: November 06 2022

Its not the water, according to experts, its the old-fashioned bagel-making process.

First of all, there is no argument. New York has the best bagels. Its a fact, jack. They just taste better. And, it's a whole experience. Bagels are way of life for us Long Islanders. Whats your go to Sunday morning breakfast*? Nine times out of ten, the average Long Islander will say its a bagel. (Thats our unscientific assessment.)

So what makes the Long Island bagel superior to any other? Lets dig into the issue a bit to find out.

Bagel History

If you really want to get the full scope of bagel history, check out Maria Balinskas book on the subject, The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread. Yes, there is a non-fiction book about bagels. In short, bagels or something like them have been known in Europe since the 1600s (and most likely before that.) But the bagels we know and love were 19th-century imports from Eastern European Jews who brought a bakery item that was then known in Yiddish as a beigel. In the early 20th century that was Americanized to the bagel (cue inspirational choral music.)

Its Not the Water

Everyone thinks the water is the difference. The mineral content (low amounts of calcium and magnesium) makes our water softer than other places. This has been touted as a contributing factor to a superior bagel. To the point where Florida bagel shops imported New York water or invented ways to mimic the water in New York trying to capture that distinct flavor. But, science says otherwise. Water quality has little to do with why our bagels are better. Its just chemistry!

Trust the (Bagel Making) Process

How bagels are made seems to be the key difference. Bagelmakers elsewhere dont do things the old-fashioned way. Here, the dough is shaped by hand then left to sit in a refrigerator to slow down the yeast process as it rises, leading to more time for the taste to infuse into the bagel. Then the legit way to make a bagel is to boil it.

Boiling Makes Better Bagels

Culinary Institute of America Chef Richard Coppedge told NPR that the boiling process essentially sets the starch and locks the liquid inside. It also thickens the surface leading to a chewier bagel with the freshness sealed inside the glossy crust. Then the bagels are baked in a hot oven.

This is the way the European immigrants to New York City made their bagels back at the turn of the century, the one that spread out to Long Island during the post-war years.

Steam-Punked Bagels

The alternative to boiling is to steam them in the oven instead, leading to a totally different texture and taste. This saves time in the bagel-making process but arguably leads to an inferior bagel. Its why mass-produced bagels are not even close to your local bagel shops offering.

A Cut Above the Rest

No matter how you slice it, New York City and Long Island bagels are just better than any others. Maybe water has a little to do with it or maybe its an old-fashioned recipe imported from Europe and perfected in America that makes these bagels the best. We just know one thing. You NEVER slice a bagel like this! I mean, what is this guy thinking

Are you now craving an authentic Long Island Bagel? Check out our bagel section

*Editor's note: Bagels, especially Long Island bagels, are not just good for Sundays or breakfast. They're great anytime for any meal, especially road trips, brunch, midnight snacks, egg sandwiches, and right out of the bag unsliced.
By Trend

The Azerbaijani Army launched a counter-offensive operation, later called the "Iron Fist", on September 27, 2020, in response to the large-scale provocation of the Armenian armed forces along the frontline, Trend reports.

The 44-day second Karabakh war ended with the liberation of Azerbaijans territories from nearly 30-year Armenian occupation and the restoration of territorial integrity.

Chronicle of the 41st day of the Second Karabakh War:

- Armenia violated a ceasefire on the state border with Azerbaijan.

- Armenian troops were forced to retreat, suffering losses.

- Armenian armed forces shelled the villages of Tartar district.

- An Armenian ammunition depot exploded near Khankandi city.

- Armenian armed forces fled, abandoning their positions in the direction of Gubadli.

- Armenian military units in Aghdara were neutralized.

- Video of the destruction of Armenian mortars in Goyarkh village was released.

- Armenian armed forces shelled the villages of Tartar district by using artillery.

- Video of liberated villages of Fuzuli district was released.

- Video of shelling on the combat positions of Armenian armed forces was released.
For months now, rumors of President Vladimir Putin's health have been circulating but a new email leak may have just confirmed it. The Sun just uncovered a number of leaked emails that allegedly came from The Kremlin. After confirmation from a source that is close to the Kremlin's security service, they could confirm that the emails are real and Vladimir Putin is definitely ill.

But there still hasn't been any confirmation to whether the Russian president was terminally ill or not. He allegedly suffers from both prostate cancer and Parkinson's disease. Evidence of his illness has been spotted in many videos and pictures of the Russian president, who already sparked concerns about his state of mind as well. Putin's recent erratic and violent behavior could be a sign these emails are very real.

Video evidence confirms Putin is truly ill

Over the last couple of months, Russia has ramped up missile attacks on Ukraine and killed numerous civilians from the area. There are also the always frightening possibility of an all-out nuclear conflict between Russia and the Western world. If this happens, the entire world would be in evident danger. In videos of him interacting with other members of his staff and army, Putin is clearly spotted trembling and seems more puffy than usual.

The emails claim he on steroids most of the time in order to mitigate the effects of his disease. They also confirm that the Kremlin will always dispute these claims by any means necessary and the Russian president will remain in power for as long as his body allows him. These emails are pretty straight forward about Putin's health.

This is what the leaked emails said: "I can confirm he has been diagnosed with early stage Parkinson's disease, but it's already progressing. This fact will be denied in every possible way and hidden. Putin is regularly stuffed with all kinds of heavy steroids and innovative painkilling injections to stop the spread of pancreatic cancer he was recently diagnosed with.

"It not only causes a lot of pain, Putin has a state of puffiness of the face and other side effects - including memory lapses. In his close circle, there are rumors that in addition to pancreatic cancer, which is gradually spreading, Putin also has prostate cancer." Think about this, what is Vladimir Putin willing to do if he has nothing to do?
In the first trade of the 2022-23 off-season, the Braves have acquired outfielder Sam Hilliard from Colorado, per an official announcement from the Rockies. Minor league pitcher Dylan Spain is heading back to the Rockies in the deal.

Hilliard, 28, hit .184/.280/.264 with two home runs across 200 plate appearances for the Rockies in 2022. He went much better at their Triple-A affiliate, slashing .308/.405/.669 with 13 home runs. While hes never really hit at the major league level, his performance in 2022 was someway below his career line of .212/.294/.423 as hes generally shown more power in the bigs than he showed this season. He did appear at all three outfield positions, but spent most of his time in left where he was worth ten Defensive Runs Saved across 377 innings.

Spain was a tenth round pick for the Braves in the 2021 draft. He spent all of 2022 at their High-A affiliate, tossing 56 innings of 5.30 ERA ball across 36 appearances, most of which came out of the bullpen. The 24-year-old struck out batters 24.7% of the time and walked 5.3%. He struggled a fair bit with the long ball, giving up 11 home runs.

For the Rockies, the trade clears a spot on the 40-man roster, which now stands at 37 players. For the Braves, they get a depth outfielder who could compete for a roster spot in spring training. Hilliard is out of options, but his form at Triple-A shows theres enough upside for the Braves to give him a shot to potentially land on their bench in 2023.
Both during and after Martin Perezs bounce-back season, the veteran left-hander and the Rangers shared mutual interest in a potential contract extension. The two sides have met for negotiations, and while no deal has yet emerged, Rangers GM Chris Young told the Dallas Morning News Evan Grant that we continue to have good conversations. Were hopeful of getting something done, but were considering various options, including the qualifying offer. We understand that Martin will have value on the free agent market.

Once the World Series is over, teams have five days to issue qualifying offers (a one-year, $19.65MM deal) to any eligible free agents. Perez fits the bill for eligibility, as a player who has never received a QO in the past, and who spent the entire 2022 season with one team. If a free agent rejects a qualifying offer and signs elsewhere, his former team would then receive a compensatory draft pick  in the Rangers case, that pick would fall between Competitive Balance Round B and the third round, so a pick around 75th and 80th overall.

That extra draft selection would be particularly useful for a Texas club that lost picks for signing Corey Seager and Marcus Semien (who both rejected QOs) last winter in free agency, and who might very well be prepared to lose more picks for other qualifying-offer free agents this offseason. The Rangers are expected to continue being aggressive as they look to finally get back into contention, and any number big names could be on the radar in Youngs first winter running the front office.

That said, starting pitching is the Rangers most glaring need, so a reunion with Perez could well be more valuable in the short term than the bigger-term value of a compensatory draft pick. If Perez did accept the one-year qualifying offer, nothing prevents the two sides from continuing to discuss a multi-year deal. Back in the 2019-20 offseason, Jose Abreu accepted the QO from the White Sox, and shortly thereafter signed a new extension that added two additional years beyond his commitment to the 2020 campaign.

These are some of the reasons that MLBTRs Anthony Franco listed Perez as a borderline possibility in his recent preview of the qualifying-offer market, as both Perez and the Rangers face some interesting pros and cons regarding the QO. As Franco noted, Perezs underlying metrics didnt reveal any huge difference between Perezs 2022 season and the southpaws more inconsistent past seasons. If the Rangers think some regression is coming, they just might not value Perez at the $19.65MM price point. While the Rangers would naturally be offering him more total dollars over the course of a multi-year arrangement, spreading out that cost over at least two seasons might be more palatable from the teams perspective, especially if Texas is planning to start spending closer to the luxury tax threshold in the next year or two.

$19.65MM would easily represent the biggest single-season salary of Perezs career, and he could opt to accept the QO simply to cash in on his comeback season. However, with almost $36MM earned over 11 Major League seasons, Perez has already banked quite a bit of financial security. Coming off four straight one-year contracts and entering his age-32 season, Perez might be looking for more stability at this point in his career, and might prefer a multi-year contract to a one-year pact, even at the higher $19.65MM price point of a qualifying offer.

Once that five-day period after the World Series ends, free agency officially opens to the entire league, and the Rangers lose their exclusive negotiating rights with Perez. The deadline for players to decide on accepting or rejecting qualifying offers doesnt come until 10 days after the opening of free agency, giving Perez more time to ponder his choice if Texas did opt to issue the QO.
As we all know and have experienced in the past, it is sensible, ethical and morally right to make the voting process as easy and accessible to the voting population as possible. Anything contrary to this simple universal rule is purely voter suppression. And this creates an unnecessary barrier for people to exercise their voting rights. Conniving to move the voting venue from the people severely compromises democracy. Democracy works best when all eligible voters can participate and have their voices heard.

NDC USA general election is about a month away and all signs are pointing to the fact that if the Functional Executive Committee (FEC) of the NDC does not put in place proactive measures, the NDC USA Chapter will soon be plunged into division, which has been its perennial problem.

I wish to express my utmost disappointment with the approach of our upcoming elections by chapter leadership. As an active member of NDC USA and a stakeholder to that effect, I have been following keenly with rapt attention on the development leading to our upcoming elections. It lacks transparency, consistency, fairness and credibility.

My biggest challenge at the moment has to do with the hosting of the event. NDC New York met and discussed the possibility of hosting the event in unison and with excitement after the chapter leadership opened a tender for all branches to bid.

Following the announcement of an open tender for all branches to bid with the hope of hosting the upcoming 2022 elections, New York branch expressed interest, followed the laid down process and placed a bid. Surprisingly, our chapter leadership has issued nullification of a won bid by New York branch.

The fact is that in the past, the chapter practiced the delegate system that allowed every branch to elect 3 delegates to its elections conference to elect members of the national executive council. This system allowed branches to bid to host the election conference. The delegate conference system did not require the entire membership to congregate at a single location to exercise their franchise. They indirectly voted through their elected delegates. This system saved members the trouble of having to travel far with its attendant inconveniences as well as avoid the huge cost involved. However, the system was fraught with numerous challenges. One of the problems was that incumbents could create new branches whenever elections were upcoming to maximize the number of delegates to their advantage. Another problem was that large branches were poorly represented.

Due to the challenges of the delegate conference system, one-man-one vote system was introduced to replace the anachronistic system. Under the new system, the national executive members of the NDC USA Chapter were to be elected by the entire membership. This means that all members were to converge at a single location to exercise their franchise. The Chapter held its last conference in Atlanta, Georgia, which is in the Southeastern part of the United States. In the elections, whose outcome produced the current executive council, only few members were able to attend because of the distance of the venue. There was therefore, the suggestion that the subsequent conferences should take place in areas accessible to majority of the members.

On the contrary, the current NDC USA leadership are hell-bent on stationing the election conference at sparsely NDC members populated states like Illinois, Ohio, or Texas, which are proximate to supporters of them, but not accessible to 80% of the registered members in the East Coast of the US where her main contender hail form. As a subterfuge to disenfranchise majority of NDC members in branches such as that of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, there is perceived to be a plan to take the conference to either Texas, Ohio or Illinois. If this is achieved, those from flying distance numbering approximately over 700 members will be disenfranchised.

The current machinations and the desperado seem to suggest that that popularity within the rank and file of NDC USA current leadership has waned. They are therefore afraid that if the election conference is held in New York city they cannot retain their positions because majority will participate. Therefore, every effort is being made to cancel the result of a bid to host the election conference, they supervised, which New York won. Whiles the New Yorks branch Chairman and his executives are already preparing to host the conference, there is every indication that NDC USA leadership is lobbying Accra to cancel the June 30 bid results because it did not go their way and then use executive power to station it in Texas or Chicago and cause the disenfranchisement of 80% of the members who cannot fly to these locations from the East Coast. This attitude and subterfuge has caused war clouds to start gathering especially in the North East.

It will therefore be expedient for the National leadership of the NDC, especially our Venerable Hon. Alex Segbefia, the Director of IRD of the NDC to take charge of the election of executives in the US and use his wisdom and sense of fairness to avert any potential division and infighting. He should avoid any decision that denies New York City the chance to host the upcoming elections.

Justice delayed, is justice denied.

Long live the NDC

Thank you.

Comrade Sam Ansah

Former Secretary, NDC New York Branch
I struggle with the same issue at work and home: figuring out what to write for my column, "A mixture of Periodicals," for readers' interest. Considering that the number of readers for print media is steadily declining, it has become increasingly crucial to choose the correct content to pique their interest and amuse them, since the majority now likes to educate and entertain themselves on YouTube and other video-watching websites.

The time when one item would draw between 10,000 and 15,000 readers in a day or two is long gone. Today, you should be extremely thrilled if your content generates 400 to 1000 views or more because that helps the writers feel more confident. What can writers do to improve the situation? Ghana is in crisis, a catastrophic scenario that has resulted in tremendous difficulties, increasing crime, unemployment, and the prices of goods, including petrol.

Since many hate the former Ghanaian leader, John Mahama, and want to see the NPP party remain in power in 2024 despite the devastation, hardships, and carnage brought on by this corrupt, incompetent NPP government, many writers have avoided addressing the problems facing Ghana for various reasons, including tribalism. They believe that if they speak out against the NPP government or the president, Nana Akufo Addo, it will affect the president or the party.



Joel Savage: Writing can be challenging because you have to think, research, write, edit, and proofread your content. Behind my computer, I often ponder what to write at work and home, keeping in mind readers' interest than mine.

So, as a writer, how many readers do you anticipate having when you write an article without addressing the problems and difficulties the present NPP government has, instead opting to write about topics like "Is Mahama the messiah who will save Ghana? Furthermore, why would Ghanaians trust Mahama to handle this political crisis? The creators of such stories tend to overlook that the previous president improved Ghana and its economy before the crisis started.

More importantly, writers who frequently produce such articles, are unaware that the title also highlights the incompetence of the current administration. If you want to know if Mahama is the right savior who can restore the economy, then consider the fact that you have informed Ghanaians that Nana Akufo Addo's incompetence and corruption, have resulted in irreparably damaged and that Mahama won't be able to handle the situation once he assumes the presidency.

You see how certain writers release idiotic writings out of hatred with the purpose to discredit John Mahama and eliminate his chances of winning the upcoming elections, without realizing that what they write instead has an impact on the present ruling party, especially President Nana Akufo Addo. How many people will read such an article? These are some of the reasons why many readers on the ModernGhana platform have lost interest in some writers.

This caught my attention very quickly, leading me to create a column header so that readers who enjoy Joel Savage's writings could quickly recognize me and it has been successful for me. What purpose does it serve to keep writing when no one reads it or when your article barely receives 200300 reads? Anyone may write, but it's crucial to choose the topics that readers want to read about rather than your own interests.

You won't succeed as a writer if you don't care about what people want to read and always base your writing on tribalism and nepotism to suit your own interests. Numerous writers have been impacted by this writing style. Be courageous and speak up against issues impacting the populace, as well as the president's bad policies and corruption, which contributed to Ghana's decline from a great nation. You are a fool if you leave all of this behind and tell Ghanaians not to have confidence in Mahama.

Such folks are not even writers in my eyes; they are nation-wreckers and bigots from their respective tribes. These political and economic catastrophes that have befallen Ghana are also their fault. Surprisingly, they don't seem to care. They want Nana Akufo Addo to stay in office until women start killing their children and men start performing acrobatic feats on high-tension power lines to commit suicide.

We won't stop criticizing and speaking out against the president because we don't want to be spectators but active participants in society. We also don't want to be hungry while Akufo Addo sits on the money. Whatever negative things Akufo Addo did or said about John Mahama, as well as the falsehoods and trickery he used to fool Ghanaians and gain power, have all come back to haunt him. He deserves it, so I have no sympathy for him. I wonder why and for whom such a person wants to construct a cathedral.



We shouldn't always allow how the developed world perceives Africa to apply to us or reflect on us. It's not because our continent is an African continent, we should allow negative things that never happen in the developed world. Africa won't develop if we start to rely on such an attitude. The African will not know peace and will always lack development if its people are not united, even though we have everything needed to make our continent great. Our nation will flourish if we can eradicate corruption and tribalism.
05.11.2022 LISTEN

I've sighted a viral video in which Valentina Nana Agyeiwaa popularly known as Afia Schwarzenegger has cheekily concocted statements against President Akufo Addo and Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto. Since I'm a citizen and not just a spectator, I wish to respond to some of the false statements made in the video.

Every reasonable person in this country knows that the display of such lunatic incivility is the source of Afia Schar's livelihood and relevance in this country so I was not surprised at the extent to which the statements in the video were twisted to fuel dissatisfaction and hate, acquire the needed attention and attain her intended objective.

However, I'm hugely surprised that the "All knowing" Afia Schar doesn't know that Ghana is the World's largest exporter of Yam, 2021 and the second largest producer of tomatoes in West Africa. And therefore, her ludicrous demand that the Agric Minister be sacked because Ghana imports more yam and tomatoes than any other country is just a figment of her own brainless imagination. Note, the increase in the production and export of yam added $48 million to the Countrys economy as export value for yam, an increase from $38.5 million in 2018 to $48.2 million in 2021.

Also, Afia Schars claims that under the leadership of this current Agric Minister, our country produces nothing except importation, is not only a calculated damning agenda against Dr. Akoto but a blatant insult to the integrity of our hardworking farmers as well.

It is worth noting that, the Planting for Food and Jobs has caused an increase in production of all crops across the Country since its inception in 2017; with production of maize rising from 1.7 million MT in 2016 to 3.6 million MT in 2021, rice from 688,000MT to 1.2 million MT, and soya from 143,000MT to 230,000MT over the same period. In furtherance, out of the 2.6 billion invested in the PFJ for the past five (5) years, it has raked in 50 billion Ghana cedis worth of food as returns.

Admittedly, despite the economic conditions of the country has gone spiral, and as a result, a major concern of President Nana Addo, Afia Schwarzenegger should not use it as a lever to concoct and twist issues and tarnish the images of hard working people just for her profiteering. Rather, she should concentrate on her social media comedies and leave the achievements of the Agric Minister to well-informed Ghanaians to evaluate.

Thank you!

Ohemaa Esther

0209987992
A plane carrying 43 people plunged into Lake Victoria in Tanzania early on Sunday due to bad weather shortly before it was due to land in the northwestern city of Bukoba, police said, as rescuers searched for survivors.

"There was an accident involving a Precision Air plane which... crashed into water about 100 metres from the airport," regional police commander William Mwampaghale told reporters at Bukoba airport.

Regional commissioner Albert Chalamila said 43 people, including 39 passengers, two pilots and two cabin crew, were aboard flight PW 494 from financial capital Dar es Salaam to the lakeside city in Kagera region.

"As we speak, we have managed to rescue 26 people who were taken to our referral hospital," Chalamila said.

"The rescue operation is still ongoing and we are communicating with the pilots," he said, adding that the aircraft was an ATR-42, manufactured by Toulouse-based Franco-Italian firm ATR.

Precision Air, which is Tanzania's largest private airline, released a brief statement confirming the accident.

"The rescue team has been dispatched to the scene and more information will be released in 2 hours' time," the airline said.

Video footage broadcast on local media showed the plane largely submerged as rescuers, including fishermen, waded through water to bring people to safety.

Emergency workers attempted to lift the aircraft out of the water using ropes, assisted by cranes as local residents also sought to help in the effort.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan expressed her condolences to those affected by the accident.

"Let's continue to be calm while the rescue operation continues as we pray to God to help us," she said on Twitter.

'Hearts and prayers'

The African Union Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat also shared his condolences, as did the secretary general of the regional East African Community bloc, Peter Mathuki.

"Our hearts and prayers go to the families of passengers on-board a plane that crashed into Lake Victoria, with our full solidarity to the Government & people of #Tanzania," he said on Twitter.

"The East African Community joins and sends our condolences to Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan, families and friends of all those who were affected by the Precision Air plane accident," Mathuki said on Twitter.

Precision Air, which is partly owned by Kenya Airways, was founded in 1993 and operates domestic and regional flights as well as private charters to popular tourist destinations such as the Serengeti National Park and the Zanzibar archipelago.

The accident comes five years after 11 people died when a plane belonging to safari company Coastal Aviation crashed in northern Tanzania.

In March 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines flight from from Addis Ababa to Nairobi plunged six minutes after take-off into a field southeast of the Ethiopian capital, killing all 157 people on board.

In 2007, a Kenya Airways flight from the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan to Kenya's capital Nairobi crashed into a swamp after take-off, killing all 114 passengers.

In 2000, another Kenya Airways flight from Abidjan to Nairobi crashed into the Atlantic Ocean minutes after take-off, killing 169 people while 10 survived.
A young Fulani pastoralist from the Tatki region of Senegal who must learn another craft because his future is uncertain. - Source:

06.11.2022 LISTEN

Adapting to a world that is warmer than today is a huge undertaking, even if the most ambitious temperature ceiling is met. Increasing climate risks mean that millions of Africans could be uprooted or trapped where they are due to climate change.

Unfortunately, the world has made little progress on what it takes to adapt safely to life on a warmer planet. We still lack the scale and urgency of both collective and transformative action necessary to cut greenhouse gases as per the Paris Agreement on Climate Change .

Heatwaves from human-caused climate change have already reduced global economic growth by up to US$29.3 trillion between 1992 and 2013. Africa's gross domestic product has been particularly hard hit. One estimate shows gross domestic product per capita for 19912010 in Africa was on average 13.6% lower than it could have been if climate change had not occurred.

Global heating may rise to between 2.4 and 2.6 by 2100. That presents uninsurable risks , even for rich countries.

For Africans, these changes will increase inequality and disrupt businesses . They will also undermine agricultural systems and decades of development gains in health and education . In addition, the changes are set to cause losses and damage to Africa's unique heritage of outstanding and universal value . These impacts will increasingly affect those moving, staying, and communities receiving people on the move due to climate change.

All life on Earth will have to adapt if any industries are to survive for Africa's future generations. There is a narrow window left to prepare and shift to adaptation in Africa.

A new report called African Shifts documents the current realities of climate-forced migration and displacement in Africa. The report paints possible scenarios for future population movements resulting from increasing climate impacts. It also revises the discourse of migration and climate change. It uses the term climate mobility to capture the movement motivated by the adverse effects of sudden or slow-onset climate impacts.

The report, launched by the Africa Climate Mobility Initiative , aims to provide evidence, knowledge and policy recommendations to leaders gathering at the COP27 climate change negotiations in Egypt, where climate adaptation strategies are high on the agenda.

African Shifts, of which I am the lead drafting author, provides research, data and projections that support locally anchored solutions for climate adaptation in communities across Africa facing the impacts of forced migration. It uses likely and optimistic climate change and development scenarios to provide projections of climate mobility that are appropriate to Africa's development trajectory over the next 30 years.

Several new findings have been made and key actions proposed.

Findings

The report shows that:

Most future climate-forced migration and displacement in Africa will take place within countries. This reflects current geographies of movement on the continent.

The number of people moving to seek protection and better livelihoods will increase from 1.5% of Africa's population today to as many as 5% by 2050. This amounts to about 113 million people.

Up to 2.5 million people could leave Africa's coastal areas due to sea level rise and other stressors. In the Horn of Africa, climate impacts could force up to 9% of the population  as many as 49 million people  to move in the decades ahead. This makes the case for adequate planning to build local adaptive capacity, especially in smaller cities and towns. Adapting could enable more people to stay in their home communities.

The movement of people across borders in response to climate change is expected to be relatively small. Cross-border climate mobility is forecast to reach a maximum of 1.2 million people by 2050 under a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario. This will be a small fraction of the continent's overall population and a small contribution to the total likely cross-border migration of 11 to 12 million people by 2050. This counters the prevailing narrative of populist leaders and media houses that peddle highly exaggerated numbers of people leaving Africa for high-income and distant countries.

Importantly, for most on the continent, climate mobility is likely to be a response of last resort. Most Africans are attached to their land and homes and don't aspire to leave their communities. Half of the men and 40% of the women surveyed expressed hope and optimism for the future, despite experiencing severe climate disruptions. For many people relocation is too costly. As a result, some of the most vulnerable people remain in place, risking forced evacuation or becoming stranded. Those who move or are forcibly displaced often settle in new locations where they remain vulnerable and exposed to climate risks.

Key actions

The Agenda for Action accompanying the African Shifts report proposes key actions for the next eight years. These actions can support countries in achieving the aspirations of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals set up by the UN under the Paris Agreement. They include:

Planning for mobility  Anticipate and plan for climate mobility. This includes permanent relocation, fostering social cohesion in affected communities, preventing immobility, driving economic growth, sustaining peace, and protecting people on the move. Next step is to integrate climate mobility in climate adaptation and finance commitments. This is achieved by recognising and supporting mobility as a legitimate strategy.

Empowering people  Inform people of climate risks. This includes building climate change literacy, co-production of actionable climate information services and access to early warnings. Specifically, countries should amplify women's agency and harness the ambitions of the youth.

Transforming development  Build from the local by pursuing community-led solutions for climate-resilient development, disaster response and climate mobility across the continent.

Countries should also invest in resilient and connected cities. Build stronger ties across cities and with rural areas and economies.

Lastly, countries should pursue nature-positive development. Land, water, and other shared natural resources should be managed cooperatively and sustainably to support agricultural and ecosystem-based livelihoods and boost productivity. Reduce the environmental impact and harness ecosystems and biodiversity protection for economic development and climate resilience.

The report makes the case that inclusive development choices that reduce vulnerability and build climate resilience could enable people to stay in their home communities.

Hotspots

The report identifies potential climate hotspots. These include specific cities that will grow or shrink due to climate mobility; borderlands that will see an increase in climate mobility; and rain-fed lowlands and coastal areas.

These areas need to build resilience in near-term actions and long-term strategies.

The steps proposed in the report can avert and minimise the risk of displacement and prepare communities for future arrivals, preventing escalating loss and damage in a warmer future.

The research, modelling and analysis that form the basis of this report were the result of a unique collaboration between the Africa Climate Mobility Initiative, the Mixed Migration Centre, and a consortium led by the Center for International Earth Science Information Network of the Columbia University Climate School, including the City University of New York Institute for Demographic Research, and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

Nicholas P. Simpson led the drafting of Africa Shifts: The Africa Climate Mobility Report while working as a consultant for the Global Centre for Climate Mobility and the Africa Climate Mobility Initiative during his tenure as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Cape Town. He received funding from the Rockefeller Philanthropy Association for this project. He now works for Global Centre for Climate Mobility which is a United Nations Organization entity.

By Nicholas P. Simpson, Senior Advisor, Africa Lead for Knowledge & Practice, Africa Climate Mobility Initiative, Global Centre for Climate Mobility, University of Cape Town
An investigation has found evidence that the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary force with ties to the Kremlin, colluded with political and military powers in Sudan to exploit the country's gold.

The Wagner Group was founded in 2014 by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a prominent Russian dissident living in exile in the UK, Prigozhin's influence with Putin is on a par with that of senior Kremlin ministers like defence chief Sergei Shoigu or Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister.

Prigozhin's mercenaries have been accused of murder and war crimes in operations around the world.

This week, lawyers in London launched a case accusing the Wagner Group of terrorist acts in Ukraine. The group allegedly engaged in a campaign that included murder, rape, the targeting of infrastructure and the planting of explosives around nuclear facilities.

Sudan connection

A report by the US-based non-profit Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) now details group activities in Sudan, where it is alleged that the Wagner Group funnelled resources to regime forces in exchange for privileged access to the country's lucrative gold mining industry.

Sudan is Africa's third-largest gold producer, behind Ghana and South Africa.

Sudanese regulations oblige all foreign mining companies to grant Khartoum 30 percent of shares, so that Sudan benefits from any gold extracted.

Yet Prigozhin's mining operation, a subsidiary called Meroe Gold, is subject to no such profit sharing, according to documents uncovered by researchers at the OCCRP.

Thanks to a deal struck in August 2018 with the then president Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's mining ministry agreed to waive its stake in the future gold operation to the Russian-owned company.

Less than two months later, the Ministry of Minerals granted Meroe additional lucrative licenses in three gold-producing regions, again waiving its 30 percent.

Meroe's parent company, M Invest, paid millions of dollars to a company operated by Sudanese military intelligence in exchange for access to residence permits and weapons for its Russian staff in Sudan, the OCCRP reports.

Systematic corruption

Meroe's special treatment appears to be compensation for the weapons Sudan imported from Russia.

The OCCRP report explains how the Sudanese regime, through a private company controlled by military intelligence, delivered weapons to Wagner. This is a departure from stories in the media which allege that Wagner is supplying weapons to Sudan.

The deal, underwritten by Sudan's military regime in the wake of Bashir's ouster in 2019, is problematic because the army is known for being deeply and systemically corrupt, as well as being a major conduit for illegal weapons, says Andrew Feinstein, an author who specializes in investigating corruption.

According to Khadija Sharife of the OCCRP, author of the Sudan report, the deal allowed "for a criminal company to reward a criminal military. These kinds of costs can never be repaid."

Sharife reproaches "senior Sudanese officials who had the power to sell the country's sovereignty for a song  $100,000 a month". This is the sum that Wagner apparently arranged to pay for assistance in bringing its personnel and arms into Sudan.

Contracts seen by the OCCRP indicate that a company managed by a Sudanese army officer was supposed to supply equipment to Wagner including armoured tanks, drones and large-caliber weapons, using Sudanese air bases, army transport and military aircraft signal codes to disguise the transfers.

International law stipulates that an importing government may not sell, deliver or transfer weapons to a third party.

'Really bad actors'

Richard Messick, a former senior operations specialist at the World Bank who now consults for international organisations on legal development and anticorruption, questions why Bashir's government agreed to the arrangement.

Any time you deviate from established foreign investment law, you have to ask if it's because the foreign investor is so attractive the government is desperate to bring them in, or whether there is a cloud over such a special deal which may be a side payment or some other quid pro quo, like the ability to procure arms for the people in power, Messick says.

Wagner and the Sudanese military are "two of the blackest of the black figures in the world economy", Merrick adds.

"These are two really bad actors that shouldn't be allowed to purchase arms, anywhere."

US sanctions

The activities of Prigozhin and his network in Sudan have made them a target of United States sanctions.

In July 2020, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on companies registered in Sudan, Hong Kong and Thailand, including Meroe Gold and M Invest, for exploiting Sudan's natural resources and interfering with democratic reforms.

Through the Wagner Group and its relationship with Bashir, Russia also became involved in Sudan's oil, gas and agricultural sectors, US authorities said.

Yevgeniy Prigozhin and his network are exploiting Sudan's natural resources for personal gain and spreading malign influence around the globe, said the then US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Russian mercenaries are believed to be active in around a dozen other countries in Africa, including South Sudan, Libya, the Central African Republic and Mali.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo Saturday left Ghana at the head of the country's delegation to the World Leaders' Summit of the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (COP 27), being held in Sharm el-Sheikh, in Egypt.

The COP 27 Summit opened today with the key aim of ensuring full implementation of the Paris Agreement that seeks to strengthen the universal response to the threat of climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.

The meeting, one of the largest gathering of world leaders in recent times, would last till November 18, 2022.

President Akufo-Addo is billed to deliver a statement on Ghana's position on Climate Change, as well as measures put in place to combat the threat it poses.

He would also deliver five separate statements on efforts Ghana was making to protect her forest and oceans, on sustainable energy and the energy transition, and participate in the Africa Adaption Acceleration Summit, being held on the sidelines of the COP 27.

President Akufo-Addo would then depart to New York to chair the High-Level UN Security Council debate convened by Ghana, on November 10, 2022, as part of the programme of work for Ghana's Presidency of the Council for the month of November.

The President was accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchey; the Minister for Energy, Matthew Opoku Prempeh; the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie; the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel A. Jinapor; and officials of the Presidency and Foreign Ministry.

The President is expected back in Ghana on Friday, November 11, 2022.

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia would act in his stead.

GNA
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei-Tutu II has bemoaned distortions to the history of the Asantes and the Anlos, saying they have adversely affected our relationship.

He said the two tribes had, in the past, forged concrete alliance during an era dominated by intense warfare and had collaborated on many issues in their mutual interests and for Ghana as a whole.

The Asantehene made this known at this years Hogbetsotsoza at Anloga, the traditional festival of the chiefs and people of Anlo, attended by the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who represented President Akufo-Addo.

King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, the Ga Mantse, Daasebre Akuamoah Agyapong II, the Kwahuhene, chiefs and people of Eweland, and people from all walks of life, including neighbouring Togo, Benin, Nigeria and the Diaspora, attended the festival.

Otumfuo Osei-Tutu blamed the complexities and vagaries of body politics as having cast the uncomfortable shadow over the Asante-Anlo relations.

He said: Our people have become associated with differences in political choices to an extent that, that has injected some unwarranted mistrust and compromised the bubbly harmony conceived by our forefathers.

While no one could question the political affiliations of people from both tribes, it was wrong to deduce from such differences the existence of any inherent animosity between them, and asked for sources of all unwarranted discord to be flushed out, the Asantehene said.

Clearly, it is only fair that we begin to debunk the myths and learn to separate the machinations, which drive the conduct of individual politicians from the roots of their birth or their religious orientations.

He said just as the Hogbetsotsoza provided a period of reflection and soul searching for the settlement and resolution of disputes within families and among the people with the nugbidodo (reconciliation) rite, the Asantes and Anlos and the entire Ghanaian people ought to purge themselves of past contaminants to provide a healthy environment for discourses towards a united country.

Togbi Sri III, the Awoamefia (Parament King) of Anlo, described the 2022 Hogbetsotsoza as historic and special, saying it was the first time a reigning Asantehene graced the festival.

His presence affirmed the bond of relationship between the Anlos and the Asantes, he said.

Togbi Sri called on all industrious sons and daughters of Anlo serving Mother Ghana and the world to return home and support development projects of the land.

On the theme: Uniting for Development, Sustaining our Unique Cultural Commonwealth for Future Generations, the festival marked the Anlos 60th celebration of the legendary exodus of the Ewe-Dogbo folks from Notsie in present day Togo.

The Anlo Ewes remained one of the closest allies of the Asantes with the two sides supporting each other in times of war.

The relations between the two parties, which took the form of military alliance, dates to the mid 1750s of the 18th Century, and continues to count.

Togbi Sri III, the Awoamefia of Anlo

GNA
Thousands rallied in Cameroon's capital on Sunday to fete 40 years in power of President Paul Biya, who is accused of trampling on human rights and stifling democracy.

The 89-year-old is the world's second longest-serving leader, except monarchs, after Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has been in the saddle for over 43 years.

Biya did not attend the event in Yaounde dubbed a "regional mega-rally".

His public outings, except for a few choreographed TV appearances, have become rarer and rarer in recent years, stoking speculation about his health.

Since a highly contested re-election for a seventh term in 2018, Biya has maintained tighter control over Cameroon, where even his supporters don't dare mention succession.

His security forces have become even more repressive against any form of dissent.

In recent years he has cracked down on all opposition, political and armed, earning him rare criticism from the United Nations and Western capitals.

On Saturday, Biya's main rival, Maurice Kamto said there was "an arrogant trampling over the fundamental rights of citizens and public freedoms" in a country where "systematic and widespread corruption" reigns.

In the restive English-speaking west of this francophone-majority country, Biya for years rejected demands for federalism.

The anglophone campaign radicalised, leading to the declaration of an independent state in October 2017 -- a move that triggered a crackdown by Biya.

The fighting has claimed around 6,000 lives and forced more than a million to flee their homes, according to estimates.

In front of Yaounde's city hall, thousands on Sunday danced to songs played in honour of Biya at the event organised by the all-powerful Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC).

Many wore clothes in the party colours and bearing Biya's portrait.

The building was adorned with a giant portrait of Biya bearing the slogan: "An exceptional president" in both English and French.

Biya did not attend the event in Yaounde dubbed a 'regional mega-rally'. By Daniel Beloumou Olomo (AFP)

Emmanuel Watat, a 36-year-old trader and RDPC activist for 17 years, said Biya "has always managed the country well despite difficult times. As in a family, there are highs and lows".

And Florentine Ahanda, a 57-year-old housewife added: "We are proud of him. We wake up in the morning and we are at ease in our country, we live in peace and we realise how lucky we are when we see the situation in neighbouring countries."

Biya rose to the top job on November 6 1982 after seven years as prime minister.

He is only the second president in Cameroon's history since the central African nation gained independence from France.

Commentators ascribe Biya's extraordinary political longevity to a mixture of astuteness and ruthlessness -- he has a constellation of loyalists in key positions and crushes or sidelines opponents and rivals.
06.11.2022 LISTEN

Amid the worsening economic crisis, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has called on Ghanaians to look back on the achievements of the past 6 years and have faith in the Government to continue to do well for Ghanaians in these difficult times.

The Vice President recounted a number of interventions introduced in the past six years by the government to indicate the government's ability to address the prevailing challenges.

Speaking at the 60th Hogbetsotso Festival of the Anlos in Anloga, Dr. Bawumia said the government is poised to do more to help alleviate the plight of the ordinary Ghanaian.

It is important to note that in the midst of all of this turmoil, we should put things in perspective, he said.

The government of Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo has over the last six years taken many steps to reposition and transform the economy.

So whilst we have hardships today which we are working very hard to alleviate let us not forget what we have been able to do in the last six years.

As an example, Dr. Bawumia said they had created more jobs than any other government in the fourth republic.

Let me recall that we have constructed more roads than any other government in the fourth republic, he added.


November 06, 2022 Ukraine Open Thread 2022-192 Only for news & views directly related to the Ukraine conflict. Please stick to the topic. The current open thread for other issues is here. Posted by b on November 6, 2022 at 13:07 UTC | Permalink Comments next page  next page 
An impassioned plea for regional unity by Marshall Islands President David Kabua, shown speaking to the graduation in May of the College of the Marshall Islands, led to the Marshall Islands parliament formally endorsing membership in the Pacific Islands Forum.
The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) has signed a three-year agreement with the Atlantic Council to collaborate on the Councils Nuclear Energy Policy Initiative. It will also support the Councils efforts in promoting nuclear energy as a central component to clean energy transition.

The Atlantic Council is a US-based think tank, and home to the Global Energy Centre, one of the leading US energy centres for promoting energy security, working across government, industry and society to identify the way forward for the global energy sector.

The collaboration will see ENEC, and the Atlantic Council join forces to support the Atlantic Councils new Nuclear Energy Policy Initiative, which is dedicated to identifying the pathways for global decarbonisation using civil nuclear energy.

Energy security

Together, ENEC and Atlantic Council will highlight the role of nuclear energy in securing energy security and sustainability, and the role of current and advanced nuclear technologies in decarbonising the power sector and the broader clean energy transition. The agreement was signed in Washington DC by Mohamed Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ENEC and Fred Kempe, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Atlantic Council.

The collaboration is part of ENECs commitment towards supporting constructive dialogue on the crucial role nuclear energy plays in delivering both national energy security and sustainability, and the policy and structures needed to support the sector.

Al Hammadi said: Our agreement with the Atlantic Council is a natural and progressive outcome of our long-standing partnership to raise awareness of nuclear energy as a realistic component of the energy mix for nations looking to boost their energy security and sustainability. We look forward to working with Atlantic Council, as we are committed to sharing our experience in delivering a new generation of civil nuclear programme with other countries looking to embark on their own programmes, developing the frameworks necessary for success.

Promoting new areas

ENEC will work closely with Atlantic Council on global nuclear energy advocacy and promote new areas of peaceful nuclear advancement for electricity generation and non-electrical purposes, such as industrial heat and hydrogen production. Meanwhile, the Atlantic Council will also support the UAEs leading position in nuclear energy when it hosts COP28 next year 2023  a gathering of world leaders to advance climate change cooperation.

The signing took place during an official delegation visit to the USA by ENEC officials. As part of the visit, Atlantic Council and ENEC hosted a panel discussion on the role of net zero nuclear on the pathway to COP28. The session included an introduction from Landon Derentz, Senior Director, of the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center, followed by a keynote from Dr Andrew Light, Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs at the US Department of Energy. H.E. Mohamed Al Hammadi joined the panel alongside Chris Levesque, President & CEO of Terrapower, Cosmin Ghita, CEO of Nuclearelectrica, David Durham, President of Energy Systems, Westinghouse and Dr Rachael Slaybaugh, Principal at DCVC.

The panel discussed how quickly the demand for nuclear energy is growing as many nations have identified the unique benefits it brings in delivering both national energy security and energy sustainability  the former being particularly critical in the face of the current global energy crisis, and with the latter, as it is clear that far more needs to be done to meet international carbon emissions reduction commitments.

Barakah Nuclear Power Plant

ENEC is developing the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant, comprising four APR1400 reactors one of the most technologically advanced nuclear reactor designs in the world, each with a 1,400 megawatts of zero-carbon emission electricity capacity. Three Units of the plant have already been connected the UAEs national grid, with two operating commercially.

Once all four units of the Barakah Plant are commercially operational, they will contribute up to 25% of the UAEs National Determined Contributions to Net Zero and is the largest source of dispatchable clean electricity. The Plant demonstrates how nuclear energy projects can be delivered safely, successfully and competitively to tackle growing carbon emissions. Through clean electricity generated at Barakah, nuclear is helping to decarbonise some of the most energy intense sectors.-- TradeArabia News Service
Lambert Strether: Plus ca change. Good job untangling campaign contributions, though!

By Samantha Young, Senior Correspondent, Andy Miller, Senior Editor, and Rebecca Grapevine, a journalist who writes about public health. Originally published at Kaiser Health News.

On Nov. 2, 2021, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolaks reelection campaign received 10 separate $10,000 contributions from what appeared to be unrelated health insurance plans from across the country.

The Buckeye Community Health Plan of Ohio, Louisiana Healthcare Connections, and Peach State Health Plan of Georgia were among the companies that sent money to the Democrat, according to state campaign finance records, even though only one, SilverSummit Healthplan, provided insurance in the Silver State.

But a thread connects the companies: Each is a subsidiary of Centene Corp., ranked 26th on the Fortune 500 list, and the nations largest private managed-care provider for Medicaid, the government insurance program for people with low incomes or disabilities.

Centene had already sealed Medicaid deals in Nevada through its SilverSummit subsidiary  yet a potential new line of business was on the horizon. Sisolak, who is up for reelection Nov. 8, had just approved a new public health plan option that would later open up to bidding from contractors such as SilverSummit.

And then, less than two months after Centenes subsidiary contributions were made, Nevada settled with the company over allegations the insurer overbilled the states Medicaid pharmacy program. The state attorney generals office did not publicly announce the $11.3 million settlement but disclosed it in response to a public records request from KHN.

Sisolak  who has accepted at least $197,000 from Centene, its subsidiaries, top executives, and their spouses since August 2018  issued a statement through his campaign spokesperson Molly Forgey that said Medicaid contracts are awarded by an independent group. There is zero correlation between Centenes donations and how the governor legislates, Forgey said. The governor in no way acts unilaterally in decisions to award state contracts.

The contract went before the Nevada Board of Examiners for final approval. Sisolak is one of three voting members.

Centene has similarly amplified campaign contributions to governors in New York and South Carolina, two states where it has profitable contracts and such giving by multiple subsidiaries is allowed. And despite having pledged to investors to disclose its political giving, Centene has revealed to shareholders only a portion of its contributions  omitting much of its subsidiary giving from reports on its website.

Under corporate law, each subsidiary is its own business, which allows companies to increase their political footprints in some states by giving the maximum allowed donations from more than one entity, said Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, a law professor at Stetson University in Florida.

In some cases, they can increase it tenfold depending on how many subsidiaries and how much money they want to aim at a particular politician, Torres-Spelliscy said. They will exploit any loophole.

Since 2015, the St. Louis-based insurance behemoth, its subsidiaries, its top executives, and their spouses have given more than $26.9 million to state politicians in 33 states, to their political parties, and to nonprofit fundraising groups, according to a KHN analysis of IRS tax filings and data from the nonpartisan, nonprofit group OpenSecrets. That total doesnt include the millions of dollars Centene and its subsidiaries have given to state politicians political action committees because OpenSecrets doesnt track those donations. The KHN analysis also does not include giving to congressional and presidential candidates.

Its a purposeful political investment: Centene earns billions of dollars from governments and then uses its profits to back the campaigns of the officials who oversee those government contracts. The company has developed this sophisticated, multipronged strategy as it pursues even more state government-funded contracts and defends against sweeping accusations that it overbilled many of those very governments.

Centene declined to make a representative available for an interview and didnt respond to specific questions about its political giving. But company spokesperson Suzy DePrizio said in a statement that the company follows all local, state, and federal laws and records all contributions from its political action committee. She said Centenes contributions are intended to serve as support to those who advocate for sound public policy healthcare decisions, which is evident by our nearly equal support of candidates from both parties.

This year, according to IRS filings that go through Sept. 30, Centene has given $2.2 million, combined, to the Republican and Democratic governors associations, which help elect candidates from their respective parties. And Centene gave $250,000, combined, to the Republican Attorneys General Association and its Democratic counterpart.

Since last year, state attorneys general, whose campaigns are benefiting from the associations money, have negotiated massive settlements with Centene over accusations the companys prescription drug programs overbilled Medicaid.

More than 20 states are investigating or have investigated Centenes Medicaid pharmacy billing. The company has agreed to pay settlements to 13 of those states, with the total reaching about $596 million. And Centene told KHN in October that it is working to settle with Georgia and eight more states that it didnt identify. It has denied wrongdoing in all the investigations.

KHN found that Centene, like many corporations, also pays dozens of lobbyists in state capitals across the country and in Washington, D.C. It courts officials with fundraising parties and perks such as tickets to sporting events like Sacramento Kings games. And it helps fund committees set up to pay for governors inaugural events  as it did for Sisolak, with a $50,000 donation, separate from its campaign contributions, according to the Nevada secretary of states office.

Executives and their family members make political contributions in their own names. For example, from 2015 through 2021, Centenes then-CEO Michael Neidorff and his wife, Noemi, wrote at least $380,000 in personal checks to state candidates, with more than 60% going to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who governs a state where the insurer generated 11% of its revenue in 2019. The Neidorffs lived in St. Louis.

Theres no proof Centenes contributions swayed politicians decisions, but campaign finance experts say money can translate into access and that can lead to influence.

Theyre trying to protect their market share, said Gerald Kominski, a senior fellow at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. They see it as necessary to maintain good relations with the agencies and with the individuals who are involved in decision-making because thats the way government works.

Billing Question Surfaces in Ohio

Health care industry players  from insurers, to doctor lobbying groups, to drug companies  routinely make large political donations. Centene rival Elevance Health, formerly known as Anthem, has spent at least $21.8 million on state political contributions since 2015, according to KHNs analysis.

What makes Centene stand apart from competitors is the massive share of its business that is funded by taxpayers. Founded as a nonprofit in 1984 by a former hospital bookkeeper, Centene earned $126 billion in revenue last year  up from $5 billion a decade ago, according to the companys annual reports.

Its rocketing revenue has been fueled by its thriving Medicaid managed-care business, takeovers of competitors, and growth in its Medicare Advantage membership and in enrollment in health plans it sells via the Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplaces. Centenes Ambetter plans, available on the exchanges, have the highest enrollment nationally. The company has also locked up lucrative deals to deliver health care to state prisoners, military members, and veterans.

Centene has reported that two-thirds of its revenue comes from state Medicaid contracts that cover about 15 million people across the country.

So when Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sued Centene in March 2021 over what he called a complex scheme of corporate greed to fleece taxpayers out of millions, other states took notice.

Ohio investigators accused Centene of overcharging the states Medicaid program through the companys pharmacy benefit managers, which provided medications to Centene-managed Medicaid patients. Pharmacy benefit managers, known as PBMs, act as middlemen between drugmakers and health insurers and as intermediaries between health plans and pharmacies.

Centene denied wrongdoing but faced immediate consequences. Ohio officials froze its application to renew its contract to offer insurance to state Medicaid enrollees.

Ohio had Centene over a barrel, said Antonio Ciaccia, a consultant who worked with the state on the dispute.

The company settled three months later for $88.3 million. Its application was soon unfrozen, and it won a Medicaid contract that summer for its subsidiary Buckeye Health, whose lobbyists include Michael Kiggin, a law school buddy of Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.

Dan Tierney, a spokesperson for DeWine, said the states competitive bidding process was reviewed by a court, which noted Buckeye Health Plan scored highly in the bid process.

Since last year, 12 other states have settled with Centene over pharmacy services: Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington.

Of the states that have reached settlements so far, at least five have subsequently awarded government contracts to the company. Louisiana settled with the insurer in November 2021 for $64.2 million and just three months later awarded a statewide Medicaid contract to Centenes subsidiary Louisiana Healthcare Connections. KHN learned of the settlement, which was not previously publicly announced, in October through a records request.

Nebraska officials also hadnt publicly announced the states $29.3 million settlement with Centene in December until they received a recent KHN public records request. Nine months after the settlement, the state awarded Centene subsidiary Nebraska Total Care a Medicaid contract.

One reason Centene keeps winning contracts, Kominski said, is that such large insurers dont have much competition in some parts of the country. Its not as if states can easily say, OK, were going to have an open competition and then they have hundreds of insurers willing to participate in the marketplace, Kominski said. Health care is not, in general, a very competitive marketplace.

Some politicians are tired of that playbook. In Mississippi, the state House of Representatives voted in February to prohibit Republican Gov. Tate Reeves administration from awarding a contract to any company that the state had settled with for more than $50 million. Centene paid Mississippi $55.5 million the year before.

I am for doing away with our business to a company who took $55 million of our money that was supposed to be spent on the poor, the sick, the elderly, the mentally ill, the disabled, Republican state Rep. Becky Currie, who authored the amendment, told her colleagues on the House floor.

The House adopted Curries amendment, but the Senate stripped it out of the bill.

Reeves gubernatorial campaign committee has received $210,000 from Centene since 2015, according to OpenSecrets data, and Mississippi lawmakers and party organizations have reaped at least $600,000. Reeves office did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the donations.

In August, just over a year after the settlement, Mississippi awarded Centene subsidiary Magnolia Health Plan a new Medicaid managed-care contract.

Showing Up as a Partner in the Market

In Georgia, reports of Medicaid overbilling by insurers surfaced in 2018. The following year, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp retained Mississippi-based law firm Liston & Deas to investigate, according to a letter KHN obtained.

But three years later, while other states have settled with Centene, Georgia has not. Centene is also currently trying to renew a Medicaid managed-care contract in the state.

Meanwhile, the company, its subsidiaries, and employees have given at least $139,500 in contributions to Kemp since his first bid for governor started in 2017, according to state campaign records.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carrs campaign has received at least $53,000 in Centene-related giving just this year, with most coming from company executives, including Centenes new CEO, Sarah London, who gave $10,000. Carr, a Republican whose office would oversee any potential Centene settlement, and his spokesperson Kara Richardson said the state Medicaid agency is reviewing the billing data.

Centene is also trying to renew Medicaid managed-care contracts in Florida, Texas, and New Mexico. In angling for those deals, London told investors in September that shes spending more time in states talking to key leaders because our state relationships are a critical part of the business.

In the conversations that I have been having with governors, she added, I hear a lot of positive feedback about the way that Centene shows up as a partner in the market.

London, her fellow top executives, and their spouses have given just over half a million dollars since 2015 to gubernatorial and attorneys general candidates across the country. Their checks were often dated the same day for the same amount to incumbent politicians whose governments oversee Medicaid managed-care contracts in states, including in Arizona, Kansas, and North Carolina.

The optics of this are pay to play when decisions are made, said Aunna Dennis, executive director of Common Cause Georgia, a nonprofit watchdog group. It could be perceived as this health care company buying influence from lawmakers and elected officials.

Giving Down the Ballot

Centene brands its health plans under local names, such as Peach State Health Plan in Georgia and SilverSummit in Nevada. Because Centene has more than 300 U.S. subsidiaries, the insurer has many avenues for political giving.

As it did for Nevadas governor, Centene lined up its health plans nationwide to support the governor of South Carolina  three times  while it had and renewed a Medicaid contract in that state.

In 2017, according to OpenSecrets data, Republican Gov. Henry McMasters campaign received $66,500, combined, from Centene and 17 of its subsidiaries. In 2019, Centene and 10 subsidiaries gave $38,500 on a single day. Then this year, on April 28, 11 Centene affiliates sent the governor a total of $36,000.

This years contributions to McMasters campaign werent included in reports that Centene has published about its political spending since 2020. The McMaster campaign did not respond to questions about the donations.

Also omitted from Centenes published disclosures on its website were most of the contributions made by its California-based subsidiary Health Net, which is among Centenes most politically active health plans and is a huge revenue maker for the company. Together, Health Net and another Centene subsidiary, California Health & Wellness, gave at least $3.8 million to ballot measure campaigns and state and local politicians from 2015 through Oct. 25, 2022, according to the California secretary of states office. Health Net also gave $50,000 to Newsoms inaugural committee in 2018, according to the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

Wed be surprised if it was an accident that contributions were not included in the website report to shareholders, said Bruce Freed, president of the Center for Political Accountability, a nonprofit advocacy organization that rates companies on their disclosure of political donations.

Former Centene CEO Neidorff, who died this year, and his wife gave Newsom $240,800 from 2018 through 2020, according to the California secretary of states office. Thats on top of the $121,800 that Health Net has contributed to Newsoms campaigns since 2015. All of those fell within state campaign contribution limits. Neither the governors office nor his campaign returned requests for comment.

The governor has pushed proposals expected to help Centene and other insurers  including expanding insurance subsidies, requiring Californians to have health insurance, and extending coverage to immigrants regardless of their legal status. Noemi Neidorff did not respond to requests for comment.

At the moment, the company has billions of dollars at stake in California: The state is among those currently investigating its pharmacy billing practices, KHN has reported. And the company is appealing the states decision this summer not to award key Medicaid contracts to Health Net in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and other counties.

While these decisions are pending, the company has continued to send checks to campaigns, including to dozens of local leaders  mayors, city council members, and county supervisors  in regions critical to its business.

Now, some of those local leaders are writing to state officials, asking them to reverse their decision and give Health Net a Medicaid contract locally, according to letters KHN obtained.

Sacramento County Supervisor Phil Serna and two of his fellow supervisors were among those whose campaigns received checks from Health Net. They declined to comment.

It certainly doesnt mean that we cant use our meager bully pulpits to affect, perhaps, reconsideration of their selection, Serna told a group of Health Net employees who showed up in pink T-shirts to testify at a public hearing in September.

He had written a letter to state officials urging them to reopen the bidding six days earlier.

KHN analyzed data from OpenSecrets, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that collects campaign finance data about political candidates and committees. Its state-level data was analyzed to determine how much money Centene Corp., its subsidiaries, its top executives, and their spouses gave to state candidate campaign committees and ballot measure campaigns across the country from Jan. 1, 2015, through Oct. 4, 2022.

OpenSecrets does not track state political action committees or have complete data for 2022 because of inconsistent state campaign finance reporting deadlines and other factors. So to find additional contributions and cross-check the ones in OpenSecrets data, KHN downloaded state-level campaign data, including for political action committees tied to specific candidates, directly from state election websites in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Nevada, and searched the California secretary of states website for donations to both state and local officials. Those numbers are not included in the overall tally of contributions but are used to supplement KHNs reporting.

By searching OpenSecrets database and Centenes political activity reports, KHN identified eight nonprofit political groups that supported state candidates and received contributions from the company during the same time frame, including the national associations for electing governors and attorneys general from each party. To calculate the contributions Centene made to those nonprofits from 2015 through 2018, KHN relied on data compiled by OpenSecrets. For contributions from 2019 onward, KHN scoured the contribution and expenditure reports those nonprofits filed annually with the IRS, known as Form 8872, because the OpenSecrets data was not yet complete.

KHN identified Centene subsidiaries through the companys annual reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. In some cases, subsidiaries made donations before they were acquired by Centene. Those donations were excluded from the analysis.

The findings of the analysis were compared with Centenes corporate giving reports  which are posted on the companys website and date back to Jan. 1, 2020  and KHN determined that those reports did not show all the giving by Centene subsidiaries that KHN had documented from campaign finance data covering that time period.

KHN conducted the same analyses of OpenSecrets and IRS data for Centenes competitor Elevance Health, formerly known as Anthem.

Phillip Reese, an assistant professor of journalism at California State University-Sacramento, contributed to this article.

This story was produced by KHN, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation.

Methodology
(Natural News) Joe Biden ran on unifying the country in 2020, but in fact, what hes really doing is further dividing us  because Democrats always do the opposite of what they say they will.

During another primetime speech last week ahead of the midterm elections, in which his party is likely to loose big, the president of the United States actually claimed that more than half the country is comprised of Americans who threaten our democracy.

As I stand here today, there are candidates running for every level of office in America. For governor, Congress, attorney general, secretary of state, who wont commit, that will not commit to accepting the results of the election that theyre running in. This is a path to chaos in America. Its unprecedented. Its unlawful, and its un-American, Biden claimed, according to Breitbart News.

I hope youll ask a simple question of each candidate you might vote for. Will that person accept the legitimate will of the American people and the people voting in his district or her district? Will that person accept the outcome of the election, win or lose? The answer to that question is vital. And, in my opinion, it should be decisive. And the answer to that question hangs in the future of the country we love so much, and the fate of the democracy that has made so much possible for us, he added.

Again, because Democrats always do what they accuse Republicans of doing  and let us remind readers that the Democrat-voting mainstream media never holds them accountable  there is this 10 minute montage of Dems denying elections put together by the Republican National Committee:

MUST WATCH: 10 minutes of Democrats denying election results. pic.twitter.com/bJRbzEcIO2  RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 23, 2022

Biden, during his speech, once again hit on his MAGA Republican extremists theme as well, to scare voters to the polls.

The extreme MAGA element of the Republican Party, which is a minority [of] that party as I said earlier, but is its driving force, is trying to succeed where they failed in 2020, to suppress the right of voters and subvert the electoral system itself, Biden said, without evidence. That means denying your right to vote and deciding whether your vote even counts.

Instead of waiting until the election is over, theyre starting well before it, Biden claimed. Theyre starting now. Theyve emboldened violence and intimidation of voters and Election Officials. Its estimated that there are more than 300 election deniers on the ballot all across America this year. We cant ignore the impact this is having on our country. Its damaging, its corrosive, and its destructive. And I want to be very clear, this is not about me. Its about all of us.

And in January, Biden actually told a reporter that the results of future elections could be illegitimate (if Democrats lose) unless the Democrat-controlled Congress passed a voting reform bill that would federalize all elections and lead to never-ending Democrat cheating (and control).

Oh, yeah, I think it easily could be  be illegitimate.  I mean, imagine if those attempts to say that the count was not legit. You have to recount it and were not going to count  were going to discard the following votes. I mean, sure, but  Im not going to say its going to be legit. Its  the increase and the prospect of being illegitimate is in direct proportion to us not being able to get these  these reforms passed, he said.

The bill did not pass, so that statement alone sets up Biden (and his party) to claim that the midterms were stolen or illegitimate after a series of state laws ensuring voter integrity were passed by Republicans.

The Democratic Party has a decades-long history of attacking our electoral system, the endgame being the destruction of our current process so it can be replaced by one that ensures them perpetual power.

Sources include:

CharlieKirk.com

Breitbart.com
(Natural News) This just keeps happening, and Ill just keep writing about it.

(Article republished from ChrisBray.Substack.com)

A 22 year-old Iowa resident named Noah Petersen was arrested this week at a meeting of the Newton City Council after sharply criticizing the towns police department and refusing to be silent when the mayor told him to stop. You can read a local news story here, or see full video here. Heres a TV news report that gets in most of the important action.

You are out of order, sir, and, Chief, escort this gentleman from the chambers. Because he criticized the city government. I find the interrupted comment lumpy and cartoonish  more about this in a moment  but it doesnt matter: The First Amendment protects dumb speech, too.

The citys rules for public comment (see Item #4) prohibit derogatory statements or comments about any individual. From the City of Newtons website, heres the police departments  rel=>Idiocracy-quality press release on the arrest:

Note the absence of a description of the manner that was deemed to be in violation of the stated rules for citizen participation. Watch the video, because the manner in which Petersen was speaking was unremarkable. The mayors objection, and the thing that led to the arrest, was unmistakably the content of his comments. He criticized government, so government silenced him.

Ive emailed the local prosecutors office to see if theyll be taking the case to court, but I havent heard back yet. But the arrest has captured a great deal of attention, and is likely to be contested. From a conservative public interest legal non-profit in Iowa:

Government bodies cannot restrict/prevent a public comment because of what the speaker says. This is viewpoint discrimination that violates the First Amendment. https://t.co/ejTadi5jc2  Kirkwood Institute (@KirkwoodInst) October 4, 2022

Similarly, I asked the Institute for Free Speech for comment, and got this emailed reply from President David Keating:

From what I could tell, he didnt violate the rules with his comments. But even so, the rules are clearly unconstitutional. The government cant ban criticism of individuals but allow praise, and thats what the rules do. The arrest was clearly inappropriate. It appeared to me that Mr. Petersen simply wanted the three minutes of speaking time he was entitled to and would have left when he was finished. The city ought to apologize, invite him back to speak his comments, and amend the rules to comply with the First Amendment.

Spoiler alert: The city will not apologize and invite him back, or amend the rules without a fight.

I also sent Simon Campbell the video.

.because Campbell was recently one of the successful plaintiffs who went to court to challenge a remarkably similar school board policy  and a remarkably similar silencing of public comment  in Pennsylvania. His full response, which I agree with entirely: Ugh!

Finally, while Noah Petersens public comment was hyperbolic, he argued that the Newton Police Department is abusive  and so the mayor silenced him, and the police chief arrested him, for offering First Amendment-protected speech at a public meeting. Thatsnot a refutation?

Its another behavior that never stops even though it never works. Silencing public comment and arresting critics are choices that end in lawsuits and the Streisand Effect, but local governments just keep doing it. Theyll keep doing it until the courts consistently limit qualified immunity for government officials who egregiously violate the First Amendment rights of citizens.

Read more at: ChrisBray.Substack.com
Read more at: ZeroHedge.com

(Article by Tyler Durden republished from ZeroHedge.com )

( Natural News ) How many recent mainstream media hoaxes did you fall for?  and/or still believe?

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(Natural News) Dr. Rick Scarborough, Christian activist and founder of Recover America, joined Dr. Steven Hotze in the Oct. 31 episode of The Dr. Hotze Report on Brighteon.TV to discuss why having godly people running for public office is important.

A society led by a government praising wickedness and punishing righteousness is inviting Gods judgment, Scarborough told Hotze.

Hotze described Scarborough as an active leader of the modern-day Black Robe Regiment, who seeks to fight secularist forces trying to establish a communist society in America. The Black Robe Regiment referred to the influential clergymen who promoted American independence and supported the military struggle against Britain in the 18th century.

According to Hotze, many pastors these days do not possess the testicular fortitude, the biblical conviction and the boldness to stand up and oppose the tyrannical civil government leaders. But Hotze noted that his guest has challenged members of his congregation to get involved and bring the Word of God into government. Scarboroughs group has also encouraged pastors in Texas and other states to mobilize their congregations into voting.

For his part, Scarborough admitted that his return to the pulpit was a public repentance for earlier keeping his church members from being involved in and overreacting against politics. (Related: Nathaniel Pawlowski tells Karen Kingston: The Church has to be involved in politics and fight for the nation  Brighteon.TV.)

I released our people to run for public office. I encouraged them to run. I preached on a passage that talks about elected officials being appointed by God and ministers to rebuke evil and reward righteousness, he said. So, I began urging our people running for city council.

Christians need to stand up against people promoting ungodly standards

Hotze pointed out that Christians have a responsibility to stand up against those who promote ungodly standards that are leading to the destruction of society and the souls of people. He lauded Scarborough for being a courageous Christian patriot who is willing to take on the authorities participating in the evil going on in the world and recruit godly men and women to take a stand and run for public office.

In response to a question from Hotze, Scarborough mentioned that there were many hirelings out of the 20,000 pastors he and his group worked with. He noted that those who succumbed to the fat checks easily fell into temptations, while those who were truly called stood up and bucked the trend.

God has never needed a majority, Scarborough said, and all He has ever needed is a dedicated minority. Scarborough added that God is going to anoint and honor those who honor Him.

People have seen behind the curtain. They saw what was being taught in their schools. They said, No, we dont want our kids having it and parents started rising up. Weve seen the effects of this unholy and ungodly approach to governance where all the boundaries are removed, Scarborough stated.

He said America may soon witness the third Great Awakening that Christians have been praying for and God may give the nation another chance to get things right.

Follow Awakening.news for more news about Christians running for public office.

Watch the Oct. 31 episode of The Dr. Hotze Report below. The Dr. Hotze Report airs every Monday and Saturday at 5-6 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

More related stories:

Pastor Paul Blair tells Dr. John Diamond: Most Christians that run for office dont have biblical worldviews  Brighteon.TV.

Pastor Matthew Trewhella says cowardice among Christians is a huge problem  Brighteon.TV.

Theologians: Patriot movement must also be a Christian revival movement  Brighteon.TV.

The Resistance Chicks: Americas Founding Fathers were Christian nationalists  Brighteon.TV.

Pastor Brandon Burden: The Church has to reengage back into culture  Brighteon.TV.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

RecoverAmerica.com
(Natural News) Russia has responded with multiple rocket and missile attacks on civilian targets inside Ukraine after a vital bridge connecting the Crimea to the Russian mainland was heavily damaged in what was reportedly a suicide bombing over the weekend.

According to multiple reports and several videos of the attack posted online and on social media, a significant section of the bridge had collapsed, and several rail cars believed to be holding fuel were seen on fire. The bridge facilities vehicle and rail traffic and is considered vital to Russias ongoing operations in Ukraine. Loss off the bridge would severely hamper Moscows ability to supply its military and conduct counteroffensives in the area.

WATCH:

Whether it was an ATACMS strike, or explosive sabotage to the train, the destruction of the Kerch Bridge is going to have massive implications for Russian logistics, Canadian security commentator Colby Badhwar noted on Twitter. There is now only one railway supplying Russian forces in the west, and its just 34km from Ukrainian lines.

The attack on the 11-mile-long Kerch bridge, which spans the Sea of Azov, was followed by missile strikes launched by Russian forces against civilian targets in Ukraine, including the capital of Kyiv, per The Associated Press, which reported:

A Russian missile barrage that crumbled apartment buildings and houses in Ukraines city of Zaporizhzhia killed at least dozen people, Ukrainian officials said Sunday as Moscow strained to enforce its takeover of illegally annexed territory.

The blasts that collapsed at least one high-rise residential building and blew out the windows of others came from six missiles launched in Russian-occupied areas of the Zaporizhzhia region, the Ukrainian air force said. The region is one of four Russia claimed as its own this month, but the regional capital remains under Ukrainian control.

The attacks drew widespread condemnation, especially from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has accused Russia  and President Vladimir Putin  of war crimes.

Again, Zaporizhzhia. Again, merciless attacks on civilians, targeting residential buildings, in the middle of the night, Zelenskyy wrote in a Telegram post.

The AP added: Hours after the explosion, Russias Defense Ministry announced that the air force chief, Gen. Sergei Surovikin, would now command all Russian troops in Ukraine. Surovikin, who this summer was placed in charge of troops in southern Ukraine, had led Russian forces in Syria and was accused of overseeing a bombardment that destroyed much of Aleppo.

Zelenskyy did not take responsibility for the attack but he did acknowledge it in an address.

Today was not a bad day and mostly sunny on our states territory, he said. Unfortunately, it was cloudy in Crimea. Although it was also warm.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, said videos of the bridge appear to indicate that the explosion is likely to increase friction in Russian logistics for some time but it wont prevent Russia from supplying its troops in Ukraine.

The collapsed lane of the road bridge will restrict Russian military movements until it is repaired, forcing some Russian forces to rely on the ferry connection for some time, the institute noted. Russian forces will likely still be able to transport heavy military equipment via the railroad.

Meanwhile, Ukraines forces noted on Sunday that heavy fighting continued around the enclaves of Bakhmut and Avdiivka in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russian forces claim to have made some minor progress.

Clearly, neither side is backing down and it looks like the war will continue to drag on, perhaps for years.

Sources include:

Newsmax.com

DailyWire.com
The Zayed Sustainability Prize has confirmed a total of 30 finalists who are now in competition for the 10 awards, across the five categories of Health, Food, Energy, Water, and Global High Schools.

This year, the Prize received a record 4,538 applications, marking a 13% increase in entries compared to the previous cycle, while attracting submissions from 152 countries.

The UAE's pioneering global award for recognising excellence in sustainability has held its Jury meeting to elect winners for its current 2023 cycle, who will be announced during the Prizes Awards Ceremony at the 2023 Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW), this January.

The Prize Jury

The Prize Jury, comprising former heads of state, UAE government ministers, and international business figures, met in Abu Dhabi in October to review the shortlisted submissions identified by the Prizes Selection Committee.

Remarking on the announcement of the finalists, Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Director General of the Zayed Sustainability Prize, said: The late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan instilled in the UAE a commitment to inclusive sustainable and humanitarian development, and the Zayed Sustainability Prize continues to honour his legacy by turning this commitment into action. For the past 14 years, the Prize has accelerated the deployment of practical yet sustainable solutions that have positively transformed the lives of over 370 million people.

The Zayed Sustainability Prize has played an important role in supporting the UAE's vision to drive inclusive climate action. The Prize will continue to amplify the UAEs track record of supporting sustainable innovation across the world and driving progress toward empowering entities and schools who are contributing to global development, he added.

Many of this years finalists proposed sustainable solutions that tackle environmental issues while also empowering local community members by unlocking their entrepreneurial potential. Many of those solutions leverage next generation technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) to drive impact.

The Chair of the Jury and former President of the Republic of Iceland, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, added: The diverse range of innovations demonstrated in this years applications, including inspiring projects envisioned by the youth, reflects the Prizes continuous ability to bring out the worlds sustainability pioneers by offering them a unique platform for driving transformational change.

Health category finalists

Health finalists focused on providing specialised medical care to remote communities.

Associacao Expedicionarios da Saude (Brazil), an NPO that provides specialised medical and surgical care for indigenous communities geographically isolated within the Amazon through its Mobile Hospital Complex.

Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (Germany), an NPO that developed the Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System, an open-source digital platform for early detection of disease outbreaks and epidemic control management.

Ory Laboratory (Japan), an SME that developed the robot, OriHime, designed for people with disabilities to reduce social isolation and provide them the opportunity to work and connect with society.

Food finalists

Food finalists focused on transforming small farmers into entrepreneurs with improved agricultural productivity, either through innovative business models or advanced technologies.

Nuru International (US), an NPO that helps farmers in Africa transition from subsistence farming to farmer-owned and farmer-led cooperative agribusiness, tailoring their capacity development activities to existing efforts by government agencies and adapting to the local context.

Sanergy (Kenya), an SME that combats issues of high farm input prices, low availability of supplies, and declining soil fertility faced by Sub-Saharan African farmers by manufacturing organic fertiliser and insect protein from diverse waste streams.

Ynsect (France), an SME that produces insect protein and natural insect fertilisers, with Europes first of its kind insect factory equipped with innovative vertical farming and integrated biorefining setup.

Energy category finalists

Energy finalists focused on extending clean energy access to vulnerable communities while also introducing new business models that promote a gender-inclusive clean energy sector and generate socioeconomic opportunities.

Green Girls Organisation (Cameroon), an NPO that uses patented algorithms to identify areas where women and girls can benefit from energy access, and then deploys decentralised solar PV and biogas systems in identified areas for lighting and clean cooking.

NeuroTech (Jordan), an SME that developed Al-based algorithms with a blockchain-based transaction system to bring reliable energy access to refugee camps.

Solarkiosk Solutions GmbH (Germany), an SME that developed the E-HUBB and the Connected Solar Market Center THE PULSE to empower local farmers and micro-businesses with renewable energy for productive use.

The Water category finalists are:

Water finalists focused on affordable solutions to make safe drinking water and sanitation more accessible in last-mile communities.

HELIOZ  WADI (Australia), an SME that deploys a solar-powered device that informs people when water is safe to drink  a method that reduces CO2 emissions and indoor air pollution.

LEDARS (Bangladesh), an NPO that integrates water resource management models to solve water scarcity issues in disaster-prone areas where water becomes unusable due to salinity and flooding.

Seisui Industries Inc (Japan), an SME that developed a movable wastewater treatment plant which can be customised as per needs and deployed when and where its needed.

Regional finalists

The Global High Schools finalists presented project-based, student-led sustainability solutions, with finalists divided into 6 regions.

The Americas: Centro Etnoeducativo Integral Rural Nuestra Senora del Carmen (Colombia), Escuela Tecnica Nro.3 Maria Sanchez de Thompson (Argentina), and Fundacion Bios Terrae - ICAM Ubate (Colombia).

Europe & Central Asia: ES Kreativno pero (Serbia), Northfleet Technology College (United Kingdom), and Romain-Rolland Gymnasium (Germany).

Middle East & North Africa: Gifted Students School (Iraq), JSS Private School (UAE), and Obour STEM School (Egypt).

Sub-Saharan Africa: Cheshire High School (Nigeria), Mary Mount Secondary School (Kenya), and UWC East Africa - Arusha Campus (Tanzania).

South Asia

South Asia: Dhaka Residential Model College (Bangladesh), Kopila Valley School (Nepal), and Obhizatrik School (Bangladesh).

East Asia & Pacific: Bohol Wisdom School (The Philippines), Kamil Muslim College (Fiji), and Sangam Sadhu Kuppuswamy Memorial College (Fiji).

In the Health, Food, Energy, and Water categories, each winner receives $600,000. The Global High Schools category has six winners, representing six world regions, with each winner receiving up to $100,000. Since its launch in 2008, the $3 million Prize has, directly and indirectly, transformed the lives of over 370 million people across 150 countries. Today, the Prize remains a catalyst for addressing the worlds most pressing issues as it continues to drive and deliver long-term impact to various communities around the world.

Boilerplate

The Zayed Sustainability Prize is the UAEs pioneering global award in sustainability and a tribute to the legacy of the late founding father of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Established in 2008, the Zayed Sustainability Prize aims to drive sustainable development and humanitarian action by recognising and rewarding small and medium-sized enterprises, nonprofit organisations, and high schools that are delivering impactful, innovative and inspiring solutions in the categories of Health, Food, Energy, Water and Global High Schools.

Through its 96 winners, the Prize has positively impacted the lives of 370 million people around the world.-- TradeArabia News Service
(Natural News) A study has confirmed that the mainstream media (MSM) and Big Tech are censoring doctors who have the courage to challenge the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) narrative.

The paper published Nov. 2 in Minerva was written by a team of researchers from universities in Israel and Australia. It detailed the experiences of medical professionals who spoke out against public health mandates to curb COVID-19. While it revealed the censorship the aforementioned medical professionals faced, the study also elaborated on how they responded to the suppression.

The emergence of COVID-19 has led to numerous controversies over COVID-related knowledge and policy, they wrote. It also gave rise to a perceived threat from doctors and scientists who challenge the official position of governmental and intergovernmental health authorities  with the study authors branding this official position as an orthodoxy.

They added that supporters of the orthodoxy have moved to censor those who promote dissenting views.

Our findings point to the central role played by media organizations, and especially by information technology companies, in an attempt to stifle debate over COVID-19 policy and measures.

According to the researchers, this was accomplished through widespread use of censorship [and] tactics of suppression that damaged the reputations and careers of dissenting doctors and scientists, regardless of their academic or medical status and their stature prior to expressing a contrary position. (Related: Groundbreaking: Study detail show media, Big Tech censored doctors and scientists who challenged COVID narrative.)

Some of the respondents who spoke to the study authors recounted that the MSM, which until then had seen them as desirable interviewees, stopped interviewing them and accepting opinion pieces from them. These same media outlets disparaged them as anti-vaxxers, COVID deniers, dis- and mis-information spreaders and/or conspiracy theorists. Aside from these, fact checkers and other doctors were used to publicly undermine the skeptic doctors and their associates.

They also reported being censored on social media through the removal of their content, if not their entire accounts. The removals would be accompanied by a notice claiming they had violated the community rules.'

Because of this, the authors stated: In place of open and fair discussion, censorship and suppression of scientific dissent has deleterious and far-reaching implications for medicine, science and public health.

Five strategies used by medical professionals to combat censorship

While the study detailed the experiences of the professionals who faced censorship for going against the grain, it also expounded on their responses to the suppression.

Their initial reaction to the attacks and censorship [were] shock and surprise, since for the first time in their lives, they felt excluded,  attacked by the media and sometimes by their employers  and/or disparaged, the study stated.

Yet despite the censorship; the personal attacks and defamation; the dismissals; the damage to reputations and the economic price  all respondents nevertheless stated that none of it deterred them, and they decided to fight back using various counter-tactics.

The authors mentioned the five strategies used by medical professionals to combat censorship:

Exposure: They sought to make people aware of the suppressed information and the censorship conducted by Big Tech firms. Even if the tech companies deleted their accounts, they simply made new ones and carried on or moved to another channel or platform.

They sought to make people aware of the suppressed information and the censorship conducted by Big Tech firms. Even if the tech companies deleted their accounts, they simply made new ones and carried on or moved to another channel or platform. Validation: Aside from their credentials, the suppressed doctors insisted on using evidence-based information and reliable data to present their arguments. They portrayed themselves as warriors who fight against medical misinformation and medical censorship.

Aside from their credentials, the suppressed doctors insisted on using evidence-based information and reliable data to present their arguments. They portrayed themselves as warriors who fight against medical misinformation and medical censorship. Interpretation: They framed the censorship efforts aimed at them as attempts to present valid information to interested readers. Given that the MSM and Big Tech are working hard to suppress what the doctors have to say, people would naturally become more curious as to what the messages are.

They framed the censorship efforts aimed at them as attempts to present valid information to interested readers. Given that the MSM and Big Tech are working hard to suppress what the doctors have to say, people would naturally become more curious as to what the messages are. Redirection: The censored doctors also coordinated a public response by seeking to mobilize their supporters. They also turned to their fellow scientists and medical professionals to create alliances and coordination networks, as in the cases of Americas Frontline Doctors and the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance.

The censored doctors also coordinated a public response by seeking to mobilize their supporters. They also turned to their fellow scientists and medical professionals to create alliances and coordination networks, as in the cases of Americas Frontline Doctors and the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance. Resistance: The suppressed medical professionals did not let the initial shock get to them. According to the study authors, the doctors refused to succumb and yield to the attacks  choosing instead to resist and fight back.

Head over to MedicalCensorship.com for more stories like this.

Watch this video about doctors in Canada being censored for questioning the COVID-19 narrative pushed by Ottawa.

This video is from the Data Dumper channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

State medical boards threaten to revoke licenses from doctors who question covid vaccines.

Academic journal: Academics, scientists, physicians were censored, defamed into silence over COVID truths.

Doctors, journalists who try to SAVE lives during the coronavirus pandemic are being arrested, threatened and censored.

Sources include:

ChildrensHealthDefense.org

Link.Springer.com

Brighteon.com
STORY AT-A-GLANCE

(Natural News) (Article republished from Articles.Mercola.com)

Hospitals around the U.S. are suddenly struggling to keep up with surging rates of respiratory infections among children, such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), COVID, rhinoviruses and influenza

Moderna is working on an mRNA jab for RSV, which is scheduled for release in 2023. Theyre also working on a combination mRNA jab for COVID, RSV and the flu

Censored scientists and doctors have long warned that the mRNA COVID jabs are destroying peoples immune systems, and that were going to see an avalanche of infections as immune system failure sets in

The COVID jab causes innate immune suppression, which makes you more susceptible to all kinds of infections and chronic diseases. Suppression of Type 1 interferon signaling appears to be one of the primary mechanisms by which the shot destroys immune competence, and repeated booster shots can reliably be anticipated to amplify adverse effects

The more shots you get, the more likely you are to die from COVID. While only 34% of Canadians have received three or four doses of the COVID jab, triple and quadruple jabbed made up 81% of all COVID deaths in June 2022. Excess mortality among young children, teens and young adults is also skyrocketing

Hospitals around the U.S. are suddenly struggling to keep up with surging rates of respiratory infections among children, such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV),1 COVID, rhinoviruses and influenza.2 Hospital staff feign confusion, saying they have no idea whats going on.

Meanwhile, censored scientists and doctors have long warned that the mRNA COVID jabs are destroying peoples immune systems, and that were going to see an avalanche of infections as immune system failure sets in.

Many Hospitals at or Near Capacity

As of the third week of October 2022, several childrens hospitals in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Connecticut and Virginia reported being at or near capacity.3 To expand capacity, officials in Hartford, Connecticut, are seeking help from the National Guard and FEMA.

According to Dr. Margaret R. Moon, co-director of Johns Hopkins Childrens Center in Baltimore, the hospital is experiencing a surge of patients due to an increase in cases of RSV, as well as other reasons, and many surrounding hospitals are facing the same.4

RSV typically causes mild cold-like symptoms that last for a week or two. While harmless in adults, in infants the virus can cause more severe infections such as bronchiolitis (inflammation of the smaller branches of the bronchial airways) and pneumonia.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data,5 58,000 children under age 5 are hospitalized for RSV each year, and the CDCs RSV dashboard6 (screenshot below) does show that RSV is acting unseasonably. Could this out-of-season emergence of RSV have something to do with the fact that the Food and Drug Administration authorized the COVID shot for children under 5 in June 2022?7

Maybe, maybe not. Its not a clear parallel, as RSV also rose out of season during the summer of 2021, when young children did not yet have access to the COVID shot. Parents and older siblings, however, were eligible, and there are still many open questions surrounding the issue of shedding. Its possible that spike protein shedding from the shots were affecting younger children, suppressing their immune systems.

mRNA RSV Jab in the Works

Considering hospitalization rates for RSV are actually lower than historical seasonal highs, one also wonders whether the medias attention on RSV might be related to the fact that Moderna is working on an mRNA jab for RSV, which is scheduled for release in 2023.8

Theyre also working on a combination mRNA jab for COVID, RSV and the flu. Ultimately, Moderna wants to create an annual mRNA shot that covers all of the top 10 viruses that result in hospitalizations each year.9 If the COVID shot is any indication, such an injection could be catastrophic.

COVID Jab Causes Innate Immune Suppression

Theres now ample evidence showing the COVID jab causes innate immune suppression, which makes you more susceptible to all kinds of infection, not just COVID, as well as any number of chronic diseases.

In June 2022, Stephanie Seneff, Ph.D., Dr. Greg Nigh, Dr. Anthony Kyriakopoulos and Dr. Peter McCullough published a paper10 in Food and Chemical Toxicology, reviewing the mechanisms by which the shots suppress immune function and trigger disease. As noted in the abstract:11

The utilization of mRNA vaccines in the context of infectious disease has no precedent. The many alterations in the vaccine mRNA hide the mRNA from cellular defenses and promote a longer biological half-life and high production of spike protein. However, the immune response to the vaccine is very different from that to a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

In this paper, we present evidence that vaccination induces a profound impairment in type I interferon signaling, which has diverse adverse consequences to human health.

Immune cells that have taken up the vaccine nanoparticles release into circulation large numbers of exosomes containing spike protein along with critical microRNAs that induce a signaling response in recipient cells at distant sites.

We also identify potential profound disturbances in regulatory control of protein synthesis and cancer surveillance. These disturbances potentially have a causal link to neurodegenerative disease, myocarditis, immune thrombocytopenia, Bells palsy, liver disease, impaired adaptive immunity, impaired DNA damage response and tumorigenesis.

Suppression of Type 1 interferon signaling appears to be one of the primary mechanisms by which the shot suppresses and destroys immune competence, and repeated booster shots can reliably be anticipated to amplify any and all adverse effects.

Type 1 Interferon Suppression Is a Recipe for Ill Health

Type 1 interferon plays an important role in the immune response to viral infections, cancer and autoimmune diseases. So, the fact that were now seeing significant increases in all of these conditions is not surprising.

When a cell is invaded by a virus, it releases Type 1 interferon alpha and Type 1 interferon beta. They act as signaling molecules that tell the cell that its been infected. That, in turn, launches the immune response and gets it going early in the viral infection. Its been shown that people who end up with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection have a compromised Type 1 interferon response. Those who get the jab have an even more suppressed response.

Importantly, the antibody response you get from the COVID shot is exponentially higher than what you get from natural infection, and the level of antibody response rises with disease severity. So, the shot basically mimics severe infection, and this is why boosters can spell disaster.

If your Type 1 interferon response is already deficient, your immune cells are not very capable at stopping the spread of a virus in your body. Hence, the more shots you get, and the more your Type 1 interferon response is impaired, the more likely you become to develop severe infections, be it COVID or any other infection. This also means that youre more likely to die, and rising excess mortality statistics, which Ill review in a moment, confirm this.

Type 1 interferon also keeps latent viruses like herpes and varicella (which causes shingles) viruses in check, and when your interferon pathway is suppressed, these latent viruses can also start to emerge. And, indeed, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) database reveals many who have been jabbed do report these kinds of infections.

Dont Be Fooled by Reframing Efforts

Disturbingly, researchers and mainstream media are still pushing the idea that COVID shot side effects are a sign that the shot is working well. As reported by CNN October 24, 2022:12

People who reported experiencing side effects to the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines such as fever, chills or muscle pain tended to have a greater antibody response following vaccination, according to new research.

Having such symptoms after vaccination is associated with greater antibody responses compared with having only pain or rash at the injection site or no symptoms at all, suggests the paper published Friday in the journal JAMA Network Open.13

In conclusion, these findings support reframing postvaccination symptoms as signals of vaccine effectiveness and reinforce guidelines for vaccine boosters in older adults, the researchers  wrote in their paper.

To be clear, feeling terrible after your COVID shot is not to be taken as evidence that the shot is providing you with protection. What youre experiencing is akin to having severe COVID. The shot is suppressing your Type 1 interferon, and continuing with additional jabs is a recipe for ill health. Its just that simple.

As suggested in that JAMA article, they really want to reframe postvaccination symptoms to stop people from reconsidering the wisdom of taking subsequent jabs, but dont fall for it. Youre feeling terrible because your body is being harmed.

The More Shots You Get, the More Likely Youll Die of COVID

As noted by Dr. Charles Hoffe in a September 15, 2022, interview with Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson, The more shots you get, the more likely you will die from COVID-19. An excerpt from the interview is included above. You can find the full interview on Bitchute.14

While only 34% of Canadians had received three or four doses, the triple and quadruple jabbed made up 81% of all COVID deaths in the month of June.

According to the latest data from Canada, summarized by Hoffe, 85% of Canadians have received at least two COVID shots, and in June 2022, 92% of all COVID deaths were in fully jabbed individuals. And, while only 34% of Canadians had received three or four doses, they made up 81% of all COVID deaths in the month of June.

This is the clearest evidence that the more shots you have, the more likely you will die of COVID, Hoffe said. These [shots] are severely damaging the immune system. And so, the discrimination against those who have chosen to be vaxx free is absolutely absurd because those are the people who are going to survive.

Youths Are Dying at Frightening Rates

In the video above, nurse educator John Campbell, Ph.D., reviews the latest U.K. and U.S. data on excess deaths in the young. The U.K. is now seeing 20 to 30 excess deaths per week in the age group of birth to 24.

Excess deaths are also statistically higher in the U.S. than expected. For the age group of birth to 24, cumulative all-cause excess deaths was 16,747 as of week 35. The screenshot below, from USmortality.com,15 illustrates how the cumulative excess deaths among our children, teens and young adults have skyrocketed since June 2020.

Recall the FDA authorized the first COVID shot December 11, 2020, for individuals aged 16 years and older.16 If the excess deaths from June through December were related to COVID, the shots certainly have NOT improved the situation or made youths less likely to die. Quite the contrary.



Excess deaths among all age groups follows a similar but more step-like rise.

Medical Abuse of Women and Children Is Rampant

The medical system has mistreated and abused infants for decades, forcing a number of completely useless and harmful interventions on them. Antibiotic eye treatment17 and the hepatitis B vaccine,18 both administered on the day of birth, are but two examples. The fact that U.S. child mortality ranks19 worst among the 20 wealthiest nations speaks to the effects of all this medial mistreatment and overtreatment of infants.

The U.S. also has the highest maternal death rate in the developed world,20 and according to medial investigators, 84% of all these maternal deaths are preventable.21 Clearly, were doing a lot of things wrong.

CDC Takes Child Abuse to a Whole New Level

With its decision to add COVID shots to the U.S. childhood, adolescent and adult vaccine schedules,22 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is taking the abuse of infants and pregnant women to a whole new level. As reported by The Defender:23

Commenting on [the CDCs unanimous] vote, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., chairman of the board and chief legal counsel for Childrens Health Defense (CHD), said:

This reckless action is final proof of the cynicism, corruption and capture of a once exemplary public health agency. ACIP members have again demonstrated that fealty to their pharma overlords eclipses any residual concerns they may harbor for child welfare or public health. This is an act of child abuse on a massive scale 

[A]dding the COVID-19 vaccines means 18 more shots  one per year between the ages of 6 months and 18 years  will be added to the schedule, according to Toby Rogers, Ph.D.

So overnight the childhood schedule would go from 54 injections (72 antigens because of combined shots like MMR) to 72 injections (90 antigens), Rogers said. This has absolutely nothing to do with health  its all about profit and power 

Brian Hooker, Ph.D., P.E., told The Defender, Given the high risk of vaccine injury for a product that provides little or no benefit to children, this represents a criminal enterprise solely to ensure a revenue stream for COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers 

As of Oct. 7 [2022], the VAERS data for 6-month-olds to 5-year-olds who received a COVID-19 vaccine showed reports of 4,279 adverse events, including 182 cases rated as serious and 7 reported deaths. For 5- to 11-year-olds, there were 14,622 reports of adverse events, including 692 rated as serious and 29 reported deaths.

Can Children Survive This Many mRNA Shots?

The following COVID-19 jab recommendations will go into effect in 2023:

Age 6 months to 4 years  a two-dose primary series for Moderna, or a three-dose primary series for Pfizer, plus an annual booster

a two-dose primary series for Moderna, or a three-dose primary series for Pfizer, plus an annual booster Age 5 to 11 years  a two-dose series of either Moderna or Pfizer plus an annual booster

a two-dose series of either Moderna or Pfizer plus an annual booster Age 12 to 18 years  a two-dose series for Moderna, Novavax or Pfizer plus an annual booster

For children with moderately or severely compromised immune systems, the recommended primary series is increased from a two-dose series to a three-dose series, which is madness heaped upon insanity. I really dont see how young children will get through their primary education alive if they have to take annual boosters on top of a primary series.

Rules Upended for Vaccine Injury Compensation

Adding insult to injury, while the COVID jab makers get a permanent liability shield through the addition of the jabs to the childhood vaccination schedule, those injured by these mRNA shots will not get compensation through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), which covers nearly every other vaccine on the schedule. The Defender explains:24

Vaccine makers are not liable for injuries or deaths associated with EUA [emergency use authorized] vaccines but can be held liable for injuries caused by a fully licensed vaccine  unless that vaccine is added to the CDCs childhood vaccination schedule.

Parents of children injured by vaccines listed on the childhood schedule typically can seek compensation through the taxpayer-funded National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), a no-fault alternative to the traditional legal system for resolving vaccine injury claims.

However, the revisions voted on today by the committee explicitly state25 (slide 24) that the newly added  COVID-19 vaccines are not covered under the VICP.

Instead, the COVID-19 vaccines added to the childhood schedule will remain covered by the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP). To date, only six claims filed with the CICP have been approved for compensation.

In closing, if you care about your children, do not allow them to be injected with these immune-destroying shots. If youre still on the fence, please read the cited paper by Seneff, Nigh, Kyriakopoulos and McCullough,26 to get an understanding of how these shots can utterly decimate your childs health.

Read more at: Articles.Mercola.com
(Natural News) The Russian government says it is planning to present evidence that special forces from the United Kingdom were responsible for attacks on Moscows forces and naval assets in Crimea.

The Kremlin is planning to summon the British ambassador in the near future in order to present evidence that also threatens to collapse a Ukrainian grain export deal that was brokered by the United Nations.

President Vladimir Putins government claims to have firm evidence that the British military assisted with a large-scale drone strike against the Russian navys Black Sea Fleet last week off the coast of Crimea.

The U.K. ambassador will be summoned and will be given the appropriate materials, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, adding the meeting would take place in the near future.

The basic materials will be handed over as evidence to the British side and will also be shown to the general public, she added.

Britains ambassador to Russia is Deborah Bronnert, The Moscow Times reported.

Zakharova also said that Russia would be publishing the materials after its meeting with the ambassador.

Over the weekend, the Russian military said Ukrainian forces had launched drones against its fleet under the leadership of British specialists in the city of Ochakiv in southern Ukraine.

The Kremlin added that according to our information, the same British unit had taken part in the planning of September explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea. However, the U.K. countered that these are false claims on an epic scale.

Earlier, reports claimed that former British Prime Minister Liz Truss is at the center of a growing controversy regarding the act of sabotage against Russias Nord Stream 1 and 2 natural gas pipelines.

Early last month, the world held its breath as news spread that the Russian-owned infrastructure had been attacked, with many in the West convinced that President Vladimir Putin would retaliate in some manner. Reports at the time suggested that the United States was responsible.

But according to various reports, the British government had at least some role in the incident.

Kim Dotcom, a self-proclaimed Internet Freedom Fighter, tweeted that then British PM Truss sent this message to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken  Its done  right after the sabotage took place, which is why the Russian government has accused London of being responsible.

Liz Truss used her iPhone to send a message to Secretary Blinken saying its done a minute after the pipeline blew up and before anybody else knew, he told his nearly one million Twitter followers.

Dotcom, who was born Kim Schmitz in West Germany  when the country was divided  suggested he obtained the information through an iCloud hack.

Its not just the Five Eyes that have backdoor admin access to all Big Tech databases, he said. Russia and China have sophisticated cyber units too. The funny thing is Govt officials with top security clearance still prefer using iPhones over their NSA & GCHQ issued encrypted s**t-phones.

How do the Russians know that the UK blew up the North Stream pipelines in partnership with the US? Because @trussliz used her iPhone to send a message to @SecBlinken saying Its done a minute after the pipeline blew up and before anybody else knew? iCloud admin access rocks!  Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) October 30, 2022

Its not just the Five Eyes that have backdoor admin access to all Big Tech databases. Russia and China have sophisticated cyber units too. The funny thing is Govt officials with top security clearance still prefer using iPhones over their NSA & GCHQ issued encrypted shit-phones.  Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) October 30, 2022

Fox News top-rated host, Tucker Carlson, also appears to believe that the U.S. was involved and that such an act would have been lunacy for two reasons  environmental damage and potentially triggering a nuclear war.

Sources include:

TheMoscowTimes.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) A Ukrainian company appears to have inquired whether a Turkish-made drone can be modified or manufactured to disperse an aerosol over a wide area, in what could be a deadly new twist in the war against Russia.

BulgarianMilitary.com correspondent Dilyana Gaitandjieva tweeted that a Ukrainian company that makes aircraft engines, Motor-Sich, asked the manufacturer of the Turkish drones Bayraktar Akinci about the aerosol adaptation.

She also noted in her tweet that the Russian military noted Bayraktars were planned to be adapted for spraying toxic substances over enemy territory.

The report continued:

The journalist published a two-page document with questions from the Ukrainian producer  left and right side. The answers of the Turkish producer are on the right, in English. The document was signed by Mustafa Kosheoglu  coordinator and vice general manager of the Turkish manufacturer of Bayraktar Akinci Baykar.

Ukraine also asks whether Bayraktar Akinci is capable of flying to distances of 300km? As can be seen from the documents, the Turkish manufacturer answered both questions in the negative. The questions were asked by the Ukrainian senior contract engineer of Motor-Sich Vyacheslav Shuklin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military to invade neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, no doubt believing that with more than 150,000 troops he would score a quick victory. But his forces became bogged down following stiffer-than-expected resistance from Ukrainian forces. Whats more, after Ukraine began receiving weapons from NATO countries, primarily the U.S., the Ukrainian army has managed to beat back the Russians, leading Putin to order a call-up of an additional 300,000 troops.

Regarding the Ukrainian inquiry into the Turkish UAVs, however, just last month, concerns arose on both sides of the conflict that the other would use a false flag mass casualty event so it could blame the other side.

In a report from The Hill, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of plotting to destroy a large dam and hydroelectric plant that is currently located in a portion of the country controlled by Moscows forces.

Speaking to a meeting of the European Council, Zelenskyy said his country has evidence that Russia has planted mines at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant and could be preparing to blow it up, warning that such an attack could flood the critical city of Kherson and cause cooling issues at Europes largest nuclear power plant, the report stated, though it is not clear what the evidence is or how it was obtained.

Still, the Ukrainian president noted that if such an attack is actually carried out, then it will be a catastrophe for Ukrainian civilians living in the area.

The dam of this hydroelectric power plant holds about 18 million cubic meters of water, he said. If Russian terrorists blow up this dam, more than 80 settlements, including Kherson, will be in the zone of rapid flooding. Hundreds, hundreds of thousands of people may be affected.

Zelenskyy further noted that Russian troops have already evicted the dam workers and had since taken over complete control of the facility.

They have complete control over the station, Zelensky added. It is necessary to act immediately so that Russia does not have the opportunity to realize this catastrophe.

Other reports centered around a nuclear false flag.

Ukraine has a nuclear bomb primed in Mykolaiv which it will detonate and then blame on Russia so that the US has a justification for getting directly involved in the war and launching missiles on Russia, noted BBC Russia watcher Francis Scarr.

Whether it is a nuclear incident triggered by Russia or mass death from the spraying of a chemical toxin by Ukraine, such a major casualty incident makes entry into the way by other countries far more likely.

Sources include:

NaturalNews.com

BulgarianMilitary.com
(Natural News) One of the most concerning side effects of Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines is that they seem to be preventing reproduction by killing babies still in the womb.

Rates of stillbirth, new reports indicate, continue to increase as fully vaccinated mothers fail to deliver their children in growing numbers. As many as 28 out of 29 women, depending on the data source  that statistic comes from Pfizer itself, believe it or not  are experiencing stillborn deliveries in the covid injection era.

A hospital in the Fresno, Calif., area circulated an email internally that suggests stillbirths are up big time  500 percent, in fact  compared to pre-Operation Warp Speed. That email was leaked to the independent media, which is reporting on it while the corporate media ignores it.

As far as mainstream news goes, Fauci Flu shots are still the best and greatest thing a person can take to protect against the Chinese Flu. In reality, though, the shots are having a depopulation effect on those who take them. (Related: Earlier this year, it was reported that at least half a million spontaneous abortions have occurred as a result of covid injections.)

Nurse says she heard of two mothers whose babies developed blood clots in the womb

Prior to the release of the shots, stillbirths were relatively rare. At the hospital in question, about one or two occurred every three months or so. Now, dozens of stillbirths are occurring monthly  a substantial increase.

The Epoch Times, which first reported on the revelation, reached out to the head nurse who wrote the email to inquire about why she referred to the cases as demise patients. She has yet to respond.

California Today, which also reported on the leaked email, put together a video segment that you can watch at the RAIR Foundation website.

If you are an Epoch Times subscriber, you can also watch a 25-minute video expose about the leaked email at this link.

Epoch has a live chat associated with the video in which one woman claims she suffered not just one but two stillbirths after getting jabbed back in early 2021.

I was a liberal and believed my doctors, this person wrote. Im so glad word is getting out about this. Hopefully others can be spared this horrible pain.

Another person mentioned the Under the Skin documentary, which discusses the problems sheep who get vaccinated with mRNA shots for brusellosis suffer. Many of the sheep died not long after the experimental drug was injected into them, the film explains.

I am a nurse and I have heard of two mothers whose babies have had blood clots in the womb, wrote another. I have NEVER heard of such a thing before. Its just hearsay, though. I have no actual evidence.

Someone else asked what it is going to take for more people to come to a realization that these shots are dangerous and have no business being injected into peoples bodies based on everything we now know about them.

Herod did the same thing with his massacre of the innocents, wrote someone else, referring to the famous Bible story about the genocide of all male children two years and younger in the vicinity of Bethlehem, where Jesus Christ was born.

I will repeat one virologist who said, whoever made the virus is satanic, however whoever made the vaccines is 10 times as satanic,' wrote another person, referring to the two different types of spike proteins in the virus versus the injections.

Want to learn more about the dangers and ineffectiveness of vaccines? Visit Vaccines.news.

Sources for this article include:

NTD.com

TheEpochTimes.com

NaturalNews.com

RAIRFoundation.com
Large dams limit platypus movement, according to a recent genetic study, with significant conservation implications.

Platypus populations impacted by large river dams

In some Australian states, platypuses are considered a threatened species, and there are general conservation concerns due to the species' well-documented population decline, as per Sciencedaily.

A recent study that was published in Communications Biology looked at the genetic makeup of platypuses in New South Wales's large dammed rivers and nearby free-flowing rivers.

Blood was collected by our Platypus Conservation Initiative researchers at UNSW, and lead author Dr. Luis Mijangos, a former UNSW PhD student who is now at the University of Canberra, extracted the DNA from the blood.

They were able to locate a strong signal stating that genetic differentiation increased quickly between platypuses beneath and above these massive dams by using thousands of molecular markers.

Large dams are a significant hindrance to platypus movement, according to the study. When compared to rivers without dams, platypuses above and below large dams showed greater genetic differentiation.

Importantly, since the dam was built, this genetic differentiation has grown, reflecting the dam's long-term effects.

This is a profound result with important implications for platypus conservation, according to Professor Richard Kingsford, Director of the UNSW Centre for Ecosystem Science and one of the paper's authors.

Due to the restriction on movement caused by the large dams separating the groups of platypuses, there is little to no gene flow among them, which makes these distinct populations more vulnerable to danger.

Increased chances of inbreeding depression, loss of genetic diversity that is adaptive, failure to recolonize areas in which local extinctions had already occurred, and failure to disintegrate to locations with better environmental conditions are all possible consequences.

Dr. Gilad Bino, director of the UNSW Sydney-based Platypus Conservation Initiative, and another study author are aware that numerous threats are causing platypus populations to decline across much of their range in eastern Australia. This research identifies one of the primary threats to this iconic species.

The authors advise that planning for water management and conservation should take into account alternatives to using big dams.

Water storage in off-river reservoirs and the implementation of measures to reduce the impact of dams, such as the artificial movement of individual platypuses among groups above and below dams, or the building of passageways that boost dispersal, could be some of these.

Read More: Pierre the Platypus is in a Brink of Extinction

Occurring of Genetic Differentiation

When the exchange of genes between populations is limited, genetic differentiation occurs. The latter may be defined by isolated habitat patches that are divided by ecological or geographic features that severely impede dispersal, such as lakes or ponds in the case of freshwater organisms, as per Heredity.

However, since each patch may offer a continuous habitat spanning greater distances that can be covered by personal dispersal, genetic differentiation could also be seen within continuous populations as matings between individuals are not necessarily random with regards to the distance between individuals.

Related Article: Platypus At Risk After Queensland, NSW Flooding
The latest forecast showed that portions of the Northeastern United States would expect cooler air next week after experiencing unusual and unseasonable warm temperatures in November.

November began with chilly rain in many parts of the U.S that affected Halloween festivities. However, Northeastern United States recorded unseasonable warm temperatures this week.

The unseasonable warm temperatures will not stay until next week in the Northeast as cooler air will arrive, easing the record-challenging heat.

Many residents in the Northeast would feel some relief, and the cooler air and potential rain showers could help water drought-stricken areas.

According to AccuWeather, the unseasonably warm temperatures on the weekend occurred in Columbus, Charleston, Pittsburg, Virginia Beach, Washington, New York, Boston, Portland, Burlington, and Buffalo. The report explained that the said areas would experience widespread 70s and record-high would be challenged.

Meanwhile, the warm temperatures would suddenly feel better or rebound to slightly cooler starting next week. On Monday, AccuWeather's report shared that slightly cooler weather would occur in Detroit, Buffalo, Burlington, Pittsburg, and Charleston. Meanwhile, unseasonable warm would still persist in Virginia Beach, New York, Boston, and Portland portions.

As November begins, the weather in the Northeastern portions of the United States is a rollercoaster. Residents in the affected should expect the changing weather, from warm temperatures to sudden, slightly cooler temperatures.

Furthermore, Tuesday would be different, with potential snow, warm, cooler to cold and rain showers. According to AccuWeather's outlook for Tuesday, the report said that portions of Denver, El Pasa, Dallas, Houston, and Memphis could still have warm temperatures. Meanwhile, cooler temperatures would emerge in Boston, New York, and Washington.

On the same day, the report added that Meannpolis and Kansas City could see rain in the area. Drought-stricken farms would benefit from the rain. Meanwhile, portions of San Francisco to Billings could expect cold temperatures with potential snow.

AccuWeather's report also said beach hazards have been present in portions of Daytona Beach, Charleston, Wilmington, Virginia Beach, and Atlantic City. Next week's hazards could result in rough surf, coastal flooding, strong rip currents, and beach erosion.

Key Messages

On the other hand, the National Hurricane Center's (NHC) latest key message on November 5, 2022, showed the disturbance emerging in the southwest Atlantic.

According to the report, the disturbance is said to cause heavy rains in Puerto Rico,Dominican Republic, and the Virgin Islands.

Also Read: Chilly Rain Could Unleash in November's Halloween in Mid-Atlantic to Pacific Northwest

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) added that the disturbance could cause coastal flooding and heavy rainfall next week. The affected areas are the Florida east coast, the United States coast central, and the northwestern Bahamas.

Weather preparations

The temperatures rebound from time to time, and a disturbance would impact some portions of the United States coasts over the Southwest Atlantic. Preparing for the changing weather and low pressure in coastal areas is important.

Stay updated with the weather helps you and your family prepare for the storm's impact, weather updates, and weather tips.

If your area suffers from unseasonably warm temperatures, which could be unbearable to some, it is best to prepare by adjusting your home cooler or heater.

Related Article: Dry Weekend Expected in Northeast This Week as Gusty Winds Emerge in Atlantic and New England

For more similar, don't forget to follow Nature World News.
As a result of research from The Australian National University (ANU) that lessens their present restrictions, a rise in the efficiency of solar panels might be on the horizon.

Solar Energy

In contrast to fossil fuels, the sun has more than enough energy to supply the world's energy demands, and it won't run out anytime soon.

The sole constraint on solar energy as a renewable resource is our capacity to efficiently and economically convert it to electricity.

After solar panels are installed, maintenance expenses are minimal compared to those associated with conventional power producing methods.

Solar energy doesn't require fuel; therefore, it can generate vast amounts of electricity without the risk and price of ensuring a fuel supply.

Solar energy has a far lower environmental effect than other forms of power generation since it is a renewable source of CO2-free energy.

The impact is mostly connected to supplying and manufacturing the unique metals and materials needed to make solar panels.

The location and water used to clean the solar panels also impact the ecosystem.

Solar energy technology is being improved by experts who are working very hard.

Also Read: Power Supply Stability at Risk Due to Climate Crisis

Recent Studies

Researchers from ANU have discovered a method to increase the efficiency of silicon photovoltaic (PV) or solar cells.

This is accomplished by increasing the solar cell's productivity by adding "passivating connections" between its metal and silicon components, aa cited by ScienceDaily.

According to principal ANU researcher and Ph.D. candidate Mohamed Ismael, "these results will help push the performance of silicon solar cells closer to their theoretical limit."

"The only restriction is our capacity to convert it to electricity cheaply," he stated. "Each day, the sun provides much more energy than required to power the entire earth."

Solar cells are machinery that transforms photons, the form of light energy, into electrical power.

Currently, the direct interaction of metals with silicon causes significant electrical losses that prevent solar cells from functioning at their full potential.

Dr. Lachlan Black stated, "Transition metal oxides, such as titanium oxide, have various properties that make them excellent as passivating contact layers."

Although the concept is not novel, the combination of these layers has led to better outcomes and higher working voltages than has ever been seen before.

The research team's goal is to advance the technology to the point where it can be broadly used in industrial solar cells.

The silicon solar cell business contributes 95% of all commercial solar cells, making the PV market a multi-billion dollar sector.

Given their advantages over rivals, they are expected to maintain their dominance for the foreseeable future.

Putting the Results to Use

"If we are successful, we may be able to use our technology in almost all new solar panels that are put on roofs or in utility-scale solar facilities," according to Dr. Black.

Before the technology can be used, a few practical concerns must be resolved, but the PV community is actively striving to find solutions.

In addition to assisting in the fight against climate change, Ismael noted that increasing solar cell efficiency creates new business prospects for this low-cost clean energy.

Related Article: Novel Technology May Help Combat Climate Crisis

For similar news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
INDIA  After being bitten by the deadly snake himself, an 8-year-old boy from India killed a cobra by biting it to death. The young man was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, where he was treated for the bite with antivenom and later released.

When Deepak Ram was playing in his backyard, he allegedly got bitten by a snake. He claimed that the snake bit him after wrapping itself around his hand. Ram bit the reptile twice after trying to shake it off and failing while in excruciating pain.

The peculiar incident took place in the Jashpur District of the state of Chhattisgarh, which is also locally known as Naglok due to the area's dense population of snakes. Naglok means "realm of serpents."

Snakes of India

Over 60 of India's nearly 300 species of snakes are venomous. According to estimates from the World Health Organization, more than 1.2 million people died from snakebites in India between 2000 and 2019, more than in any other country.

Timothy Jackson, a toxicologist from the University of Melbourne's Australian Venom Research Unit, said that one of the main factors contributing to snakebite morbidity and mortality in South Asia is the Indian spectacled cobra or Naja naja.

Jackson added that despite the variety of cobra venoms, neurotoxins and cytotoxins are the most common and possibly the most clinically significant toxins. These are toxins that harm cells and toxins that interfere with the nervous system, such as by preventing cell signaling. As a result, neurotoxicity (paralysis) is the cobra-envenoming consequence that is most likely to cause death.

He added that due to the presence of cytotoxins, cobra venoms can also result in horrific tissue damage.

Snakebites are Defensive

According to Jackson, human bites from snakes almost always result from defensive reactions. Despite this, there are some exceptions. Some snake species sporadically bite people while they are sleeping in some areas, including India as well as sub-Saharan Africa. Both of the said regions face serious snakebite problems.

He continued that there is some disagreement as to why this happens, but it appears that these foraging snakes enter homes at night and bite people who smell sufficiently like other mammals to prompt a feeding response. They are likely searching for small mammals like mice.

Jackson said that cobras are one of the snakes that are known to every so often bite people in this way, though in India, kraits are usually the offenders.

In 2019, 63,000 people are estimated to have died from snakebites, and 51,000 of those deaths, according to a recent study published in Nature Communications, occurred in India.

The percentage of venomous animal deaths at the hands of snakes by location, sex, age, and year was modeled using this information.

The findings showed that South Asia, which includes Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh and extends from Afghanistan to Sri Lanka, was where the majority of deaths from venomous snakebites occurred.

In India, the mortality rate from snakebites was calculated to be four per 100,000 people, which is significantly greater than the global average of 0.8, Daily Mail reports.

Read also: Snake Charmer Dies From Venomous Cobra Bite in Mouth and Finger

Antivenom and Dry Bites

Antivenom needs to be applied right away to treat an Indian cobra bite effectively. Antivenom is made up of specific antibodies that bind to the toxins of the venom and render them harmless. Jackson pointed out that the moment they are bound, toxins may be rendered inactive or simply designated for removal by other immune system elements.

Not all cobra bites are fatal. Qaiser Hussain, a local snake expert from Jashpur, said that Deepak received a "dry bite" from the cobra, which means no venom was administered.

Jackson said that Deepak received a "dry bite" from the cobra, which means no venom was administered. There is no way to explain why dry bites occur so frequently in some venomous snake species or provide precise statistics, despite anecdotal evidence to the contrary. Therefore, it is recommended to assume that any bite from a snake that may be venomous should be handled as a serious emergency.

According to Jackson, to prevent snake bites, people should be knowledgeable about the local species and their ecologies to handle interactions. It is also crucial to avoid intending to catch or kill snakes.

He continued to say that Despite the best efforts, snakebites still happen, which is why it is crucial to have the right antivenoms on hand. For this to happen, the products must be produced and distributed efficiently. Additionally, he urges at-risk populations to engage in "health-seeking behavior" by visiting the hospital right away, Newsweek reports.

Relatyed article: Snake vs. Child: Toddler Bites 20-Inch Snake to Death After it Attacked Her First
Giant animals that once roamed Madagascar 2,000 years ago likely became extinct 1,000 years ago due to the mixing of African natives and Southeast Asian migrants in the East African country, according to a new study led by researchers from the United States.

Human population growth, human activities, and hotter or drier climate contributed to the mass extinction of the Madagascar animals.

Giant lemurs the size of humans and giant elephant birds that can grow up to 10 feet tall theoretically were not able to survive the said factors.

The researchers emphasized on the arrival of the migrants who came from Borneo in Southeast Asia, the study finds.

In particular, data suggested that the migrants were Austronesian-speaking people in southern Borneo and the ancestors of the modern Malagasy population.

The study used genetic analysis to find the ancestral roots of the Malagasy people.

The results determined the extinction of Madagascar's colossal animals coincided with the population boom of both the locals and migrants.

The researchers also sampled other non-genetic data from the Malagasy population.

However, it is unclear when exactly the Asian population traveled to Madagascar.

Still, the evidence is clear that the small group of migrants mixed with a similar size of African population in Madagascar 1,000 years ago, the same period when megafaunal mass extinctions occurred in the country.

Other research also supported the evidence that the giant animals met their demise at the same time the Madagascar human population exploded, as well as other lifestyle changes.

Madagascar Giant Animal Extinction

The new research was published in the journal Current Biology on Friday, November 4, wherein it determined the biodiversity loss in Madagascar coincided with major demographic events.

The following points have been found by researchers from the University of Massachusetts:

The Asian population of only few hundred individuals was isolated for over 1,000 years.

The human population's isolation ended approximately 1,000 years ago when admixed with a small African population.

The new admixed Malagasy population witnessed a rapid demographic expansion.

The population increase with extensive demographic changes coincided with changes in Madagascar's landscape.

Also Read: Tuberculosis Outbreak at Madagascar Zoo Has Killed Endangered Species Including Lemurs

Genetic Analysis

The paper's conclusion about the giant animal mass extinction in Madagascar started in 2007, when Jean-Aime Rakotoarisoa, an archaeologist from the University of Antananarivo, and a group of researchers created the Madagascar Genetic and Ethnolinguistic project.

It aims to study long-contested question of the ancestry of the Malagasy, Madagascar's major native ethnic group.

There is a long-held question about the identity, timeline, and manner on how people arrived in Madagascar, as well as influenced the mass extinction, according to Rakotoarisoa, as cited by Science.

Between 2007 and 2014, the researchers traveled to 257 villages across the island country, where they collected saliva samples and other social science data pertaining to music and linguistic.

The most notable discovery is when the research team found the Malagasy language is similar to Austronesian languages spoken 7,000 kilometers across the Indian Ocean, linking them with the ancient Borneo group.

Related Article: 70% of Animal Species Around the World Has Been Wiped Out in Just 50 Years
A tropical rainstorm developed over the Caribbean Sea and is projected to move toward the Southeast United States in the coming days.

This is according to meteorologists, who initially forecasted a stormy weather pattern will allow the formation of the next named tropical system of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season.

The trajectory of the storm system could also affect other countries across the region.

Heavy rain and floodwaters, as well as rough seas, will be the primary concern of residents living in coastal areas.

Damaging winds are also possible and can lead to power outages and disruption of travel not only in the Southeast US but also in Puerto Rico and its surrounding island nations.

Furthermore, the tropical system could hamper efforts by countries still recovering from previous storms and hurricanes.

The development of the tropical storm just came several days after tropical storms Lisa and Martin intensified into hurricanes in the said region.

It also came over a month after Hurricane Ian devastated the Caribbean and made landfall in southwestern Florida, killing over 100 people, causing widespread disruption, and forcing massive evacuations.

The US is currently in its Atlantic hurricane season and is set to end by November 30.

However, US weather authorities, prior to the 2022 season, issued a warning of an above-average hurricane season for the North American country.

The forecast highlights that several factors will make the formation of unnamed storms and named storms, as well as hurricanes more frequent and intense.

Caribbean Tropical Rainstorm

AccuWeather meteorologists said a favorable pattern over the Caribbean paved the way for the development of the tropical rainstorm above Puerto Rico on Saturday, November 5, outlining the zone to be a spot for additional tropical activity since October 15.

The island nation was soaked with torrential rain for most o the day, prompting the risk of flooding.

Throughout the weekend, a tropical moisture could fuel the rainstorm as it traverses from the Caribbean and into the southwestern Atlantic Ocean.

AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert said the rainstorm will take a northward pattern before slowly moving westward to the Bahamas and the Southeast US.

Also Read: Eastern Pacific Hurricane: Tropical Storm Kay Expected to Hit Mexico, Southwest US This Week

Florida Faces New Threat

In recent days, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued a forecast for an increased chance of a tropical depression or storm that could form in the Atlantic Ocean and potentially threaten Florida next week, as cited by the Orlando Sentinel.

With this, the Sunshine State faces the risk of renewed flooding even if former hurricanes Lisa and Martin have weakened already.

NHC forecasters are predicting a large non-tropical low-pressure system will develop over the northeastern Caribbean Sea and southwestern Atlantic Ocean, near Puerto Rico, as cited by the US media outlet.

The system is the same tropical rainstorm currently in the region.

The system has been forecasted to cause heavy rainfall in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and the Virgin Islands.

Other areas can be affected as well.

Related Article: NASA Postpones Artemis Spacecraft Launch due to Hurricane Ian
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Windy with some rain showers. High 59F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Becoming partly cloudy after some evening rain. Windy at times. Low 22F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Higher wind gusts possible.
The Endocrine Society rebukes the Florida Board of Medicine's decision to ban gender-affirming care for transgender and gender-diverse teenagers.

We call on the Florida Board of Medicine to reverse the ban and allow physicians to provide evidence-based care and protect the lives of minors.

The Florida ban is blatantly discriminatory and contradicts medical evidence followed by the Endocrine Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the Pediatric Endocrine Society and other mainstream medical organizations.

When an individual's gender identity is not respected and they cannot access medical care, it can result in higher psychological problem scores and can raise the person's risk of committing suicide or other acts of self-harm. Research has found denying access to puberty-delaying medication and/or hormone therapy raises the risk of suicidal ideation and self-harm.

According to the Endocrine Society's globally recognized evidence-based Clinical Practice Guidelines, only reversible treatments to delay puberty are recommended for adolescents. Puberty-delaying medication is safe, reversible, and the conservative approach that gives teenagers and their families more time to explore their options. The same treatment has been used for decades to treat precocious puberty.

Teenagers who continue to demonstrate gender incongruence and who demonstrate the ability to provide informed consent can be offered gender-affirming hormone therapy, which is partially reversible. The Florida Medicaid ban prevents teenagers from accessing these important treatment options.

Medical evidence, not politics, should inform treatment decisions. The Endocrine Society submitted comments earlier this year during the abbreviated public comment period on the Board's guidance on "treating gender dysphoria for children and adolescents, yet the Florida Board of Health opted to rely on controversial research that is not recognized by the mainstream medical community in crafting its ban on gender-affirming care. Consequently, the state blocked transgender residents from receiving gender-affirming care through Medicaid coverage.

Twenty states have proposed legislation to limit access to care during the 2022 legislative session, according to Freedom for All Americans. The Endocrine Society is alarmed that misinformation about medical care recommended for transgender and gender-diverse adolescents is fueling efforts to limit access to gender-affirming care. The move by the Florida Board of Health to ban gender-affirming care based on a political agenda rather than on science sets a dangerous precedent for all health care decisions.
Des Moines, Iowa  Oct. 11, 2022  The Iowa Transportation Commission approved the following items during its meeting today in Des Moines.

Business meeting actions taken Tuesday, October 11

Order Number Title Action taken Presenter D-2023-21 Approve Minutes of the

September 13, 2022, Commission Meeting Approved Danielle Madden,

Commission assistant,

515-239-1919 MV-2023-22 Administrative Rules 761 IAC -411  Persons with Disabilities Parking Permits Approved Melissa Gillett, director,

Motor Vehicle Division,

515-237-3121 MV-2023-23 Administrative Rules 761 IAC -605  License Issuance Approved Melissa Gillett, director,

Motor Vehicle Division,

515-237-3121 TD-2023-24 Administrative Rules 761 IAC -720  Iowa Airport Registration -750  Aircraft Registration Approved Stu Anderson, director,

Transportation Development Division,

515-239-1661 D-2023-25 Administrative Rules 761 IAC -13  Contested Cases Approved Scott Marler, director,

Iowa Department of Transportation,

515-239-1101 TD-2023-26 Revitalize Iowas Sound Economy (RISE) application  Dyersville Approved



Craig Markley, director,

Systems Planning Bureau,

515-239-1027 TD-2023-27 State Recreational Trails Program Funding Recommendations Approved

(Link to news release) Craig Markley, director,

Systems Planning Bureau,

515-239-1027 TD-2023-28 Railroad Revolving Loan and Grant Program Recommendations Approved

(Link to news release) Tamara Nicholson, director,

Modal Transportation Bureau

515-239-1052 TD-2023-29 Fiscal Year 2024 Highway-Railroad Crossing Safety Program Approved Kris Klop

Modal Transportation Bureau

515-239-1108 TD-2023-30 2024 Highway-Railroad Crossing Surface Repair Program Approved Kris Klop

Modal Transportation Bureau

515-239-1108

The RISE program was established to promote economic development in Iowa through construction or improvement of roads and streets. Iowa cities and counties are eligible for funding in the form of a grant, loan, or combination thereof. Projects must involve construction or improvement of a public roadway. There are two RISE project types: 1) Immediate Opportunity, and 2) Local Development. More information is available at https://iowadot.gov/systems_planning/Grant-Programs/Revitalize-Iowas-Sound-Economy-RISE-Program.

Dyersville: Up to $1,031,507 from the city share of the RISE Fund was approved for a Local Development grant to assist in construction of approximately 1,508 feet of Industrial Parkway SW located on the southwest side of town. This project is necessary to provide access to four lots totaling more than 38 acres for industrial purposes. This project is anticipated to be completed by October 2023.
By Trend

Azerbaijani Minister of Culture Anar Karimov is on an official visit to Turkey to attend the 39th meeting of the Permanent Council of Ministers of Culture of the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY), Trend reports citing the press service of Ministry of Culture.

On November 5, in the city of Bursa, which is the "Cultural Capital of the Turkic World" in 2022, the 39th meeting of the Permanent Council of Ministers of Culture of TURKSOY was held. The meeting was attended by the ministers of culture of the TURKSOY countries and the heads of relevant state institutions on cultural issues, as well as the heads of international organizations of the Turkic world.

At the event, a report was presented on the projects implemented in Bursa as a cultural capital, new programs and projects planned for implementation next year, and the holding of commemorative events for prominent figures of the Turkic world for 2023-2024 was discussed. At the same time, the program of TURKSOY activities for 2023 and other issues were discussed at the event.

Speaking at the official opening, Minister Anar Karimov praised the events held this year in Bursa. The minister expressed gratitude for the events held in the member countries of the organization within the framework of the "Year of Fikret Amirov" declared by TURKSOY. Anar Karimov expressed confidence that cooperation between Azerbaijan and TURKSOY in the direction of preserving the cultural values ??of our peoples and passing them on to future generations will continue, as well as joint activities will be carried out in all areas for the unity and cohesion of the Turkic world.

Then, the final declaration of the 39th meeting of the Permanent Council was adopted, the reports on the activities of TURKSOY for 2022 and the Program of Activities for 2023 were approved. It was decided to consider the projects and activities that TURKSOY is implementing in 2023, to coordinate and support the active participation of the member countries in the events in the Azerbaijani city of Shusha, which will become the "Cultural Capital of the Turkic World" in 2023.

By unanimous decision of the ministers of culture at the meeting, the Turkmen city of Anev was elected the "Cultural Capital of the Turkic World" for 2024.

After the meeting, the opening of the photo exhibition "Shusha - the cultural capital of the Turkic world: 2023" took place. The Minister of Culture Anar Karimov opened the exhibition. The participants of the meeting of the Permanent Council and other guests got acquainted with the exhibition. A video dedicated to Shusha was also shown.

Minister Anar Karimov presented the commemorative sign "Shusha-270" to Governor of Bursa Yakupu Janpolat.
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Senior Airman Jessi Roth

An Air Force 5th Bomb Wing B-52H Stratofortress approaches a 909th Air Refueling Squadron KC-135 Stratotanker for aerial refueling over the Pacific Ocean, Oct. 27, 2022. The Stratofortress can carry nuclear- or precision-guided conventional ordnance with worldwide precision navigation capability. (Photo by Air Force Senior Airman Jessi Roth)
Since the late 1970s, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute has provided this column free in cooperation with the UAF research community. Ned Rozell ned.rozell@alaska.edu is a science writer for the Geophysical Institute.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

A man found guilty of forging his ex-wifes signature and selling a car she owned without her consent had landed in jail for three years.

The High Appeals Court passed the ruling in a case accusing the ex-husband of fraud, forgery and car theft. Case files say the man, in his forties, took the car from his exwife, offering to repair it, when it broke down.

The woman said the incident occurred when she was on her way to meet the man to allow some time for him with their son. His call came when I was trying to get help from passers-by.

I told him about the situation. He then came to us and offered to get the car repaired from a shop in Isa Town. However, the next day, when I went to the workshop to check the car, I was shocked.

The workers there told me he took the car to another workshop. But, when I called him, he demanded BD2,000 for the car.

Later, I found that he had sold my car to someone after counterfeiting my signature, she told prosecutors. Police found that the man had sold the car to a person from whom he had bought another vehicle but was yet to close the deal.

He offered the car in exchange for the vehicle he bought from me, and I accepted, the buyer said. Public Prosecutors said the suspect admitted to the crimes committed by him during interrogation.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The Ministry of Tourism will participate at the "World Travel Market" in London, scheduled to be held November 7-9.

The market is the largest international tourism and travel event of its kind in the world and one of the best attended international forums focused on the global tourism industry.

The Bahraini pavilion in the forum extends over an area of 266 square meters, and in collaboration with Tourism Ministry, Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA), and the national carrier Gulf Air.

The pavilion will present latest offers in tourism, travel and air transport packages, in addition to a presentation of possible investment opportunities in various sectors in around the Kingdom by the Economic Development Board (EDB).

The pavilion will include the participation of the elite private tourism sector, represented by the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain Hotel, The Westin Hotel and Le Meridien City Center Bahrain, Farhat Tours, Al Areen Palace Resort & Spa, Best of Bahrain, Visit Bahrain, and the Jumeirah Bahrain Bay Resort & Spa.

Tourism Minister Fatima bint Jaafar Al Sairafi will hold several ancillary meetings with leaders of the tourism industry that represent both the public and private sectors  including ministers and officials.

She will also engage in high profile meetings with officials of the ONWTO.

On the second day of the conference, Al Sairafi will make a special presentation to attendees on the developments of the tourism industry in Bahrain.

The presentation is being made in conjunction with the Kingdom's tourism strategy 2022-2026.

The minister said that the participants from the ministry and BTEA at the trade fair, will promote the development and potential of the tourism sector in Bahrain.

Tourism Minister revealed that the ministry will also work on signing more direct trade agreements as well as bilateral and joint memorandums.

This goal is in addition to identifying the latest developments in the travel, tourism, investment, air transport and modern travel technologies and their utility for the Kingdom.

Other events of the Bahrain tourist season will also be promoted, including the Bahrain Grand Prix, which will run March 3-5, 2023.

The ministry is keen to build on the success of last season, where nearly 100,000 visitors attended the race, with international visitors making up nearly half of the spectators, indicating a 50% increase in overall international tourists in the F1, as compared to 2019.
Agencies | Rome

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

A helicopter crashed in southern Italy on Saturday, killing all seven people on board, including a family of Slovenian tourists, Italian media reported.

The helicopter disappeared from radars in Castelpagano di Apricena, a rural area of the Puglia region, sparking search efforts by the air force and fire brigade.

The deputy head of the Puglia region, Raffaele Piemontese, later confirmed it had been found and all seven people on board had been killed, Corriere della Sera said.

Among the dead were a family of four from Slovenia, including a 13-year-old girl, the newspaper said.

The other victims were a local doctor and the helicopter's two pilots, it said.

The helicopter was flying as part of a daily service between Foggia in Puglia and the Tremiti Islands off the Italian coast when it ran into bad weather.

The mayor of the islands, Peppino Calabrese, told the media that the doctor decided at the last minute to take the helicopter rather than the ferry "because of the bad conditions at sea".

"Our community is in shock. Nothing like this has happened in 30 years of service," he said.
, Nov 07 ( NHK ) - A fireworks competition returned to the city of Tsuchiura, north of Tokyo, for the first time in three years, with 20,000 fireworks lighting up the sky.

The event took place on the banks of the Sakuragawa River in Ibaraki Prefecture on Saturday, with measures in place to reduce the risk of coronavirus infections.

Fifty-five pyrotechnic firms from various parts of Japan competed in three divisions, showing off the beauty of their fireworks and their skills. ...continue reading
, Nov 07 ( NHK ) - Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force has held an international fleet review for the first time in 20 years, to mark the 70th anniversary of its founding.

Twenty MSDF destroyers and submarines as well as 18 vessels from the United States, South Korea and 10 other countries took part in the review on Sunday in Sagami Bay, south of Tokyo.

This was the second time the international fleet review was held in Japan.

Japan did not invite Russia to the event, while China did not take part despite being invited by Japan.

Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio observed MSDF vessels and those from other countries sailing in formation from the deck of the MSDF destroyer Izumo.

Kishida strongly criticized Russia and North Korea in a speech. He also reiterated his government's policy of aiming to drastically strengthen Japan's defense capabilities.

The prime minister said that in order to protect the public and ensure peace and stability in the region, it is fundamental to seek the building of a stable international order through dialogue.

But he noted that it is also necessary to prepare for a situation where peace and security is violated by military force, adding that he will give realistic consideration to the issue without ruling out any options.

Kishida and Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu later visited the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, and inspected the deck lined with fighter jets.

... continue reading
Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has said he will defeat his opponents in the 2023 general elect...





Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has said he will defeat his opponents in the 2023 general elections the way Arsenal triumphed over Chelsea in the English Premier League.





Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League table with a 1-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday courtesy of a Gabriel Magalhaes goal.





While congratulating the Gunners, the former Vice President, who is also an Arsenal fan, promised to do the same for Nigerians in the February 2023 presidential election





He wrote on his official Twitter handle, Great win, Arsenal, even after a goalless first half. As Arsenal did in this game for we, the fans, we will also Recover Nigeria for Nigerians.
Dame Pauline Tallen, Nigerias Minister of Women Affairs, has described as unacceptable the nullification of the governorship candidacy of S...





Dame Pauline Tallen, Nigerias Minister of Women Affairs, has described as unacceptable the nullification of the governorship candidacy of Senator Aisha Dahiru-Binan for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa State.





Tallen in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said the problem that led to the nullification is a party issue and that the judgment should be reversed because the results of the governorship primary election clearly showed that Aisha won.





It is unacceptable to all Nigerian women and all men and women of goodwill. We will not accept it. It is not just the issue of the candidate or Nigerian women; it is a party issue because the judgment says that the party has no candidate; that is not democracy.





Why are they afraid of allowing her to run? a primary was conducted and it was a very transparent primary because top government officials that witnessed the primary confirmed that it was transparent and clean.





Calling on President Muhammadu Buhari and Aisha Buhari to intervene in the matter, Dame Tallen maintained that Nigerian women would continue to advocate until Binanis mandate is restored.





Tallen who stressed that taking Aisha to court was undemocratic called on Nigerians to support female candidates in the 2023 general election for the overall growth and development of the nation





Recall that the Federal High Court 1 sitting in Yola, Adamawa, had voided the APC governorship primary election in the State.





According to Justice A.M Anka who gave the ruling, APC has no governorship candidate for the 2023 elections because it did not comply with the party guidelines and the constitution during the primary.
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, on Sunday, lambasted Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State over the killing of reside...





Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, on Sunday, lambasted Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State over the killing of residents by Fulani bandits and terrorists.





HURIWAs National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement, lamented that Kaduna has become a killing field for marauders under El-Rufais watch while the governor has failed woefully as the chief security officer of the state with the cardinal responsibility to protect lives and property.





The group also expressed stark dissatisfaction that despite the unprecedented and callous murder of residents of the state by vicious, AK-47-wielding non-state actors, especially in Southern Kaduna, the El-Rufai government and security agencies have failed to arrest or prosecute any suspect to logical conclusion.





HURIWA described as shocking, the data released by the state government on Friday that 446 people were killed by bandits and terrorists from April to September 2022 while 985 persons were kidnapped during the period under review across the state.





Commenting, HURIWAs Onwubiko said, The massacre that has been going on in Kaduna under Governor Nasir El-Rufai is condemnable and shows crass failure of the governor who is supposed to be the chief security officer of the state charged with the duty to protect lives and property.





However, the body language of the governor continues to enable the guillotine of residents of the state, particularly in Southern Kaduna which has been the most hit victim of terrorism and banditry since El-Rufai became governor.





For instance, in 2021, the state government said a total number of 1,192 people were killed by bandits and 3,348 abducted across Kaduna. In 2020, at least 937 people were killed by bandits and terrorists, the state government reported.





Aside that these figures must have been doctored and reduced, yet the stark reality in Kaduna confronts any sane person. One thing is, however, certain: Kaduna is a place of sorrow, tears and blood as marauders with religious and genocidal agenda continue to hide under communal clashes to maul innocent Christians in Southern Kaduna.





The mass graves dug under El-Rufai alone will send anyone into pains and anguish. How terrorists can have a fields day in the state despite the heavy military presence is still unfathomable. For starters, Kaduna has no fewer than six military formations including Jaji Military Cantonment; 1 Mech.





Division Headquarters, Nigerian Army, Kaduna; New Barracks, otherwise known as Kotoko Barracks; Old Site of the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna; Kalanpazi Barracks (Artillery Regiment). But the military have allegedly turned blind eyes to the despicable atrocities of terrorists due to alleged tribal sentiments. Infact recently, Gov. Elruffai had boasted of controlling the police, the Army and the DSS and that he can order for the arrest of whomsoever he wishes in Kaduna State.





So how come that terrorists are having field days in his State and yet this bigman who commands the armed forces located in his State has allowed these mass killings to thrive?





El-Rufai is a big accidental administration in Kaduna and the people are worst off for bringing in the most allegedly divisive bigot as governor. Under him, non-state actors who are mostly of same ethno-religious affiliations with the governor feel emboldened to kill Southern Kaduna Christians at will and occupy their lands and the government is doing nothing to bring these killers to justice or take justice to them.





History will never be kind to oppressors because for whatever has a beginning under the Sun must cime to an end certainly and everyone will get the full dish of what he has prepared for others !
A passenger aircraft crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania on Sunday morning. The lake, regarded as Africas largest by area, is near the B...





A passenger aircraft crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania on Sunday morning.





The lake, regarded as Africas largest by area, is near the Bukoba airport in the capital of the Kagera Region





The Precision Air plane crash was about to land when it went down due to bad weather.





The flight was coming from Dar es Salaam, the countrys largest city.





Reports say about 49 passengers were on board; fatalities remain undetermined.





Kagera provincial police commander William Mwampaghale said the situation was under control.





Those who have been rescued have been taken to our referral hospital, the officer disclosed.





Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat has consoled the country.





Our hearts and prayers go to the families of passengers on-board a plane that crashed into Lake Victoria, with our full solidarity to the Government & people of Tanzania, he tweeted.
Some members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Sokoto State. The APC Chairman in...





Some members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Sokoto State.





The APC Chairman in the state who received the defectors on Sunday said the latest defection was another set of scores of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members from Dundaye, Gumburawa and Gidan Bubu districts in Wamakko Local Government Area of the state.





The Minister of Police Affairs, Maigari Dingyadi, who spoke at the event, described the development as a success.





The APC administration under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari has brought positive developmental projects aimed at impacting the lives of people.





The government had for the past seven and half years continued to roll out sustainable programmes that impacted positively to the lives of the less privileged in the country.





Therefore, I called on all of you to sustain more support for the victory of APC in order for the party to continue to provide more democratic dividends for our people, he urged.





Speaking at the event, the state APC Chairman Isa Sadiq-Achida, described the defectors as pillars of democracy in the area.





He urged the new members to feel free and work for the success of the party in the forthcoming elections in the state.
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Nimi Barigha Amange has faulted the claims by the Minister of Humanitarian affai...





A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Nimi Barigha Amange has faulted the claims by the Minister of Humanitarian affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Farouq, on the state of the flood disaster in Bayelsa State.





Recall that the Minister at the 56th session of the State House Press Briefing in Abuja by the Presidential Communication Team said Bayelsa State, which is currently reeling under floods, was not among the 10 most hit States.





Senator Amange described the Ministers statement as an aberration, lacking the ice of truth and reality, wicked, unfriendly, politically immature and insincere to the plights of the Niger Delta people, especially those in Bayelsa State.





The elder statesman, who is a member of the Bayelsa Elders Forum and Chairman of the Nembe-Se Divisional Chiefs Council, said he was further shocked with the Ministrys Chief Executive stand on Bayelsa and listing of Jigawa States as worst hit during the 2022 flood disaster.





Senator Amange called on the Presidency to immediately caution the actions of the Minister and call her to retract her statement, pointing out that her unguarded statements and actions remained inhuman and is capable of causing dissafection between the electorate and the faith of APC in the State, especially as election draws closer.





The APC chieftain wondered how the same Minister in her October 2022 report recorded that: Bayelsa had 58 deaths, 81 injured persons, over 24 thousand affected persons and 26,509 damaged home by the flood disaster before making a U-turn in her actions.





He also queried the Ministers comment on how she erected over 44 temporary shelters in 22 States affected by the flood disaster but deliberately excluded Bayelsa State in the distribution of relief materials according to her records.





The Chairman of Nembe-Se Council of Chiefs wondered why Jigawa State was never cut-off from its neighbouring States of Yobe, Bauchi, Kano and Katsina, unlike Bayelsa State that passed through difficulty to receive items as a result of the road calamity along the Ahoada to Patani, Ughele axis of the East-West road completely overwhelmed by the flood disaster.





The Senator pointed out that till date, a litre of petrol is sold at above 400 naira as against the stipulated price which even rose to 1000 naira per litre at the peak of the flood. Food items and other services are skyrocketing from 1,000 naira for a bucket of the popular stable food (garri) to 2,500 naira among other items.





Senator Amange tasked the Minister to personally visit Bayelsa Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps as well as tour the State with a canoe to get first hand information before berating the woos of the masses by making unwarranted statements and hate speech against the Niger Delta people capable of infuriating the people against the peace loving President Muhammadu Buhari, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Federal Government.
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Two women were shot in the French Quarter on Bourbon Street just after midnight Sunday, according to the New Orleans Police Department.

The women, 28 and 54, were walking in the 500 block of Bourbon Street (map) when they heard gunfire and realized they'd been shot, police said.

One woman was transported to a hospital, and the other was treated at the scene, according to the NOPD.

No other details were immediately available. Anyone with information regarding this crime is asked to call Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111. Tipsters may be eligible for a cash reward.

+3 Republicans hammer Democrats on crime; John Bel Edwards says Louisiana proves them wrong Ahead of next week's midterm elections and with 2023s governors race looming, Louisiana Republicans have sought to stoke voters fears about crime by attacking criminal justice reform  part of a messaging strategy employed nationally by GOP candidates up and down ballots.
All the hours Sara Zimorski has spent dressed as a bird are starting to pay off.

For more than a decade, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries biologist has donned a billowy white costume with a beak-like glove to act as a stand-in momma bird for the few whooping cranes that are now slowly repopulating Louisianas prairies and marshes.

Lanky and long-beaked, the cranes are North Americas tallest birds. Theyre also one of the continents most endangered. Their numbers fell to just 20 in the 1940s. By the 1950s, they had vanished from Louisiana.

The departments Whooping Crane Reintroduction Project has released more than 150 birds that were hatched in captivity or brought to Louisiana from other states.

Zimorski spoke to The Times-Picayune | The Advocate about the states whooping crane revival and the challenges ahead. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you get started working with cranes?

After I graduated, I ended up at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin. They've been a leader in crane conservation for decades and they work with all 15 species of crane. Eleven are threatened or endangered. It was appealing to be involved in reintroducing a new population. That had a very tangible feeling of doing something to help recover a bird that almost went extinct.

The whooping crane is a bird that can be five feet tall, so theyre impressive and can be intimidating, and they have interesting behavior and (feather) displays. They just grabbed my attention and focus.

Why are they so under threat?

They were never a numerous species. We think about ducks and geese, and theres hundreds of thousands of them. There just were never as many whooping cranes  maybe 10,000 or 20,000.

One of the main reasons for their decline is that when wetlands were drained and converted to agriculture in Louisiana and across the entire country, they were not able to adapt to the landscape change.

If farmers saw them in their new farm fields, they shot them because they thought that they were a pest. When your numbers are already low, and then you have birds that are being shot, it causes a sort of domino effect. Things got worse very quickly.

Tell me about the Louisiana reintroduction project.

From 1950 until when our project got started in 2011, whooping cranes were absent from the state. LDWF has a long history of recovering endangered species in the state: the brown pelican, American alligator, bald eagle. The hope is that eventually the whooping cranes can be added to that list.

One thing that we have learned is that whooping cranes raised in captivity have to know that they're whooping crane. If theyre not properly imprinted knowing theyre a whooping crane, there can be issues. So our crane costume basically disguises the fact that the people at the captive breeding centers are people. When (the cranes) are released in the wild, they have appropriate behavior and look to find other whooping cranes to pair and breed with.

The programs made some significant progress lately with a record eight surviving chicks. Why was the past year so successful?

Its probably a combination of things and maybe some things we're not even totally aware of. Certainly our (crane) population is getting a little older and more experienced. Whooping cranes are not always the greatest parents right off the bat. Some of them need a couple of years to get the hang of nesting and raising chicks.

They're slow to mature and don't typically breed until they're three to five years old. And then they're typically only laying two eggs in a nesting attempt. So it's just very slow going.

This year was also very dry, which doesn't seem like it would be good because whooping cranes need water. But we have occasionally lost some (nests) when we've had torrential rains that can flood fields and marshes.

Whooping cranes are still being shot despite their protected status, and Louisiana has the highest rate of whooping crane gunshot deaths. What do you think is behind that?

There is certainly no excuse. There is no mistaking a whooping crane for anything else. In the cases in which people have been caught, they have tended to have other convictions, so theyre, unfortunately, not the best of our citizens.

All of the incidents have clearly been intentional. I think it's just, oh, look at that. Let me shoot it. I don't understand that mentality.

With the last couple of cases, there was higher publicity and (the shooters) were prosecuted. The most recent prosecution had a pretty significant fine. We hope it acts as a deterrent. In some of the previous cases the punishments were so minor they were almost laughable. There was a case in Indiana where the fine was $1.

What are some challenges that need to be overcome to get this population to a healthy level?

One of the challenges that we are seeing in the Louisiana population is higher amounts of embryo mortality. Although we had a good number of chicks hatched this year, we had other embryos that died at some point during incubation. So a big focus of our work is to try and look into that.

The other thing is that everything with whooping cranes takes time. They're slow to mature, slow to reproduce, and they live a long time, sometimes 25 to 30 years. You really have to be in it for the long term. In the grand scheme of things, we're still on the early end and it could take decades. We just have to have a lot of patience with them.

+12 Endangered 'whoopers' hatch record 8 chicks with help of Louisiana revival project The experimental effort to revive Louisiana's endangered whooping crane population had a veritable baby boom this year.

+4 World's 'most endangered' whale under threat from Gulf oil industry, scientists say They grow to about 55 feet long and weigh around 30 tons, making them part of what are known as the great whales, a group that includes other large filter-feeders like humpbacks and blue whales.
HOBART  A growing fast food chain is crying fowl after its plans to open a restaurant in Hobart were fried.

Raising Canes, a popular purveyor of chicken fingers that's been expanding rapidly across the country, planned to build a new 3,023-square-foot restaurant at the site of the former TGI Fridays at 2487 E. 80th Ave. in the Crossings of Hobart off U.S. 30. The restaurant was supposed to have a double drive-thru, an outdoor patio and Raising Cane's signature chicken finger combo meals.

Work ground to a halt at the site after the TGI Fridays was torn down earlier this year.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based Raising Cane's is suing the Crossings of Hobart and property owner Schottenstein Property Group, alleging the landlord tricked it into signing a long-term lease after failing to disclose a previous owner had already granted McDonald's the exclusive right to sell chicken products at the shopping center across from the Southlake Mall in Hobart. McDonald's has a restaurant just down the street at 1939 E. 80th Ave.

The law firm Norton Rose Fulbright filed the fraudulent inducement lawsuit in federal court in Texas earlier this year. It was filed in a Dallas area court where Raising Cane's has a corporate office.

"This case is about the defendants scheme to induce Raising Canes to enter a 15-year lease with rent payments to Crossings totaling millions of dollars, in exchange for a Raising Canes restaurant that the defendants knew would never actually exist," Raising Cane's attorneys said in the lawsuit.

Raising Cane's and Columbus, Ohio-based Schottenstein Property Group did not respond to requests for comment.

The national chain of quick-service restaurants that has the motto "One Love" and singularly focuses on selling chicken fingers signed a 15-year lease with the Crossings of Hobart last year. The 746,025-square-foot outdoor shopping center also is home to Guitar Center, Best Buy, Office Depot, Walmart, Value City Furniture, Michaels, DSW, Ross Dress for Less and Hobby Lobby.

"Unbeknownst to Raising Canes, years before the lease was negotiated and executed, another tenant, McDonalds, was given the exclusive right to sell chicken products at the shopping center," Raising Cane's attorneys said in the filing. "Despite knowing that the entire business model of Raising Canes Chicken Fingers is premised on the sale of chicken fingers, the defendants did not disclose this issue before the lease was executed. In fact, the defendants specifically represented to Raising Canes that there was no exclusivity right that would conflict with Raising Canes ability to operate its restaurant. Incredibly, the defendants did not tell Raising Canes it would be unable to sell its chicken fingers at the shopping center until nearly eight months later, after watching Raising Canes spend nearly a year of time and over a million dollars to develop its new restaurant."

Raising Cane's attorneys charged the fast food chain was left holding the bag.

"Defendants fraud did not consist only of tacit silence and failure to disclose these material facts. Indeed, during the negotiation of the lease defendants made numerous representations to Raising Canes confirming that it could open and operate a Raising Canes restaurant (i.e., sell chicken fingers) at the shopping center," Raising Cane's attorneys said in the lawsuit. "Defendants even went so far as to purport to sell Raising Canes the exclusive right to sell deboned chicken products at the Shopping Centerall while knowing McDonalds had already been sold that right."

Raising Cane's lawyers allege it was defrauded into signing a 15-year lease obliging it to pay more than $2 million in rent for a property it cannot actually use.

"Without defendants assurances, Raising Canes never would have entered the lease and never would have spent approximately a year and over a million dollars developing its new restaurant," the company said in its lawsuit. "Defendants undoubtedly knew this but apparently did not care, as long as Raising Canes agreed to pay millions in future rental payments. Further, defendants were incentivized to defraud Raising Cane's so they could use Raising Canes name in enticing other potential tenants to lease space at the shopping center."

Raising Canes alleges it suffered significant damages, including that it's now forced to search for a new location to serve chicken fingers to the Hobart/Merrillville area. It already sunk more than $1 million into building a new restaurant at the former TGI Friday's site, where Crossings of Hobart has marketed that it is coming.

"These damages include over a million dollars in development costs, including costs incurred related to diligence, permitting, plans, demolition, prep, and construction work. They also include millions of dollars in lost profits that Raising Canes will forego from not being able to open and operate a store at the shopping center," Raising Cane's attorneys said in the lawsuit. "And they include the increased cost of rent that will likely result from Raising Canes being required to pursue a different location to serve its Merrillville, Indiana customers. All of these losses could have been easily prevented had defendants simply been forthright about McDonalds exclusivity rights."

McDonald's had an "exclusive right to sell rotisserie chicken and other prepared chicken and chicken products for on or off-premises consumption from a lease negotiated between BC Chicago and Jubilee Limited Partnership back in 1994. Crossings of Hobart is the successor to Jubilee in that deal after ownership of the shopping center changed hands.

The restrictive covenant specifically prohibited Crossings of Hobart from leasing or selling property to any rival fast good or quick service restaurant which prepares, serves, or sells de-boned chicken products," Raising Cane's stated in its lawsuit.

Raising Cane's started negotiating the lease last March and said there could have been no confusion about its intent to sell chicken fingers there given that its whole business model revolves around selling chicken fingers.

"At all times during negotiation of the lease, Raising Canes was clear about its intended use for the property  to open a new Raising Canes restaurant and sell chicken finger meals at the shopping center," the lawsuit states. "Despite this restrictive covenant being a key negotiation point, defendants never told Raising Canes it had already given McDonalds the exclusive right to sell chicken products at the shopping center."

The exclusivity issue came up earlier this year when Crossings of Hobart asked McDonald's for a waiver to let a Chipotle Mexican Grill move in. McDonald's declined and then also noted in its correspondence that a Raising Cane's would violate the terms of its lease, demanding that no one else be allowed to sell chicken to-go at the shopping center.

Crossings of Hobart attempted to negotiate a new deal with McDonald's to allow waivers but it was adamant about the existing agreement being enforced.

In court, Raising Canes is seeking for the lease to be voided and to be repaid the expenses it already incurred attempting to develop a restaurant there.

"Raising Cane's could not have anticipated the exclusive use provision, which was executed more than 25 years ago between two entities no longer operating at the Shopping Center, would bar its ability to sell chicken fingers at the shopping center," Raising Cane's said in its lawsuit. "Raising Canes relied on defendants material omissions in making its decision to open and operate a restaurant at the shopping center. As a result of defendants wrongful conduct, Raising Canes suffered injury and is entitled to rescission of the lease and/or the recovery of monetary damages, including but not limited to recovery of over a million dollars it has spent in development costs, as well as its lost profits."

The case is currently under consideration in District Court in Collins County, Texas, where attorneys representing Crossings of Hobart and Schottenstein Property Group sought to have it moved.
Author and professor Kenneth Schoon will give a talk on his latest book "Pullman: The Man, the Company, the Historical Park" at the Calumet City Historical Society Center & Museum.

He will address the historical society at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13 at 760 Wentworth Ave. in downtown Calumet City. It's the historic society's last presentation of the year, following a general membership meeting at 2 p.m.

"The name Pullman brings to mind luxurious Pullman cars, the Pullman porters, a major railroad strike, and the story of his company town  a history of urban planning," the Calumet City Historical Society said in a press release. "In 1869, George M. Pullman founded Pullmans Palace Car Co. and built luxurious passenger cars with comfortable, private sleeping accommodations and attentive service. In 1880, he created the Town of Pullman to consolidate his factory complex and provide housing and living facilities to attract a productive and skilled workforce."

Chicago's historic Pullman neighborhood was recently designated a National Landmark. It's attracted new investment in recent years, including a community center, indoor farm and soap factory.

A living history museum one can stroll through on self-guided tours, it's also home to some of the best preserved utopian worker housing in the United States, a relic of an era of more paternalistic industrial employers.

"The town, built of brick row houses, had styles ranging from executive, skilled craftsman, workers cottages, flats, and boarding houses. The Pullman Land Association owned and leased the residences and public buildings until sold in 1907 to private owners. It was optional to live in town, and wages were not in script," the Calumet City Historical Society said in a press release. "Today, 95% of the original structures stand and is the only landmark district in the Chicago area to have all the designations of the Illinois Register of Historic Places (1969), National Historic Landmark District (1970), Chicago Landmark District (1972), and Pullman National Monument (2015)."

For more information, visit calumetcityhistoricalsociety.org.
Ina Garten, who spends days and days researching and testing recipes for her many cookbooks, her Food Network program Barefoot Contessa and Instagram account was tired. Just like many of us, the pandemic, the not knowing when and where you might be able to find the ingredients we would need to make a favorite recipe--just the whole uncertainty of it allwas exhausting.

I just thought, the easier I can make recipes for people the happier they'll be," says Garten who is always all-about helping us make great meals as simply as possible.

The result is her newest cookbook, Go-To-Dinners, filled with recipes for uncomplicated and easy-to-put-together dinners. Think One-Pot Oven Risotto, Marble Potatoes with Garlic and Herbs, Maple Roasted Honeynut Squash and Overnight Mac & Cheese just to start.

Its all part of her concept of go to meals. And what is that exactly?

Its something that you want to make over and over again because its easy, its delicious, and its really satisfying, says Garten.

And then there is a variety of boards.

Yes, boards.

Because as, as she writes, sometimes the best dinner is one you don't even have to cook.

The initial inspiration came about when dining on a beach in Cannes in the south of France.

The waiters came out with this enormous, long board, piled high with all kinds of desserts recalls Garten about the heaps of chocolates, strawberries and various dessertsall of which people could help themselves. It was gorgeous and inspiring. I thought, I need to do a board for almost every chapter that I can do it for.

When creating a board, Garten says that its important to have blocks of colors and to make it simple and accessible like she does with her Antipasto, Breakfast-for-Dinner and Dessert boards.

Gartens husband, Jeffrey, is her guinea pig and her best fan.

His favorite is whatever Ive served that day, she says. He is always like this is the best thing I've ever had.

Creamy Chicken Thighs with Lemon & Thyme

3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (6 to 8 thighs)

Good olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons ( stick) unsalted butter

1 cups chopped yellow onion (1 large)

1 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 leeks) (see note, page 131)

2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)

 cup good chicken stock, preferably homemade (page 83)

 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio

 cup creme fraiche

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

 small lemon, sliced in thin half-rounds

8 to 10 sprigs fresh thyme

Cooked basmati rice (see recipe below) or couscous, for serving

SERVES 4

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place the chicken on a sheet pan, skin side up, and dry with paper towels. Rub with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, until cooked through and the skin is golden brown. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large (12-inch) ovenproof saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and leeks and saute for 5 to 7 minutes, until tender. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock and wine and simmer for 5 minutes. Whisk in the creme fraiche, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons salt and  teaspoon pepper and taste for seasonings.

Nestle the chicken thighs into the sauce in the saute pan. Tuck the lemon slices among the thighs and strew the thyme sprigs on top. Place the pan in the oven and roast uncovered for 15 minutes. Serve hot with the sauce over rice or couscous.

Steamed Basmati Rice

1 cups white long-grain basmati rice, such as Rice Select

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Kosher salt

SERVES 4 TO 6

Combine 2 cups water, the rice, butter, and 2 teaspoons salt in a medium saucepan. Bring the water to a boil over medium heat, lower the heat, cover, and simmer for just 10 minutes. (You may have to pull the pot halfway off the burner to keep the rice at a simmer.) Turn off the heat and allow the rice to sit, covered, for 3 to 5 minutes, until just cooked through. Fluff with a fork and serve hot.
Next time you arrive home with aching, blistered feet after a long day, take heart: Its not your feet that are the problem. Its your shoes.

And that comes from the master, the late Salvatore Ferragamo, who pronounces in director Luca Guadagninos loving documentary Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams that in his entire career, I have found there are no bad feet. There are bad shoes.

Now, whether you can afford a pair of Ferragamos to let your feet live their best lives is another question. But its fascinating to learn how obsessively Ferragamo, born into a poor Italian farming family at the turn of the 20th century, studied the human foot in his quest to create the perfect shoe, combining creativity with, crucially, comfort. I love feet, he wrote. They talk to me. He even studied anatomy as a night student at the University of Southern California, peppering the professor with questions about the skeleton  but only the feet.

That's just one of countless lovely anecdotes packed into Guadagnino's often fascinating, unabashedly adoring and also perhaps somewhat overly stuffed study of the designer, using Ferragamos own voice from recordings, and his 1955 memoir narrated by actor Michael Stuhlbarg. Working with the Ferragamo family, the director had an astonishing wealth of material to choose from: Between the family foundation and museum archives, numerous family members to interview, a slew of top cultural commentators and also some wonderful old Hollywood footage, you can almost feel Guadagnino efforting to get it all in. Then again, he knows some of us could watch films about Hollywood, about fashion, and especially about great shoes all day long.

And these ARE great shoes, especially if you like shoes that tell a story. For example, the famous rainbow shoe produced in the late 30s, a glistening gold sandal perched atop a platform of layered suede tiers on a sole made of cork  a welcome innovation at a time when leather could be hard to come by (Ferragamo pioneered platform soles and the wedge heel). Shoe lovers will enjoy a segment where we watch this shoe being constructed today, looking stunningly contemporary, step by step: the cutting, the gluing, the hammering. (The shoe later stars in its own mini-film, a whimsical animated shoe ballet closing the documentary.)

Then there's the almost dangerously, rebelliously sexy shoe worn by Gloria Swanson in the 1928 Sadie Thompson, a pair of high-heeled black pumps with an ankle strap and large white bows that scream out: Look at me!

We begin, though, with Ferragamos youth as the 11th of 14 children, in Bonito, a village near Naples. Pushing back against his father's views that shoemaking is a lowly career, he proves his worth by producing overnight a pair of spiffy shoes for his sister's confirmation. He apprentices with a cobbler at age nine, is making shoes by 11, and at 16 boards a ship to America. After a quick stop in Boston he hops a train and heads west  to Santa Barbara, California, where a fledgling movie industry is emerging. As director Martin Scorsese says  the best of many commentators here  in California, anything goes. You could make yourself over three or four times.

Watching early Westerns, Ferragamo knows he could make better cowboy boots  and he does. Then he graduates to all sorts of movie shoes, including 12,000 sandals for Cecil B. DeMilles 1923 silent epic The Ten Commandments. His name grows and his fans include the biggest stars of the day  Swanson, Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, Douglas Fairbanks (and in later years, everyone from Greta Garbo to Audrey Hepburn to Marilyn Monroe.) He relocates to Hollywood, where he lives near Charlie Chaplin and Valentino stops by to chat in Italian. He establishes his own store, a magnet for stars.

Guadagnino gives us a lesson in the history of Hollywood itself, not to mention the birth of the movie star" and the role fashion has played in that. (Its great fun.) Then in 1927 Ferragamo returns to Italy, choosing Florence as a base for his plan to use Italian artisanal labor to make shoes destined for clients in America. It's a plan fraught with risk and early setbacks. In 1933 he declares bankruptcy, then rebuilds and eventually buys a lavish 13th-century palazzo for his company  a triumph of self-belief.

Despite seemingly countless interviews with family, there's still a feeling were not always delving deeply into the mans character or personal life. That finally changes when, late in the film, through lovely footage shot by Ferragamo himself, we meet his bride, Wanda, a young woman from his village.

It is Wanda who will, at 38 and a mother of six, take over the business when her husband dies suddenly of illness in 1960, overseeing an expansion into a global luxury brand. But that is not covered here. Wanda Ferragamo died in 2018, at age 96 (luckily she'd been interviewed for the film), and her years atop a business empire after never having worked in her life would have been a fascinating element of this story.

But that will have to be another movie.

Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams has been rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America for smoking and a suggestive reference. Running time: 120 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

MPAA definition of PG: Parental guidance suggested.
VALPARAISO  Democrat Greg Simms hopes to fend off Republican Holly Lafferty Howe to remain the District 2 representative on the Porter County Council.

Simms has been on the council four years and served a partial term in the Indiana House of Representatives; he completed the term of Jack Clem, who replaced Duane Cheney but died in office.

Howe, a member of the Valparaiso board of public works and safety, previously served on the City Council.

Howes top priorities are supporting public safety and mental health services, investing in county assets  including parks, bridges, roads, buildings and waterways  and information systems.

Simms wants to make sure the sheriffs department gets the resources it needs, that veterans become more aware of services available to them and that transparency allows people to know whats going on.

Theres no hidden agenda, theres no secrets, he said. I think its the best county in the state, fiscally, and when you look at the programs and offerings. Were way on top.

The biggest issues facing the council in coming years include roads, infrastructure and storm-water management. While knocking on doors, he said, has heard complaints about roads. At its last meeting, the council approved $2.7 million for roadwork.

Well find the money for it. Well make it happen he said.

Simms also wants to address mental health in the county. Up for discussion is whether to convert the third pod at the Porter County Jail into a unit for mental health issues.

Theres no silver bullet for fixing any of that stuff, he said. Each community is different, so theres no national template to follow.

Howe said she "looks forward to adding an additional womans voice and perspective to our county government.

During her campaign, she has visited nearly 2,000 residences to introduce herself and meet those she wishes to represent, she said.

Simms, a government teacher, keeps a map in his classroom to show where he has visited in 30-plus precincts in the council district. During those visits, he often explains how government works, something the county could do a better job of, he said.
In addition to the U.S. Senate contest, Hoosiers living in all 92 counties are voting Tuesday to elect candidates to lead three state-level offices, including key posts overseeing Indiana's elections and finances.

What appears to be the most competitive race is for secretary of state. Republican Diego Morales and Democrat Destiny Wells, both of Indianapolis, are the leading candidates for a four-year term as Indiana's chief elections officer.

Morales, a Guatemalan immigrant and self-proclaimed "America First" Republican, has described as a "scam" the 2020 election results that saw Republican President Donald Trump turned out of office after Trump failed to win either the popular or electoral vote.

During his successful GOP convention battle against Secretary of State Holli Sullivan, Morales pledged to reduce Indianas 28-day early voting period to just 14 days to save money, require Hoosiers provide proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote, and create an election task force to investigate "shenanigans."

He's stopped promoting those policies on the campaign trail and declined last month to participate in a debate with Wells and Libertarian secretary of state candidate Jeff Maurer of Carmel.

"My sole focus is on traveling to all 92 Indiana counties, visiting with Hoosiers to earn their vote this November. I have participated in radio, print and TV interviews, and will continue to do so," Morales said.

Morales previously worked in the secretary of states office under Republicans Todd Rokita and Charlie White. The latter was removed from office in 2012 after being convicted of voter fraud.

Both of Morales' stints in the secretary of state's office also ended prematurely when Morales was accused of failing to complete his work and lack of focus, according to the Associated Press.

In September, two women alleged Morales sexually assaulted each of them by repeatedly attempting to kiss them without their consent. Morales has denied the allegations.

Morales also has raised eyebrows for spending $43,845.57 in campaign donations to buy himself a new car.

Meanwhile, Wells said she believes that Indiana's elections already are secure and there are no widespread instances of voter fraud marring the results, just power-hungry politicians lying about election outcomes to try to stay in office after they lose.

She instead said Indiana's top election issues are poor voter turnout, lackluster civic education and the need for campaign finance reform.

"Indiana is not a red state. It's a purple state with a voter turnout problem," Wells said.

Wells noted even in the hotly contested 2020 elections some 1.6 million registered Hoosier voters did not bother to cast a ballot.

She said a key goal if she's elected secretary of state is working with the Republican-controlled General Assembly to extend Indiana's voter registration period that closes 30 days before the election, lengthen Indiana's 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Election Day voting hours, and make mail-in voting more accessible to more Hoosiers.

"We can have fair and free elections, and safe and secure," Wells said.

The other two statewide offices on Tuesday's ballot are focused on investing a portion of the state's resources and making on-time payments to state employees and vendors.

Competing for state auditor, also known as the person who signs the state's checks, are incumbent Republican Tera Klutz of Fishers, Democrat ZeNai Brooks of Indianapolis, and Libertarian John Schick of Chesterton.

Klutz, the first certified public accountant to serve as state auditor, said she's delivered accuracy, transparency and efficiency for Hoosiers since taking office in 2017, and will continue doing so if she's elected to a second term.

Brooks also is a CPA. She said electing her will bring needed diversity to the Statehouse, help restore trust in state government, and ensure historically underserved and underrepresented groups across the state are considered when funding decisions are made.

Schick, a professional consultant, is making his third bid for state auditor after unsuccessful Libertarian campaigns in 2014 and 2018.

This year's candidates for state treasurer are Morgan County Republican Party Chairman Daniel Elliott of Martinsville and Democratic Monroe County Treasurer Jessica McClellan of Bloomington.

Elliott said his goals if elected include promoting economic development and broadband internet access, boosting state investment returns to get more money for infrastructure projects, defending Indiana against cyber attacks, reducing red tape through increased government transparency, and pulling state investments from "woke" companies that prioritize on environmental, social or governance concerns.

McClellan, on the other hand, said she hopes as state treasurer to increase participation in Indiana's CollegeChoice 529 education savings program, improve financial stability for Hoosiers lacking bank accounts, encourage more local governments to participate in pooled investment and financing, and create a retirement investment program for Indiana workers with no retirement savings options at their jobs.

The current state treasurer, Republican Kelly Mitchell, a Valparaiso University graduate, is term-limited and cannot run again this year.
DYER  Each of the incumbents in Dyer's 2nd, 4th and 5th wards will face challengers Tuesday.

Ward 2

Incumbent Democrat Alicia Myers is running against Republican Mary K. Timm.

Myers was appointed to the council in 2021 when Councilman Eric Schultz had to resign from his seat for moving out of Ward 2 into Ward 4.

Myers is a special-education teacher and a union member.

Timm works in compliance paperwork, is a police commissioner with the Dyer Police Department and a member of the Dyer in Bloom beautification organization.

Timm said she is passionate about making the town's parks accessible, wants to encourage public participation in local government and will put public safety first.

Ward 4

Incumbent Republican Mary Tanis has represented Ward 4 for 12 years. Her top priorities are keeping Dyer safe and encouraging economic development. Tanis started Dyer in Bloom, which helps attract business by beautifying the town.

Schultz, a Democrat, served as the Ward 2 councilman for over two years before he had to resign. If elected, he said, he would invest in the town's police and fire departments. However, Schultz said he would also like to emphasize projects that improve residents' overall quality of life and the town's general sense of community.

"For years I've heard about keeping Dyer safe and sound," he wrote in an email to the Times. "I believe that if our only goal is to keep Dyer safe and sound, we are merely surviving, not thriving."

Schultz said his priorities include fixing overdue infrastructure issues, maintaining accountability and timeliness on town construction projects and making the town more pedestrian- and bike-friendly.

Ward 5

Incumbent Democrat Steven Kramer said he will also focus on improving the town's bike-ability though a new trail that would connect the town to surrounding communities. Kramer served on the council from 2009 to 2012 and was elected again in 2019.

"I am very proud of my work on the Dyer Town Council. We stopp[ed] the wasteful spending of over $1 million for property on Calumet Avenue and utilized town-owned property in the northwest corner of Central Park," Kramer wrote in an email to the Times. "This allowed us to build a bigger and better fire station that also accommodates space for the police and the parks department."

Kramer is being challenged by Republican Annette Ludwig, who has served as president of the Rockwell Community Association for 16 years. If elected, she will maintain a dialogue with the public and focus on infrastructure improvements.

[Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the fact that Eric Schultz served on the council for over two years, not one.]
Over 20 years ago, U.S. Geological Survey researchers studying the Grand Calumet River posed two complex questions: Can the unique habitat and biodiversity that once defined the river be re-established, and, if yes, is there enough social, economic and political will to carry out such a challenge?

"In order to preserve the remaining surrounding natural areas and to improve the Grand Calumet River, buried contaminants would have to be dredged," researchers wrote in the 1999 journal article "History and Environmental Setting of the Grand Calumet River."

Throughout the past two decades, many things have changed along the 13-mile-long waterway; millions of cubic yards of toxic sediment have been dredged, entire marshes have been restored, eagles have begun to return to the area and both public and private stakeholders have partnered on multi-million-dollar remediation projects.

Now the East Chicago Waterway Management District, or ECWMD, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, or IDEM, are moving forward with a two-phase project that will address longstanding contamination throughout the Grand Calumet River.

'Locked in the sediment'

Located where the deciduous forest, boreal forest and tall grasslands biomes meet, the Grand Calumet River Basin lost much of its original biodiversity when the area was scoured by glacial ice sheets. Over time, new biological communities popped up; however the Grand Calumet went through another transformation when industrialization and urbanization began in the 1840s.

"For years, industries directly discharged into the waterway and those contaminants remain locked in the sediment a century later," the 1999 USGS journal article states.

After the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972, the industries and cities discharging into the Grand Calumet River had to start filtering out contaminants. Over time the quality of the flowing water improved, but the deeply polluted sediment remained, explained John Fekete, president of the ECWMD board.

Past sediment testing has detected ammonia, arsenic, cyanide, E-coli, oil, grease, lead, pesticides and the highly carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in the Grand Calumet.

In 1987, the Grand Calumet River became one of the EPA's 31 Great Lakes Areas of Concern, or AOCs. Characterized by environmental degradation, AOCs contain what the EPA calls Beneficial Use Impairments, or BUIs. The EPA has identified 14 BUIs, ranging from beach closings to habitat loss.

At one point, the Grand Calumet River was the only Great Lakes AOC to have all 14 BUIs.

Both the restrictions on drinking water and the added cost to agriculture or industry BUIs have been removed from the Grand Calumet's list. However, to be completely de-listed as an AOC, all 14 BUIs must be removed. To date, six AOCs have been removed from the EPA's list.

Eating the elephant

With a long list of BUIs to check off and decades worth of contamination to address, de-listing the Calumet is a difficult, but not impossible, task.

"How do you eat an elephant?" Fekete asked. "One bite at a time."

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers took the first bite around 2012 when dredging began in the Indiana Harbor Ship Canal. For years, sediment dredged from the canal had been disposed of in the middle of Lake Michigan, Fekete explained. Once the Clean Water Act became law, the contaminated sediment was no longer permitted in the lake.

In 1972, dredging in the harbor ceased. For almost five decades sediment accumulated, forcing local industry to ship barges at half capacity. A confined disposal facility was built to contain the sediment in 2011.

In recent years, local industries have begun their own remediation projects along the river, and in March of this year, the ECWMD submitted a draft project proposal to the EPA's Great Lakes Legacy Act program, which provides federal funding for sediment remediation projects in AOCs. Phase one of the two-part project is estimated to cost about $27 million.

The project proposal will likely be completed by the end of the year. Fernando Trevino, executive director of the ECWMD, hopes to start work on phase one of the project in 2023 and complete both phases by 2024.

The first phase will include removing 30,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the Indiana Harbor Canal as well as 22,000 cubic yards of sediment from the Grand Calumet River Junction West, which is located at the southern end of the Indiana Harbor Canal, according to the ECWMD's 2022 Communicator.

In the middle of the Grand Calumet River Junction sits Junction Marsh, which ECWMD also plans on restoring by removing sediment, backfilling the area with clean sand and planting native species.

The second phase of the project will include the remediation of the Grand Calumet River Junction East and additional habitat restoration. Areas where sediment is particularly contaminated will also be capped. All of the sediment will be disposed of in an offsite location.

A key element of the land remediation will be restoring connected habitat corridors that have been fragmented by highways and railways. Habitat connectivity is especially important in the Calumet Region as the southern tip of Lake Michigan draws a large number of migrating birds, Fekete explained.

Residents have told the ECWMD they envision one day kayaking down the river, hiking the surrounding habitat and even taking in the birds from an observation deck, Trevino said.

Before the community's vision can become reality, the Grand Calumet must recover  a feat the mighty river has accomplished once before.

"The resiliency of nature is clearly illustrated by the biological recolonization and ecological recovery since the retreat of the last ice sheet," USGS researchers wrote in the 1999 journal article. "While this much time is not available for ecological restoration, natural restoration demonstrates the feasibility of a parallel human experiment."
LAPORTE  Two longtime Democratic incumbents on the LaPorte County Council have Republican challengers in the Nov. 8 election.

Democrat Mark Yagelski, 63, of Michigan City, is a supervisor at Cleveland-Cliffs steel mill at Burns Harbor. He is seeking his sixth term as District 3 councilman.

Yagelski said enjoys the responsibility of helping to manage county government finances.

Its a challenge. I still like it. If I didnt like it, I wouldnt be doing it, he said.

Yagelski said his top priorities include retaining emergency responders lured elsewhere by higher pay.

Pay raises were given several months ago, but more are expected once money starts coming in from an increase in the local income tax for public safety adopted earlier this year.

Yagelski said he also wants to expand a tax base that hasnt grown much because of stagnant population to alleviate having to raise taxes again in the future.

He believes more residents will start moving to the county next year when the South Shore Line completes its Double Track project to reduce travel times to and from Chicago.

High-rise hotel and living facilities on the north end of Michigan City are expected to start going up soon because of the migration from Chicago anticipated from the rail improvements.

Yagelski said that offering more things for people to do will also help attract new residents and visitors.

You see how New Buffalo changed overnight. I believe in the possibility of Michigan City changing overnight, he said.

Republican Deb Vance, 60, also of Michigan City, is a real estate agent at Weichert Realtors Merrion Group in Michigan City and used to be a secretary for Ivy Tech Community College.

She ran previously for Michigan Township trustee and LaPorte County clerk.

Vance said she entered the campaign believing her years of experience in budgeting while employed at Ivy Tech can be helpful to the council.

Her top priorities include having a more set-in-stone budget to reduce uncertainty.

Currently, Vance said, the council leaves the budget too open for department heads to request additional funds when their pool of dollars starts running out before the end of the fiscal year.

Vance said unexpected expenses are going to happen regardless.

However, she said that spending can be held closer to the vest if a better job is done with anticipating future costs during budget planning.

We need to kind of set a base so we know what were working with first, then we have a better idea, she said.

Vance said she also wants to bring to the council more transparency and a kinder attitude toward the public.

She said the council should do more explaining before making spending decisions to give the public a better idea of how their tax dollars are being handled.

Vance said council members could also be friendlier toward citizens with questions.

These are people were responsible to be accountable to. I think they should also treat people with respect and professionalism, she said.

Democrat Randy Novak, 63, of Michigan City is vying for a third term in the District 2 council race against Republican Aaron Kirk.

Novak has been council president for five of the last eight years.

Hes a former 33-year member of the Michigan City Fire Department and was fire chief for five years prior to his retirement at the end of 2019.

He remains active as a practicing licensed realtor since 1998.

Novak said hes running again because he enjoys helping in areas like quality of life and being involved in the community.

I love LaPorte County and I want to see it the best it can be, he said.

Novak said economic growth would continue to be high on his priority list, along with other issues such as mental health.

For several months, Novak has been working with officials from LaPorte, Michigan City and the Healthcare Foundation of LaPorte on ways to help people overcome their addictions to drugs and alcohol.

Novak said he would continue to help with those efforts, which include trying to establish the first respite house in the county.

People who just completed treatment would live in the facility together for an extended period to help their chances of long-term success in staying sober.

Were trying to make that a reality, he said.

Aaron Kirk, 44, of Springfield Township, is a field service engineer and project manager for Siemens Energy. His work is performed mostly at the nuclear power plant in Braidwood, Illinois.

Hes also a former officer with the U.S. Merchant Marines working on cargo ships bringing in goods from overseas.

Kirk said his first run at public office is in response to a dislike for whats happening in politics mostly at the national level.

We can sit around and complain about things or we can try and get involved and be agents for change, he said.

Kirk said his top priority is supporting measures aimed at reducing crime, like further increases in wages of police officers to keep them from going elsewhere for higher pay.

They got a little something, but thats just the tip of the iceberg, he said.

Kirk said he also believes that providing more job opportunities can help combat crime.

I dont think its a new concept. I just think people have to stand firm and have the courage to do whats right and fund the things that are going to affect positive change, he said.
Samples to the C.D.C.

Smith knew his patient well and had already reached out to one of the lung-cancer experts at Yale New Haven Hospital to consult her on whether a biopsy was needed. She agreed with the radiologist: It was probably just left over from his pneumonia. Give it a couple of more months, she advised, and if the mass was still there, thats when youd do a biopsy.

A few weeks later, the cough finally went away, and the man felt quite well. Still, the possibility of lung cancer haunted him. He had never smoked, but he was a woodworker, a sculptor, and often eschewed the mask, even when exposed to airborne particles. As an artist, he sometimes felt that the mask was a barrier between him and his work.

When his doctor called after the second CT and told him that the mass in his chest had grown, the man felt a pang of real fear. The biopsy was uncomfortable but not painful. He lay on his back and a long needle was introduced between two ribs. Because of the medications he was given, he felt only an intense pressure. The results were a relief. It wasnt cancer, they said. Instead, it looked like some kind of infection. A few of the samples showed strange-looking cellular organisms that no one seemed to be able to identify. The pathologist sent pictures of the tissue and the unrecognized organisms to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in search of a diagnosis.

Days later they sent back their answer. This was, they believed, a fungus called blastomyces. Had the patient been in the Ohio or Mississippi River Valleys recently? Or anywhere in the Midwest or South? Blasto, as its called familiarly, lives in the dirt there and few other places. If inhaled, it can cause a serious infection in the lungs called blastomycosis, which could be fatal if not treated. Smith immediately referred the patient to the infectious-disease team. The doctor on service that week was Dr. Marwan Mikheal Azar, who, as luck had it, was an expert in fungal diseases.

Azar had only recently finished his specialty training. He had done additional training in microbiology and examined the images that had been sent to the C.D.C. eagerly. After the first look, though, he wasnt sure the C.D.C. had got it right. The fungi seen in the slides were too big to be blastomyces. Those were tiny organisms  less than one-tenth the diameter of a human hair. The organism shown in these pictures was big in comparison  maybe about the width of that human hair. Moreover, one of the cells had a recognizable pattern. It couldnt be seen completely but looked like a sack filled with tiny beads.
In the black, downright venal comedy The Estate, Toni Collette and Anna Faris play sisters on the brink of financial ruin. They run a cafe together and have just heard that the bank denied their loan application when they receive what passes for good news in this mordant farce: Their rich Aunt Hilda (Kathleen Turner) is dying.

Savanna (Faris) is the more unscrupulous sister, and she convinces Macey (Collette) that they should try to cozy up to their ornery aunt in the hopes of being written into her will. But when the pair arrive at Hildas home, they find their equally shameless cousins, Beatrice (Rosemarie DeWitt) and Richard (David Duchovny), engaged in similar plans. The family commences a race to the bottom of their dying aunts cold heart. But Macey and Savanna are ill-suited to beat Beatrice and Richard when it comes to bedside manners. And so they escalate their efforts at ingratiation, plotting disastrous reunions first with Hildas estranged sister, and then with her former flame.

The movies director, Dean Craig, is best known for writing the comedy Death at a Funeral. As a filmmaker, his images are perfunctory. The Estate features a desaturated color palette, and the production design looks shabby, even inside Hildas multimillion-dollar mansion. But Craigs writing retains enough caustic wit for his excellent cast to work with. Collette plays the straight woman to her ruthless relatives, and the contrast between her moral dismay and Fariss mercenary willpower drives some of the films best laughs.

This is a comedy that takes a vicious, over-the-top look at family greed, and fortunately, the cast members are game to play their characters attempts at flattery in the most unflattering manner possible.

The Estate

Rated R for language, sexual references and brief nudity. Running time: 1 hour 36 minutes. In theaters.
PHILADELPHIA  Former President Barack Obama on Saturday issued a stark warning about threats to American democracy, even as he acknowledged that many voters were consumed by a range of other urgent issues in the final stretch of the midterm campaign.

I understand that democracy might not seem like a top priority right now, especially when youre worried about paying the bills, Mr. Obama said at a get-out-the-vote rally in Philadelphia, not far from the Liberty Bell. But when true democracy goes away, weve seen throughout history, weve seen around the world, when true democracy goes away, people get hurt. It has real consequences.

Mr. Obamas comments came as he and President Biden rallied with Democratic candidates for governor and senator in the evenly divided state of Pennsylvania, stressing the high stakes of the elections to a crowd gathered at Temple University and lacing into the Republicans on the ballot.

They appeared together to support Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the nominee for Senate, and Josh Shapiro, the state attorney general and nominee for governor.
Melfords respect and admiration for her bandmates is mutual, of course. If it werent, crucial elements of improvised music  trust, deep listening, empathetic responsiveness  would prove impossible.

Myra is a great composer and conceptualist, and her piano playing is fearless and creative, Laubrock said in an interview. Halvorson noted that she first became aware of Melford in college, and has admired her ever since: The intensity, clarity and fearlessness of her improvising, plus her ability to integrate the melodic and rhythmic with the textural and experimental seamlessly, has always been an inspiration.

Mok added, Working with Myra has given me a framework for how to think about composition, especially when writing for strong improvisers, and how to make simple choices that allow the music to shine.

Melfords music draws on a host of influences and traditions, including her mentors Don Pullen and Henry Threadgill, and a variety of global musics: She studied harmonium in Calcutta, spent a year in an upstate ashram and has participated in a cultural exchange program with the Huichol people of Mexico. She celebrates what inspires her  her Snowy Egret quintet album from 2015 grew from her reading of Eduardo Galeanos Memory of Fire trilogy  but the music stands alone. (Sadly, Melford confirms that with the death of the trumpeter Ron Miles in March, that band is done.)
COP27 begins

The 27th annual U.N. climate talks, known as COP27, began yesterday. At the top of the agenda for developing countries is financing for loss and damage: Who will pay for the costs of a warming world?

For them, loss and damage is a matter of justice. They face irreversible destruction and want rich nations  which have emitted half of all heat-trapping gases since 1850  to compensate them.

Wealthy nations blanch at accepting blame. The U.S. and the E.U. fear that such compensation could become an unlimited liability. Last year, wealthy nations vowed to provide $40 billion per year by 2025 to help poorer countries with adaptation, but a U.N. report estimates that this amount is less than one-fifth of what developing nations need.

In fact, one frequently cited study estimated that developing countries could suffer between $290 billion to $580 billion in annual climate damages by 2030, even after efforts to adapt. Those costs could rise to $1.7 trillion by 2050.
In Pakistan, flooding this summer killed 1,700 people and left one-third of the country underwater. In Fiji, entire villages are retreating inland to escape rising seas. In Kenya, persistent drought has killed livestock and devastated livelihoods.

They are among scores of developing countries that face irreversible damage from climate change but have done little to cause the crisis. And they are demanding compensation from the parties they see as responsible: wealthier nations that have burned oil, gas and coal for decades and created pollution that is dangerously heating the planet.

Across cultures and centuries, the idea that if you harm your neighbors property, you owe restitution is a commonly held notion, found even in the Bible.

But as a legal and practical matter, it has been extraordinarily difficult to apply that principle to climate change. Rich nations and blocs like the United States and the European Union have opposed the idea of explicitly compensating poorer countries for climate disasters already underway, fearing it could open them to unlimited liability.
A lot of eyes are on Atlantic City, said Cynthia Hallett, president and chief executive of Americans for Nonsmokers Rights, a nonprofit that over four decades has pressed for smoke-free casinos, airplanes and bars.

Twenty states, including New York and Massachusetts, already ban smoking in casinos, as have many Native American-run gambling hubs. Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods in Connecticut and the four casinos operated by the Navajo Nation, the countrys largest tribe, are now smoke-free. Even in states that allow smoking, like Pennsylvania, some leading casino operators have opted to remain smoke-free since the coronavirus pandemic, leaving Atlantic City as the last large refuge for smokers in the Northeast.

The old paradigm used to be: Well, smokers play more, said John Cirrincione, the chief executive of the Santa Ana Star Casino Hotel in New Mexico, who eliminated smoking at his facility after the onset of the pandemic. But thats years of excluding a large part of the public who dont want to come into a smoky casino.

Im a little guy out in the middle of a desert, he added. Im not going to set the trend, but I dont have to accept it. If Atlantic City made the move, it would definitely push nonsmoking forward.

Mark Giannantonio, the chief executive of Resorts and the new president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, said he recognized that ending smoking was most likely a matter of when, not if. But he opposes the effort to do so right now.
Hes a walking example of the villainy of the Citizens United decision, said Michael Gianaris, a Democratic State Senate leader who lost to Mr. Lauder in the redistricting lawsuit. The ability of someone of unlimited wealth to pervert democracy by spending untold millions to skew elections is the entire reason why campaign finance reform is so important.

There is no real limit to how much the groups can raise and spend as long as they remain separate from Mr. Zeldins actual campaign. But the states top elections watchdog is now seeking a subpoena as part of an investigation into whether Mr. Zeldins campaign violated state law by coordinating with Save Our State and Safe Together New York.

Multiple individuals appear to have overlapping roles with the PACs and with Mr. Zeldins campaign or the state parties coordinating with it, including Allen H. Roth, a vice chairman of the Conservative Party and an adviser to Mr. Lauder who is kept close: His office adjoining Estee Lauder headquarters is just down the hallway from the billionaire.

Though he has spent magnitudes more money over the years on art and philanthropy to Jewish causes, major political giving is not new to Mr. Lauder. He has spent at least $35 million in the last few decades supporting mostly Republicans for state and federal office, including some $200,000 for former President Donald J. Trump. He also spent seven figures on the campaign to preserve the entrance exams for elite public high schools in the city, like the one he graduated from.

The most expensive race he invested in until now was his own. In 1989, when Mr. Lauder ran for mayor in the Republican primary against Rudolph W. Giuliani, he spent $14 million, or around $33 million in todays dollars.
To the Editor:

Re Yes, Greenlands Ice Is Melting, But  , by Bret Stephens (column, Oct. 30):

Mr. Stephenss piece is right on point  had it been written 20 years ago. Regrettably the environment did not wait for him or others to be brought around about the need for action. Rather, with scientific consensus building around an expected rise of two to three degrees Celsius by 2100, the partial solutions Mr. Stephens champions will leave us facing extreme climate impacts.

Better that we adopt a more radical approach in the hope that we can stem the coming tide. Indeed, as Mr. Stephens suggests, we should focus on fixing the environment for our great-grandchildren, and need to consider family planning policies that reduce the size of future generations to help achieve a better balance between humanity and nature.

Scott Mortman

Manalapan, N.J.

The writer is an environmental lawyer and an adviser to the Fair Start Movement, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing child welfare and family planning.

To the Editor:

Bret Stephens wisely recommends that a lack of self-righteousness and an open mind would do a lot to advance public thinking about climate change, using his own evolution on the subject as Exhibit A. However, his fears about government playing a big role in addressing rising temperatures ignores some important recent history.
Nominees like Ms. Lake, Mr. Masters and Mr. Walker have been controversial even in some quarters of the Republican Party. They have staked out hard-right political positions and have not backed down from aligning themselves with Mr. Trump even during an election season in which his conduct during the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is the subject of ongoing congressional hearings and his handling of classified material at his Mar-a-Lago residence is under scrutiny by the Justice Department. Except for Mr. Walker, these candidates faced early competition in their primaries from experienced Republican officeholders.

The partys gambles look increasingly likely to pay off. Encouraged by recent polls, Republicans expect the right-wing populist approach of 2016 to produce midterm results like those of 1994, when the party picked up both chambers of Congress. Even so, skeptics of Trumpian reinvention of the Republican Party might wonder if its success  assuming it materializes  is not despite, rather than because of, Mr. Trump and his style of politics.

Democrats contemplating a red wave next week might console themselves with the thought that nothing they could have done would have changed the fundamental forces giving Republicans an advantage this cycle. After all, the presidents party almost always loses seats in midterm elections.

If Democrats under Bill Clinton could lose both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate in 1994, and Republicans under George W. Bush could lose both in 2006, it may seem like destiny for the Democrats to lose their razor-thin majorities in the House and Senate under Mr. Biden this year. Democrats lost the House in Barack Obamas first midterm elections, in 2010, as well and the Senate in his second, in 2014.

Whats more, some Republicans who have defied and opposed Mr. Trump, like Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, are also poised to do well on Nov. 8. The former presidents critics in the party might well believe that any version of the Republican Party could do well in this environment, and they might do even better without the new populist right.

These thoughts are a comfort to those who would like to see American politics revert to what passed for normal in the years before 2016. But they dont overturn the daunting reality faced by both Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans: The Republican Party has chosen to remake itself in Trumps image, and the political gestalt he created can win. It won the White House in 2016, and it has held on to the Republican Party as an institution even after the defeats of 2018 and 2020. This year Republican congressional and gubernatorial candidates are more Trump-like than ever, from their views on immigration and foreign policy to their disdain for the Republican Party establishment of the time before Mr. Trump. Experience counts far less than before, certainly in Republican primaries, while candidates like Ms. Lake, Mr. Oz and Mr. Walker suggest that celebrity appeal will play a growing part in Republican politics, and thus the countrys, in the future.

Mr. Masters, 36, and Mr. Vance, 38, for their part, show that the reinvented Republican Party is attracting highly talented and intelligent young candidates who are likely to further accelerate the partys ideological transformation. For its supporters, and perhaps for a wider curious public, the Republican Party has become exciting and evolutionary. While Democrats have taken some risks of their own this cycle, with candidates such as the Pennsylvania nominee for U.S. Senate, John Fetterman, the party still seems more reactive than creative.
There are many factors behind the stunning rise of ransomware. Our reporting found that one of the most important is the Federal Bureau of Investigations outmoded approach to computer crime targeting people and institutions in the United States.

State and local police generally cant handle a sophisticated international crime that locks victims data remotely  from patients medical histories and corporate trade secrets to police evidence and students performance records  and demands payment for a key. Many police departments have themselves been hamstrung by ransomware attacks. Federal investigators, especially the F.B.I., are responsible for containing the threat. They need to do better.

When ransomware gained traction a decade ago, individual attackers were hitting up home users for a few hundred dollars. In 2015, as the crime was evolving into something more, the bureau still dismissed ransomware as an ankle biter. That year, about a dozen frustrated Cyber Division agents warned James Comey, who was then the director of the F.B.I., that institutional lack of respect for their skills was spurring their departures. Now well-organized gangs, with hierarchies mirroring those of traditional businesses, are paralyzing the computer networks of high-profile targets and demanding millions of dollars in ransom.

The F.B.I. didnt prioritize ransomware until May 2021, when an attack on the Colonial Pipeline halted the flow of nearly half of the fuel consumed on the East Coast. The F.B.I. director, Christopher Wray, compared ransomware to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but by then the bureau was far behind the curve. Earlier this fall, when the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest in the nation, spurned a ransom demand, a hacker group leaked hundreds of thousands of stolen files. Last months attack on CommonSpirit Health, one of the countrys largest hospital operators, disrupted care and knocked patients health records offline.
The phenomenon of babies stolen from hospitals in Spain, once shrouded in secrecy, is now being spoken about.

The thefts happened during the end of the regime of Francisco Franco, the right-wing dictator who ruled the country until 1975, and even today the disappearances remain a subject of mystery and debate among scholars.

According to the birth mothers, nuns who worked in maternity wards took the infants shortly after they were delivered and told the women, who were often unwed or poor, that their children were stillborn. But the babies were not dead: They had been sold, discreetly, to well-off Catholic parents, many of whom could not have families of their own. Under piles of forged papers, the adoptive families buried the secret of the crime they committed. The children who were taken were known in Spain simply as the stolen babies. No one knows exactly how many were kidnapped, but estimates suggest tens of thousands.
Follow our live coverage of the 2022 midterm elections for the latest news and updates.

The user on Gab who identifies as Nora Berka resurfaced in August after a yearlong silence on the social media platform, reposting a handful of messages with sharply conservative political themes before writing a stream of original vitriol.

The posts mostly denigrated President Biden and other prominent Democrats, sometimes obscenely. They also lamented the use of taxpayer dollars to support Ukraine in its war against invading Russian forces, depicting Ukraines president as a caricature straight out of Russian propaganda.

The fusion of political concerns was no coincidence.

The account was previously linked to the same secretive Russian agency that interfered in the 2016 presidential election and again in 2020, the Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg, according to the cybersecurity group Recorded Future.

It is part of what the group and other researchers have identified as a new, though more narrowly targeted, Russian effort ahead of Tuesdays midterm elections. The goal, as before, is to stoke anger among conservative voters and to undermine trust in the American electoral system. This time, it also appears intended to undermine the Biden administrations extensive military assistance to Ukraine.
As it is with many voters, the economy is top of mind for Black men. And economic concerns are driving some Black men to consider the Republican Party, according to interviews with two dozen Black male voters, strategists and pollsters in the weeks leading up to the election. Many of these men interviewed say they are focused on opportunities to build wealth and provide for their families.

Even those voting for Democrats say the Republican Party offers a political message that speaks to their aspirations, not just their fears.

Arthur Lee, a 65-year-old from Wisconsin, says he is voting for Democrats this year despite some unease. Democrats are offering a message of lack and despair, he said. And it keeps people down. I dont think the Democrats have done a good job at all of messaging hope and abundance.

Mr. Lee, who operates a tax resolutions company, has voted for Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican, in the past, but now cannot stomach the senators insistence that the presidential election was stolen.

The Democratic Party share of the Black male vote has eroded since President Barack Obamas election in 2008, when his Republican opponent, John McCain, won only 5 percent of the Black male vote. In 2020, President Trump won 19 percent.

Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, increased his support among Black male voters to 10 percent in 2020 from 5 percent in 2014, according to Mr. Woodbury of HIT Strategies. If Black men had voted for Mr. Tilliss Democratic opponent at the same rate as Black women, he would have won, Mr. Woodbury said.

David Foxx, 37, was proud to vote for Mr. Obama in 2008 and see a Black family in the White House. I cried when the man got elected, said Mr. Foxx, a socially conservative graduate student in North Carolina. But he soon grew disillusioned with what he described as an increasingly secularized Democratic Party that moved further to the left on social issues.
I have struggled a lot with my Muslim identity, in part because, within my family, there were two very different perspectives on it, he said in a 2009 interview with Henry Louis Gates Jr. on the PBS television show Faces of America.

In the end, he told Mr. Gates, he embraced his mothers secularism and felt drawn to Sufism, a movement found in both Sunni and Shiite Islam that emphasizes each persons individual search for the divine over dogma or rigidity.

When one is caught up in the legal aspects of religion, he said, it frustrates me to no end.

Muslims around the world interpret their faith in a wide variety of ways, and Dr. Ozs approach is one shared by many others. For many American Muslims, their concern is not over theological differences with Dr. Oz or his religious observance, but over his unwillingness to publicly embrace them while at the same time aligning with politicians who have been hostile toward their community.

Dalia Mogahed, the director of research for the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, said it felt as if Dr. Oz had disowned his background.

I think its something, for the most part, that he has de-emphasized and walked away from, she said. For the community to claim him or take any pride in his accomplishments, I dont think makes sense.

Nagi Latefa, an immigrant from the Gaza Strip and a volunteer at the Islamic Education Center in Allentown, said he had been open to Dr. Oz, whom he viewed as a poster child for the sort of success immigrants want their children to have.

Mr. Latefa voted for President George H.W. Bush and President George W. Bush and was a longtime supporter of Representative Charlie Dent, a Republican who represented the area until 2018. Mr. Latefa said he had been trying since July to organize a meet-the-candidate event for Dr. Oz at his mosque. But his efforts have gone nowhere, he said.
Weve been in a process of people awakening to the power of our collective voice, said Judith LeBlanc, of the Caddo Nation in Oklahoma, and the executive director of Native Organizers Alliance. That collective voice can manifest itself as political power on Election Day and in between election days on the issues that were advocating for.

The assertion of political power and sovereignty comes as the Supreme Court seems poised to challenge some tribal authorities and protections and Indigenous voters face steep barriers to the ballot box. They could not vote in every state until 1957 and now face increasingly restrictive voting laws passed by state legislatures. Distances to polling stations still could require round trips of 100 or more miles for some voters.

In May, a federal judge ruled that South Dakota violated portions of the National Voter Registration Act, which requires state officials to provide voter registration renewal guidance at several state-run agencies.

The majority of voting access laws that were passed since 2020 have all been passed in states where the Native vote is politically significant and it therefore targets Native voters, Ms. LeBlanc said. And it has a big impact, especially when it comes to early voting, access to voting, voting locations and transportation to voting locations.

Beyond representation in the highest seats of government, there has been an increased acknowledgment of needs of tribal communities across the country, though lawmakers say far more needs to be done to fulfill their obligations.

A document circulated by Democrats on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee noted that lawmakers had approved the largest direct investment in tribal governments in American history in 2021 with passage of the $1.9 trillion stimulus law, and set aside billions of dollars for tribal health care, housing, broadband and transportation. Tribal nations and villages will receive funds through a new program created under the Biden administration to help them relocate and avoid the toll of climate change.
Democrats see little political advantage in talking about immigration during the campaign. But letting Republicans fill that void means the G.O.P. message is often the only narrative Americans hear about immigration.

In general, border and immigration policy are two of Mr. Bidens least favorite issues to discuss, his staff has said, since it is an enormous challenge with no clear, quick solution. And there has been disagreement within the Biden administration over how to approach the border, with some aides supporting some of the restrictive policies of the last administration, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

But immigration advocates say if Mr. Biden is serious about protecting Dreamers and pursuing other immigration reforms, Democrats must start reclaiming the narrative on immigration with a positive message that resonates with voters.

Theyd better get on the messaging train, said Beatriz Lopez, the chief political and communications officer with the advocacy group, Immigration Hub.

There are brighter messages on immigration for Democrats to talk about, Ms. Lopez said. Her organization has found that voters in battleground states largely agree on protecting the Dreamers. She said they also approve of what the Biden administration has done to reunite immigrant families who were separated during the Trump administration. And voters support efforts to crack down on international drug cartels.

Customs and Border Protection, for example, seized 14,700 pounds of fentanyl between October of last year and the end of September, which is more than five times the amount in 2019. About 80 percent of the fentanyl seized by the agency last year was done at ports of entry on the southwestern border.

Democrats have an opportunity to lean in, said Vanessa Cardenas, executive director of Americas Voice, a pro-immigration group. Talk about the fact that we can do big things, and get the ball rolling on affirmative positive immigration action, versus just playing into the right and talking about enforcement.

Jeanna Smialek and Emily Cochrane contributed reporting.
WASHINGTON  Attorney General Merrick B. Garland has long said that the Justice Department is up to the task of investigating former President Donald J. Trump, whose final weeks in office included his supporters attacking the Capitol as he refused to acknowledge his election loss.

That assertion was part of Mr. Garlands desire to show that the department could operate above partisanship, acting as neither the weapon nor the enemy of any president or party. The real and perceived political land mines that accompany an investigation into Mr. Trump could be navigated, Mr. Garland suggested, by strictly following the rule of law.

The rule of law means that the law treats each of us alike, Mr. Garland has stated. There is not one rule for friends, another for foes; one rule for the powerful, another for the powerless.

But Mr. Garlands hopes are being tested by Mr. Trumps apparent plan to announce that he will run again for the White House, a step that would transform him from a former president into an electoral opponent of President Biden at a time of extreme political polarization  an environment leading the Justice Department to weigh whether to appoint a special counsel to handle open criminal inquiries related to Mr. Trump.
Were losing hope of reuniting with our families, she said.

Three Republican governors highlighted what their party has called the Biden border crisis by transporting thousands of migrants from the border to cities like New York, Washington and Chicago, where unprepared city officials and nonprofits had to scramble to find shelter and other services. But the Biden administration created a new cycle of confusion and anxiety when it suddenly barred most Venezuelans from entering  including many who were joining other family members already in the United States.

Its not the intentional family separation that happened under Trump, but it is still having a devastating impact on families, said Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense, a nonprofit devoted to the protection of unaccompanied migrant children.

It is a consequence of immigration policies that are not well thought out, she said.

The inadvertent family separations are only part of the chaos that has accompanied the arrival of far more Venezuelans than U.S. border facilities were equipped to handle.

The Biden administration has struggled over the past year with the largest influx of unauthorized migration since the mid-2000s. Nearly 200,000 Venezuelans were among the estimated 2.4 million migrant encounters at the border in fiscal year 2022, arriving amid economic, political and climate crises that have compelled people from around the globe to journey to the United States.

In the weeks preceding the new expulsion policy, the pressure on U.S. border facilities had become extreme, creating a tumultuous situation whose dimensions are only now becoming apparent, as migrants allowed into the United States recount their travails.

In some cases, it appears that Border Patrol agents had been sending Venezuelan migrants to seemingly random cities around the country, including Denver, Salt Lake City and Sacramento, where many had no family members or friends to receive them. Aid workers in those cities said some migrants arrived clutching immigration paperwork listing arbitrary local addresses where they had been told that they would find assistance  even though local shelters were not set up to receive them.
NAIROBI, Kenya  A severely malnourished child is admitted to a clinic in Somalia on average every minute of every day. With crops and animals decimated in the worst drought to blanket the nation in four decades, millions of Somalis stand on the brink of starvation in an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.

Despite the crisis, the Somali government has for months been reluctant to declare that the country faces a famine, according to interviews with government officials, aid workers and analysts familiar with internal government discussions.

Such an announcement, aid workers said, would allow far more aid to flow  as happened during a 2011 famine  and muster the attention of Western donors who are currently more focused on responding to the fallout from the war in Ukraine.

The government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, which came to power in May, has resisted the designation for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, the fledgling government fears it would undermine the public good will it now enjoys and play into the hands of the terrorist group Al Shabab, just as the military has launched a large-scale offensive against the insurgents, who have plagued the country for decades and are still launching devastating attacks.
In July, when a critical deal was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to free up millions of pounds of desperately needed Ukrainian grain, India played an important behind-the-scenes role in helping sell the plan to Russia, which had been blockading the grain ships.

Two months later, when Russian forces were shelling the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, leaving the world anxious about a nuclear catastrophe, India stepped in again and asked Russia to back off.

Throughout the Ukraine war, India has quietly assisted during a few pivotal moments like these. This week, Indias foreign minister is traveling to Moscow for meetings with Russian officials on economic and political issues. Diplomats and foreign-policy experts are watching closely to see if India can use its unique leverage as one of the worlds largest countries that is a friend to both East and West to press Russia to end its war in Ukraine.

Officials within the Indian government have already been discussing what role India might play in peacemaking efforts, when the time is right.
KEELUNG, Taiwan  Visitors to Keelung, a mountainous port city on Taiwans northern coast, might reasonably think that the white wall at the back of Shi Hui-huas breakfast shop is, well, a wall. Only a few air vents suggest that there might be something on the other side.

Its a bomb shelter, said Ms. Shi, 53, as she waited for the morning rush. Because were Keelung people, we know these kinds of places.

Its a space for life, she added. And a space for death.

All over her street and many more in Keelung  which suffered its first foreign attack, by the Dutch, in 1642  the landscape has been carved up for protection. Kitchens connect to underground passageways that tunnel into the sandstone. Rusty gates at the ends of alleys lead to dark maws that are filled with memories of war, and sometimes trash or bats  or an altar or restaurant annex.

There are nearly 700 bomb shelters in this city of 360,000 people, leading officials to declare that Keelung has a higher density of places to hide than anywhere else in heavily fortified Taiwan. And for a loosely organized band of urban planners, artists and history lovers, Keelungs bomb shelters have become a canvas  for creative urban renewal and civil defense.
After weeks of unexpected battlefield setbacks for Russia, the war in Ukraine on Sunday delivered another surprise: the emergence of a former Russian convict and onetime hot-dog seller as perhaps the Kremlins best hope for a small, face-saving military victory.

With occupying Russian forces at peril in the strategic southern city of Kherson, troops with a private military force controlled by Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, a convicted thief and longtime associate of Russias president, Vladimir. V. Putin, advanced on the Ukrainian-held city of Bakhmut in the east of the country.

The city, under attack by Russia for months, has little strategic value, but a victory there for Moscow would break its humiliating run of defeats  and give a boost to the political fortunes of Mr. Prigozhin, a shadowy businessman who served nine years in a Soviet prison for robbery. Mr. Prigozhin used to be mocked as Putins cook because of his business interests in catering but is now a growing force in Russias labyrinthine power politics.

Though steadfastly loyal to Mr. Putin in his public statements, Mr. Prigozhin has cut an increasingly assertive and independent figure, denouncing military commanders appointed by the Kremlin and, on a recent visit to Russias Kursk region, meeting with local businessmen about the organization of an ill-defined peoples militia outside the regular military command.
Arms sales have long been an important part of Russian foreign policy. But those sales were declining before the invasion of Ukraine, and analysts say that the war will probably hasten the trend.

Russias performance on the battlefield has damaged its reputation as a military power, they say, and financial and export controls by the U.S. and European governments will make it that much harder for the Kremlin to present itself as a reliable long-term arms supplier for future deals.

I dont think Russia can recover as a major arms exporter from this, said Ian Storey, a political scientist at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore who studies security issues in Asia. Not for a long time, if ever.

Russia is still the worlds second-largest arms exporter after the United States, and its sales of air defense systems and combat aircraft to China and Egypt  its second- and third-largest clients after India  have risen substantially in recent years, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, known as SIPRI.
AN Offaly milk business, which had only just opened its doors back in 2021, has re-opened almost 12 months to the day after raiders struck.

Extensive damage was caused when burglars broke into the Boora Bainne premises off the Tullamore to Cloghan Road.

Having only just launched in July 2021, the innovative milk vending service was targeted on October 7th, 2021, but no arrests have been made according to Gardai.

"It was a terrible blow having to close so quickly, because we had only just got everything up and going and I didnt think Id be able to recover," said Paul Molloy, proprietor.

It is understood the raiders did over 15,000 worth of damage to the vending machines as they searched for cash.

Speaking at the time of the burglary, Molloy said, Over 90% of our customers paid by card and only a tiny amount of cash is left in the shop at night made up of 50c, 20c and 10c pieces, so they only got away with a few euros.

This time around, security has been strengthened and a new alarm system installed.

"We have also added a newly upgraded vending machine and even better, we are managing to source all of our milk bottles from a local supplier in nearby Ferbane," says Molloy.

The business venture has had to overcome a host of planning regulations but Molloy says he has found the majority of regulators to be largely supportive of his latest venture not to mention his customers.

Getting a risk assessment done on the adjacent road cost over 5,000 and thats just the beginning of all the paperwork needed to comply with local planning laws.

"Some suggested I might have been better off just pre-filling the bottles and reducing the risk, but theres something novel about being able to fill up the bottle yourself knowing that what you are purchasing is as fresh as if you milked it yourself.

The high quality milk is attracting customers from all over the county and even further afield," says Molloy. "Its nothing like what you would get in the shop or supermarket and has a very distinctive taste, but I cant quite believe how popular it is."

Older customers, who used to have their milk delivered locally, will remember the foil-topped glass bottles from back in the day and we are attempting to give people some sense of that," says Molloy.

Joe Molloy and his wife Josie, says, "there are customers who come to us regularly with special needs, some of whom are suffering from a whole range of illnesses. While we dont make the claim that our milk has any curative properties, one mother told me, her son will drink nothing else. Its great to hear feedback like that because we are very particular about what we feed the livestock and that tends to be reflected in the quality of the milk. Some might argue its a meal in itself but we have a whole selection of flavours to choose from, so theres no shortage of choice.

For more information you can visit: www.boorabainne.com
Ireland is in for a wet and windy week ahead as Met Eireann has issued a Weather Warning for parts of Ireland with a Weather Advisory also in place.

Met Eireann has issued as Status Yellow Wind warning for Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow. According to Met Eireann, a spell of very strong and gusty southerly winds will track eastwards on Monday with damaging gusts of up to 110 km/h possible. The Warning is in place from 11am until 9pm on Monday.

Met Eireann also has a Weather Advisory in place for this week. Met Eireann is warning that further rainfall this week will cause localised flooding due to waterlogged soils and high river levels. That advisory remains in place until Monday.

The full Met Eireann weather forecast for Ireland for the coming week is as follows.

Weather Forecast for Monday

According to Met Eireann, the weather on Monday will become increasingly wet and windy. The morning will be cloudy and breezy with scattered outbreaks of rain. Heavier rain will develop in the west and southwest in the early afternoon and will track eastwards across the country during the rest of the afternoon and the evening. Localised flooding is possible. The rain will be accompanied by very strong and gusty southerly winds, strongest in coastal counties in the south and later the southeast. Mild with highest temperatures of 11 to 15 degrees.

On Monday night, rain will clear eastwards with blustery showers following from the west. Lowest temperatures of 7 or 8 degrees in moderate to fresh southwest winds.

Weather Forecast for Tuesday

Tuesday will bring sunny spells and scattered showers, some heavy with isolated thunderstorms possible. Highest temperatures of 11 to 13 degrees in fresh south to southwest winds.

Weather Forecast for Wednesday

Wednesday will start off bright with sunny spells and some showers further west. During the afternoon, outbreaks of rain will develop in the west and spread across the country through the evening and early night. Highest temperatures of 11 to 14 degrees with light southerly winds gradually increasing and becoming fresh to strong on Wednesday night.

Weather Forecast for Thursday

Thursday will be mild, humid and mostly cloudy with outbreaks of rain and drizzle. Later in the day, more persistent rain will spread eastwards across the country. Highest temperatures of 14 to 16 degrees with fresh to strong southerly winds.

Weather Forecast for Friday and the weekend

Current indications suggest that Friday and next weekend will continue mild and unsettled with rain or showers at times, especially over the western half of the country.
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Rejected by the Ukrainian military, Australian Trevor Kjeldal headed to the frontline in search of a battalion that would take him. Last week he was killed in battle.
Influential Democratic Party senator Joe Manchin has accused the president of being divorced from reality and saying it was time he learnt a lesson.
By Trend

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov received the newly-appointed Ambassador of Moldova to Azerbaijan Alexandr Esaulenco on November 5, Trend reports citing Azerbaijan's Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Bayramov received a copy of his credentials, congratulated Esaulenco on his appointment and wished him success in his activities.

The meeting discussed the current bilateral and multilateral cooperation agenda between Azerbaijan and Moldova as well as the regional situation.

The meeting included an exchange of views on the bilateral and multilateral cooperation agenda between Azerbaijan and Moldova, as well as the regional situation.

Bayramov noted an effective cooperation agenda between Azerbaijan and Moldova at the bilateral level. He stressed that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to cooperation with Moldova within regional and international organizations, in particular, the Eastern Partnership, UN, OSCE, European Council, OIC, GUAM and the EU.

Bayramov also informed about the new realities in the region in the post-conflict period, the large-scale restoration and construction activities carried out in the territories liberated from occupation and Azerbaijan's efforts to promote the peace agenda.

Ambassador thanked him for the reception and conveyed his congratulations on the forthcoming Victory Day. The ambassador expressed satisfaction that he would be working in Azerbaijan, which has a rich history and traditions. He emphasized the importance of developing relations between the two countries in various fields, including economic, cultural and energy, and said that he would work to further develop relations between the countries.

Other issues of mutual interest were also discussed during the meeting.
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Italy granted rescue ship Humanity 1 access to a port in Sicily, but dozens of male migrants were barred from disembarkment. Only minors and those in need of medical care were allowed to enter.
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Eurasia Review 16 Nov 2022

By Mohamed Chebaro*



Recent days have witnessed yet another shift in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The..
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Just Jared 08 Nov 2022

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The paper quoted unnamed people familiar with the discussions as saying that the request by American officials was not aimed at pushing Ukraine to the negotiating table, but a calculated attempt to ensure Kyiv maintains the support of other nations facing constituencies wary of fueling a war for many years to come.
Newsy 10 Nov 2022

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Photo: (Photo : Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)

The son of Debbie Collier, whose mysterious death has baffled police after she was found partially burned and naked in a ravine on September 11, has said he is wary of the people his sister Amanda Bearden associated with before his mom's death.

Amanda has a history of past arrests for fighting with her boyfriends. The 36-year-old was once thrown in jail before for faking a drug test. She had just moved back to Athens, Georgia, where her mom Debbie lived with her boyfriend, Andrew Giegerich, a couple of days before she disappeared.

Amanda's brother Jeffrey Bearden told 11Alive that he does not think his sister can hurt his mom as she was her mom's lifeline. He added that his concern is that he does not trust the people his sister hangs out with.

Jeffrey says mom's actions were out of character before her death

Collier sent a chilling message to Amanda before her death. She transferred $2,385 via the Venmo app with a note that said they wouldn't let her go. She added that there is a key to the house underneath the flowerpot, according to the New York Post.

Amanda, who had last seen her mom the previous day, reported Collier's disappearance to the cops. Jeffrey said he had never seen his mom Venmo that large amount of money, which was very out of character for her. Jeffrey also did not know who the "they" his mom was referring to in the text message could be.

Collier had not told anyone that she was leaving home on September 10 before she traveled from Athens to Clarksville in Georgia, which spanned around 60 miles. The Habersham County Sheriff's Office released surveillance video of Debbie browsing at a Family Dollar in Clayton on September 10, shortly after her body was discovered the next day.

Read Also: Tragedy in Euclid As Mom And Son Die in Apartment Fire

What was Debbie Collier doing in Clayton?

Jeffrey said he did not know why his mom was up there. He added that it did not make sense to him why she was in Clayton. He explained that there is a Dollar General that his mom frequently visited that was less than a mile from her Athens home, the Daily Beast reported.

Aside from that, Jeffrey was also confused by what his mom bought in the store, which according to cops, included a large tarp, a reusable tote bag, a rain poncho, a refillable torchlight, and a 2-roll pack of paper towels. The tote bag and the tarp that Collier purchased were later found next to her body.

Jeffrey told the media outlet that he had never known his mother to be a camper. He said they have tarps at the house as his stepdad works in construction. He found about 20 to 30 reusable bags at home as his mom was very green and had a bunch of those.

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Photo: (Photo : X3)

Parents of young ones are fully aware of a triple threat of respiratory viruses circulating as the winter approaches. Namely, the flu, COVID-19, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV; Pfizer recently announced that they now have enough data on both the safety and efficacy of an RSV vaccine to protect infants. Adding that kids ages six months and up are now eligible for vaccines that provide strong protection against severe outcomes such as hospitalization and death from the flu and COVID-19.

Pfizer now also plans to submit its data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval by the end of the year; Dr. Sarah Pachtman, M.D., the associate director of maternal/fetal medicine, inpatient services at Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Medical Center says that RSV usually presents as flu-like symptoms.

Dr. Jennifer L. Lighter, M.D., a pediatric infectious disease specialist with NYU Langone Health says that most kids sustain the virus before they are two, however, it appears to be riskier to infants, premature babies, and kids with heart and lung disease. In fact, between 58,000 and 80,000 kids below 5 years old are hospitalized with RSV annually, and 100-300 die, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates.

Read Also: Baby Basics: Why is it Important to Burp Your Newborn?

How the RSV vaccine effectively protects infants?

Dr. Lighter added that the United States needs a universal vaccine at this point as there is crucial morbidity in the U.S. and worldwide. Pfizer, on the other hand, believes the best option. According to the data released on Tuesday by the company, its RSV vaccine was 82 percent effective in preventing hospitalization in infants younger than 90 days old and 69 percent for infants under six months old when given to pregnant people.

The trial entails giving the vaccine to 7,400 pregnant individuals in their late second or third trimesters in 18 countries across the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Dr. Pachtman compared such to the t-DAP vaccine which she believes is similar as it involves giving such medication to pregnant people in their third trimester and eventually provides protection against whooping cough for the newborn until they can finally get their shot around eight weeks of life.

Dr. Ofer Levy, director of the Precision Vaccines Program at Boston Children's Hospital, told NBC News that the results of the Pfizer RSV vaccine for newborns including kids sound very promising. However, noted that he couldn't draw any solid conclusions as the results were yet to be announced in a news release and added that he hasn't seen the full data. Emphasizing that many vaccines do not achieve such, thus, Pfizer's RSV vaccine is a very respectable level of efficacy and people would surely benefit from it particularly pregnant people and kids.

Respiratory syncytial virus puts many babies in the hospital

Dr. Celine Gounder, a senior fellow at KFF, formerly known as Kaiser Family Foundation, and an infectious diseases specialist, says that the vaccine's effectiveness appears to wane over time, thus, if Pfizer is certain that their RSV vaccine is effective, then it could prevent a lot of hospitalizations and deaths in such age group.

Given the fact that RSV puts many babies in the hospital, a vaccine that would surely prevent severe disease 70 percent of the time until the age of six months is beyond a great idea; Moreover, Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, agreed that the vaccine would be helpful in almost all families, particularly those with babies as well as those pregnant ones.

Adding that he can imagine thousands of parents that won't experience the agony and distress of having their baby hospitalized if there were a specialized vaccine for RSV.

Related Article: RSV 'Rampant' in the Country, Doctor Says: Symptoms, Treatments and What Parents Need To Know
Photo: (Photo : Lan Gao)

Dr. Kim Peirano, Intuitive Healer and Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine (DACM) told The Every Mom that children are more susceptible to ghost sightings due to a greater sense of awareness than most adults. This leaves kids subject to picking up on energies and events that are mostly unnoticed by most particularly adults.

Jacqueline Woolley, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, whose work primarily focuses on children's ability to distinguish between fantasy and reality, says that children have rampant imaginations. There is a particular thrill to fantasy and a lure to the 'surreal' at a young age. Dr. Woolley added that between 30 percent and 50 percent of kids have an imaginary companion at some point in their lives.

Many parents including adults tend to believe that because most kids are still not able to express their thoughts, they appear to be unaware or unconscious of what's going around them. Mara Doemland, a TikToker mom and a mother of four, is one of the parents who claimed that their kids can see ghosts. Revealing that her two sons, Murphy and Indy, began seeing ghosts when they reached 18 months old. While Murphy eventually developed a more playful relationship with the supposed spirits, Indy still appears to be terrified.

Read Also: Halloween 2022: How the Holiday Has Evolved Over the Years

Kid's brains create certain scenarios due to imagination

The viral stories of children allegedly seeing ghosts thrive online but no matter how unprovable the volume of such stories is, it's more than enough to make scientists take notice. Dr. Woolley's research dives deep into kids' evaluation and understanding of reality versus the fantastical. Additionally, there are massive admittedly reports of children seeing ghosts and though Halloween seems fun, such stories have many holes in them.

Noting that the minds naturally create connections between events, whether they are connected or not. Basically, the brain pays attention to proof that backs up the claim and somehow fits the theory but ignores the evidence that does not seem to fit; Charles Fernyhough, a psychologist at Durham University, where he studies and investigates the phenomenon of hallucination says that kids seeing ghosts are an outcome of children's abundant imagination.

Further, not too long ago, imaginary friends were considered a precursor to mental illness. However, nowadays, it appears to be a positive sign of healthy child development in which parents come to him concerned if their child does not have one, per The Washington Post.

"A murky line between fantasy and reality for a kid"

Jim B. Tucker, a child psychiatrist, is balancing the science and the paranormal at the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia and says that they don't take the approach of believer or nonbeliever but rather research and explore the phenomenon of these reports.

Jean Piaget, the developmental psychologist, says there is a murky line between fantasy and reality for kids, whether it's only imaginary friends or dreams or basically ghosts. Old thinking assumed children are just unable to differentiate between what's real and what's not. Fernyhough, on the other hand, believes that some kids just mix their imagination and reality thinking sometimes and eventually sustain hallucination-like experiences.

Dr. Woolley told Parents that many of these supposed ghost sightings may be because of culture. Adding that kids who were raised in households that discuss supernatural beings are more likely to recognize experiences as such while kids who are not exposed to such discussion will be less likely to identify them in such a way. In fact, a 2022 survey entitled Unexplained Activity at Home: Is Your House Haunted? determined that almost half of Americans believe their house is haunted.

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Photo: (Photo : Pexel/CDC)

Parents are put on high alert after alarming new data showed that the count of Brit children that have been hospitalized with the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) has soared in the last week. The U.K. Health Security Agency reported that not only have the virus cases risen intensely, but hospitalisations have also surged.

RSV, which has cold-like symptoms and normally only accounts for 20,000 hospital admissions in the U.K. under one year old, now has increased infection by 8.3 percent during the month end of October.

The unusually high count of RSV infections early in the year is already "pushing hospitals to capacity," NPR reported.

Normally, RSV sends thousands of children to the hospital during fall and winter. However, for the second year in-a-row, experts have seen an alarming spike in the number of cases just in the beginning of summer.

Public health officials even warned that come winter there could be a "tripledemic."

Pandemic kids were not able to build immunity

Experts fear that babies and young children "may not have built up any immunity to bugs like RSV and flu."

Director of advanced pediatrics at Mass General Brigham in Boston, Dr. Vandana Madhavan, explained that babies born just before or during the pandemic did not gain the benefit of being regularly exposed to common viruses, including RSV, and were not able to build the right amount of immunity to these viruses.

Children aged two to three may have little natural immunity to flu and "can become severely ill. That is why we are urging parents to get their children vaccinated as soon as possible," U.K. Health Security Agency consultant epidemiologist, Dr. Conall Watson, warned.

The doctor further added that it is very crucial for children going to school to get vaccinated, not only to protect themselves but also to reduce the spread of the bug or the flu.

Dr. Watson also told the Times and continually warned parents with kids under two years old that RSV can be "severe," specifically for babies and those born prematurely.

The said virus can be easy to treat. However, it can become more serious without medical intervention.

Read Also: RSV 'Rampant' in the Country, Doctor Says: Symptoms, Treatments and What Parents Need To Know

Lifting of COVID-19 precautions may have caused the surge

It was noted that the level of the virus decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic because social contact was greatly reduced, and this might just be the reason why RSV has been particularly worse this year.

It may be early to know for sure but health experts do agree that the "earlier-than-usual surges are a consequence of the broad lifting of COVID-19 precautions."

Once restrictions began to loosen in the spring of last year, health experts were reported to have seen odd patterns of circulation of these viruses.

Dr. Madhavan explained that people returning to their pre-COVID social activities and interactions, travel and face to face teaching have all led to this dangerous spike.

The U.K. National Health Service reported that it has already successfully administered 13.2 million flu vaccinations since September, The Mirror reported.

Dr. You Li of the School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University in Nanjing, China and one of the researchers of the study on global, regional, and national disease burden estimates of RSV revealed that the virus killed 100,000 children under five years old every year worldwide.

Most of the deaths were said to occur in countries with low and middle income due to high population density, poor living conditions and limited access to healthcare.

Related Article: Unusual RSV Cases Popping Up in the Summertime; What are the Symptoms?
Photo: (Photo : JASON CONNOLLY/AFP via Getty Images)

The family of Jerica LaCour, who died four years ago shortly after she was injected with the powerful sedative ketamine by a paramedic, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the ambulance company and the healthcare worker.

The 29-year-old Black woman had been drinking alcohol and walking around in a Colorado Springs, Colorado parking lot before her death, Yahoo reported. According to court records, she was crying uncontrollably and lying on the ground when firefighters, police, and other emergency personnel arrived at the scene the night of January 11, 2018.

According to the lawsuit filed in El Paso County District Court last week, the authorities responded to a 911 call about a distressed person that was trespassing on private property.

Family accuses Poulson of administering the fatal ketamine

The family alleged Jason Poulson, a paramedic working for the American Medical Response Ambulance Service, gave 400 milligrams of ketamine to LaCour. He administered the sedative despite objections from a firefighter who also was an emergency medical technician (EMT).

According to the lawsuit filed on behalf of LaCour and her husband's five preteen kids, she stopped breathing shortly afterward. The victim's husband, Anthony LaCour, said in an interview that he will never understand why she died.

The grieving 55-year-old said that his wife was taken out of here for no reason and he thinks about her every day, every night, and when he dresses their kids. An emotional Anthony said he took her death very, very hard as he and his wife were really close.

Using ketamine outside hospital settings has come under intense scrutiny since the death of Elijah McClain back in 2019. An amended autopsy report revealed that the 23-year-old Black man died after he was injected with ketamine by paramedics and forcibly restrained by police in Aurora, Colorado.

Read Also: Baby Helps Mother Discover Stage 3 Breast Cancer After She Refused To Breastfeed

Lawsuit states that LaCour's behavior did not fit criteria of excited delirium

The sedative is usually given to people when they show signs of excited delirium, erratic behavior said to be related to mental illness and drug abuse, or if there is a perceived threat to patients or medical staff.

A physicians group issued a report back in March, saying that excited delirium, which was also part of the murder case of George Floyd, has no psychiatric or medical basis. Colorado's health department said last year that emergency workers should not take into account a person's erratic behavior when determining whether to inject someone with ketamine.

The family's attorney, Daniel Kay, made it clear that LaCour was not combative before she was administered ketamine.

The suit stated that her behavior did not fit the criteria of excited delirium. According to the El Paso County Coroner's Office's report, LaCour died from ketamine and acute alcohol intoxication. The report also found that she was obese and had recently ingested cocaine, according to NBC News.

Related Article: Georgia Dad Mourns Death Of Son Who Perished in Tragic Crowd Surge in South Korea
Photo: (Photo : Tookapic)

Jeff Hauck was moved when Nancy Hauck, his mother, first offered to serve as a surrogate for him and his wife, Cambria Hauck, who was sadly left with few options for expanding their family following her hysterectomy, People reported. Although he didn't originally consider the moving gesture a possibility, his mom eventually gave birth to their fifth child, Hannah.

The 33-year-old father who described the experience as a "beautiful moment" said "how many people get to watch their mom give birth?" What made it more special was she gave birth to his daughter. Jeff noted many found the idea of their mom in the delivery room, giving birth to their child awkward, but he didn't see it that way.

The St. George couple said naming the baby girl Hannah was the perfect tribute to her grandma. Jeff explained that six days after the transfer when she got a positive pregnancy test, his mother was woken up in the middle of the night and heard a little voice saying her name is Hannah.

The 56-year-old grandmother, an associate provost at Utah Tech University, described the experience as special and spiritual wherein she was confident the baby would be a girl, even without having a test. Also, it didn't take long before the couple was convinced too.

Read Also: Two Iowa Juveniles Killed Spanish Teacher After Receiving Poor Grades

The baby's name means 'Grace'

Having a big family has always been important to the pair who were both raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and shortly met before Cambria's senior year in high school. The new mom of five, a nonprofit dance studio co-owner and social media influencer, said she instantly knew that Hannah would be her child's name. The Utah family said Nancy comes from Hannah and the two names mean grace.

Jeff noted that from the time he was a teenager, he knew that if he could only be one thing, he wanted to be a father. The 30-year-old mom said that she and her husband always thought of having between four and six children, but they trust in whatever was God's plan. The couple loved the experience and considered their marriage, they tied the knot on December 12, 2012, as a once-in-a-lifetime date. They eventually learned that starting a family wouldn't be without its challenges and soon discovered that Cambria had infertility issues.

Four years had gone of fertility treatments before the couple finally conceived their first, which happened to be twin girls, Vera and Ayva, now four years old, with the help of In-vitro fertilization (IVF). The two were able to fertilize seven embryos with one round of IVF and went on to welcome twins again, this time boys, Diesel and Luca, now 13 months, last year.

Cambria was hemorrhaging, says the doctors

Everything initially appeared to be fine after their sons were born, but about two hours later Cambria started experiencing serious and severe pain along with cramping. She also felt gushes of blood. Thus, when doctors checked on her, they discovered she was hemorrhaging. Shortly, the couple had to make a sudden decision about Cambria undergoing a hysterectomy.

The new mom of five, who chose to undergo the procedure, recalled the incident and said it was a hard choice for them. Additionally, the couple knew that having the said procedure would mean they might not be able to utilize all of the embryos. They wanted to give them all a chance at life.

Related Article: How Irregular Periods Can Affect the Woman's Ability to Get Pregnant?
Commotion ensued in the French Parliament on Thursday, November 3 after a far-right MP yelled 'Go back to Africa' when a Black legislator from the far left asked a question about immigration.



The session was suspended soon afterwards on Thursday as the racist comment was followed by a huge commotion.

The centrist government called it 'unacceptable.' "There is no room for racism in our democracy. The Bureau of the National Assembly will convene (on Friday) and should decide on necessary sanction," Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne told reporters.



In a bid of 'damage control', the far right argued that MP Gregoire de Fournas' comment was aimed at the migrants stranded on an NGO boat and not the MP who asked the question.

"He obviously spoke about the migrants transported in boats by the NGOs," Maine Le Pen tweeted. "The controversy created by our political opponents ... will not deceive the French," the tweet further read.



Watch the video below.



The French parliament was suspended on Thursday after a far-Right MP in Marine Le Pens party was accused of shouting back to Africa to a black colleague as he posed a question about migrants.



Read more here https://t.co/HqgKMwYh1r pic.twitter.com/9AHdtFytIC  The Telegraph (@Telegraph) November 4, 2022









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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Kwesi Pratt, Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper is surprised Finance Minister is still in office despite numerous calls for him to resign.



"It's worrying that 137 MPs, as well as the Minority and Ghanaians in general, are all demanding his resignation yet he is still in office; it's really worrying...I don't understand because if it were to happen elsewhere, he would willingly resign without any hesitation" he indicated adding "what is different in this country"



Listen to him in the video below





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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EPT London Hands of the Week: Set Over Set for Seidel, Brutal Runout at Final Table

November 05, 2022 Chad Holloway Executive Editor U.S.

PokerNews is known throughout the world for our industry-leading live updates for both live and online events. In fact, right now we're offering various updates right here.

Over the years, weve captured memorable hands, many of which have become a part of poker history. In this column, we will bring you some of the biggest hands that took place during the European Poker Tour (EPT) London.

Remember, if youre playing an event PokerNews is covering, you can get in the updates via the MyStack App. You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live action that you're involved in.

Click here to download the My Stack app for iPhone, or click here to download the My Stack app for Android.

Check out Part 1 of our Big Hands from the EPT London!

Jamil Wakil Done In By Docherty

Jamil Wakil

On Day 4 of the 2022 PokerStars EPT London 5,300 EPT Main Event, it was Level 21 (10,000/15,000/15,000) the biggest hand of the tournament up to that point extended five minutes into the break. Jamil Wakil opened to 35,000 in middle position and David Docherty three-bet to 110,000 from the cutoff. Wakil four-bet to 315,000 and the chip leader called after using a single time extension.

The flop landed and Wakil continued for 175,000. Docherty called. Wakil sized up to 350,000 on the turn and Docherty again called.

The on the river completed the board and Wakil bet around 600,000 with just a single 5,000-denomination chip behind. Docherty raised all in and Wakil called with a groan as he asked, "You have aces?"

Docherty did indeed have aces as he showed , while Wakil held for a worse overpair, marking the second time in just the first level of play that Docherty has picked up aces to be against an opponent with kings.

"So f***ing sick," Wakil said quietly as he stood from his seat. He finished in 21st place for 22,500.

"I'm running so good that I feel guilty about it," Docherty told the dealer before heading to break. "This is a simulation."

Lodge Doubles With Aces After "TV Runout"

Harry Lodge

Also on Day 4, albeit in Level 23 (10,000/25,000/25,000), Harry Lodge opened in middle position, and David Docherty three-bet out of the big blind. Lodge four-bet jammed and Docherty called with the bigger stack.

Harry Lodge:

David Docherty:

At last, Docherty saw aces today without being the one holding them and he needed help to eliminate Lodge.

"I'm pretty good at these!" said Docherty as the flop landed to give him a pair of kings and backdoor clubs to go with it.

The on the turn significantly upped the sweat factor as it gave Docherty a flush draw and Lodge was calling for a red card as the bricked off on the river to earn him the double up.

"This was a TV hand; that was a TV runout!" laughed Marton Czuczor. Lodge went on to finish the tournament in eighth place for 79,750.

Seidel Doubles with Set Over Set

Erik Seidel

On Day 3 of the Main Event, it was Level 20 (6,000/12,000/12,000) when Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel opened to 27,000 on the button and Julien Sitbon defended the big blind.

"I just want to be in the chip race," Seidel joked, as the T-1,000 chips were being raced off soon and the dealer gave him three T-1,000 chips as change.

The dealer fanned out the flop and Sitbon checked. Seidel bet 25,000 and Sitbon check-raised to 65,000. Seidel called.

The landed on the turn and Sitbon bet 130,000. Seidel called.

The completed the board and Sitbon moved all in, covering Seidel's 248,000 remaining chips. Seidel quickly called.

Sitbon tabled for a flopped set, but Seidel revealed for a superior turned set, and the Poker Hall of Famer secured the double on one of the last hands of the night to near a million in chips. Seidel went on to finish in 11th place for 41,100.

Click here to see Erik Seidel's profile on PokerNews!

Flopped Set No Good for Heath

Ben Heath

On Day 5 of the Main Event, just 15 players remained in Level 24 (15,000/30,000/30,000) when Ben Heath opened to 60,000 from the cutoff and Alexandre Vuilleumier min-click three-bet to 120,000 from the big blind. Heath called.

The flop landed and Vuilleumier continued for 75,000 Heath called. The turn brought the and Vuilleumier sized up to 220,000. Heath used through a time extension before moving all in for around 550,000. Vuilleumier snap-called with a bigger stack.

Ben Heath:

Alexandre Vuilleumier:

Heath had flopped a set but Vuilleumier had plenty of hope with a flush draw.

"I wanted to make it 4x preflop," Vuilleumier said after seeing he let his opponent get there.

Nonetheless, the arrived on the river to make Vuilleumier his flush to eliminate Heath in 15th place for 34,250.

Brutal Runout for Nils Pudel

Nils Pudel

On Day 6 at the final table, six players remained in Level 28 (40,000/80,000/80,000) when Nils Pudel took a brutal beat early in the day to go out in sixth place for 134,800.

Pudel opened to 160,000 from the cutoff and Jack Sinclair three-bet to 400,000 from the big blind. The German four-bet jammed his stack of 1,270,000 and Sinclair called with a bigger stack.

Nils Pudel:

Jack Sinclair:

Pudel's aces were in excellent shape on the flop of , but the on the turn gave Sinclair a flush draw to give Pudel a sweat. The then arrived on the river to give Sinclair the ace-high flush and Pudel hit the rail in excruciating fashion in one of the first hands of the day.

Find out where Jack Sinclair finished in our EPT London Recap here!

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Republican fears came to life as Donald Trump came to Pennsylvania, barely mentioning Oz and Mastriano, but had a total conspiracy theory meltdown.

Trump mentioned Oz and Mastriano once in the first thirty minutes of his rally:

Trump has now spent more time defending True The Vote election deniers and pushing election conspiracies than he has endorsing Oz and Mastriano who he has mentioned once in 30 minutes. pic.twitter.com/6pQpskaIIL  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) November 6, 2022

Trump started pushing election lies, which quickly turned into the DOJ coming after him, which turned into a rant about the media being the enemy of the people.

Video:

Trump is in full meltdown word salad mode as he is talking about the media as the enemy of the people, the DOJ coming after him, and the Russia scandal. #TrumpRally pic.twitter.com/xvuUwyik7f  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) November 6, 2022

The ominous warning in Trumps speech is that he keeps repeating that he wont allow 2020 to happen again.

Trump is also distorting a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling about undated ballots to mean that he won the 2020 election:

Trump claims the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled "a week ago" that he won the 2020 election. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court did not rule that he won the 2020 election. The ruling was about undated ballots in a 2022 primary, but Trump wants 2020 overturned. #TrumpRally pic.twitter.com/5ZEFJ6eOXL  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) November 6, 2022

This all sounds totally insane, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the election on Tuesday.

Republicans were terrified about Trump coming to swing states because he is an energizer of Democratic turnout, and he reminds swing voters of why they voted him out of office in 2020.

Trump did Mastriano and Oz zero favors at his rally in Latrobe.

While Barack Obama and Joe Biden spent Saturday talking up Democratic candidates Josh Shapiro and John Fetterman, Donald Trump has spent his rally talking about all his grievances and conspiracy theories.

Trump may have cost Oz votes in the Senate race with his debacle at the Arnold Palmer Airport.

His speech was precisely what was expected. Trump is reminding Pennsylvania of why they should not vote for anyone he has endorsed, as his speech was the sort of November surprise that Republicans have been dreading.
Much of this weekend's activity at 1210 Powell Pond Road is aimed at turning back the calendar about 150 years and resetting the scene to about 1,500 miles to the west.

Six-shooters, hoop skirts and tribal clothing are part of the scenery at Wild West Fest, with a family-friendly mixture of cowboys, Native Americans, gamblers and musicians. The event began its two-day run Saturday morning, and today's activities are set to run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday's attendance was estimated at 700.

Some of the appeal is in the idea of "a little boy in a cowboy outfit with a cap gun," in the words of reenactor Joe Long, also known as the curator of education of the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum.

"For some of us, it's just nostalgia  how we grew up  and it warms our heart to see it, but I really think, as Americans, it's also just part of who we are and who we're meant to be."

"The shooting gallery is great fun. It seemed very popular with the kids," said reenactor Eddie Rodgers, referring to a new activity that challenges kids to use a cork gun to dispatch a series of moving targets at close range. Rodgers is in character this weekend as Judge ("Hanging Judge") Isaac Parker.

Long was among dozens of costumed characters engaged with the public at the Battle of Aiken site, with gemstone panning, trick roping, hay rides, shootouts, live music, horse rides and other offerings among the possibilities. Today's options also include a church service at 11 a.m., under the pavilion.

Admission is $10 for anyone 13 or older and free for anyone 12 or younger. Powell Pond Road (where the event takes place) is about a half-mile south of I-20 Exit 18.

Some of this weekend's reenactors are focusing on life from a few decades earlier or later than the days of Wyatt Earp, Geronimo and Sitting Bull, and offering a chance to ponder customs and costumes relating to the American Revolution and World War I.
Fans of fresh fruit had a ton of options Saturday during Applefest at St. Johns United Methodist Church.

In all, 2,000 pounds of apples were available for purchase, said Bob Fogle.

He has been in charge of the apple market at the event, which is an autumn tradition in Aiken, for 11 years.

Basically, what I do is monitor the sales, said Fogle soon after Applefests 8 a.m. start. I see what kinds of apples sell the best, and then I order more of those the following year from North Carolina. The ones that sell the least, I order less of those.

For the 2022 edition of Applefest, Fogle expected the Arkansas Black, Pink Lady and Stayman apples to be the most popular varieties.

He likes Pink Lady apples the best.

They are juicy, crisp, sweet and tart, Fogle said. Theyve got everything going for them.

Gerry Stejskal and her significant other, Sam Weaver, were busy filling bags with fruit to take home.

Its fun to buy apples, Stejskal said. I like to cook, and I like to eat them. A lot of times, I make cobblers. You see varieties here that you dont normally see.

As for Weaver, I eat them, he said. I cook, but not a lot.

In St. Johns gym, Dr. Tim McClendon, who is the churchs senior pastor, spoke into a microphone while urging attendees to spend their money.

We welcome you to St. Johns. Welcome to St. Johns, he said. Hey, hey, ho, ho, please make your purchases. Make your purchases.

In addition to fresh fruit, there was food made with and without apples for sale at Applefest along with books, framed prints, holiday decorations, clothing, shoes and much more.

A silent auction also was held.

Applefest is a blast, McClendon said. It pulls the whole church together.

It pulls everybodys goodies out of their attics, and it pulls everybodys efforts together, he continued. It unites us and gets us all focused in the same direction in trying to help Aiken.

McClendon estimated that 400 to 500 of St. Johns more than 2,000 members participate as volunteers in Applefest.

The proceeds from this years event will go to Aiken Senior Life Services, The Bridge 2 Home and the Jack Meeks Memorial Wheelchair Ramp Ministry.

Audrey Osteen, one Applefests several 2022 co-chairs, described the event as hectic at times, but also enjoyable.

There is a lot of fellowship, she said. We have the opportunity to talk to the community, and we love that. This is a mission-oriented church. Thats what were all about.

St. Johns is at 104 Newberry St. N.W.

For more information about the church, call 803-648-6891 or visit stjaiken.org.
When voters head to the polls next Tuesday, three races local to Aiken County will be contested.

Republican incumbent Joe Wilson faces Democrat Judd Larkins to keep the Second Congressional District seat he's held since 2001. The seat represents Aiken County, Barnwell County and most of the Columbia suburbs.

Congressman Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., is unopposed in the Third Congressional District that includes Edgefield County and southwestern South Carolina.

Republican incumbent Bill Hixon faces Democrat Jerico "J.D." McCoy in the South Carolina House seat representing North Augusta and southern Edgefield County.

S.C. Reps. Bart Blackwell, Bill Clyburn, Melissa Oremus and Bill Taylor are unopposed.

And incumbent Brian Silas faces Dr. Connie Rendleman and Dr. Leona Guyton in the race to represent the Midland Valley area on the Aiken County Public School District board.

Other contested races on the ballot include governor, secretary of state, state superintendent of education and a U.S. Senate seat.

The governor and lieutenant governor's race will include Republican incumbents Henry McMaster and Pamela Evette, Democrats Joe Cunningham and Tally Parham Casey and Libertarians Bruce Reeves and Jessica Ethridge.

The secretary of state's race features Republican incumbent Mark Hammond and Democrat Rosemounda Peggy Butler.

And Republican incumbent Tim Scott faces S.C. Rep. Krystle Matthews, D-Dorchester, in the U.S. Senate race.

There are four entries on the ballot for state superintendent of education: Patricia M. Mickel of the Green Party, Ellen Weaver of the Republican Party and Lisa Ellis is listed as both a Democratic and Alliance Party candidate.

Two statewide races feature Republican incumbents being challenged by third party candidates.

Republican incumbent Curtis Loftis faces Sarah Work of the Alliance Party in the state treasurer race.

In the race for agriculture commissioner, Republican incumbent Hugh Weathers faces Chris Nelums of the United Citizens Party and David Edmond of the Green Party.

Republican incumbents Alan Wilson and Richard Eckstrom are unopposed in the races for attorney general and comptroller general.

There also could be soil and water commission, county council and school board races on the ballot.

There will also be two statewide referendum questions on the ballot.

Voting will take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at polling precincts located throughout Aiken County.

To find a voting precinct, a registered voter can log onto SCVotes.gov and scroll down the page until they locate and click on the "Find My Precinct" option below a gold "MySCVotes" tab.

The voter will be asked to enter their county of registration, their first name, last name, date of birth and the last four digits of their Social Security number on the next screen. There is also a robot test that could be required to move forward.

The next screen provides the location of the voter's polling precinct and an option to open the location in Google Maps for directions.

Polling precinct locations are also provided on a voter's registration card and unless the precinct changes places within days of the election, any changes in location will be mailed to the registered voter. If the precinct changes locations within days of the election, notices will be posted at the previous precinct that provide the new location.

Once a voter arrives at the precinct, they will need to provide photo identification to vote. Accepted photo identifications are a South Carolina driver's license, South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles identify card, U.S. Passport or federal military identification.
Aiken, SC (29801)

Today

Sunny. High near 70F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low near 55F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
In the wake of a pair of deadly 737 Max crashes and production flaws that halted deliveries of the 787 jets built in North Charleston, Boeing Co. CEO Dave Calhoun said the aerospace giant reassessed its priorities.

And, in the process, the planemaker incorporated a little patience into its corporate culture.

"We were in a significant public trust moment. We all knew it," Calhoun said of those dark days following the 737 Max accidents that killed 346 people, leading to a crisis of confidence in one of the nation's most storied companies.

"I think of all the things that we've talked about with respect to culture and leadership, the one that might be the most powerful with respect to the re-emergence of our company is patience," Calhoun said, speaking last week at Boeing's investor conference.

"When you're dealing with a flying public that's worried about trusting you, and you're hearing from a regulator who's feeling like they're getting pushed into a corner at every turn with respect to delivery dates, certification moments, all those things without thinking about the discovery that the regulator has to go through themselves to make that certification, that's a problem," he continued. "And there's only one answer  be patient."

It's a virtue Boeing seemed to have lost in the pre-crash period, when production of commercial planes was being pushed to record levels and unprecedented cash was being generated for investors.

"Job one when it comes to public trust, or anybody's trust, is perfect transparency," Calhoun said. "Tell them everything you know, every minute of every day ... Know where the issues are and deal with them. Don't be afraid to tell the regulator. Don't be afraid to tell the customer. And don't be afraid of the media coverage that tries to inform the flying public."

He said today's Boeing is not reluctant to pause production lines or "self-disclose the most minute non-conformances you've ever seen" to regain trust.

That reset has been important for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner assembly campus off International Boulevard, where inspectors and regulators had complained they were being pushed to approve planes that had production defects. But when Boeing discovered paper-thin gaps in the fuselage of its 787s, it notified the Federal Aviation Administration and halted deliveries of the wide-body jet from May 2021 to August 2022.

Calhoun said his company has worked hand-in-hand with regulators to make sure every plane in inventory  and all of those built going forward  meet exacting specifications before they're turned over to customers. It's slowed the company's plans to increase production at the North Charleston site, which currently builds one or two new 787s a month, but that's all a part of being patient, he said.

Boeing wants to be producing 10 787s a month by 2025, and Calhoun said the company's decision to consolidate Dreamliner production in North Charleston instead of operating a second assembly line in Everett, Wash., will help achieve that goal.

"We'll get a lot of efficiency out of doing it in one place," he said.

But the planemaker must first clear out more than 100 of the wide-body jets that built up in inventory while deliveries were halted.

Calhoun said some of the four production positions at the 787 factory have been set aside to do repair work on finished 787s  a process called rework. That space on the production floor is also being used in a "joint verification" process where Boeing and the FAA ensure the planes are ready to turn over to customers.

Calhoun called the fuselage flaws "minute" but added they've "required the most aggressive rework."

It's a comment that was echoed by Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing's commercial aircraft division. He said the rework is lasting longer than it took to build the plane in the first place.

Boeing expects to clear most of the Dreamliner inventory by the end of 2024, with just a handful left to go through the verification process by mid-decade.

"And then cautious rate ramp-ups from where we're running today out into 2025 and 2026," Deal said. "And the good news is ... wide-body orders are re-emerging and (airlines) are first and foremost focused on that center of the wide-body fleet, which is the 787. So, we see a pretty good outlook for demand."

Calhoun said the 787 is "the most utilized wide-body in the market, particularly through the pandemic," adding its popularity is "really a testament to the environmental capability of that airplane, the fuel burn and the features that we added for the passenger  lower pressure altitude, big windows and a smooth ride through our flight-control system."
Charleston has done it again.

For an entire decade, the Holy City has swept the top spot on Travel + Leisure magazine's annual list of the best cities to visit in the country.

The publication said the Holy City is the No. 1 travel destination in the U.S. for the 10th year in a row on July 12 as part of its annual "World's Best Awards."

College of Charleston hospitality professor Daniel Guttentag said the consecutive string of accolades punctuates what the city has achieved as a visitor destination.

City standings Travel + Leisure readers picked the 15 best cities in the U.S. to visit: Charleston New Orleans Santa Fe Savannah Honolulu New York Chicago Alexandria, Va. San Antonio Boston Austin Williamsburg, Va. Asheville San Diego Nashville

"It's something to get on the list one time, but to be on the list for a whole decade and be No. 1 each time and have a pandemic happen and still remain on top, it's really an achievement to be proud of," said Guttentag, director of the school's Office of Tourism Analysis.

The impact of the streak is hard to quantify, but he said it certainly helps in raising the area's profile among leisure travelers.

"We are no longer a regional destination that people drive to," Guttentag said. "We are attracting people from all across the country and all over the world. The airport has more flights than ever from new places, and it's busier than ever before. People who weren't thinking about Charleston 15 years ago now are."

The award "communicates to people that this is a place your don't want to miss."

Travel + Leisure asked readers to rate cities based on their sights and landmarks, culture, cuisine, friendliness, shopping and overall value.

"There's a reason people keep going back to Charleston: the city expresses the perfect balance of Southern charm, knockout food and drinks, and walkability," it said in written statement. "Many readers also found the city's history to be a draw. Others appreciated the simple pleasures of strolling the side streets of downtown."

Savannah, down the coast, came in fourth. The Georgia city also captured best domestic airport in the nation.

Also on the list were rankings for overnight accommodations in the U.S.

The 50-room Loutrel Hotel with its "handwritten welcome notes" in Charleston came in at No. 2 while the Wentworth Mansion garnered praise for its outdoor patio and Southern hospitality. It picked up the No. 8 nod.

The Loutrel also ranked No. 20 on the world's best hotels list while Wentworth Mansion came in at No. 99.

Also, on the list of the best islands in the continental U.S., South Carolina claimed two spots with Kiawah at No. 2 and Hilton Head at No. 9.

Newcomer Breeze Airways, which offers flights to multiple cities from Charleston, came in at No. 2 for domestic airlines.

For this year's awards, the leisure magazine noted the rebound in travel as people ventured out during the past year after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted vacation plans in 2020 and part of 2021.

This year's honorees "offer a distinct sense of place  whether your focus is on reconnecting with nature or immersing yourself in local cultures," said Editor-in-Chief Jacqui Gifford.

On NBC's "Today" morning show Tuesday, she said the city's "food scene is amazing" and that "theres so much shopping to do.

I think it really is the full picture," Gifford said.

Charleston's 10-year reign at the top with Travel + Leisure now matches its run with rival Conde Nast Traveler, which honored the city with the top nod for the 10th time in 2020. The streak was broken last year, when Aspen, Colo., grabbed the No. 1 ranking.

With this year's top designation by Travel + Leisure, Charleston is now a World's Best Awards Hall of Fame honoree.
To be honest, I hate to hear someone begin a sentence with, To be honest.

The phrase seems to say, Get ready, Im really going to let you have it.

Nevertheless, to be honest, I really, really hate coffee.

I know hate is a strong word coming from a spiritual columnist, but I think its best to be straightforward here.

Ill say it again: I hate coffee. I find the aroma revulsive. I wont consume anything with coffee flavoring in it like ice cream, cake or tiramisu.

Yet last month in Jackson, Tenn., I accepted an invitation for coffee from the Rev. Mary Beth Eberle, pastor of Grace United Methodist Church. Our meetup was a grip-and-grin, a get to know each other before my scheduled Saturday night talk.

I wasnt immediately forthcoming with my distaste for the bean. Id accepted her hospitality because coffee shops also serve iced tea, hot chocolate, or my favorite  a blended ice chai. And she did say she was buying.

So the next day while waiting in line at this downtown coffee shop, I allowed as to how I wasnt much of a coffee drinker. This news seemed unforeseen to her since we were standing in a java joint.

I assume they have tea, yes? I asked Mary Beth.

They do, she said. Then she ordered coffee for herself and a black unsweetened iced tea for me. She generously paid for a refill in advance.

As we talked, I quickly drained the modest cup and signaled to the friendly and not-too-busy barista for my refill.

A few minutes later, over the noise of a coffee grinder, the barista announced, Iced tea refill. Then he slid my cup across the counter to await pickup by the witless chaplain.

I grabbed the cold cup, but before sitting down took a giant gulp of something that was NOT iced tea.

Coffee! Yuck! My protests echoed off the stone walls, startling folks who were quietly working or visiting.

I HATE coffee! I said, spitting honesty with a rapid-fire eww!

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The bitter brew was the most coffee Id had in my mouth since tasting it as a child. Back then, I spit it out, but there were too many witnesses to do the spew again.

I had no choice. I swallowed it. Id have rather swallowed the backwash of my own heartburn.

The barista came quickly around the counter, gushing an honest apology for accidently giving me an iced coffee.

By then, Id measured the embarrassment Id publicly caused myself, and began my own apology for the scene Id made, a grown man choking on coffee inside a reputable java shop.

The barista quickly replenished my iced tea, helping me squelch my overflowing protest.

To be honest, I said, I hate coffee.

Yeah, he said, I gathered that.

Im glad we could be honest with one another.

But the incident reminded me that I cant let honesty cross over into rudeness. Honesty cant be an excuse to slice and dice one another.

Honesty isnt just the absence of lying, cheating, theft, etc. And it has to be more than telling the facts.

It must include awareness of other people and respect for them. My outburst truly lacked both.

So the next time Im tempted to be honest, I hope Ill pause a moment to consider the biblical advice of James 1:26: Those who consider themselves religious (or honest) and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.

Easy for him to say. Ill bet James never had coffee.

Finally, if you want to taste some of the best coffee in the world, come to Honduras next year to help Chispa Project start a library. Our volunteers not only carry home a sense of satisfaction, but often a 50-pound suitcase full of coffee. See www.chispaproject.org/volunteertrip (Feb. 12-19 or March 12-19).

And if youd like me to come speak in your town, please email me. I promise Ill behave. comment@thechaplain.net or 10556 Combie Road Suite 6643 Auburn, CA 95602 or via voicemail 843-608-9715.
Republican superintendent candidate Ellen Weaver believes South Carolina should consider rejecting nearly $1 billion in federal education funding so the state won't be bound by the strings that come with it, such as those requiring protections for certain students.

In a recent interview with The Post and Courier, Weaver cited changes to Title IX programs sought by the Biden administration as one reason to potentially reject federal money for schools.

The Biden administration said in June that it planned to expand the Title IX definitions of sex discrimination and harassment to include sexual orientation and gender identity, offering explicit protection to LGBTQ students for the first time. An example of the proposed protections includes allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice instead of one that corresponds with their birth gender.

"These are things that, again, I think are conversations that are best left between parents and their children, not between the federal government and a student," Weaver said.

In an interview over the summer with the Overton Report, a conservative website based in Charleston, Weaver was asked what South Carolina and the state education superintendent specifically could do to push back on the federal proposal to expand protections for transgender students.

"Well, Ill tell you the state superintendent cant stand alone. Its going to take the general assembly, its going to take the governor and its going to take building a coalition of people who care about protecting our children from these radical ideologies that are coming out of Washington," Weaver responded. "Saying no to federal dollars is probably the place to start."

Rejecting federal funding is an idea Republican lawmakers float from time to time as a way to limit federal influence. A past state superintendent did pass on federal grants that would have supplemented South Carolina's normal allocation.

The idea has never gained much traction because of the difficulty of compensating for the loss of money that primarily support students in poverty and students with disabilities. Weaver, president of the conservative-leaning think tank Palmetto Promise Institute, said it is critical those students receive continued support but that the state should explore how to do that without taking federal money.

It is a conversation we may end up having to have if we continue to see Washington trying to dictate what is taught in South Carolina schools, Weaver told The Post and Courier. Our parents, our teachers here in South Carolina are the determiners of what is appropriate and what is not appropriate in our schools, not Washington, D.C.

Lisa Ellis, the Democratic candidate in the superintendent race, was unavailable for an interview. Emily Mayer, a staffer on Ellis campaign, said the federal funding is important and is specifically earmarked for certain students because of the additional supports they need.

Education advocates in South Carolina also said they were concerned to hear Weaver resurfacing the debate about whether or not to accept federal funds.

Federal money accounted for about 8 percent of the more than $10 billion spent in South Carolina on public K-12 education in the 2021-22 school year, according to a report from the state Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office. Of that total, the federal government provided $923.6 million, or $1,665 per student in South Carolina.

The money comes with conditions  one of the biggest is a requirement that states test students each year.

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, states must give annual tests in reading and math to all students in grades three through eight and once in high school. States must also test students in science at least once in elementary, middle and high school.

Another condition is that in exchange for money to support students with disabilities, states must give those students what is known as a free and appropriate public education.

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The money also is conditioned following Title IX.

Sherry East, the president of the South Carolina Education Association, said she was alarmed by the idea of rejecting money that primarily supports poor students and those with disabilities. She said the idea is self-defeating because residents would pay federal taxes for education without reaping the benefits, in addition to footing the costs of the state picking up the tab.

We do not have enough revenue to make up the difference if you cut all federal aid to schools, she said. Thats just an impossible situation.

Low-income students and those with disabilities are already struggling, said Patrick Kelly, a spokesman for the Palmetto State Teachers Association. He said he worried the gaps between those students and others would continue to grow if the additional federal support went away.

I simply dont think were in an environment where we can afford to look that gift horse in the mouth, he said.

The SCEA endorsed Ellis. The teachers association did not make any endorsements.

East said she has previously heard the idea floated by legislators. In general, the lawmakers who have raised the issue with her have been upset over the standardized testing requirements. Kelly said he has also heard complaints about funding and the testing requirements.

The two teachers association representatives said they share concerns about the federal testing burden but believe S.C. adds to that burden by testing more frequently than required.

Both objected to Weavers assertion that Washington is telling S.C. how or what to teach. Local educators write the state standards that determine what students should learn, East said.

The state superintendent doesnt have the authority to unilaterally reject federal funding, but person in charge of public education in South Carolina does have discretion when it comes to federal grants offered on top of the base amount.

In her Overton interview, Weaver acknowledged there would be backlash. She brought up the opposition to former Superintendent Mick Zais after he decided the state would not compete for Obama-era grants that incentivized the adoption of Common Core standards. South Carolina was a finalist for grants that would have ranged from $10 million to $50 million, and Zais used his discretion as superintendent to withdraw the state from competition.

Weaver said the superintendent should lead the charge to convince the public of the benefits.

The election in Nov. 8.
GREENVILLE  Atop a ridgeline along winding Altamont Road on Paris Mountain, conservationists envision adding miles of hiking trails with views stretching across northern Greenville County on the western side of the monadnock that rises above Greenville within Paris Mountain State Park.

The proposal to add close to 300 acres across multiple properties to the state park has been viewed by county and conservation leaders as a once-in-a-generation opportunity that comes at a time of intense growth pressure in the county as officials have searched out ways to expand public access to parks.

A key part of the project is Shiloh Ridge, 146 acres on the mountains western edge currently owned by developer Robert Hughes and already protected against development with a conservation easement.

This week, Shiloh Ridge became the largest monetary project to date funded by the newly created Greenville County Historic and Natural Resources Trust (GCHNRT) when Greenville County Council on Nov. 1 voted 9-3 to grant $400,000 toward the purchase of the acreage with a plan to transfer it to the state of South Carolina for an addition to Paris Mountain State Park.

The Shiloh Ridge property is the largest single undeveloped parcel bordering the park anywhere, said Carlton Owen, chairman of the GCHNRT, which selected the project and requested approval of the grant from County Council. This park's usage has grown 4-fold over just the past 4 years. I'm sure the Trust will have opportunities to do great things in the future, but this addition is an iconic addition that will serve current and future generations of Greenville citizens well.

Approval for the grant came despite concerns of residents and some on County Council over access to the park and safety for pedestrians and drivers along Altamont Road, a narrow, two-lane mountainous road bordered by trees, ravines and houses in some places built close to the road.

Early ideas presented in conversations with stakeholders included creation of a small parking area near Altamont Road to provide a secondary access to future trails, though the site would be owned by S.C. State Parks and no formal plans have been created or discussed with the community.

Despite County Councils approval, an effort still exists among some residents to scuttle the project.

The vote

After County Council created the trust in late 2020, it set parameters for how the trusts 12-member appointed board could use county taxpayer funds for preservation and conservation projects in the county.

Any projects that required more than $200,000 would come before the council for a vote in much the same way as businesses request tax incentives from the county.

The trust received its first amount of funding in July 2021 and since then has approved five projects of varying sizes that have resulted in protection of 420 acres and a historic building in Piedmont, Owen said.

The four 'natural resources' projects were all in northern Greenville County where the bulk of land conservation work in Greenville County has historically been accomplished, Owen said.

Shiloh Ridge is the largest to date and the first to come to County Council for approval.

Following a public hearing in October where no one spoke against the proposal, the council voted unanimously to approve it on second reading.

But by the time a final vote was set for Oct. 18, Councilman Steve Shaw, who represents the district that includes the park, asked for the council to hold off on a vote because hed begun to hear from residents upset about traffic on Altamont Road and future park access likely planned for the new section of the park.

Shaw and GCHNRT trustees spoke with residents to try to resolve concerns ahead of the final vote, but were unable to satisfy a number of Paris Mountain residents, who wanted assurance no park access would be allowed on Altamont Road.

Council members said the county couldnt provide that assurance because it wouldnt own the land and was acting as a funder but didnt control the project.

State officials didnt comment publicly on plans because they dont yet own the property and would go through a formal planning process before anything is designed or built.

Council ultimately unanimously passed a resolution Nov. 1 that stated the council supports expansion of the park in a way that doesnt create access or a new entrance on Altamont Road.

But when Shaw tried to add an amendment to the $400,000 grant to require the state abide by the councils wishes, some on the council said hed gone too far.

Vice Chairman Dan Tripp asked the council to vote against Shaw because he didnt believe it was in the countys authority to put limits on what the state could do with its park. He urged Shaw and concerned residents to speak to their state legislators instead.

We cannot dictate to them what to do and not to do, Tripp said.

Councilwoman Liz Seman said she didnt want to do anything to jeopardize the project while Councilman Butch Kirven said the resolution was about all the council could do within its authority.

Chairman Willis Meadows and councilmen Mike Barnes, Joe Dill and Stan Tzouvelekas joined Shaw in voting in favor of suspending the councils rules to allow Shaw to add the limitation on the project, but the other seven members of the council voted against them.

Shaw, Barnes and Tzouvelekas then also voted against the grant, which was approved 9-3.

We should listen to the people who live on Altamont (Road), Tzouvelekas said. Were not listening to the citizens that live on that mountain.

Councilman Chris Harrison, who voted for the grant, said it was an issue that affected the entire county because most council members dont have a state park in their district. He said the council shouldnt vote against the grant based on future hypotheticals.

This is something thats very good for the community as a whole, Harrison said.

The future

The contract for the site is set to close in mid-November. The property will be purchased by Naturaland Trust, which plans to transfer it to the state, the trusts executive director Mac Stone has said.

Shaw said he loved the idea of adding hiking trails to the park to take advantage of mountain views that cant be seen from other parts of the park.

Youre going to get some cool mountain views up there, Shaw said. Its going to feel a little different from the rest of the park.

Shaw said state parks officials told him they would likely add a small parking area for 10 to 12 vehicles along Altamont Road to add another access point into the park.

Thats when residents  and Shaw  became concerned. He said beyond the added traffic, another park entrance would require more monitoring from park officials to prevent unauthorized access or issues after park hours.

He said residents had asked an attorney to study the process of approving funding to see if the trust and the county had followed correct procedure.

Alex Kirakides, a resident who lives along Altamont Road, said residents were reviewing the councils decision and declined further comment.

Shaw said he didnt believe the decision was a done deal yet and wondered whether it had been passed too quickly.

The Trust

Owen, chairman of the trust, said theyd been very transparent throughout the entire process and only came to the full council with a larger grant request because they wanted to highlight the project with more attention.

Members of the trust had first met with residents, including Shaw, in August at the project site, Owen said.

Owen said he and Doug Harper, the past chair of the trust, met with residents before the final vote and agreed that they wouldnt support parking or bicycle access as part of the project.

Owen said the only difference in opinion was over hiking access since trail expansion would possibly add an Altamont Road crossing.

I respect the folks there and understand their views but believe that their demands are not in the best interest of all citizens and do not understand how we can take all options off the table forever, Owen said.

Tripp and Owen each said residents could seek to use the state budget planning process to add language to limit access to the park, but Owen said he didnt believe that would be in the best interest of all county residents.

Though its been the most high profile of the trusts work so far, a number of other projects are in process of closing and others are being evaluated now.

County Council allocated $2 million over the first two years of the trust and the trust has allocated more than $1.1 million so far.

The trust just finished accepting a round of applications Nov. 1.
In the age of cellphones and the internet, consumers often face a simple choice: convenience or privacy? Do we let Big Tech have access to our private communications and free email accounts because it's so easy? Once you've said yes  and who among us has not?  it's not a stretch to think t Read moreCommentary: Contact-tracing apps had good intentions. Then we got carried away.
If it wasnt already, several developments in recent weeks should make it clear that critical race theory is in the eyes of the beholder. Read moreEditorial: 'Critical race theory' in SC classrooms? Depends on how you define it.
President Biden said Friday during a speech in California on the CHIPS Act that coal plants cost too much money and that his administration will be shutting these plants down all across America and having wind and solar.

Biden said he recently visited the site of the largest old coal plant in America in Massachusetts, which cost too much money.

No one is building new coal plants because they cant rely on it, even if they have all the coal guaranteed for the rest of their existence of the plant. So its going to become a wind generation, Biden said.

Joe Manchin has revealed himself as the kind of fool who would take Wimpy up on his offer to be paid on Tuesday for a hamburger today. Hes simpy. Senator Manchin called out Biden for saying out loud again what Biden has said many times before. Where was Manchin?

KJP has now clarified Bidens statement. According to KJP, Biden didnt mean anything by it, which is great to hear. Manchin didnt mean anything by his shocked (a la Casablancas Captain Renault) condemnation either.

Via Herb Scribner/Axios (with quotes and links).
I hosted the Dennis Prager radio show yesterday. It was a fun three hours, with a great guest lineup. The conversation focused mostly on the upcoming election, with Senator Tom Cotton, Dr. Scott Jensen, candidate for Governor of Minnesota, radio hosts Howie Carr and Seth Leibsohn, and Steve Hayward, all focused mostly on the election. I spent the last hour with reporter Liz Collin of Alpha News, talking about her new book on the George Floyd fiasco, which impacted her personally.

Like all the radio shows, Dennis Prager has gone video. So if you go here, you can watch me in the studio as well as listen to the program. For what that is worth. To be fair, Liz Collin was an in-studio guest, and no doubt improved the visuals.

The show got off to a slightly rugged start, asdue to a technical glitchwe didnt get Senator Cotton on the air until well into the first segment, and then his phone dropped early in the second segment. Heythat is live radio! If you watch the video, you can see me tap dancing while listening to producers in my ear and trying to figure out what to do next. From then on, though, everything went smoothly.

And the show was really good. All of the guests were terrific, and if you stay with it, you will learn things about the George Floyd case that you probably didnt know.

Go here to watch.
A day after celebrating Valentines Day with her boyfriend in Nigerias southwestern state of Ogun, Olanipekun Irenimofe was locked up by the police. Her crime? Buying a contraceptive without a doctors prescription.

At about 10 a.m. on 15 February, the 25-year-old dashed to a nearby pharmacy to buy an emergency contraceptive pill to prevent pregnancy. As she walked back home, a police officer stopped her and asked her about the contents of the black plastic bag she was carrying. When she told him it was a contraceptive, he shouted: O fe lo se oyun (you want to abort a pregnancy). Why are you having sex?

These words made Ms Olanipekun more confused than frightened.

I didnt know contraceptives are a crime, she told PREMIUM TIMES over the phone.

Buying or using contraceptives is not a crime, but the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) identified emergency contraception as one of the most heavily restricted forms of modern contraceptives, due in part to misinformation about its safety, and misconceptions that it acts as an abortifacient, as seen in Ms Olanipekuns case.

Dare Olagoke-Adaramoye, a sexual and reproductive health expert, said the use of contraceptives in Nigeria is legal. However, confrontations such as the one Ms Olanipekun had with the police are caused by negative perceptions about women using contraceptives.

When a guy walks into a pharmacy to get a condom, everyone looks at him as a big boy. But if a woman tries such, she is [seen as] a prostitute, he said of the gender stereotypes on the use of contraceptives.

The security officer, who Ms Olanipekun assumed to be in his 50s, further asked her why she could not remain a virgin for her husband and said even if she had to take the pill, she needed a doctors prescription.

Another police officer who was nearby approached his colleague, asked about the womans crime and ordered that she be locked up.

This contravenes the agreement Nigeria committed to at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), held in Cairo, Egypt in 1994. Principle 7.3 of the ICPD Programme of Action states that everyone has the right to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence.

In the exercise of this right, they should take into account the needs of their living and future children and their responsibilities towards the community.

This is also included in Nigerias National Reproductive Health Policy and strategy to achieve quality reproductive and sexual health.

Although she was later released by the police without charge, Ms Olanipekuns case is just one of the many ways womens bodily autonomy is constrained in Nigeria.

Nigerias bodily autonomy scorecard

UNFPA defines bodily autonomy as giving one the power and agency to make choices over their bodies, lives and futures without violence or coercion and anothers input. The global sexual and reproductive health agency says that nearly half of the women in 57 developing countries are denied the right to decide whether to have sex with their partners, use contraception or seek health care.

UNFPA Director Natalia Kanem said the data should outrage us all because hundreds of millions of women and girls do not own their bodies and their lives are governed by others.

Nigerias criminal law system has two codes that operate in different regions  the Criminal Code in the South and the Penal Code in the North. Christian Ededhor, a lawyer, explained that the codes were passed separately to conform with the peculiarities of each region.

The Penal Code was created for the North to suit their Islamic practices with provisions that allow the use of haddi lashing (caning) as a form of punishment for certain offences such as the criminalisation of drinking (alcohol). There are certain provisions, such as bigamy, that are similar to the Criminal Code for the South, and serve as constraints on womens abortion rights. These restrictive provisions are found in Sections 228, 229 and 230 of the Criminal code.

Section 228 reads: Any person who, with intent to procure the miscarriage of a woman whether she is or is not with child, unlawfully administers to her or causes her to take any poison or other noxious thing, or uses any force of any kind, or uses any other means whatever, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.

Section 229 reads: Any woman who, with intent to procure her own miscarriage, whether she is or is not with child, unlawfully administers to herself any poison or other noxious thing, or uses any force of any kind, or uses any other means whatever or permits any such thing or means to be administered or used to her, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for seven years.

Section 230 reads: Any person who unlawfully supplies to or procures for any person anything whatever, knowing it is intended to be unlawfully used to procure the miscarriage of a woman, whether she is or is not a with child, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three years.

The same is found in the Penal Code in Section 232 where any person (including the mother), who is guilty of abortion, will be fined and will face imprisonment, but there is an exception where the aim is to save the mothers life.

Section 232 reads: Whoever voluntarily causes a woman with child to miscarry shall, if such miscarriage is not caused in good faith for the purpose of saving the life of the woman, be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to fourteen years or with a fine or with both.

These strict laws in Nigeria were identified by Reuters as one of the reasons that drive West African women to dangerous and illegal abortions. The Society of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians of Nigeria estimates that about 20,000 Nigerian women die from unsafe abortions every year.

Concerned about the effects of violations of womens body choices, in 2021, Ulla Mueller, the Country Representative of UNFPA in Nigeria urged the federal government to implement laws and policies to empower women and girls with bodily autonomy.

Why them no go rape you, see wetin you wear

While Ms Olanipekun was locked up by law enforcement officers for buying contraceptives, Princess-Ekwi Ajide, the Executive Director of Balm for the Bruised Foundation, was verbally abused by a female police officer for her appearance.

In 2019, Ms Ajide took a rape survivor to the police headquarters in Awka, the state capital of Anambra in southeast Nigeria, to report a rape case.

Upon being told that it was a rape case, the female police officer assumed the humanitarian worker was the survivor, sized her up and said: See wetin you wear, you come report rape. Why them no go rape you (Look at what you are wearing to report a case. Why wont they rape you?).

I asked her if this was how she treats people when they come to the police station, Ms Ajide said, recalling that she wore a knee-length gown.

She asked the officer why babies and old women are raped even when they do not wear short gowns or skirts.

Surprised at her response, the officer kept quiet, she recalled.

Tattoo, coloured hair other reasons women are violated

In other instances of violation of body autonomy, security officers have physically assaulted several Nigerian women.

In 2020, a 41-second video on social media showed a Nigerian soldier repeatedly whipping a woman for indecent dressing in Beere, Oyo State, according to eyewitnesses who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES.

The supposed indecent dressing was because the woman wore a dress with a hemline above the knee and had orange braided hair.

Later, the state government announced the arrest of the officers involved and said they had been taken in for disciplinary action.

The same year, a video from a Twitter user showed a soldier in Ogun State alighting from a commercial bus to assault a lady because he considered her pair of shorts and white knitted top indecent.

Eyewitnesses narrated to Punch newspaper that the military officer violently pulled the girls braided hair, yanked off her blouse and tried ripping off her bra before passers-by intervened.

These actions by law enforcement officers violate the provisions of the Operational Code of Conduct for the Nigerian Armed Forces.

Section 4 (i) of the code states: Women will be protected against any attack on their person, honour and in particular against rape or any form of indecent assault.

Also, the Nigeria police spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, told PREMIUM TIMES that the force frowns at extrajudicial violation because it respects peoples rights in every situation and sanctions any erring officer who violates peoples rights unjustly and criminally.

For instance, in August, the police dismissed Liyomo Okoi, an officer who flogged a civilian with a machete.

The police spokesperson said that sanctions could either be criminal or disciplinary, guided by the procedure indicated in the Police Act and other extant laws depending on the nature of the case.

However, he added that they have a challenge of defining ones right when it comes to enforcement of minimum force to discharge duties bearing in mind that no fundamental human right is absolute. That is, depending on the situation on the ground, not in all cases, one can claim violation of rights under the law.

Responding to the conditional statement made by the police spokesperson, human rights lawyer, Omotosho Tosin, said a citizens rights are violated so long as they are included in the fundamental rights as listed in Chapter four of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

What issue are the police having with defining rights? Must they trespass on the fundamental rights of a person anyhow? We are citizens of this country; if our rights are violated, we speak up against such and seek redress, she said.

Why bodily autonomy should be respected

The UNFPA in a document titled The right to contraceptive information and services for women and adolescents noted that access to contraception is founded on international human rights. As a result, denying women autonomy in their contraceptive choices is a violation of fundamental human rights.

In the Programme of Action from the International Conference on Population and Development, state parties, including Nigeria, are committed to the promotion and protection of fundamental human rights to contraceptive information and services.

These information and services include: the right to equality and non-discrimination; the right to privacy; the right to determine the number, spacing, and timing of ones children; the right to life; the right to health; the right to information; the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress; and the right to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

States are obliged to respect, protect, and fulfil the right to contraceptive information and services and this can be done by making contraceptive information and services available, accessible, acceptable, and of good quality.

Some countries that have promoted these rights were cited in the paper. For instance, in 2010, Chile enacted a law that guarantees its citizens the right to decide freely and responsibly on the contraceptive method of their choice, Romania ensures access to contraceptives through subsidies and Pakistan promotes access to contraceptives through home delivery.

Speaking on the effects of the invasion of women and girls bodily autonomy as it relates to their sexual and reproductive health, Mr Olagoke-Adaramoye, an SRHR expert, said it puts them at great risk.

He said that such violations are one of the leading causes of child and mother deaths when spousal approval is required before seeking health care.

And in the case where the abuse comes from the people who should protect your rights, i.e. law enforcement officers, he noted that it leads to mistrust among women and promotes the culture of silence.

The woman is endangered because she is on the receiving end, he said as he called on women to come to an awareness of their rights and the laws applicable to them.

Nimisire Emitomo, an SRHR consultant, corroborated this assertion, saying: If you feel a police officer will judge you based on how you are dressed, in a situation when you need their help, you will not feel confident or safe enough to report the case to these people who are supposed to protect you.

Experts propose solutions

To promote respect for bodily autonomy, Mr Olagoke-Adaramoye called for the public prosecution of officers who violate the rights of women and girls just as happens with civilians.

I know they have a rule of engagement and they have a martial court where people are tried, but what we are advocating is the public trial of these people, he said.

Ms Emitomo, on the other hand, said the abuse from security officers could be reduced through the training they receive after recruitment. She proposed that the training be all-encompassing with topics like emotional intelligence and survivor-centred treatment.

This article was produced as part of the WA GBV Reporting Fellowship with support from the Africa Womens Journalism Project (AWJP) in partnership with the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and through the support of the Ford Foundation.

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The Nigerian Navy on Sunday distributed food and other relief items to about 5,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) affected by flood in various communities in Ahoada Local Government Area, Rivers State.

Commander of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS), Pathfinder Port Harcourt, Suleiman Ibrahim, delivered the palliatives to the victims at the Central IDP Camp in Ahoada.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that relief items were bags of rice, beans, garri, tubers of yams and several cartons of noodles.

Others were sachets of assorted seasonings, bags of sachet water, different medications, yoghurts, and biscuits for children in the camp.

Addressing the IDPs, Mr Ibrahim, a commodore, said the Chief of Naval Staff, Awwal Gambo was worried about the plight of those affected by flood in the state and in the country at large.

The Chief of Naval Staff directed we distribute these relief items in collaboration with a private gas company, to ameliorate the pains of persons displaced by flood in Ahoada.

The distribution of relief materials is borne out of our concerns for victims who had been displaced from their homes and sources of livelihoods.

We are here to commiserate with the IDPs and to donate food and other palliatives to cater to the immediate needs of the victims, he said.

Mr Ibrahim said the navy would also carry out the second phase of the distribution of palliatives after listening to the IDPs on their other needs.

We have assessed the camps as well as interacted with the IDPs to know what their critical needs are.

We will return in the next phase with relief materials that the IDPs need, he assured.

NAN reports that navy officers distributed the relief items directly to the victims following allegations by the IDPs that their camp managers diverted palliatives from the state government and other organisations.

READ ALSO:

The decision of the navy to distribute the relief items directly to the campers drew loud cheers and applause from the elated IDPs.

The chairman of the IDP Camp committee in Ahoada, Gilbert Hamilton, denied the allegations and explained that the relief materials received earlier were not sufficient.

He said that displaced persons were pouring into the camp on a daily basis, a situation which further depleted the relief materials.

The allegation that we are diverting relief items is not true because everything is being shared equally among the more than 5,000 IDPs in the camp.

Our foods are further depleted by intruders, who come into the camps covertly to partake in the sharing of relief items with the real flood victims, he said.

Mr Hamilton added that the camp had less than 1,000 mattresses for the more than 5,000 campers, and called for help from the government, non-governmental organisations and humane individuals.

(NAN)

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David Lanre Messan is a Nigerian serial entrepreneur who has succeeded in the technology, entrepreneurship and fund-raising sectors.

He spoke to freelance Journalist Tony Ademiluyi on how he started, his strategies and his vision for Nigeria and Africa.

Here are the excerpts:

How did your upbringing prepare you for the challenging task of the cut-throat world of entrepreneurship?

My father taught me the art of curiosity and my mother taught me the art of entrepreneurship. These two elements are powerful tools to making the best of creating and delivering value. Knowing full well that my parents hold some of the best family values in life kept me consistent with the struggle and most importantly the vision.

You made your first million at 23 through your then companies Infinite Impact and Green Yaggy. Tell us more about how you achieved that?

I simply gathered 30 of the books I read online between year 2002 and 2005 and created an automated ebook with them. This was a huge innovation then considering the fact that it was the information age. The books were selected to focus on leadership, business, people management and success factors. MTN Foundation led by Kemi Oyagbola from her ChurchGate office in Victoria Island and some other leaders in key companies bought 1000 copies at N3000 each and that was it.

Are entrepreneurs born or made? Do you think that business schools can make one a better entrepreneur?

I think it is a combination of both. Ive seen people who went to some of the best business schools but didnt found a company of their own or start a business. On the flip side, some successful entrepreneurs like Richard Branson, for example never even graduated from college let alone attend a business school. So, to answer the second question, I do believe business school helps to sharpen entrepreneurial minds.

You recently had an event in Dubai where you brought together stakeholders in the technology sector most notably six start-ups. Tell us about the significance of the event and how it can translate into economic gains for the Nigerian technology sector?

A good question. Let me start by saying that Africa is gearing up to be where the next generation of groundbreaking innovations will emerge and global investors are beginning to see the potential. At GITEX Global, African founders and entrepreneurs reiterated this fact. As you probably already know, weve become community partners to NorthStar Dubai and GITEX Global. What this means for us at FirstFounders and the Nigerian tech ecosystem as a whole is that we can expect to see even more capital flow into the country because Nigeria was well represented by those Nigerian startups that were present at the event. As a matter of fact, ShapShap, one of the seven startups we led to the event won the Mobility Category of the Supernova Challenge, taking home the winning prize of $8,000.

You studied Mass Communication at the Lagos State Polytechnic. Why didnt you practice as a journalist and why didnt you study something more entrepreneurship related like Economics or Business Administration for instance?

If left to me, I wanted to be a pilot which is the reason I love jumping out of planes these days in every country I travel to. Lol  basically skydiving. But, realistically, I needed to do a course that has the robustness of curiosity, information and communication so I can articulate the very many ideas in my head for global change and entrepreneurial impact. That lead me to study Mass Comm. first but of course, I have done quite a number of courses on entrepreneurship and innovation with the likes of Harvard Business School, London Business School, Nexford University, Scalabl Academy and so on. I am very big on personal development which I did in the earlier years even before studying Mass Comm through reading books in my fathers library and exploring the world of business books on the internet for years.

In 2020 you launched First Founders Inc which has helped about 250 startups get incubated and raise funds for their operations. Tell us more about First Founders Inc and the motivation for delving into spearheading an incubation hub.

First Founders was founded based on my passion for innovation and impact. We are a venture studio that partners with early-stage founders to build, scale, and fund their digital ventures. Its no news that the majority of conceived ideas remain just that: ideas. They are never executed or developed for myriad of reasons, the most notable ones being a lack of capital, talent, and technical expertise. At FirstFounders, we believe that startups can greatly impact the Nigerian economy in many positive ways and that is the motivation behind our unrelenting support for these budding companies.

You have raised about $10,000,000 for some Nigerian startups most notably Syarpa, a Fintech which you helped close a fund-raising round of about $500,000. What spurred you to go into fund raising and what is the business model behind it?

As I mentioned earlier, we partner with startups to build, scale, and fund their businesses. Funding is a crucial part of startup success, especially in their early stages before revenue generation or profitability is reached. To help these young companies secure funding, it only made sense for me to learn the art of fundraising.

As for the business model behind it, we simply take a percentage of the total amount raised as compensation for facilitating the deal or we take some equity in the company.

You played a role as a communications consultant in the eight-year administration of former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola and worked as a communications strategist for the Atiku Abubakar campaign team in 2019. You recently got an appointment to work on the campaign of Dr. Diane Regisford in a similar capacity. Can you share these three experiences with us?

I am passionate about national and geo-politics and if I get any chance to contribute my quota of knowledge and expertise especially in the area of strategy, I am always happy to do. So, working with these three leaders was just my way to add value to the advancement of leadership and the society at large. For Lagos State, it was purely an appointment to render a service on communications where I developed communication structures for all the ministries under the government through the Lagos State Public Staff Development Centre. For His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, it was a sheer commitment to what I thought would be the beginning of a prosperous Nigeria back in 2019 and I simply gave my all to see it work but for some reason, it didnt pan out as planned. And for Dianne Regisford, it was my first time to play in the political scene in the United Kingdom and I was appointed to be in charge of strategy which I gave my all too as well. Very great experiences that would remain valuable in any political setting I find myself again.

Earlier this year, you joined the James Currey Society of Oxford University as a scholar where you got to learn at the feet of one of the founders of the society, renowned writer, publisher and scholar, Dr. Onyeka Nwelue. Tell us the criteria for your selection and share your experiences there with us.

I was selected based on merit following my ability to write and my drive for improving humanity with what I know. It was an expository on the literary world of African authors, writers and the creative space of African through instructors like Dr. Onyeka Nwelue; Stephen Embleton of the African Studies Center of Oxford University. Understand the different ways to write about African etc. One of the outcomes of these will be my two books that I will launch early next year.

First Founders Inc has a four-stage process with which they help startups scale. Can you take us through these processes?

Actually, it is a three-stage process which is further broken down into six other processes:

1. Build: Through extensive market research, we generate product ideas for our in-house startups. For client ideas, we perform market validation by designing a simple version of the product to test on the target users and validate the idea. Once confirmed, the full product is built and made available for beta testing.

2. Scale: Before the product goes live on the market, we develop growth hacking strategies for scaling.

3. Fund: We then introduce the product to investors. Once funding is secured, the product is scaled even further to capture even greater market share.

Some entrepreneurs like Michael Bloomberg, Donald Trump etc have gone on to delve into partisan politics. Do we see that happening with you?

Im 100% focused on developing the Nigerian economy through the growth of innovative startups. However, Ill stand for individuals that I believe can make Nigeria more conducive for startups. As for partisan politics, I dont see myself blindly supporting any one political party.

You once hawked edible items in traffic to raise funds to pay for your browsing in your early, humble days. What lessons are there for an average Nigerian youth?

Honestly, we the older generation need to pull them closer. Its no news that many parents ignore their children while they work to put food on the table. A big part of a childs morals and values are taught by the parents. A while we learnt by observing our parents, it isnt the case nowadays.

Today, if you tell a child no, you need to give an explanation for that answer. In summary, we have to teach them the dignity in labor and help them understand that wealth is usually acquired over time by working hard and smart. We shouldnt assume that theyll just know that.

How can the public policies of the Nigerian government help entrepreneurs especially the youths and those into technology which has been proven to have a very high potential to create massive jobs to drastically reduce the high spate of unemployment?

Youre probably aware that the Nigerian Startup Bill has just been signed into law by the president and has now become the Nigeria Startup Act. This Act is expected to make Nigeria a more conducive and enabling environment for startups. We hope to see the effect of the new Act in the coming months. Hopefully, it will bring the much-desired change startups across the country have been yearning for.

Lagos  Nigerias economic capital is congested. How can we create technological clusters in other parts of the nation similar to how the Silicon Valley is in California away from New York, Americas economic nerve centre?

Most startups are concentrated in Lagos because most key players and investors in the industry are in Lagos. Naturally, other new startups would want to be where the action is, where theres an established business structure. Theres also the obvious benefit of networking. As for creating tech hubs and clusters in other parts of the nation, people need to be given an incentive to move there. Host hackathons in other states, state governments can create policies that make their state more favorable than Lagos, like tax benefits, for example. Truth be told, it has more to do with the government than individuals.

Stanford University is the intellectual power base of Silicon Valley which has made California the sixth largest economy in the world. How can we create universities that can greatly serve as the intellectual hub for the tech sector in Nigeria?

Nigerian lecturers need a re-orientation. In schools like Stanford, lecturers genuinely want to see their students succeed and they do everything within their power to provide all the needed support. Here, we all know thats the case. So, the first step is the re-orientation of lecturers. Next is revamping our entire teaching syllabus to match with the world we now find ourselves in. I believe once these two areas have been dealt with, other things will begin to fall in place.

How can we create more tech unicorns in Nigeria which will lead to massive job creation as witnessed by Flutterwave after they raised $250,000,000 in Series D Funding which led to their massive recruitment drive?

I dont think anything in particular can be done to create more tech unicorns. Startups become unicorns mostly because they have a great product and massive market that is willing to pay for the product. These two elements are what makes investors interested in deploying funds to scale such businesses which ultimately gets them to unicorn status.

Thank you for the privilege of your time and attention!

Im glad to have had the opportunity.

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Tragedy struck on Saturday as five persons were killed in a road crash at Isma village on the Bauchi-Jos Highway.

The Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps in Bauchi State, Yusuf Abdullahi, confirmed the figure when he spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi on Saturday.

He said two other persons were seriously injured in the crash which involved one Peugeot 406 car and a DAF tanker.

He attributed the cause of the crash to a speed violation.

Seven persons were involved in the fatal crash, and they include three male adults, three female adults and 1 female child.

Two each of the male and female and the child lost their lives on the spot.

Two others, a male and a female sustained various degrees of serious injuries, he said.

Mr Abdullahi said both the injured and the corpses had been taken to the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital, Bauchi.

He lamented the losses and advised motorists to always be conscious of traffic rules and regulations.

(NAN)

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Sameh Shoukry, President of the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27), on Sunday emphasised the need to urgently implement climate change pledges and commitment.

That is why we have constantly called for moving from negotiations and pledges to an era of implementation as a priority as well as the acceleration of implementation of what we have agreed upon with the UNFCCC promoted in the parties accord and the work programme while stating the importance of scaling up ambitions and aligning them to countrys capacities and resources, he said.

He said this at the opening ceremony of the global climate change conference which is taking place in the city of Sharm El Sheikh from 6-18 November with more than 100 world leaders, including President Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak, due to attend.

it is clear to all of us that our conference this year is held amidst political tensions that left a deep impact on all our countries, Mr Shoukry said. I invite you all to show the whole world that we are aware of the challenges awaiting us and we have the political will to counter it.

He congratulated parties who have updated their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) while also calling on countries who have yet to update theirs, to do so.

Of 194 countries signed up to the UNFCCC, only 26 countries have updated their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) despite agreeing at Glasgow to revisit and strengthen their commitments by 2022.

Of the 24, Australia, Norway, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates submitted stronger targets; Brazil, the UK, Indonesia, Egypt and Brazil did not increase their targets. A total of 14 countries including Sudan, the Central African Republic, Cote dIvoire, Uganda, Gabon, Serbia, Bolivia and others submitted new NDCs.

The current level of ambition is not up to the Paris goalsFor the sake of an efficient implementation of pledges and commitments, we need more efficient and wider participation by all relevant parties, he pleaded.

Mr Shoukry noted the importance of private-public partnerships in achieving climate goals.

Furthermore, he noted that climate change-related efforts over the past decades were remarkably polarised which has slowed down the progress of the negotiations.

Current mobilisation efforts raise many concerns, he said; the $100 billion yearly pledge has yet to be implemented, also the financing currently available focuses on curbing emissions and not adaptation efforts and most of the financing is based on loans.

I believe that you agree with me that we do not have the luxury of continuing this way, we have to change our approaches to this existential threat, we have to work diligently and honestly and listen to one another, Mr Shoukry said.

Wealthy nations have failed to meet their financial obligations; they had promised a yearly $100 billion in financing since 2009 but have yet to make good on this promise.

Mr Shoukry was elected president of COP27 at the opening ceremony by acclamation.

Other leaders speak tough

Alok Sharma, Mr Shoukrys predecessor, in his remarks warned that the world is currently not on the path to keeping the global temperature at the required 1.5c.

How many more wake-up calls do world leaders actually need? he asked, citing cases of floods in Nigeria, and earthquakes in Pakistan among other climate-related disasters.

The conference must be about concrete actions, he said. He added that he hopes world leaders joining the conference will explain clearly what their countries have achieved last year and how they would go further.

It is simply a matter of trust, Mr Sharma said. Without its constituent members delivering on their commitments and agreeing to go further, the entire system falters.

He expressed his willingness to support the Egyptian presidency of the COP.

Speaking on the $100 billion yearly financing, he said, I hear the criticisms and I agree that more must be done by governments and the multilateral development banks including on doubling adaptation and finance by 2025 and establishing a post-2025 goal.

However, he remains hopeful given where the world was before and where it is at the moment.

With thanks to all of you, the UKs presidency ends as a demonstration that progress is possible, it is happening and it is continuing. Yes, we need to accelerate that progress in the remainder of the decisive decade but I believe fundamentally that we can; we know what we need to do to keep 1.5c alive, we know how to do it and Sameh, you and your team have our full support. So now friends, let us make sure we deliver, let us make it happen, Mr Sharma said.

UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Simon Steill, in his remarks said COP 27 marks the beginning of a new era and we begin to do things differently.

He said while other COPs gave the world a plan and an agreement, Sharm El Sheik shifts parties to implementation. No one can be a mere passenger on this journey. This is a signal that times have changed.

We will be holding people to account, be they presidents, prime ministers or CEOs. An accountability chief if you may because our policies, businesses, infrastructures, our actions, be they personal or public must be aligned with the Paris agreement and with the convention, Mr Steill said.

The heart of implementation is everybody doing everything they can to address the climate crisis.

He emphasised the need to not allow positioning to block progress as everyone has to act and the conference in Egypt provides the opportunity.

I want you to focus on three critical lines of action; we must demonstrate this transformational shift to implementation, putting negotiations into concrete actions, every corner of human activity must align with our Paris agreement and pursuing efforts to limit temperature rise to 1.5c, he said.

He added that we must cement progress on these critical work streams; mitigation, adaptation, finance and crucially loss and damage What is set in these negotiation rooms have to reflect in what is happening outside.

A third line of action, he said, is enhancing the delivery of the principles of transparency and accountability throughout the process.

He urged parties not to rescind their commitments. Stick to your commitments, build on them here in Egypt. I will not be a custodian of backsliding.

Mr Steill added that as the world pivots to implementation, women and girls have to be placed at the centre of climate decision-making and action.

The Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Hoesung Lee, reiterated that the world is not on track to limit global warming to 1.5c, hence now is the time for collective action.

According to Mr Lee, the IPCC report of this year shows that we have the technology and know how to tackle climate change but are limited by the availability of financing models.

With increasing warming, losses and damages will increase and additional human and natural systems will be pushed to adaptation limits. Therefore the prerequisite to a successful adaptation is ambitious mitigation to keep global warming within limits, he said.

He added that adaptation gaps especially in developing countries are particularly driven by widening disparities between the cost of adaptation and financing available for adaptation.

About COP27

The annual summit rotates among the five UN classified regions: Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, central and eastern Europe, and western Europe.

This is the fifth time Africa is hosting the conference; Morocco (twice), South Africa and Kenya have hosted it.

There are 11 thematic areas for this years COP. These are Finance day, Science day, Youth and Future Generation day, Gender day, Decarbonisation day, Adaptation and Agriculture day, Water day, Ace and Civil Society day, Energy day, Biodiversity day and Solution day.

The Egyptian presidency structured the COP27 action agenda with a focus on implementation, aiming to mobilise collective efforts for ambitious emission reductions from different sectors, enhance the transformative adaptation agenda on the ground, enable flows of appropriate finance and deliver on the ground on time and at scale.

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The Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Gambari, says with Nigeria projected to be the third most populated nation in the world after India and China by 2050, the country deserves a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council.

Addressing members of the Legislative Mentorship Initiative (LMI) on a learning visit to the State House at the weekend, Mr Gambari said Nigeria cannot be ignored in international affairs, considering its contributions to international peacekeeping and economic potential.

The Chief of Staff also declared that President Buhari will be remembered for leaving a legacy of free and fair elections as well as massive investments in infrastructure across the country.

He said the president has laid a solid foundation for youth empowerment.

On Nigerias quest for the expansion of the 15-member Security Council, Mr Gambari, who has served as Nigerias Foreign Affairs Minister, Permanent Representative to the UN in New York and first Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser to UN Secretary-General on Africa (1999-2005), told the young people on an excursion to the State House:

I think you are fortunate to be born a Nigerian. By the year 2050, according to UN statistics, Nigeria will be the third most populous country in the world after India and China.

A country that is the third most populated in the world must remain united, strong and prosperous and cannot be ignored in international affairs.

If you are the third most populous country in the world then the campaign for a permanent seat in the United National Security Council is one that we will find enormous support because you cannot ignore its people and potentials.

On the legacies of President Buhari, particularly his respect for the constitutional term limit, Mr Gambari said:

Mr President will be remembered for his commitment to free and fair elections in this country. He has said it many times that Nigerians must be respected, their votes must count and he is committed to leaving by the time the administration comes to an end on May 29, 2023.

The chief of staff added that President Buhari has led by example on probity and accountability in governance, stressing that the nation will also remember him for that.

When people talk about the legacies President Buhari is leaving behind, it is important to mention the infrastructure legacy- the 2nd Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, the Abuja-Kano expressway, the network of roads and railways across the country, the ports and the power sector.

It is important to emphasize power because without it and infrastructure the full stature of a nation cannot be realized.

On the presidents commitment to youth development, Mr Gambari noted that the recently signed Startup Act 2022 has the youth as the major beneficiary, as it recognizes the creativity of youths and seeks to empower them as productive entrepreneurs.

He described the projected contribution of the Act to the national economy as tremendous, citing successes recorded in Morocco, Tunisia and India.

Mr Gambari commended the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Founder of LMI, Femi Gbajabiamilla, for making an impact in the lives of young people through training and mentoring the next generation of legislators and ethical public sector leaders.

He urged the LMI fellows to maintain close contact with each other, and remain focused and united in order to overcome the challenges facing the nation.

People refer to you as leaders of tomorrow. I think it is a misnomer. You are already leaders of today because Nigeria depends on what you do and the part you have taken.

You are Fellows-in-Training that are already leaders of today because you have been selected from over millions of other possibilities shows that you are already making a mark.

Do not be intimidated by titles like Chief of Staff, because we all started from somewhere, Mr Gambari told the LMI programme fellows, recounting his humble beginnings from a village primary school in Ilorin, Kwara State.

Welcoming the Fellows-in-Training to State House, the Permanent Secretary, Tijjani Umar, engaged them on the history, role and priorities of State House in providing top-notch services to the president and vice president towards the effective discharge of their responsibilities to Nigeria.

The Permanent Secretary also explained the functions of the Principal Officers to the President and the Vice President.

Mr Umar expressed the willingness of the top management of the State House to support the process of building a new generation of public sector leaders.

Dapo Oyewole, director of LMI, who represented the Speaker, commended the chief of staff and the permanent secretary for hosting the LMI Fellows-in-Training.

By opening the doors of State House and allowing the Fellows-in-Training to come in on the last day of their intensive training, opens a massive door of possibilities and opportunities to them, he said.

Patience Tilley-Gyado

Assistant Director, Information

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Nigerias Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, has prescribed capital punishment for perpetrators of rape.

Ms Tallen made the prescription as a guest at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja.

She said only capital punishment and other forms of punishment commensurate with the inhuman crime of rape would act as deterrent to rape.

The minister, who expressed the commitment of her ministry to the protection and promotion of womens rights, said that rape had affected many women.

Ms Tallen, however, blamed the slow judicial system as responsible for continued rape and other forms of violence against women.

She urged the judiciary to rise up to the occasion of rapid justice dispensation to not only eradicate rape but restore confidence in the judiciary.

She said: Slow justice system is responsible for persistent violence against women and girls.

(NAN)

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The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Sokoto State on Sunday received more defectors ahead of the 2023 General Elections in the state.

The latest defection was another set of scores of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members from Dundaye, Gumburawa and Gidan Bubu districts in the Wamakko Local Government Area of the state.

Speaking at the event, Maigari Dingyadi, the minister of police affairs, described the development as a success, following the achievements recorded by the APC-led Federal Government.

The APC administration under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari has brought positive developmental projects aimed at impacting the lives of people.

The government had for the past seven and half years continued to roll out sustainable programmes that impacted positively to the lives of the less privileged in the country.

Therefore, I called on all of you to sustain more support for the victory of APC in order for the party to continue to provide more democratic dividends for our people, he urged.

Mr Dingyadi further said that those achievements recorded by the government at the centre were the reasons why members of other political parties were trooping into the APC across the board.

Receiving the defectors, Isa Sadiq-Achida, the state APC chairperson, described them as pillars of democracy in the area.

Mr Sadiq-Achida urged the new members to feel free and work for the success of the party in the forthcoming elections in the state.

Earlier, Ahmad Aliyu, the APC governorship candidate in the state, solicited the support of the electorate, while assuring to bring back more development for the state.

Mr Aliyu told the gathering that he would follow in the footsteps of the APC leader in the state, Aliyu Wamakko (APC -Sokoto North) and sustain his legacies when he served as governor for eight years.

Some of the defectors, Labaran Gidan-Ruwa, Balkisu Dundaye and Malami Mai-Sojoji revealed that they left PDP in the state following its alleged failure to deliver on all the promises made.

(NAN)

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A secondary school principal in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, is to receive a cash prize of N500,000 for emerging the best principal in the state.

The award, which is organised annually by a not-for-profit organisation, Inoyo Toro Foundation, is in its 15th edition. It is meant to boost education in the state.

Steve Akpabio, the principal of Christian Secondary Commercial School, Uyo, was announced the winner of the award at a ceremony on Friday in Uyo.

We can see this award as our own Nobel Prize, Mr Akpabio said when he went up to the rostrum to receive the award.

We know that the Nobel Prize is the highest prize an individual can have here on earth, he added.

Mr Akpabio said he has so far received over N1million from the Inoyo Toro Foundation since he started taking part in the award.

He said he won the Grand Mentor Award from the foundation in 2013 when he was a teacher.

Here I am as a principal, I have won it again, the school principal said with excitement while praising the foundation for complementing the effort of the Akwa Ibom government in promoting excellence in public education.

The Inoyo Toro Foundation Principals Award was sponsored by Bassey Ukpong Udo Foundation and the family of the late Simon Etim, popularly known as Akpananang.

The foundation also gave awards for best teachers in six subjects across public schools in Akwa Ibom.

Inyene Peter, a teacher at Saint Comprehensive Secondary School, Ikot Oku Mfang, Abak, won the best English Language teacher; Idorenyin Solomon, Community Secondary School, Obo Ntanya, Oruk Anam, won in Mathematics; and Idorenyin Jacob, Community Secondary School, Afaha Obo, Ukanafun, won in Biology.

Others are Nkamanse Mbat, Asong Community Grammar School, Asong, Mkpat Enin, who won the award as the best physics teacher; Emmanuel Okon, Methodist Secondary School, Ibiaku Issiet, Uruan, best chemistry teacher; and Kubiat Umo, Community Secondary School, Ikot Usen, Ibiono Ibom, best Economic teacher.

The best teacher in each of the six subjects is to receive a cash prize of N250,000, while the first runner-up and the second runner-up in each of the subjects are to receive N150,000 and N100,000 respectively.

A construction company, Hensek Integrated Services Ltd, sponsored the awards for Physics, Chemistry and Biology, while Anchor Insurance Ltd and Boda Services Ltd sponsored the awards in Economics and English Language, respectively.

A private individual, Aniekan Ukpanah, sponsored the award in mathematics.

In another category of award, five teachers are to receive N500,000 cash prize each for winning the Grand Mentor Teachers Award.

The five teachers are John Udoh (English), Ekpedeme Akpan (Mathematics), Joshua Effiong (Chemistry), Akpan Inyang (Physics), and Aniefiok Antia (Biology).

This category of award was sponsored by Savannah Energy.

How winners were picked

The Chairman, Screening and Award Committee of the Inoyo Toro Foundation, Enobong Joshua, explained how the best teachers were picked.

One hundred and sixty-three teachers, 11 teacher-mentors and six school principals applied for the awards via Inoyo Toro Foundation website, he said.

The final screening test for the selection of the winning teacher is in two parts. The first part is an aptitude test based on WAEC/NECO curriculum. The second part is an oral interaction between the resource persons and those who pass reasonably well (with not less than 40 %) in the written test.

To strengthen the value of the award, the first, second and third prizes can only be achieved if a contestant scores at least 70 %, at least 60 %, and at least 50 % respectively, in the results, Mr Joshua said.

In the Grand Mentor Teachers Award category, the mentors must scale through the written tests with a score of at least 50 %, in addition to their field performance indices, before being considered for the award. Besides, at least one of the mentees of the candidate should be a prize winner in the year, he said.

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A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River, Sam Bassey, and some community leaders in Biase Local Government Area of the state have pledged support for the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sandy Onor.

They made the declaration at a stakeholders meeting on Sunday at Biase, near Calabar.

Mr Bassey said he and his followers decided to work for the success of Mr Onor, while still in the APC.

He said their action does not in any way amount to anti-party activity, but that it is rather meant to correct the injustice meted out to their constituency.

The zoning structure adopted by the state chapter of the APC in their primary elections is in itself anti-Akamkpa/Biase Federal Constituency, where we all hail from, he stated.

Mr Bassey, a member of the APC legacy group, said the time has come for the political class and political parties to demonstrate equity, fairness and justice in sharing political offices.

The APC chieftain pointed out that using zoning or rotation to deny or marginalise other minority segments of the state is against the spirit of brotherhood.

He lashed out at the proponents of back-to-south zoning arrangement, saying that the agitators of such rotation were mostly those who want to continually dominate the other sections that make up a zone.

He stressed that every senatorial zone has credible people and resources to lead the state, and regretted that both the APC governorship and senatorial candidates are from Efik and from one local government area.

He said the zoning arrangement has excluded Akamkpa and Biase local government areas, and that it was an attempt to perpetually marginalise the minorities in the south.

I am vehemently opposed to this kind of arrangement where some people will remain underdogs and cannot occupy certain positions.

Against this background, I, some community leaders and hundreds of our followers in the Akamkpa/Biase federal constituency have endorsed and adopted the PDP governorship candidate, Prof. Sandy Onor, ahead of 2023 polls.

I believe that Senator Onor can help us, as we have discussed. He is very approachable and has a listening ear. We would try our best to mobilise for the election, he stated.

On whether his support and campaign for the PDP candidate does not amount to anti-party activity, he said: I am still in the APC and a legacy member of the party.

I have not defected, but the truth is that I am supporting the PDP because that is where the happiness of my people comes from. Besides, if my people are not happy in politics, I cannot even call myself a politician.

He advised all the candidates and parties to play by the rules rather than engage in politics of propaganda and sentiments.

Also speaking on behalf of some community leaders, Emmanuel Ogban, said, Some of us have already made up of our minds and are mobilising our people to work for the PDP governorship candidate to fight marginalisation in the south. We have been neglected.

This 2023 election is not about party affairs, it is about capacity and credibility as well as who can deliver and redeem us from sufferings and economic doldrums, he said.

(NAN)

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The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, has said members who are unhappy with Iyorchia Ayus position as national chairman are free to leave the party.

Mr Adebutu spoke while addressing non-indigenes living in Ogun at a gathering in Abeokuta on Saturday.

You should note that by Supreme Court judgements severally pronounced, those that dont like your party has few choices, they can either abide, go or form their own party or get out. We have chosen to abide and obey Ayus dictates, he said.

We agree that he is our chairman. We agree that Honourable Sikirulahi Ogundele is our leader in Ogun State and he is representing Iyorchia Ayu.

We agree to submit ourselves to the National Working Committee of the party. Those that dont abide should go and form their own party.

Mr Adebutus comments came amidst a push by some key members of the party for Mr Ayu to resign his position.

Governors Nyesom Wike, Seyi Makinde, and Samuel Ortom of Rivers, Oyo, and Benue states respectively have continued to mount a campaign for the removal of Mr Ayu.

The governors say the partys national chairmanship position ought to revert to the south, with Atiku Abubakar, a northerner, having emerged their presidential candidate.

Their position has thrown a spanner in the works of Atikus efforts to unite the PDP ahead of the 2023 general elections.

The partys presidential candidate had, however, backed Mr Ayu to remain in office.

Some of the ethnic groups who were present at Saturdays gathering in the Ogun capital included Igbos, Hausas, Igedes, Ijaws, and Idomas among others.

Mr Adebutu said that Nigerians remain one big family regardless of ethnic group or religion.

We are one Nigeria because we are one family speaking different languages; but we are happy together. May we continue to live together as one family and be happy.

We are happy that we have somebody joining us together, His Excellency, Waziri Atiku Abubakar. It is not in dispute that he is our leader and we shall all work hard to make him the president of Nigeria. He is the unifier. We have a duty to do him proud and do ourselves proud. We must continue to promote his ideologies.

Mr Adebutu urged the party members to stay united ahead of the general elections and not allow terrible human beings to cause disaffection within their ranks.

Let us stay united, dont be distracted. They have a purpose to distract us. They have worked for their pay, they have worked for their purpose, they have done their job.

Let us be focused, in the next few weeks we will be free; and when we are free, we will continue our journey.

He accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of failing in campaign promises, and that they thereby, have no reason to request for votes from Nigerians.

The economy is failing everyday, we are hungrier by the day, they are weaponising poverty.

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The Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, says 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have domesticated the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act 2015 to curb incessant cases of violence across states.

Ms Tallen, who said this during the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Ministerial Forum in Abuja, added that 32 states have also domesticated the Child Rights Act (CRA) 2003.

She said the laws would help in reducing the menace of violence, especially Gender-Based Violence (GBV), ensure perpetrators are prosecuted, provide support to survivors and protect the rights of women, children and men.

The minister attributed the increasing cases of GBV to delay in getting justice and urged relevant stakeholders to expedite action toward investigation and prosecution of such cases to ensure justice is served in good time.

She also urged authorities to utilise the DNA Forensic Laboratory in Adamawa, the first of its kind in the country, to verify specimens of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV).

She added that SGVB still persists because we seem to have a problem with the justice system; justice delayed is justice denied. We are appealing to the justice system to act fast.

Already, international development partners have done so well in the area of ensuring that we have a forensic lab.

It is the first of its kind in the whole of West Africa, located in Adamawa to help test and verify every specimen of Gender-Based Violence.

The North East suffered most in insurgency and Boko Haram issues, and that is why the choice of Adamawa was made to help address the problems we are having due to all forms of violence and rape cases.

According to her, a lot of advocacy is being done and there have been success stories around the VAPP Act.

She added that when I assumed office, there were only 12 states that domesticated the VAPP Act.

But today, I am proud to say that we have 34 states that have domesticated the VAPP Act; we have only two states left and by the grace of God before I leave office, those two states will domesticate the act.

The same thing with the Child Rights Act. So far since I assumed office, we have upscaled the number, we now have 32 states that have domesticated the act, with only four states left.

She, therefore, urged the states that have domesticated both the VAPP and CRA acts to diligently implement them to protect the rights of women and children.

She said I want to emphasise that it is not all about domesticating these acts; it is the implementation that is very important.

When you domesticate a law and you dont implement, it is as good as nothing. So, we are appealing to our governors to ensure that both the VAPP and CRA acts are fully implemented.

If they are implemented, no child will be on the streets, the girl-child will be in school, she said.

Ms Tallen also called on the justice system to ensure that proper punishment commensurate with the offence was meted out to perpetrators to serve as a deterrent to others and reduce cases of such menace.

Without the court passing judgment that will be commensurate with the crime, it will keep recurring in our communities, she added.

The minister, who decried the culture of silence following abuse or violence against a woman or girl due to fear of stigmatisation, said if you cover up a GBV case, you are worsening the situation because you are allowing that child to remain in perpetual agony because the child is dying in silence and a child that is raped can never be the same.

It is a mental stigma that remains with the victims all their lives.

(NAN)

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The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Iyorcha Ayu, on Saturday, held a consultative meeting with Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State.

Mr Ayu accompanied by the Director-General of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto, former governor of Jigawa, Sule Lamido met with Mr Mohammed behind closed doors.

The delegation arrived in Bauchi in the evening to meet Mr Mohammed over pressing issues in the party.

Speaking shortly before the meeting, Mr Ayu described Mr Mohammed as one of the major national stakeholders who contributed to the development of the party.

We are here to brief you on some of the developments that are going on in the party, and to seek your wise counsel because youre not just the governor of Bauchi, youre a leader in this country

You are experienced in all the places you served, and we thought people like you in this campaign, from time to time, we need to come around, consult and brief you on some things, he said.

Responding, Mr Mohammed said that he is a loyal member of the party and believed in it, adding that we rose on the back of the party to become what we have become.

We know that we came from ANPP (All Nigerian Peoples Party), but certainly whatever we have become, its courtesy of this party.

We have discussed issues affecting the party, especially my area as a vice chairman of the presidential campaign council in charge of the north.

So, they came with issues regarding some grey areas that we crossed the teeth and dotted the eyes, and its not for public consumption.

Certainly, it is part of closing rank, discussing issues which the National Chairman with humility came down to Bauchi with Director-General himself and of course our leader, he said.

(NAN)

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The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Alhassan Doguwa (APC, Kano) has alleged that the Kano State deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maritala Garo, is supporting the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar.

Mr Doguwa, during a press briefing on Friday, said Mr Garo, who is married to Walidah Atiku, is working for his father-in-law after failing to get the governorship ticket.

Mr Garo married Atikus daughter in 2016 in Yola.

The lawmaker alleged that Mr Garo, a former commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs, confided in him that he would rather be an in-law to a president than become a deputy governor, a position that is akin to a governors messenger.

His last wife is the daughter of Atiku Abubakar. When he was not given the ticket, I visited him, and he told me that since you have messed me up, since the system has undermined what I did for the party, I will rather become an in-law to a president than a deputy governor that will make me just like a messenger.

This is the disposition of the boy. What he is doing today  to God who created me  he has no faith in working for APC, he is working to become an inlaw to a president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which I believe will never happen. The president of FRN is Muhammadu Buhari. The incoming president to take over from Buhari is Senator Bola Tinubu, he said.

Mr Doguwa did not present any evidence of his accusation.

Mr Garo did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES request for comment. He did not respond to calls and a text message that was sent to him.

Mr Doguwas allegation is coming amid the latest crisis that is brewing in APC Kano.

Teacup incident

PREMIUM TIMES reported the alleged violence that happened between Messrs Doguwa and Garo, where the latter accused the former of attacking him with a tea cup at the political meeting on Monday.

Mr Garo told BBC Hausa that the majority leader violently invaded a meeting at the deputy governors residence and made several baseless accusations against the gathering including the deputy governor, Nasiru Gawuna, who is also the partys governorship candidate.

He said the majority leader became violent and injured him with a teacup while he was trying to defend himself against some of the accusations.

Mr Doguwa has since denied the allegation, stating that Mr Garo slipped in the melee that ensued at the meeting.

The lawmaker said he was not invited to the meeting but stumbled upon the meeting and raised concerns over the exclusion of members of the National Assembly from Kano State.

He is too young to order me around

During Fridays briefing, Mr Doguwa said the deputy governorship candidate, who is 38 years old, is too young to be giving him orders.

He added that Mr Garo is displeased with him because he refused to put his picture in any of his campaign paraphernalia.

He was nursing governorship ambition, but God knows that with Murtala Garo, Kano would have been in trouble.

His age is on the low side, his experience is on the low side. I am not saying that he is not qualified to be a governor or to run for governorship; somebody who is not up to half of age.

Kano, the largest state in northern Nigeria, has also had the highest turnout of voters in recent general elections.

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A Tanzanian plane has crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania while trying to land at the nearby Bukoba airport, BBC is reporting.

Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) says about 15 passengers have been rescued in the crash. The degree of the crash remains unknown.

Rescue workers and local fishermen are on the scene searching for survivors.

The aircraft, Precision Air, was flying from Dar es Salaam to Bukoba via Mwanza when it reportedly encountered a storm and heavy rains before it crashed into the lake which has its shore near the airport.

According to the BBC, photos show the plane almost completely submerged with only the brown and green tail fin above the water, surrounded by rescue workers and fishing boats.

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan called for calm during the rescue operation.

I have received with regret the information of the plane crash of Precision Corporation in Lake Victoria, Kagera region. I send my condolences to all those affected by this accident. Lets continue to be calm while the rescue operation continues while we ask Allah to help us, she tweeted in Swahili.

More details later.

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The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), is worried about the high rate at which medical doctors migrate from Nigeria to countries like the United Kingdom annually due to brain drain.

Chairman of the Forum and Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, disclosed this during a courtesy visit to the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire.

Mr Tambuwal also urged the federal government to ramp up the drive for the realisation of the 25% needed to ensure universal healthcare coverage for all Nigerians under the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF).

This was contained in a statement sent to journalists by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mohammed Bello.

Many organisations have raised concerns over the brain drain while Nigeria suffers from insufficient doctors and has a doctor-patient ratio  over five times worse than the WHO recommendation.

Some Nigerian officials have said at least 5,600 Nigerian medical doctors have migrated to the UK in the last eight years. And data from the development Research and Project Centre (dRPC) has shown that between 2019 and mid-2022, at least 4,460 nurses migrated from Nigeria to the UK.

The Governors, Mr Tambuwal said, are desirous of building a resilient healthcare platform committed to routine immunisation and total eradication of polio, in collaboration with global and local partners, their efforts will come to nought if the alarming trend continues unchecked.

There are challenges but a lot has been achieved, particularly in the effort to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, he told the minister. But we are witnessing brain drain over the years. It is alarming. And, I believe it has something to do with the welfare of the medical personnel. I urge the federal government to do something about this urgently.

While he commended the federal government for the initiative of setting up the BHCPF, the governor said it is important that the momentum of making the fund realisable is not slowed down.

He also assured the minister of transparency and accountability in the management of the fund by states and that disbursement by the Forum will be based on the performance of the recipient states.

On his part, Mr Ehanire said the government is also worried about the issue of brain drain. He said 3,000 medical doctors graduate annually in the country and about 1,000 of them leave the country every year.

He said while the federal government is trying to create more space to employ these personnel despite demands for higher remuneration, those who are less likely to stay back in the country, and for whom the incentive to do so is abysmal, are experienced consultants.

They are the ones that worry us most because it takes a lot of money to train them and it is difficult to meet their expectations.

He admonished state governors to dedicate resources to training medical doctors, who are subsequently employed by it.

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Starting today, 6th November 2022, more than 50,000 attendees will gather at the Conference Centre, Sharm el-Sheikh for the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27). The annual convening of governments around the world, representatives from various non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and nearly thousands of journalists to discuss climate change issues is referred to as the Conference of the Parties (COP).

COP is a platform where global leaders lay out their plans on how to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees and aim for 1.5 degrees, to adapt to the impacts of a changing climate, and to make money available to deliver on these aims.

COP26 in 2021 set the strategy for closing out the 2020-2030 decade. It was a COP that mobilised efforts to deliver on pledges made at COP21 in Paris seven years ago.

Who are the Parties?

The Parties refer to the 197 nations that agreed to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992. In June 1992, representatives from 172 countries gathered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), commonly called the Earth Summit.

The Earth Summit was an unprecedented meeting of representatives, including 108 heads of state, 2,400 representatives from various non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and nearly 10,000 journalists. An additional 17,000 NGO representatives attended a parallel NGO forum that provided recommendations to the Earth Summit.

At the summit, the countries signed a treaty promising to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere and prevent dangerous changes to the climate. Almost every year since then, the parties to this agreement have met to talk about what still needs to be done.

Since then, there have been annual convenings to discuss progress on global climate change ambitions.

The Paris Agreement

The Paris agreement is an international agreement on climate change that is legally binding. At COP 21 in Paris, it was approved by 196 Parties on 12 December 2015, and it became effective on 4 November 2016.

Under the Paris Agreement, countries committed themselves to cooperatively reduce greenhouse emissions to keep the earth from warming more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. Poorer countries have also been offered huge sums of money to assist them to cope with climate change and cut their greenhouse gas emissions.

The Paris Agreement calls for countries to take progressively aggressive climate action over a five-year period.

COP27 and Egpyt Presidency

This year is the 27th annual summit  giving it the name COP27. With Egypt as President, COP27 will be held from 6 to 18 November 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. In Sharm, on the eve of COP27, Egypts presidency honoured the moment through the illumination of Egypts historic pyramids. It lit up the Khafre Pyramid, one of the three ancient pyramids of Giza that dates back 4,500 years.

Egypt Pyramid

The implementation COP

Egypt will take over the COP Presidency and around 45,000 international delegates are expected to come together to advance the worlds climate agenda by increasing ambition and accelerating climate action.

Tagged the implementation COP, COP27 is expected to be one of the largest COP summits ever hosted.

It will be the transition of nations from rhetoric to concrete action. The Paris Agreement has been the subject of ongoing talks since 2015, but after the Paris Rulebook was finished at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, implementation is anticipated to start this year.

A new report from the United Nations Climate Change secretariat has indicated that the current commitments will still increase emissions by 10.6 per cent by 2030, and will spell doom for humanity if more efforts are not made by the concerned parties.

COP 27 will start with the Climate Implementation Summit, which will gather over 100 world leaders scheduled for 7 and 8 November 2022.

The Climate Action agenda to be discussed during COP27 will focus on bringing the world together for implementation to ensure a just and sustainable future for all. A report has shown that the combined climate pledges of 193 Parties under the Paris Agreement could put the world on track for around 2.5 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of the century, so it is important for the implementation summit to set the agenda.

More than 50,000 attendees are registered and expected to participate in COP27 and the Egyptian Presidency has designated several key thematic days that will include pledging opportunities, discussions, roundtables, and side events. The thematic days are part of efforts to advance climate action that can address existing implementation bottlenecks and gaps and deepen engagement with youth, women, civil society and indigenous people.

The Sharm El-Sheikh Climate Implementation Summit, which includes all participating heads of state and government, will begin tomorrow and last for two days. Tens of world leaders will participate in a number of roundtable discussions after the summits opening to focus on six main issues: Just Transitions, Food Security, Innovative Finance for Climate and Development, Investing in the Future of Energy, Water Security, and Climate Change and The Sustainability of Vulnerable Communities.

According to COP27 President and Egypts Foreign Minister H.E. Sameh Shoukry, countries should show faith in multilateralism over the next two weeks as they negotiate to deliver on the goals of the Climate Convention and the Paris Agreement.

While addressing climate envoys and delegates, COP President Sameh Shoukry said:

It comes as no surprise to anyone that the COP is being held this year in a world which is witnessing political turmoil that cast a long shadow on all our nations and has resulted in energy and food crises; however, these challenges should be no reason for delaying our collective effort to fight climate change. It is inherent on us all in Sharm El Sheikh to demonstrate our recognition of the magnitude of the challenges we face and our steadfast resolve to overcome it.

Mr Shoukry said Egypt provides the best framework for COP27 to coordinate and converge multiple views, promoting transparent, inclusive and fruitful discussions to achieve the best possible outcome.

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United Nations Climate Change Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell, has said the global body will be holding world leaders and people to account in order to make their policies align with the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the Convention.

The UNFCCC official disclosed this while delivering his remarks at the opening plenary of the 27th edition of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) in Egypt Sunday.

We will be holding people to account, be they presidents, prime ministers or CEOs, accountability

chief to make our policies, our businesses on infrastructure in order for our actions, even personal or the public must be aligned with the Paris agreements and with the convention, Mr Stiell said.

He emphasised that the heart of the implementation of climate pledges lies with everybody everywhere in the world, doing everything they possibly can to address the climate crisis.

With the Paris Rulebook essentially concluded thanks to COP26 in Glasgow last year, the litmus test of this and every future COP is how far deliberations are accompanied by action. Everybody, every single day, everywhere in the world, needs to do everything they possibly can to avert the climate crisis, Mr Stiell said.

He said: COP27 sets out a new direction for a new era of implementation: where outcomes from the formal and informal process truly begin to come together to drive greater climate progress  and accountability for that progress.

Key Focus

Mr Stiell asked governments to focus on three critical areas at COP27.

He explained that the first is a transformational shift to the implementation of the Paris Agreement and putting negotiations into concrete actions.

The second is cementing progress on the critical workstreams of mitigation, adaptation, finance and loss and damage, while stepping up finance notably to tackle the impacts of climate change, he said.

Me Stiell said the third focus of governments across the world is to enhance the delivery of the principles of transparency and accountability throughout the UN Climate Change process.

COP 27 Presidency Vision Based on Human Needs

On his part, the Egyptian COP27 President, Sameh Shoukry, said the presidency intends to focus the worlds attention on key elements that address some of the most fundamental needs of people everywhere, including water security, food security, health and energy security.

He said: Were gathering this year at a time when global climate action is at a watershed moment. Multilateralism is being challenged by geopolitics, spiraling prices, and growing financial crises, while several countries battered by the pandemic have barely recovered, and severe and depleting climate change-induced disasters are becoming more frequent.

Conference of Parties

The COP is the supreme decision-making body of the Convention. All States that are Parties to the Convention are represented at the COP, at which they review the implementation of the Convention and any other legal instruments that the COP adopts.

This years COP27 creates a unique opportunity for the world to unite, to make multilateralism work in order to restore trust and come together at the highest levels to increase ambitious targets and action in fighting the devastating climate change effects impacting the world.

COP27 must be remembered as the Implementation COP  the one where we restore the grand bargain that is at the centre of the Paris Agreement, Mr Shoukry said.

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Four of Nigerias 18 presidential candidates are set to debate today (Sunday).

The presidential town hall is organised by the Centre for Democracy and Development and Arise Television.

Those invited for the debate include Bola Tinubu of the ruling APC, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP.

The four candidates were selected based on the performance of their parties in an online survey by the organisers during which all the 18 political parties were listed in alphabetical order.

The result of this survey informed our decision to invite the highest four scoring parties  LP, APC, PDP and NNPP to the town hall, the Director of the CDD, Idayat Hassan, said in a statement.

The explanation did not, however, deter two other presidential candidates, Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress (AAC) and Adewole Adebayo of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), from expressing their dissatisfaction with not being invited to the debate. Both men shared their views on Twitter.

Read the full statement by the CDD announcing the debate on Sunday.

CDD collaborates with ARISE on a first presidential town hall

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) is collaborating with Arise Television to host a series of presidential town halls ahead of the 2023 general elections. The first of these sessions takes place today and will air on Arise Television and on its YouTube and social media platforms.

Ahead of the 2023 elections, CDD and Arise identified the need to ensure citizens hear from the presidential candidates. This follows CDDs constant campaign to ensure that the parties and candidates conduct issues-based campaigns. Nigerians need to hear how their future leaders plan to address the rising level of insecurity, considerable economic challenges and the impact of foreign affairs in domestic considerations. This has informed our engagements around the elections, from providing fact-checking support and working with partners to provide analyses on the election security terrain.

We are aware that there are questions surrounding the shortlisted candidates we invited to the first town hall. However, this decision was not without reasoning or a set methodology. To ensure ample time devoted to hearing each of the candidates, we ran a survey on Twitter from the 4th to the 10th of October asking citizens to vote on which four parties they wanted to hear from. All 18 political parties were listed in alphabetical order. After the survey was closed, nine parties did not receive a vote. The remaining nine received the following percentage of votes- African Action Congress (AAC)  20.7%, All Progressives Congress (APC)  86.2%, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA)  6.9%, Labour Party (LP)  96.6%, New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP)  51.7%, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  82.8%, Peoples Redemption Party (PRP)  6.9%, Social Democratic Party (SDP)  6.9% and Young Progressive Party (YPP)  13.8%.

The result of this survey informed our decision to invite the highest four scoring parties  LP, APC, PDP and NNPP to the town hall. CDD is an independent and neutral institution and is non-partisan or linked to any political party or candidate. The methodology stated above was set before the survey was sent out to avoid any insinuation or claims of bias.

We do not expect this to be the sole platform for candidates to engage with the electorate. Through our ongoing work  a weekly newsletter focusing on issues for candidates, an election security tracker in partnership with the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project (ACLED), a fake news observatory to monitor misinformation spread during the campaign and our periodic reports and outreach programmes ahead of the election  we expect to support and amplify voices and platforms so Nigerians can make an informed decision.

We hope that this town hall is not the only avenue for Nigerians to listen to their presidential candidates. We welcome other platforms and opportunities to support an issues-based campaign in the run-up to the 2023 elections. We are optimistic that such dialogue and engagement can only portend for better civic engagement and lead to a peaceful and reflective election outcome.

Idayat Hassan

Director

For media-related enquiries contact

cddabv@cddwestafrica.org

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Members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State have rejected the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, ahead of the 2023 general election.

Mr Obi hails from Agulu community in the council area of the state.

The PDP members stated this on Saturday when coordinators of the party from the 21 local government areas of the state met with the Presidential Management Committee in Awka, the state capital.

The party members met to fashion out ways for the victory of their presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and his running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa in next years poll.

The members described Mr Obi as a social media candidate, insisting that the council area has always been a PDP stronghold and that the former governor of Anambra would not change the situation with his personal ambition.

Mr Obi was the governor of Anambra State between 2006 and 2014 under the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

In October 2014, seven months after handing over to Wille Obiano, he defected to the PDP.

The former governor was a presidential aspirant of the PDP this year.

He announced his resignation from the PDP, a few days before the partys presidential primary, saying there were practices in the party that were inconsistent with his belief and persona.

He defected to the LP where he later emerged as the partys 2023 presidential candidate.

We were not consulted

The PDP members in Mr Obis council area said the LP candidate did not consult them before exiting the party.

We were in the party before Peter Obi joined us when he left APGA. And PDP was already formidable and winning elections. His decision to leave after many years of benefiting from the PDP and to pursue his personal ambitions cannot impact the party negatively, said Ugochukwu Adilieje, the PDP coordinator in Anaocha council area, where Mr Obi hails from.

Peter Obi never consulted his political family before his decision to leave; for him, it was his personal ambition, and such cannot be binding on us all as we have our own personal ambition, which is for PDP to win in next years election and in other elections, he stated.

Mr Adilieje asked his party members not to be afraid of candidates from other political parties, maintaining that the PDP members would support the partys presidential candidate, Mr Atiku, and other candidates of the party to win in next years polls.

He said, Our mandate is Atiku, and we will crush anyone standing in our way. We cannot allow our people to continue to be victims of emotions and sentiments.

We are members of the PDP and must own up to our party and its presidential candidate and ensure that he wins in our local government area and state. Peter Obi is only popular on social media and not in Anaocha (Council Area).

Rallies will not influence voters

Since he emerged as the LP candidate, Mr Obi has been enjoying an increased following which later dovetailed into rallies usually organised by his supporters, otherwise known as Obidients.

But Mr Adilieje dismissed the rallies, saying such would not have an effect on voters.

Anyone can organise a rally that every Tom Dickinson and Harry Potter will attend, but on the day of the election, the real voters will cast their votes accordingly, he said.

A former PDP governorship aspirant in Anambra State, Obiora Okonkwo, was recently appointed director of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the PDP in the state.

Chuma Ezeafurukwe, the coordinator of the party in Aguata council area of the state, said the appointment of Mr Okonkwo, a professor, as the partys PCC director in Anambra State had rejuvenated the PDP in the state.

He said the party was confident of winning in the council area and state in 2023.

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Two major presidential candidates, Bola Tinubu of the APC and Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, were absent at the presidential town hall meeting held Sunday evening.

While Atiku was represented at the event by his running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa, Mr Tinubu had no representation and was replaced by the organisers with another presidential candidate.

The event was organised by the Centre for Democracy and Development and Arise Television.

Apart from Messrs Tinubu and Atiku, the other two presidential candidates invited for the debate were Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP. The last two were present for the debate.

The four men were selected based on the performance of their parties in an online survey by the organisers during which all the 18 political parties were listed in alphabetical order.

A statement by the CDD revealed that after the survey was closed, nine parties did not receive a vote. The remaining nine received the following percentage of votes- African Action Congress (AAC)  20.7%, All Progressives Congress (APC)  86.2%, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA)  6.9%, Labour Party (LP)  96.6%, New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP)  51.7%, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  82.8%, Peoples Redemption Party (PRP)  6.9%, Social Democratic Party (SDP)  6.9% and Young Progressive Party (YPP)  13.8%.

The result of this survey informed our decision to invite the highest four scoring parties  LP, APC, PDP and NNPP to the town hall, the organisers said.

READ ALSO:

However, hours before the event, Mr Tinubu was replaced with Kola Abiola of the Peoples Redemption Party who was present at the event.

The moderator, Reuben Abati, announced that Atiku was on his way back from Morocco and had communicated with the organisers to let Mr Okowa represent him. Nothing was said of the APC.

The organisers also did not state why the APC candidate was not present or represented at the event. They did not also explain why and how Mr Abiola was chosen as a replacement since his party did not come fifth at the poll. The fifth position was won by the African Action Congress (AAC), whose candidate, Omoyele Sowore, had complained about his exclusion from the debate.

The absence of Mr Tinubu or his representative stirred controversy on social media. Many Nigerians accused the ruling party candidate of avoiding critical public engagements.

Some attendees at the event in Abuja had also protested the presence of Mr Okowa, saying only the presidential candidates should be allowed to take part. However, the organisers said Atiku had communicated his absence to them and they had agreed that he would be represented by his running mate.

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Nigeria parades some of the finest intellectuals in Africa and, I dare say, globally. Well, to a certain extent. Outsiders are often amazed at the level of distilled wisdom that exits our mouth when we speak and flows from our pen when we write. But the word finest is only relevant in the Nigerian context to the extent that we are not held to account to practice what we preach daily.

If we are in the habit of practicing the opposite of what we preach, our admonition will not only lose its force and cogency, but also, we ourselves will forfeit every claim to credibility. An ounce of example, it has been widely said, is far better than a ton of precepts.  Chief Obafemi Awolowo

Not too long ago, I had cause to strike up a friendship with someone whom I considered a co-traveler in my Save Nigeria Project. I have always reasoned that for a beleaguered nation to rise above the ashes of the current dire situation, progressives from all nooks and crannies of this land must come together and begin the difficult process of bridging our widening fault lines. I strongly believe that if as a country, we continually fight each other, behaving like an improbable amalgam of warring tribesmen, Nigerias days are surely numbered.

My first encounter with Nasir (not his real name) was through his fiery weekly column. Every Wednesday, he lays out his vision of a new Nigeria, brimming with patriotism and taking on those he believes are sowing the seeds of disunity and profiting off the nations divide. Needless to say, his essays re-echo my sentiments and his vision for Nigeria completely aligns with mine. When we spoke over the phone, we both self-critiqued and acknowledged where our regions could do better. My friend gave what I believed was a candid advice and offered a lot of insights on how the average Northerner perceives the Igbos. He also gave his prescription for addressing areas of perennial conflict between the two groups. Expectedly, I reciprocated.

On the issue of power rotation to the South and especially the South-east in 2023, we both agreed that even though rotation by its very nature is far from perfect, its nevertheless one of the remaining threads that is holding the nations fragile unity. We both agreed that Ndigbo deserved a chance to field who will occupy Aso Rock, not that such will correct the systemic injustice that the people often cry out against, but is more like a ceremonial handshake across the Niger; another way of saying, you too are a part of this whole. We were moving quite well and hoping that the kind of dialogue we had could be replicated across the great divides in this country we both love. Then, like a bolt from the blue, one article happened.

My friend authored a piece on why a certain Northern presidential candidate would be the best thing to happen to Nigeria in 2023. This candidate, known to be long on sleaze, was whitewashed and clothed in an immaculate robe. In fact, what Nasir wrote could better be described as a hagiography. So much for a patriot working hard to get his country back on track! I was utterly dismayed. It felt like one being led on this wild goose chase and the pain ran deep like a stab wound in the back. Of course, I have since learnt my lessons and now approach activism the way I see religion; each to his own.

For quite some time, I thought about what happened to Nasir. I wasnt sure if my friend had this one moment of epiphany that changed everything. I could never understand how we just made a whole song and dance of equity and fairness a few days earlier, only to find out that I was literally having a monologue. But admittedly, I was naive and too believing in the first place. One came to find out later that Nasir had been made a mouth-watering offer to join the candidates media and strategy team, the lure of which apparently was stronger than any call to serve the fatherland.

There is also another dimension rarely talked about openly. Nasir had played into some sort of old regional stereotype. There is this notion in a good segment of the Nigerian South, that public intellectuals and political activists of Northern extraction, no matter how firebrand, would always kowtow to their regions political leaders and religious authorities. Those pushing such a narrative would describe anti-establishment figures, the likes of the legendary Aminu Kano and Tanko Yakasai, as unicorns who have been exceptions rather than the rule.

Particularly telling is one of Buharis media aides, who once served a two-year term as president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors. In the mans alternate universe, the worst person to ever superintend the affairs of Nigeria and a man known for his manifest incompetence, is Nigerias God-sent leader. A leader who is a textbook case of nepotism and the poster-child of religious bigotry, is somehow the biggest promoter of national unity, to him.

In the first place, everything is wrong with such a parochial mindset. As an Igbo, a sub-nationality that has consistently been at the receiving end of negative stereotypes in Nigeria, I find such characterisation very problematic. Granted that not all stereotypes are bad, but by over-generalising, it strips people of the ability to be individuals in their own right, while robbing them of other aspects of their identities and selves. How do you forge your identity when youre constantly battling stereotypes thrown at you? Society often uses stereotypes to excuse targeted discrimination, which can create what someone described as identity turbulence. Truth is, there are as many turncoats and soldiers of fortune in the South, as they are in northern Nigeria.

Nigeria parades some of the finest intellectuals in Africa and, I dare say, globally. Well, to a certain extent. Outsiders are often amazed at the level of distilled wisdom that exits our mouth when we speak and flows from our pen when we write. But the word finest is only relevant in the Nigerian context to the extent that we are not held to account to practice what we preach daily. The Nigeria intellectual, it appears, has some hunger-inspired creative mind that is full of ideas; the type that freezes up as quickly as his belly gets stuffed with agbado, served in the gold-rimmed plates of Aso Rock and state government houses.

The Nigerian intellectual, as a private citizen, is this firebrand activist. You expect him to mount his cherubic pulpit always, where he sermonises and pontificates to those in power. He preaches democracy and rule of law, as if Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson were his pupils. He gives history on the rise and fall of empires. He goes on a lengthy harangue, demonising political actors and calling on citizens to unite and rise against corrupt governments. But the very moment he makes his way into the corridors of power, he trades his signature t-shirt and iconic beret for a crisply starched agbada. He lets you know that he is in it for the service of his country and then starts making excuses for the government he serves. He lashes out at his former colleagues for not having a realistic expectation.

Particularly telling is one of Buharis media aides, who once served a two-year term as president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors. In the mans alternate universe, the worst person to ever superintend the affairs of Nigeria and a man known for his manifest incompetence, is Nigerias God-sent leader. A leader who is a textbook case of nepotism and the poster-child of religious bigotry, is somehow the biggest promoter of national unity, to him. Those of us who are pointing out such sins and demanding some measures of accountability are clearly the problem. As the presidents image maker, no one expects him to criticise a government he is serving under. At the same time, no one could have imagined that this public intellectual could descend to the Trumpian low of harvesting and polishing alternative facts.

His predecessor who served under President Jonathan didnt fare any better. This well-respected journalist is a polymath who strides several knowledge verticals. Prior to Jonathan, he was this one-of-a-kind patriot who filled the public commentary space with elegant prose about good governance and public accountability. He rose like a meteor. But he had to serve under an incompetent president whose legacy is the current administration. Our man of letters found himself defending the indefensible. In fact, he loved his newfound status and enjoyed the company of his rich friends so much, to the extent that one of them, a fugitive drug baron, offered him a ticket to be his running mate for office, which he gladly accepted.

But by far, the most appalling about-face that I have ever witnessed has to be a certain cash-and-carry journalist from the South-East with the initial, FN. He has an impenetrable writing style; his essays are characteristically turgid and acts are often over the top. Not too long ago, he used to write scathing opinion pieces, brimming with venom, which described Buhari as a clueless president who is up to no good. But not anymore. The man just woke up one morning and made a complete 360. Buhari, he now preaches to us, is the best thing that ever happened to Nigeria, and a man who is incapable of doing anything wrong.

Having shamelessly laundered the current administrations dirty image, which he packaged as a patriotic duty, he was rewarded with yet another of such assignments. He was brought in to join in the ranks of the APC presidential candidates rabid attack dogs. Today, he is leading one of the most vicious and unethical attacks on the Labour Partys presidential candidate. He dismisses Peter Obi as just another candle in the wind. Its not hard to figure out what happened to him.

Too many examples abound of two-faced Nigerian intellectuals; they are to be found among media personalities, legal luminaries and civil society icons, etc. They are quick to shed their identities as fast as they assume new ones. Which is why these days, its not uncommon for those in my neck of the woods to ask if one is really an intellectual or just another Otelectual.

Lawyers are not left out in this ignoble metamorphosis. One of President Buharis serving ministers is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who prior to his current position was a fire-spitting human rights activist. Today, every anti-people and anti-democratic effort of this government has his imprimatur.

Before him and during President YarAduas time, was a Nigerian Attorney General (AGF) and Minister of Justice who, prior to joining that government, was a senior partner in a law firm for 18 years, who claimed that he supported justice and advocated for truth.

At the time of YarAduas prolonged absence, the erudite lawyer was asked by CNNs Christian Amanpour: why has it taken the system so long to fill the power vacuum in the presidents absence? He responded by stating, there was no power vacuum. He argued that the dying Nigeria leader could serve as the president from anywhere in the world, as long as he could. The man was notorious for using his office to subvert justice by protecting governors accused of large-scale fraud from EFCCs prosecution. In fact, it was alleged that while in London in 2009 to block the trial of James Ibori in a British court, he was chased out of his hotel room by Nigerian activists.

Too many examples abound of two-faced Nigerian intellectuals; they are to be found among media personalities, legal luminaries and civil society icons, etc. They are quick to shed their identities as fast as they assume new ones. Which is why these days, its not uncommon for those in my neck of the woods to ask if one is really an intellectual or just another Otelectual.

But truth be told, a good number of Nigeria intellectuals are not like those chameleon faces. Thanks to principled men like Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Gani Fawehinmi, Attahiru Jega, Olisa Agbakoba and many others who struggle every day in Nigeria to do the right thing against all odds. They are our true national heroes.

All over the world, public intellectuals are the engine driving social change. They challenge the status quo and hold political leaders to account. For Nigeria to move forward, we must not only re-define our politics but our public intellectuals must be consistent and show a great deal of respect for the truth. They must be ready to stand by principle, whether in or out of the corridors of power.

Hitler is reputed to have committed the worst case of genocide recorded in human history. Josef Goebbels, the chief propagandist of the Nazi party and the man who enabled and cheered him on while he carried out such egregious act, was no less guilty. Talking a good game without following it with commensurate actions, isnt necessarily a profile in courage.

Osmund Agbo writes from Houston, Texas. Email: Eagleosmund@yahoo.com

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The continued weaponisation of identities in plural societies will only make progress impossible, national cohesion elusive and development a dream deferred There is an inconvenient truth that must serve as a lesson for all believers in universal and organised religions. More and more people are leaving the faiths, some are becoming atheists because we have offered them a face of God that is, by our actions of weaponising religion, clearly ugly, inhuman and unjust.

In a presentation elsewhere, I summed up my great country Nigeria in the following words: From its inception as an independent nation, Nigeria has remained a volatile country. Home to over two hundred million people..Highly resourced, but endemically corrupt, a combination of serious governance missteps, series of military coups, years of maladministration, a culture of violence, has seriously slowed down what should have been one of the greatest nations on earth. It has left its people vulnerable to poverty, disease, violence and death. Here is the enigma: Amidst all of this, in 2014, The World Value Survey ranked Nigerians the happiest people on earth.

Today, a combination of local and global factors of terrorism have further pushed the country to the precipice. After well over ten years of battling Boko Haram, insurgency, banditry, and ethno-religious violence, our weary citizens are absorbed in self-doubt, their natural happiness clouded by deep despair. Daily news of abductions, armed robberies, kidnapping for ransom, murders and assassinations of our innocent citizens persist and citizens have become inured to these. Our sacred spaces have become killing grounds. Hundreds of worshippers have been murdered in mosques and churches across the country. In response, much of the world shrugs its shoulders and moves on. The reasons are understandable. The world is faced with existential threats to our collective survival and nations are busy mending their own fragile boundaries. Most of Africas injuries are self-inflicted, largely by a corrupt elite with unrestrained greed, which mistakes personal comfort for governance. Religious extremists have found in Africa, fertile grounds for the growth of their destructive doctrines.

Against this background, I applaud the foresight of the organisers of this conference, the R20 International Summit of Religious Leaders, ahead of the G20 Summit scheduled to hold here in Bali this month. It is commendable that you have had the foresight to attempt to shine a moral touch on the G20 countries and hopefully to make a case for the need for leaders of religion to rally around, so that they can roll back the threats posed by those men and women who continue to use religion as a means of inflicting cruelty and slowing down human progress. I specifically commend the goal of the conference, which according to you is to, among other things: to prevent the weaponisation of identity and combat the spread of hatred. Today, hatred feeds on the weaponisation of identity, marginalises the other, and creates the conditions for their dehumanisation, and inevitably takes us down the dark paths that justify violence and murder in Gods name. My intention here is to briefly speak to the issues, as they concern my personal experience in my great country, Nigeria, which, like your own country, is host to the greatest number of Muslims outside the Middle East.

The Nigerian story of the weaponisation of religion has been characterised by the manipulation of historical narratives between Christians and Muslims, and the setting of ethnic groups against each other over the years. Most Muslims in northern Nigeria have continued to re-echo sentiments of the old caliphate (1804-1903), which views Christianity as a foreign religion that is tied to colonialism. This has fed from a false notion that since Islam preceded Christianity into the space now known as Nigeria by hundreds of years, it had become an indigenous religion. The truth is that, of course, Islam itself originated from the Arab peninsula. Either way, the reality is that an independent Nigeria is supposed to be home to all citizens, irrespective of ethnicity or religion.

Sadly, rather than uphold the principles of equal citizenship as enshrined in the Constitution, the political elite continues to exploit religious sentiments and the further division of our people, while creating windows for religious extremists to exploit. Discrimination in the allocation of opportunities, whereby governors use state resources to favour one religious group against the other, serves to create a false sense among the favoured group that politicians can be relied upon to defend its religion.

Christians, in most of the northern states of Nigeria, feel quite discriminated against in many areas of public life. Despite the provisions of the Constitution, Christian education is not being taught in public schools in most of the states. Certificates for land to build churches are denied and constantly, Christians find their churches often earmarked for destruction on flimsy excuses. Mission schools were taken over from them without adequate negotiation and compensation. At the local level, Christian children who are indigenous to the states have no access to state scholarships and the graduates find themselves discriminated against in employment. The educational system does not promote national cohesion because students are not exposed to the teachings and cultures of faiths other than their own. The result is that generations of young citizens grow up with suspicion and fear of one another.

Outside Northern Nigeria, the situation is different. In the South-West of the country, where this a significant percentage of Muslims, there is hardly any incident of violence in the name of religion. United by very strong cultural threads, the Yoruba intermarry and live together rather peacefully. Their love for education has ensured that they do not carry the excess baggage of confusion, miseducation and ignorance that have denied Muslim children education in Northern Nigeria, on the grounds that Western education is a danger to Islam. Little wonder, Boko Haram has emerged from the rubble of this culture of fear of Western education from the womb of Islam in Northern Nigeria. In the West, the teaching of religion is considered a part of the education syllabus.

Compounding this structural persecution of Christians in Northern Nigeria, we have witnessed a growing culture of overt violence in the name of Islam, spanning over the last decades. For over thirty years now, Nigeria has been home to the worst form of violence on two levels. First, is intra-religious violence; that is, violence targeting those among Muslim groups within Islam, on the grounds of differences in the practice of the religion.

The South-East of Nigeria has no significant Muslim presence. Even at that, the Muslim population in these areas still love Western education and do send their children to school. Across the country, I can speak authoritatively for the Catholic Church and its attitude to education. It makes adequate provision for the teaching of Islam where necessary, because we have a tradition of often hiring and paying Islamic teachers as part of the staff. The culprit in all of this is the political and religious elite in Northern Nigeria, which continues to treat Christianity with suspicion. No matter how much we deny these facts, if we do not confront the realities, even if they are imagined, it will be impossible to close the portals through which ignorant youth continue to perpetrate violence. Rather than create friendships early in life at school, conditions of self-doubt, fear, and anxiety persist among children of diverse faiths. Without the deliberate political will to address these issues by listening to grievances rather than accusations, the weaponisation of religion will continue to destroy the foundation of our common citizenship.

Compounding this structural persecution of Christians in Northern Nigeria, we have witnessed a growing culture of overt violence in the name of Islam, spanning over the last decades. For over thirty years now, Nigeria has been home to the worst form of violence on two levels. First, is intra-religious violence; that is, violence targeting those among Muslim groups within Islam, on the grounds of differences in the practice of the religion. Within Islam, there has been violence among groups as Shiites, Izala, Boko Haram, ISWAP and a few others. The largely Sunni and Tijanniya brotherhoods have been more accommodating, while also being victims of violence. Second is the violence by Muslim extremists that directly target Christians or their infrastructure, such as churches, presbyteries, convents, schools, health facilities and even social infrastructure for public use, such as pastoral centres.

This violence has been a slow burning candle over the years, treated as localised. Now, violence by Islamic extremists has smouldered into an inferno. It is literally impossible to keep track and count of the culture of violence that has consumed the nation. Over the years, a culture of impunity has grown with Muslim extremists simply referred to by government as miscreants or defined as those who do not represent the religion of Islam. With no punishment and consequences for their actions, with governments not taking responsibility for destroyed businesses and places of worship of Christians, these so-called miscreants have become emboldened, they operate beyond the law, and continue to create the impression that they are holy warriors for God. Silence on the part of those who are in authority could be taken as subtle endorsement.

We suffered this fate most recently in my Diocese of Sokoto in the aftermath of the brutal mob-killing of one Ms Deborah Samuel, a young Christian student accused of blasphemy and publicly murdered on campus on 13th of May by her fellow Muslim students, for having complained about the forced introduction of religion into an academic study group for her class. Far from universal condemnation of this horrific act, many Islamist extremists and their Imams applauded the murder, claiming it was justified, and calling for additional violence against any who might ask for legal justice against the perpetrators. This happened in spite of the condemnation of the act first by the governor of the state, the Sultan of Sokoto, and my humble self. This is one instance in which there is a clear conflict between the protections guaranteed by the Constitution and the claims made by criminals who hide under the wings of religion. The taking of any human life, no matter the motivation, unless sanctioned by a competent court of law, is a punishable offence. When the state fails to do this, it merely postpones the evil day.

The rise in religious extremism has further opened up new levels of terrorist activities across our country but largely within Northern Nigeria. It has been difficult to label these criminals, but it is not enough to say that they are misguided Muslims or that they have not left Muslims alone. This raises the urgency of very sober and heart soul searching among the Muslim community, in terms of how their faith and kinsmen and women have had their identities hijacked. While we have had cases of the abductions of very visible Muslim clerics in parts of the North-East and North-West, the abductions of senior Christian church men have been far more pronounced, targeted and vicious.

In the course of all this, in my Diocese of Sokoto, we have had our own challenges in only one of the four states that make up the Diocese. In the southern part of Katsina State, we have had four of our priests kidnapped in one year; one was killed and the others were held for between two weeks and 33 days. Two of my Catechists and over twenty of my lay faithful have been kidnapped within the same area. Across the country, the number of kidnapped priests and religious person is close to a hundred. A total within the entire Christian communities spread across the country, including school children, will be in the thousands. We have witnessed some of the worst form of brutality in four of the states that make up our Diocese (Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara). Thousands of villagers have been brutally murdered in their homes, in the markets and on the highways. These are communities with no Christian presence. At this stage, we are witnessing a country that is on freefall, where life  any life  has become nasty, brutish and short. This is the violence which we face today, one which degrades us all and robs us of our fundamental dignity as human beings, whether as Christians or Muslims.

In conclusion let me make a few particular and then general comments about the way forward as I see it for my country, other parts of Africa and the world. It should be clear from what I have tried to say that our problems are two-fold: First, is the fate of Christians in Nigeria and second, is the widespread violence in the name of Islam that has consumed the country, irrespective of social class, religion or ethnicity. It is a wakeup call. I wish to make the following appeals, locally and internationally.

Beyond conferences, we must develop a coherent programme of lessons and agreed principles that we can learn and accept from one another. This cancer of the weaponisation of religion threatens us all. History shows us that empires and emperors have had their day. In the form we knew them, they are gone for good. The world will always be full of men and women with grand delusions about how they have been divinely sent to create a new world at the cost of human blood.

First, for us in Africa, in general, but Nigeria, in particular, the weak infrastructure of the state has predisposed our public office holders to corruption on a truly monumental scale. Good governance has failed and human survival has become a casualty. Rather, governance is seen as state capture, whereby politicians share patronage on the basis of their cynical exploitation of the fault lines of religion or ethnicity. Nepotism and favouritism based on religion, region, social class or ethnicity have become weapons of choice which, in turn, deepen a feeling of alienation. In Africa, when politicians present themselves as champions of their ethnicities or religions, naturally, their supporters expect that the rewards of winning an election would mean power to their base alone. This exploitation undermines democracy and imperils the future of our people.

Second, governments should embrace a culture of constitutionalism, insisting on the supremacy of their national constitutions, given that we are in democracies and not theocracies. Religious and cultural beliefs should be sources of law but not the law in themselves, no matter the claims. In a democracy and under a constitution, innocent citizens cannot lose their lives due to cultural or religious claims that are contrary to the laws of natural justice, or subjected with impunity to spurious religious claims. So, as we see in Nigeria and elsewhere, no citizen should have the right to take the life of another or cause injury on grounds of any sort of divine claim. Decisive punishments must be meted out to those who kill in the name of faith! Religious leaders of the faith being used must put pressure on their states to follow the rule of law and not be afraid of being targeted by extremists. Silence by religious leaders can send out the wrong signal.

Third, it should be clear to us by now that all citizens are at risk in the hands of these terrorists who, first, use ethnicity or religion to destroy humanity. Whether they are Boko Haram, ISIS, or other ethnically or racially based groups, we must all stand together to insist that injury to one is injury to all. We must all accept that we are all citizens of one human nation, that no religion or ethnic group is superior to the other. Those who govern us must have the courage to stand firm.

Fourthly, a comprehensive, integrated programme of Education remains the cure for all forms of extremisms. It is not enough for leaders of faith to continue to engage in mere moral rhetoric or meaningless dialogue designed to appease politicians while leaving our people as victims by refusing to address the failure of governments. As I have said in Nigeria and elsewhere, the first victims of religiously inspired violence by extremists are always their own people. In todays world, these victims are so often Muslims. In Northern Nigeria, majority of those who have died in the hands of Boko Haram, ISWAP, bandits or kidnappers have been Muslims. In the ISIS war in Iraq, despite the unacceptable brutality against the Christian minority, especially the Yazidis, the majority of victims, in the end, were Muslims. This should sound the alarm that it is not just about religion but also our common humanity. We must admit that even if mass killings of people of faith may not be an overt state policy, still we cannot ignore situations where there are people in the highest levels of government whose inaction and impunity clearly align with hidden genocidal intentions.

Beyond conferences, we must develop a coherent programme of lessons and agreed principles that we can learn and accept from one another. This cancer of the weaponisation of religion threatens us all. History shows us that empires and emperors have had their day. In the form we knew them, they are gone for good. The world will always be full of men and women with grand delusions about how they have been divinely sent to create a new world at the cost of human blood. However, we must work hard to cure them of their delusions by keeping them out of circulation by legal means. Here, developing nations must do more than merely append their signatures to international laws that protect human rights. Religious bodies, in collaboration with local and international civil society groups, must work together to ensure a fairer world for all.

Weaponising identity through dubious and false religious and ethnic triumphalism, as the world has seen with apartheid, racism, Nazism and only recently, the tragedy in Rwanda, has no future. The continued weaponisation of identities in plural societies will only make progress impossible, national cohesion elusive and development a dream deferred. Leaders of world religions must unite in the face of the forces of secularism and extremism. There is an inconvenient truth that must serve as a lesson for all believers in universal and organised religions. More and more people are leaving the faiths, some are becoming atheists because we have offered them a face of God that is, by our actions of weaponising religion, clearly ugly, inhuman and unjust. Our silence in moments of severe rupture of our society in the name of our religion offers the greatest impetus for extremism. As religious leaders, we must continue in prayer and solidarity to end religious extremism and offer the world a badly needed moral compass for a peaceful and just world.

Matthew Hassan Kukah is Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto and founder of the Kukah Centre, Abuja, Nigeria.

This is the text of a presentation delivered at the G20 RELIGION FORUM (R20), International Summit of Religious Leaders held between 2-3 November at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Bali, Indonesia.

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The devil was laughing at me.

Jesus said to me: Femi, blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear. (Matthew 13:16). But what could I see that others could not see?

I soon found out.

The spirit world became open to me. It was as if someone turned on the light and suddenly, a world I never knew existed suddenly became visible to me. Thereby, the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled in my life:

The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned. (Matthew 4:16).

But there were complications. I was open to the positive spiritual, as well as the negative.

Spirit of error

Once I was in an anointed environment, my left leg would shake visibly. This gave me some concern because I knew I was not the one shaking my leg.

Then one day, an inner voice said to me: Ask me anything you want, and I will answer you by shaking your leg. If the answer is yes, I will shake your leg. If the answer is no, I will not.

And so began this amazing process whereby I would ask a question in my mind and the answer would be provided through my leg.

Let us say, for example, I was looking for my wristwatch. I would ask my invisible friend: Is it in the bedroom? If the answer were yes, my left leg would move up and down. If the answer were no, there would be no movement. Once I got to the right room, I would use the same question-and-answer process to identify the precise location of the watch.

This was all very exciting until my invisible friend started giving me wrong answers. When I get to the place he identifies, the thing would not be there. And when I wondered why this was so, it would tell me: You are not supposed to question the holy spirit, you are just supposed to obey.

After a while, I became totally confused.

Jesus says: My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (John 10:27). They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. (John 10:5).

God is not the author of confusion but of peace. (1 Corinthians 14:33). He needed to resolve this situation for me in the process of learning to know His voice.

Spirit of truth

One day, the pastor of my church came to see me. He said the Lord revealed to him in a dream that the devil was laughing at me, saying he would drive me mad. He said the Lord would like me to fast for three days. If I did, He would explain to me what I needed to know.

I was very irritated by the pastor. I did not initially make a connection between his revelation and my lying spirit. I said to myself: This is what is wrong with these pastors. They are always seeing idiotic visions about others, just to control their lives.

But I thank God that, despite my qualms, I decided to fast. I felt I had nothing to lose by doing so.

The beginning of my fast coincided with a trip to Igbajo for the funeral of my sister-in-laws mother. We had a driver, so I sat at the back of the car, reading my Bible.

Every time I looked up, I noticed he was driving too fast for my liking. I kept warning him that all the members of my family were with me in the car and that he should not go above 100 kilometres per hour.

Then suddenly, the Lord took me out of the vehicle. Whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know. (2 Corinthians 12:3). But I was on top of the car looking down and I saw angels surrounding the car in formation and flying with us. Then just as quickly, I was back in the car, with the Bible in my lap.

From then on, I stopped bothering about the driver and simply concentrated on my reading. I am not saying a believer can drive at any speed he likes. I am just telling you about the grace I received from the Lord on that occasion.

Spirit of revelation

When I came back from the funeral, on the third day of my fast, I was sitting in my study all by myself, when something mind-blowing happened. The power of God suddenly overshadowed the room like a cloud, and the Lord started to talk to me.

What was so dramatic about this, and it has never happened to me since that time, is that the voice came from heaven. It did not come from within me. It came from somewhere in the ceiling.

The Lord told me to take a pen and write down what He was going to tell me. And there started from that day recurring teachings from the Lord about the Kingdom of God. I have chosen to call these kingdom dynamics.

The Lord said to me: Femi, there are two kingdoms, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. Everybody you are ever going to meet will come from one of these two kingdoms. It is your responsibility to determine which kingdom the person you meet is from.

If the person is from the kingdom of your Father, you must determine why I want you to meet him. Every person you meet, you will meet for a reason, and you will meet by appointment. Nothing that will ever happen to you will be coincidental. Nothing will ever happen to you by happenstance. Everything that will happen in your life will happen for a reason. It is your responsibility to determine precisely what the reason is.

As I wrote this down, I was covered with tears. I wept uncontrollably because I could not understand why God would give me such privileged information in a one-on-one tutorial. What did I do to deserve that kind of visitation? I was overwhelmed.

Predestination

This is an amazing kingdom dynamic that goes to the heart of Gods providence. It means that everything about my life is working to a script: Gods script. As David told God by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit: You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book! (Psalm 139:16).

If you stand on the street and a car passes by it did not just happen. The car was programmed to pass by. Everything happens by divine contrivance. God weaves the lives of everyone together as a weaver does the threads of a cloth. Combined, they all form a particular pattern.

The life of a man is like a jigsaw puzzle that God assembles. That jigsaw includes everything; every word we speak and everything we do.

So, you could not have been anywhere else except where we are right now. You could not have been doing anything else right now, except reading this article of faith.

Faribisala@yahoo.com; www.femiaribisala.com

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The Akure pilgrimage was an abduction of 96-year old Fasoranti by elements who spent over a decade undermining his Yoruba leadership. They took advantage of Babas advanced age and the suspicious company of turncoats who envelope him to get Tinubu to reap where he did not sow. The coup reeked of corruption, abduction and coldblooded execution of a most clinically infernal hijack of power in Yoruba history.

In 1996, his car riddled with bullet holes inflicted by General Sani Abachas goons aimed at assassinating him, Yoruba Afenifere leader, Senator Abraham Adesanya, had made a bullseye statement. That statement appears to explain the raging furore among the leadership of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, today. Adesanyas father had twenty children. He was the only one initiated into the awo secret cult by the older Adesanya. As such, Senator Adesanya was known to be highly fortified with the powers of his ancestors. It was a time when the demonic Nigerian state under Abacha sought to wipe out any dissent to its infernal rule. The then Lagos police commissioner had inspected the spatter of bullet holes on Adesanyas car and concluded that no human being could have survived that assassination attempt. Alarmed and apprehensive of further associating with Adesanya, his driver, who survived the assassination attempt with him, had immediately eloped, sacked himself from Adesanyas employment, fearful for his life. When told of his drivers abscondment, Adesanya was said to have retorted in Yoruba that Omode lon se e. O ye ko mo wipe bi agbe o ba fo, omi inu re ko le danu  He is being childish; otherwise, he would have realised that if the gourd does not break, the water inside it cannot be spilled.

Last week, the gourd of Yoruba leadership broke  or was broken  and the water has since spilled like a burst cistern. The forceful break of the gourd however has a consistent tragic trajectory. The destruction of the gourd has a consistency in the recent historico-political tale of the Yoruba. The gourd was forcefully broken by the same evil dramatis personae, political merchants and vultures, who have consistently sought an option reminiscent of the biblical Samsons  to crumble a house that has proved impenetrable to their attempt to make it a house of Mephistopheles.

Since the founding in London in 1945 of the Egbe Omo Oduduwa, the progenitor of Afenifere, by Yoruba leaders  Adeyemo Alakija, president; Yekini Ojikutu, vice president; Obafemi Awolowo, general secretary and others like Akinola Maja, Oni Akerele, Akintola Willliams, Saburi Biobaku, Abiodun Akerele, D.O.A. Oguntoye, Ayo Rosiji and others  five persons have made futile attempts to destroy this Yoruba foremost leadership organisation and its Afenifere mutation.

The first anvil for its destruction was Nnamdi Azikiwe. Although his attack on the leaders of the Egbe preceded its founding, the tribal tension in the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM) was Ziks  as he was fondly known  opportunity to sound a death knell on Egbe Omo Oduduwa, the first major attempt at unity by the Yoruba. The Egbe had huge prospects to unite these people who had, for centuries, splintered in discord like the seeds in a walnut pod.

In the February 1941 split in the NYM over the contest for the Legislative Council seat between Samuel Akisanya (who later became the Odemo of Isara) and Ernest Ikoli, erstwhile Daily Service editor, Zik and his West African Pilot newspaper pitched their tents with Akisanya. Yoruba leaders queued behind and voted for Ikoli. This generated further tension in the NYM between 1946 and 1948, eventually and effectively leading to the death of this anti-colonial government movement.

Azikiwe didnt hide his disdain for the Egbe and its leaders. Indeed, Egbe Omo Oduduwa had not been formally inaugurated by the time Azikiwes NCNC, in December, 1947, sponsored protest demonstrations against it, using the editor of the Pilot, F. O. Coker, as the peg of the protest. Zik and his party, the NCNC, went on to form the Yoruba Federal Union (YFU) as a counterpoise to, and as such, weaken the Egbe. This was at a time of growing solidarity among the Yoruba. Zik and his crew launched the YFU on 12 June, 1948 at Glover Hall, Lagos but were so tactless as to make the speakers at the inauguration to be Azikiwe himself, Mbonu Ojike, a known Zik apostle and columnist in the Pilot, as well as Oged Macaulay, a known Zik ally. The YFU however suffered the fate of all politically concocted contrivances  it faded out.

Zik would however not relent. Deploying a weekly newspaper called Ijebu Weekly Echo to achieve their aim, Zik and his group pilloried the Egbe headed by Sir Adeyemo Alakija. Bitter, crude and vulgar personal insults were splashed on them by the Igbo, mainly residents of Lagos, using such descriptions as the bane of our age, a nihilist, totalitarian, fascist organization, as well as a dirty exhibition of egocentric stupidity, ethnocentric arrogance and capitalized idiocy to characterise the Egbe Omo Oduduwa. This was followed by an incendiary editorial commentary in the Pilot of 8 September, 1948, which said, Henceforth, the cry must be one of battle against Egbe Omo Oduduwa, its leaders at home and abroad, uphill and down dale, in the streets of Nigeria and in the residences of its advocates There is no going back, until the Fascist Organization of Sir Adeyemo has been dismembered. Osita Agwuna, a leading Zikist, after his conviction for sedition, wrote an open letter he entitled, To all the people of Nigeria and all Zikists, in which he advocated attacks on the Egbe.

Until the Akure fiasco, Tinubu wore the Olusegun Obasanjo visor of 1999. In that years presidential election, a high chunk of the Yoruba leadership openly disclaimed Obasanjo, who was seen as an enemy of the Yoruba. This antagonism led to Obasanjos election by outsiders. Frustrated by the prospect of a repeat of the route Obasanjo trod, Tinubus desperation to procure Yoruba leadership legitimacy, no matter how crooked or brimming with fraud, becomes understandable.

The second attack on the Egbe was led by the mercurial Adegoke Adelabu, an acolyte of Zik. Though his disdain for both Awolowo and the highly perceived Ijebu people-dominated Egbe was historical, the incendiary age long intra-ethnic fissure and struggle for power between the Ijebu and the Ibadan was the peg. By the 19th century, Ibadan had become a very potent military force but its prowess was crippled by the embargo placed on the importation of guns and gun powder on their routes by the twin nations of Ijebu and Egba. Peeved, Ibadan, in the rainy seasons of 1877, matched out its military arsenal against the Ijebu and Egba, with the aim of forcing open their roads to the coast and conquer, as well as absorb, their territories into Ibadan. Unfortunately, this expedition failed and the Egba and Ijebu thereafter aligned with all the enemies of Ibadan, like the Ilorin, reflected in the treaty of 1886 signed to recognise the independence of the Ekitiparapo. Even after this, their mutual hostility continued. The Ijebu distrusted and feared the Ibadan. These pre-colonial polities and realities gestated into and found their way into the founding of the Egbe Omo Oduduwa.

Ibadan elites, preening themselves as warriors who would not play second fiddle to the Ijebu, rallied round to thwart the emergence of Awolowo as a modern-day dominant power. They created a counterbalance to the Egbe, which they called Egbe Omo Ibile, Society for Native Sons, and appointed as leader, Adegoke Adelabu, The Ibadan Egbe later coalesced into the Ibadan Peoples Party (IPP) or the Mabolaje. The sub-ethnic threat from the IPP to Awolowos Egbe was so intense that, apart from the cross-carpeting of five IPP House of Assembly members to the side of the Action Group (AG), which ensured that Awolowos AG formed the cabinet in 1951, the IPP subsequently won the 1954, 1956 and 1959 elections. A death knell to the Ibadan advocacy however came through the commission of enquiry into the affairs of the Ibadan District Council, which indicted Adelabu of financial malfeasance and eventually his death via a car crash in 1958. This led to an intra-national uprising in Ibadan, with the Mabolaje splintering into the Mojid Agbaje and Adisa Adeoye factions. Both groups however failed to muster enough opposition to the AG and Egbe Omo Oduduwa which eventually swallowed them.

The erstwhile editor of the Daily Service, a lawyer and polemicist who took up the newspapers editorship from Sese Ikoli, Chief S. L. Akintola, was the third architect of the plot to destroy Egbe Omo Oduduwa. Akintola had come into journalistic prominence by launching one of the most visceral attacks on Azikiwes claim of an attempted assassination on him. As editor of the Service, Akintola cut the ground from under the feet of Zik when he published the whole pamphlet alleging Ziks assassination in one issue of the newspaper with the title, Assassination de luxe, price one penny. In the thick of the AG rumps attempt to remove him as premier, Akintola also formed a counter group to the Egbe Omo Oduduwa, which he called Egbe Omo Olofin, Olofin being one of the cognomens of Oduduwa.

Named at first Egbe Omo Yoruba and later on, Egbe Omo Olofin, the major undisguised aim of the group was to finally destroy Awolowo, who was by then serving a ten-year jail term in Calabar prisons. This Egbe was conceived by political arch-enemies of Awolowo and new converts who believed that his jailing had put a wedge on his relevance. Some of the coupists were the former Administrator of the Western Region in the Emergency year, Dr M. A. Majekodunmi, who was personal physician to the Prime Minister; Chief H. O. Davies; some high court judges and traditional rulers. Some leaders of the Awolowos Egbe were also seen in the new Egbe. Members of the new Egbe then issued a press release where they castigated Awolowo after their maiden meeting held on 3 January, 1964.

The fourth threat to the pan-Yoruba socio-political group came from a man known as the Arole Awolowo, Awolowos heir, Chief Bola Ige. His loss in the Wednesday, 27 January, 1999 electoral college of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) held at the DRovans Hotel in Ibadan threw up the messy tussle in the fold of the political children of Awolowo. At the end of the exercise, Ige received nine votes as against 14 for Chief Olu Falae. Since that election, Afenifere and the post-Awo leadership of Yorubaland have never been the same again. Though he disguised his roiling anger at the Ijebu Four  Olaniwun Ajayi, Ayo Adebanjo, Abraham Adesanya and Pa Onasanya  with the claim that he was gaudily joyful at Falaes emergence, Iges actions and utterances thereafter showed that he was poised for a fight with the mafia. One of the things he did was to get his long-time friend and fellow Ijesa Yoruba, Justice Adewale Thompson, to form the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE), to rival and indeed factionalise Afenifere. Alajobi, a group headed by Bishop Emmanuel Gbonigis intervention couldnt stop the derailment. After Iges assassination, the crisis metastasised, so much that Afenifere was broken into two factions, one headed by Fasoranti, who had been handed the leadership of the group after Adesanya fell ill, and the other by Ayo Fasanmi, Iges friend. By the time of his assassination in 2001, Ige left a Yoruba land that was roiling in leadership crises.

The fifth threat to the Afenifere and the quest of the Yoruba has been Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Using his singular win in the 2003 governorship election and the loss of his AD colleagues in the West as the propelling force, Tinubu immediately began what ostensibly was the reunification of Yoruba politics under his roof. It was however a veneer for his presidential and prebendal ambition. Deploying a huge war chest of resources of his Lagos State, he funded virtually all political activities in the region, literally pocketing all his ex-AD governor colleagues, except Adebayo Adefarati. By then, it had become clear to him that the Afenifere mafia, who collectively ensured his emergence against Funsho Williams in 1999, would fight him to a standstill, having fallen out with him.

With all he had, Tinubu battled this Yoruba leadership hegemony, infiltrating their ranks and creating a counterbalance, the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG). At Fasanmis death, his group appointed Senator Biyi Durojaiye as Afenifere leader to further delegitimise Fasorantis leadership. When Durojaye also died, the Tinubu group appointed another Afenifere leader. With the support of his governor colleague, Bisi Akande, who had become his bag carrier, Tinubu dismantled the AD, which was the most impregnable political base of the Afenifere socio-political group, formed the Action Congress, later with Atiku, and which, in 2013/2014, went into alliance with the ultra-conservative North to form todays All Progressives Congress (APC).

Instead of going through the futile attempt to abduct Afenifere and its leadership, I wonder why the group behind this penkele mesi  the offerees and offerors of legitimacy  did not deploy ARG for the legitimacy-hunting game; or simply create a brand new organisation. That would have been neater in this last minute tanna webi  grope in the dark for kin  that they are engrossed with.

In the build-up to the 2023 presidential election, there has been a frenetic scavenging by candidates for ethnic legitimacy as affirmation of their bids. Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Abubakar, began the forage when he asked his kin at an Arewa event in Kaduna to vote for him. Being a Northerner, he told them, he was the most suited to know where the shoe pinched the region. The South-East is already agog with Peter Obi. His presidential bid is almost an obsession for a region which sees in his presidency the first opportunity for a highly vilified Igbo stock to come back to the mainstream.

Until the Akure fiasco, Tinubu wore the Olusegun Obasanjo visor of 1999. In that years presidential election, a high chunk of the Yoruba leadership openly disclaimed Obasanjo, who was seen as an enemy of the Yoruba. This antagonism led to Obasanjos election by outsiders. Frustrated by the prospect of a repeat of the route Obasanjo trod, Tinubus desperation to procure Yoruba leadership legitimacy, no matter how crooked or brimming with fraud, becomes understandable.

His recent visit to the Akure home of Pa Reuben Fasoranti has been generating a lot of seismic comments. Like Michael Adekunle Ajasin and Abraham Adesanya before him, Fasoranti had ceded his headship of Afenifere to Adebanjo almost two years ago, when it became clear that age would impede his leadership. This same Fasoranti was fought to a standstill by the Tinubu group, whose goal was to make his leadership inconsequential. Most of the pilgrims with Tinubu to Akure were conscripts of the coup that unsuccessfully delegitimised Fasoranti and serially appointed a renegade leadership for Afenifere.

Tinubu, acting as if coerced to go pay this same man a condolence visit after his daughter was brutally killed by Fulani herdsmen, literally urinated at the balcony of the Yoruba leader. In an attempt to deflect arrows shot at Muhammadu Buharis marauding, bloodthirsty kin, Tinubu had asked where are the cows? He similarly exhibited such conceit to highly respected Chief Olu Falae during the invasion of his farm by Fulani herdsmen.

The Akure pilgrimage was an abduction of 96-year old Fasoranti by elements who spent over a decade undermining his Yoruba leadership. They took advantage of Babas advanced age and the suspicious company of turncoats who envelope him to get Tinubu to reap where he did not sow. The coup reeked of corruption, abduction and coldblooded execution of a most clinically infernal hijack of power in Yoruba history. It was originally convoked by a group of hungry lay-about who went by the name Conscience of Yoruba Nation, a name reminiscent of a Babangida era ragtag military apologia crusade, which was masterminded by a man who claimed to be driven by conscience but whose spineless interventions brimmed of a conscienceless conscience, even as he sought to grease his esophagus from crumbs that fell off Babangidas table. In Akure, that Conscience of Yoruba Nation gathering was then criminally labeled with the mis-biology of an Afenifere endorsement of Tinubu.

The fraudulence of the whole enterprise was to be revealed when the coupists issued a communique, not under the conscienceless banner with which they invited conferees to Akure but as Afenifere. Respected Professor Akin Onigbinde said that not only was the assemblage essentially a gathering of chieftains of APC in the South West, many of them couldnt claim linkage to Afenifere nor did they attend its meetings in the last ten years. They were just interested in the spoils of dollars allegedly left after the disastrous show. They then added a disgraceful icing on the cake of the infamy when they concocted a Fasoranti claim that he had taken over the headship of Afenifere which he vacated almost two years earlier. This lie thrived for a few hours, landed with a thud thereafter and scattered into smithereens.

Instead of going through the futile attempt to abduct Afenifere and its leadership, I wonder why the group behind this penkele mesi  the offerees and offerors of legitimacy  did not deploy ARG for the legitimacy-hunting game; or simply create a brand new organisation. That would have been neater in this last minute tanna webi  grope in the dark for kin  that they are engrossed with.

Festus Adedayo is an Ibadan-based journalist.

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Now that Chief Fasoranti himself has confirmed that theres only one Afenifere headed by Ayo Adebanjo, perhaps those who are trying to create the other Afenifere will realise that a person who wants to survive an inferno shouldnt be wearing a skirt made of dry grass.

When a knotty matter farts in your mouth and laces it with a pinch of salt, you dont want to swallow the gas of the fart nor do you want to spit out the salt. To spit or not to spit? Dilemma!

In Africa, when young people quarrel, the elders weigh in to resolve matters. However, when elders have a dispute, everyone runs for cover, leaving the resolution to other elders and the traditional rulers. It is not in the place of the young to rein in their fathers.

That said, we are all passengers in this boat of life. The actions and inactions of Afeniferes Chief Ayo Adebanjo and Pa Reuben Fasoranti can have ripple effects in my neck of the woods, the South-western part of Nigeria. Perhaps a dissection of the issues at stake will be in order?

Afenifere is a Yoruba word that can be translated as well-wisher, the Yoruba version of the Xhosa/Zulu Ubuntu, which can be described as a philosophy encompassing the essential human virtues of fellow-feeling, compassion and humanity. The original Afenifere was founded in 1950 by Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his colleagues. As Chief Ayo Opadokun notes, Egbe Omo Oduduwa, the Yoruba cultural organisation, had decided not to take part in politics and approved of Chief Awolowos pioneering efforts to form a virile political organisation.

Wikipedia describes the present day Afenifere as a socio-cultural (I say socio-political) organisation for the Yoruba people of Nigeria, with Chief Abraham Adesanya as its leader and Chief Bola Ige as deputy leader. Other founding members were Pa Onasanya, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, Adegbonmire, Okurounmu Femi, Ganiyu Dawodu, Olanihun Ajayi, Olu Falae, Adebayo Adefarati, Alhaji Adeyemo and Ayo Adebanjo.

Afenifere presents itself as the voice of the South-west of Nigeria, the same way the Ohaneze claims to speak for the South-east, the Arewa Consultative for the North, the Middle Belt Forum for the Middle Belt, and the Pan Niger-Delta Forum (PANDEF) for the South-South.

Afenifere is deeply political  so political that in 1998 when the Alliance for Democracy political party was formed, it adopted the Afenifere agenda as its official manifesto. A lot of water has since passed under the bridge. There has been an interplay of forces over the years. In November 2008, a faction of Afenifere in Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State, led by Chief Ayo Adebanjo, installed Chief Reuben Fasoranti as the new chairman of the group to the displeasure of leaders of the factional Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG).

According to Ayo Opadokun, AFENIFERE remains the only one of its kind that precedes Nigerias political independence and has gone through circumstantial, existential, external treats, assaults and self-inflicted injury of fractionalisations (Papa Fasoranti/Adebanjo; late Senator Fasanmi; Senator Durojaiye; Afenifere Renewal) and still counting in spite of its current limitations over time.

Chief Fasoranti was able to maintain cohesion and stability within the group until a couple of years ago when, in an act of true statesmanship, on account of old age (at 94), he stepped down from his leadership position and appointed Chief Ayo Adebanjo as acting leader. Adebanjo has been piloting the affairs of Afenifere since then, and he seemed to have been doing a good job of the assignment until the current crisis.

When Adebanjo announced to the world, after an Afenifere meeting which held in his Ijebu-Igbo home, that the socio-cultural group had thrown its weight behind the candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, many members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were flustered. Some of them spun the yarn of Afeniferes irrelevance and electoral worthlessness in the media.

In Afenifere, younger elements are allowed to have their say, but the elders chart the navigational route. That style is based on the age-old wisdom that whereas a child can have more clothes than his elders, he cannot possibly have as many rags as they do.

So, what is the problem now?

Politics. Raw, ruthless, political acrobatics!

Chief Adebanjo is 94 years old, but he exudes the energy of a septuagenarian. I havent had the privilege of meeting either him or Chief Fasoranti one-on-one, but I think their lives are open books. Fasoranti has lived a full life of service to his people and is generally perceived as a man of integrity. Adebanjo is equally revered as a principled leader. Even those who accuse him of having a short fuse concede that they would rather buy a fairly used car from him than from his critics.

When Adebanjo announced to the world, after an Afenifere meeting which held in his Ijebu-Igbo home, that the socio-cultural group had thrown its weight behind the candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, many members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were flustered. Some of them spun the yarn of Afeniferes irrelevance and electoral worthlessness in the media. They said that the Afenifere group did not command more than the individual votes of its members.

But secretly, they were planning to undo the damage. Many of them brazenly resorted to ethnicity. The Yoruba saying, Omo eni o le sedi bebere ka fileke sidi omo elomiran (when you have a child with a rotund waist, you cant be seen adorning another persons child with your beautiful beads) became their sing-song.

In fairness, in a country where ethnicity has been brought to the centre-stage; in an environment where people tend to see themselves first as tribesmen and tribeswomen before considering their Nigerianness, it is tempting to succumb to the primordial pull of ethnicity.

Not Adebanjo. Having been involved in Nigerian politics since 1951, he has seen enough to know that justice is a handmaid of peace. Thus, he has always been steadfast in reaching out to other ethnic nationalities and encouraging collective action to ensure that everyone has a sense of belonging. In this connection, he canvassed that the Nigerian presidency be ceded to the South-east zone, which has not had the privilege of producing the president since the return of democracy in 1999.

Political analysts are not surprised. It is in the nature of politicians in desperate quest for power to throw everything  even their core socio-political fraternity  into the ring. Mercifully, Afenifere survived this one. There may be more to come.

The Tinubu camp has struck back by holding a well publicised event in Chief Fasorantis Akure home, at which the former Afenifere leader prayed for him. What attracted controversy was that the invitation to the event was issued by Conscience of Yoruba Nation, not by Afenifere. The bulk of the dignitaries present were high level chieftains of the ruling APC from the South-west zone, and were said not to be regular attendees at Afenifere meetings. So, although they gathered under the auspices of Conscience of Yoruba Nation, they claimed to be Afenifere after the event and issued a communique in Afeniferes name.

Apparently, the goal was to give the impression of a split in Afenifere, as if there were now two factions led by Adebanjo and Fasoranti respectively. Some even floated the story that Pa Fasoranti had come out of retirement to resume his role as Afenifere leader. It was such an unkind sleight of hand to use on a 96-year-old man!

When he understood the unspoken intention of the politicians involved, Fasoranti caused a press statement to be issued by his Personal Assistant, Adedapo Abiola: I have Papas permission to announce that he didnt say that Chief Ayo Adebanjo is no longer the acting leader of Afenifere or that all future Afenifere meetings should henceforth be held at his residence in Akure.

In case there was any doubt, he added: Papas main concern is the interest of the Yoruba in the complex political situation in Nigeria. It is also his concern that Afenifere should survive in dignity and remain a purveyor of the interest of the Yoruba race.

There goes the Kabiyesi theory of Afenifere leadership!

Political analysts are not surprised. It is in the nature of politicians in desperate quest for power to throw everything  even their core socio-political fraternity  into the ring. Mercifully, Afenifere survived this one. There may be more to come.

To remove any doubt about where he stands, Chief Adebanjo reiterates his position in a quote made viral by Sunny Igboanugo:

As you already know, I am already 94 years old. Im already at the departure lounge of life You will suffer, particularly the youths of this nation, if you fail to vote for Peter Obi. We know what we are saying. Like a thief, in the night, Tinubu made attempts to bribe some for endorsement. But he failed. The Obi-Datti choice has no money to spend, but they will spend ideas. Let Nigerians take up their thinking cap, forget ethnicity and vote for the Labour Party. Obi is the right man for the country.

Now that Chief Fasoranti himself has confirmed that theres only one Afenifere headed by Ayo Adebanjo, perhaps those who are trying to create the other Afenifere will realise that a person who wants to survive an inferno shouldnt be wearing a skirt made of dry grass.

Wole Olaoye is a public relations consultant and veteran journalist. He can be reached through wole.olaoye@gmail.com. Twitter: @wole_olaoye; Instagram: woleola2021.

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Dear Sister Superstar, Dear Brother Superstar, God may not judge you now for desecrating his temple. But dont forget, you will still die and stand before Him to account for your ministry. How pathetic it will be to tell God that you charged and mandated His church to pay you fees prior to worshipping Him because you needed the money to pay bills. How pathetic an excuse it will be to tell God that your pastor forced you to do it?

The practices of giving honorarium have historically existed as an alternative support system for music ministers. Further, the tithes and offerings collected by churches should actually be used in manners that dont just help the church to flourish and advance the cause of the gospel, but to also meet the needs of everyone serving the church faithfully  music ministers, workers, or whoever. I agree that a lot of pastors neglect the poor and use these offerings as they so wish. I know a lot that is going on in our churches. However, in order to save the next generation of worship leaders, many of whom have already found mentorship in the hands of the advanced worship dealers, we must get back to our roots. All pastors and General Overseers and church leaders who know the truth and are not working to build their own empires must start using their in-house worship leaders for all their programmes and conferences. Build them. Develop them. Expose them. Appreciate them, and to the best of your ability, provide for the needs of those who either cannot work outside the church or who have not found work.

It is difficult to expect General Overseers and church leaders who are working for Satan, many of whom are in Nigeria, to stop this menace. Why? They need these superstar worship dealers to gather crowd and make money. It is not God they are worshipping. Their conventions are only designed for fund raising and image branding purposes. But whether these categories of ministers in Nigeria want to repent or not is not my problem. What we are saying here and what many other concerned brethren have been saying will soon act as a witness against them on the day of judgement. Its only a matter of time.

If We Dont Charge Fees, How Do We Survive?

This is the narrative from every single proponent of fees before worship in Nigeria. Now, if you are truly called by God as a music minister, your case is very different from music artists or music entertainers whose primary goals are personal branding and financial success. I am not addressing entertainers here. I am addressing ministers who lead the body of Christ to sing and worship God. There are dozens of avenues you can explore to generate resources as a genuine, God-fearing worship leader. If you are a trained music minister with skills in building vocals, writing songs and playing instruments, set up online or physical music training schools and trade your skills at that level. A keyboardist for a leading church in Nigeria is training my children on the keyboard and we placed him on a fat monthly salary. We are also connecting him with many more families. He provides his training by zoom, and potentially, if he trains five children in a month, he can make more than N600,000 per month.

Also, put your contents on YouTube and on iTunes and receive royalties from these platforms There is no excuse for desecrating Gods altar. The challenge with many of our brethren is laziness. They want to sing for one hour and charge N5million because they know that it will take them a longer amount of time to make that money, should they choose to do other things.

Now imagine if he is doing that for ten families. As such, the excuse that I must charge fees prior to accepting invitations to lead worship, so as to pay my bills, holds no water if you really want to be honest. Also, put your contents on YouTube and on iTunes and receive royalties from these platforms. You can also write short books on vocals, song compositions and stage management and sell them in your networks. You can make your own albums too and make them available for people to purchase willingly. For those who have other skills and trainings aside from music, you can leverage on them to make money. There are music ministers who have IT backgrounds. You can pick up a remote IT job. You can start investing in real estate. I know IT consultants who are serving God as worship leaders in many conferences and church programmes. One of the main worship leaders of the Oslo Gospel Choir in Norway is a primary school teacher. Yet, he sings around the world on his annual vacations, winning souls for God. There is no excuse for desecrating Gods altar. The challenge with many of our brethren is laziness. They want to sing for one hour and charge N5million because they know that it will take them a longer amount of time to make that money, should they choose to do other things.

If you know that stealing is wrong, is there any tenable excuse before a court of law for engaging in stealing? Its a matter of the mind. Its a matter of conscience. And if you are truly faithful to God, and are hard-working, God will bless you. He will open doors for you. If you think God cannot bless you, it calls into question your relationship with God. Brethren, what do you think will happen if all churches in Nigeria stop inviting external praise and worship leaders and start using their in-house praise and worship teams  those who dont charge fees prior to serving God with their gifts? What do you think will happen? Let all superstar worship dealers go back to their local churches, submit to their pastors, humble themselves, attend Sunday schools, attend prayer meetings and Bible studies and grow in Christ. You will be amazed at the level of transformation that will occur in our churches. The music ministry is as critical as the preaching ministry.

If you want to be a music entertainer or a music artist, so as to continue to charge fees prior to serving the body of Christ with your gifts, please go ahead with that, but dont do it in any genuine Church of Christ, and dont call yourself a music minister. It also follows that no church of Christ must entertain entertainers as worship leaders, so we dont become complicit in their sins.

If you want to be a music entertainer or a music artist, so as to continue to charge fees prior to serving the body of Christ with your gifts, please go ahead with that, but dont do it in any genuine Church of Christ, and dont call yourself a music minister. It also follows that no church of Christ must entertain entertainers as worship leaders, so we dont become complicit in their sins. Also, let all pastors and church leaders stop mis-using people. Take care of the people serving God under you as you will take care of your own children. Dont transfer your children to be leading worship at the Dallas branch of your church and send this poor brother to lead worship at the branch close to Sambisa forest. Be fair and honor everyones gifts equally.

Dear Sister Superstar, Dear Brother Superstar, God may not judge you now for desecrating his temple. But dont forget, you will still die and stand before Him to account for your ministry. How pathetic it will be to tell God that you charged and mandated His church to pay you fees prior to worshipping Him because you needed the money to pay bills. How pathetic an excuse it will be to tell God that your pastor forced you to do it? Dont forget, everyone of us will stand before God to account for our deeds, regardless of who is responsible for our sins. And that you are doing it and getting away with it does not excuse you from its eternal consequences. God does not have to win on earth to win in eternity. He does not have to win physically to win spiritually. Sooner or later, you will still account for your stewardship. He is interested in your success, but not by merchandising His grace on your life.

Ayo Akerele, a leadership and system development strategist, and minister of the word, writes from Canada and can be reached through ayoakerele2012@gmail.com.

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By Trend

A group of Azerbaijani MPs will visit Belgium's Brussels on November 8, the Parliament told Trend.

MPs Tural Ganjaliyev, Sevil Mikayilova and Erkin Gadirli will hold a number of meetings with officials of the European Parliament within the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee (PCC).

The meetings will address strengthening mutual cooperation and other issues of interest to the sides.

The visit will be completed on 11 November.




The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Zamfara State, Dr. Dauda Lawal, has dismissed as baseless the claim that he forwarded documents showing different names, dates of birth, and hometowns to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Lawal refuted the claim in a statement issued by the Dauda Lawal Media Office on Sunday in Gusau, the Zamfara State capital. He said his opponents who are scared of his rising popularity in the state were the architects of the fake and malicious story which was published by an online newspaper (not Premium Times). Copies of Lawals INEC affidavit and other documents submitted with the apex electoral body are attached with this story.

It should be recalled that the fate of the state governor, Mr. Bello Mohammed Matawalle, Lawals major opponent, remains uncertain following a pending court case challenging his eligibility for the 2023 governorship election. Matawalle is seeking re-election for second term of four years on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State. The pending case is at the Federal High Court, Gusau where the plaintiffs are seeking Matawalles disqualification from the race over perjury charges arising from alleged certificate forgery and age falsification.

The PDP candidates statement reads in parts: The attention of the Dauda Lawal Media Office has been drawn to a misleading story on documents submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by the Zamfara State PDP Governorship Candidate, Dauda Lawal.

This is one of the many orchestrated efforts by the Zamfara State Government and the state chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) who are afraid of Lawals ever rising popularity and acceptance by the Zamfara electorates. It is the handiwork of unscrupulous elements that are afraid of squaring up against him in the forthcoming 2023 election.

In the story, it was written that Dr. Dauda Lawal has presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission certificates with different names, different dates of birth, alteration of result, false declaration, and false place of birth. The story added that the PDP candidate also presented to INEC a primary school certificate bearing the name Ado Dauda. In contrast, the secondary school certificate he presented to the commission has Ado Dauda Lawal as his name. Also, his university and NYSC certificates carry Dauda Lawal.

For the records, Dr. Dauda Lawals mother was from Guga, a village in Bakori Local Government of Katsina State. Lawal was from childhood carried by his maternal grandfather, Alhaji Ado.

Alhaji Ado, Lawals maternal grandfather, enrolled him in the Guga Primary School in 1972. It was out of respect and part of the tradition that Dauda Lawal used Alhaji Ados name as his surname while in primary school. That was how he ended up with the name Ado Dauda on his primary school leaving certificate.

After he finished Guga Primary School, Alhaji Ado enrolled Dauda Lawal into Government Secondary School, Kachia in Kaduna State. He was registered as Ado Dauda Lawal, the combination of Dauda, his name; Lawal, his father; and Ado, his maternal grandfather.

At the completion of his secondary school, Dauda Lawal got admitted into the famous Ahmadu Bello University and graduated in 1987 with B.Sc. in Political Science. He obtained an M.Sc. in Political Science/International Relations from the same university in 1992. All these certificates carry the name Dauda Lawal because he attended them after leaving his maternal grandfathers place and staying with his father.

Article 10(1) of Nigerias federal Oaths Act provides that:

10. (1) It shall be lawful for the Chief Justice of Nigeria, a Justice of the Supreme Court, The President and Justices of the Court of Appeal, and any judge of the Federal High Court, a notary public, and any commissioner for oaths, to administer any lawful oath or to take any lawful affirmation or affidavit which may be required to be taken or made for the purpose of complying with the requirements of any law for the time being in force throughout Nigeria or elsewhere, except where such procedure is expressly or by necessary implication manifestly excluded by the terms of such law as aforesaid and the presumption shall be against any such exclusion. (Nigeria 2003).

On 12 September 2018, Dr. Dauda Lawal went to the Supreme Court in Abuja where he duly deposed to an affidavit setting the records straight with regard to his name and documents. He stated that he is Dauda Mohammed Lawal, male, Muslim, Nigerian Citizen, now residing at No. 9 Anka Road, Gusau, Zamfara State and that he was born on 2 September, 1965 at Gusau, Gusau Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

He also stated in the affidavit that at the time of his birth, there was no provision for the issuance of birth certificates in the community hence the need for the age declaration for record purposes and also to confirm his age and place of birth.

As is the case with all lawful age declarations, Dauda Lawal made the solemn declaration four years ago conscientiously believing the same to be true and correct by virtue of the provisions of the Oaths Act.

The Zamfara PDP governorship campaign media office pointed that the valid affidavit obtained has legally covered differences in Dauda Lawals names, dates of birth, and hometowns.

It further clarified that: Mohammed is the name of his paternal grandfather; as such, it is valid for him to use either two names, Dauda Lawal, or three names Dauda Mohammed Lawal.

We are aware that the purveyors of this unfounded news are unrelenting in their desperation to impugn Lawals integrity and reputation.

READ ALSO:

We will not be distracted by these latest antics and acts of desperation. None of Dr. Lawals certificates are forged or in question, unlike the Zamfara State Governor, Mohammed Bello Matawalle, whose fate hangs in the balance over his eligibility for the 2023 governorship election. As it is, palpable anxiety appears to have set in within the APC in Zamfara. Governor Matawalle has a pending case at the Federal High Court, Gusau. The plaintiffs are seeking his disqualification from the race over alleged perjury arising from certificate forgery and age falsification.

The Zamfara PDP described the recent publication as a desperate attempt by the corrupt establishment in Zamfara to divert peoples attention from the multiple corrupt and criminal allegations hovering over Matawalle and his administration.

The state PDP chapter further called on all its supporters and the general public to disregard and ignore this latest unfounded mischief. It particularly enjoined the supporters to continue working on consolidating the partys steady rise to victory in the upcoming 2023 general elections.

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The second day of the sixth edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) saw the successful auction of the largest-ever carbon credit sale, major announcements, the signing of key deals, and stimulating discussions about a range of trending topics.

The Pulse on Global Macrofinance



The day opened with a conversation between CEO of the FII Institute, Richard Attias and Founding Partner of Trian Fund Management, Nelson Peltz, about how to ensure long-term success throughout the ongoing global changes. The conversation was followed by a plenary discussion titled "The Pulse on Global Macrofinance" where HE Mohammed Al Jadaan, Saudi Minister of Finance; HE Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa, Bahraini Minister of Finance and National Economy; and HE Steven Mnuchin, Managing Partner of Liberty Strategic Capital, shared their thoughts on how globalization is impacting global markets.

The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Tadawul Group announced the results of the VCM carbon marketplace to accelerate the transition to a carbon neutral future, which is integral to Saudi Arabia's efforts to achieve net-zero goals by 2060. Fifteen Saudi and regional entities took part in the largest-ever carbon credit sale, and credits were purchased by companies including Aramco, Olayan Financing Company and Saudi Arabian Mining Company. Moreover, PIF announced that it will establish five companies aimed at investing in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Republic of Iraq, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Sultanate of Oman, and the Republic of Sudan. The five companies aim to invest up to a total of USD 24 billion in opportunities across various key sectors in each market.

The FII Institute also announced investments in two innovative tech solutions designed to drive sustainability in agriculture and fishing. The first is a GBP 500,000 investment in Dogtooth Technologies, a UK-based tech start-up that develops and sells autonomous fruit picking robots, helping to reduce crop wastage and cut CO2 emissions arising from fruit production. The FII Institute is also investing USD 500,000 in Seafood Souq, featured in the United Nations Ocean Decade Special edition. Seafood Souq is a technology company offering a vertically integrated digital solution for global seafood trade, traceability and financing in support of the Blue transformation.

In addition, the Institute launched its new exclusive Membership Program, giving global investors and change makers a chance to join its growing community. The FII Institute Membership Program will provide members with exclusive access to its knowledge platform, which includes a wide range of reports and world-leading research from global universities and organizations. Moreover, it announced the launch of the 'Algoritmi Prize' with support from global research publisher Springer Nature. The annual science and technology prize will celebrate artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics research that has the potential to produce real-world solutions that address global challenges.

The sixth edition of FII will conclude on Thursday 27 October with wrap-up discussions on sports, fintech, sustainability and the future of Africa.

NOTES TO EDITORS

The event factsheet can be found here.

About FII Institute

The Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute is a new global nonprofit foundation with an investment arm and one agenda: Impact on Humanity. Global, inclusive and committed to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles, we foster great minds from around the world and turn ideas into real-world solutions in five critical areas: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics, Education, Healthcare and Sustainability.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1930585/The_Pulse_on_Global_Macrofinance.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1811613/FII_Institute_Logo.jpg

SOURCE FII Institute
Launching of the 1st Human Implantation of "DragonRing"  Catheter-based Mitral Annuloplasty Device

HANGZHOU, China, Nov. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On October 28, 2022, a multidisciplinary, and international cardiac team led by Professor Mao Chen from Department of Cardiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, successfully performed the world's first human implantation of "DragonRing", which is the first interventional transfemoral direct annuloplasty ring system innovated in China that simulates the atrioventricular annuloplasty technology from contemporary cardiac surgery. Completely and independently developed by Hangzhou Valgen Medtech Co., Ltd., DragonRing is designed to effectively treat functional mitral valve regurgitation by cinching the dilated annulus, particularly focusing on the patient population with atrial fibrillation as the primary etiology of their mitral regurgitation. Professor David Scott Lim, Director of the Advanced Cardiac Valve Center, University of Virginia, USA, Professor Azeem Latib, Section Head of Interventional Cardiology, Montefiore Medical Center, USA, and Professor Felix Kreidel, Head of the Department of Cardiology, Schleswig-Holstein University, Germany, conducted technique exchanges together with Professor Mao Chen's team through remote video conferencing.

"For atrial functional valve regurgitation, the design of the DragonRing device aims to replicate the surgical standard of care by reducing annular dilation, but in a minimally invasive way, with the advantage of allowing subsequent treatment with other interventional technologies if needed in the future. This First-in-Human experience is encouraging and we look forward to more data from the subsequent study of DragonRing," commented by Professor Scott Lim after the procedure.

DragonRing is a novel technology developed for treating valvular regurgitation. Following the successful launches of "DragonFly" (transcatheter edge-to-edge repair system) and "MitralStitch" (transcatheter artificial chordae implantation system), Valgen Medtech continues its mission in making breakthroughs of interventional structural heart treatment techniques. Valgen is building its reputation with the comprehensive concept of "a Tool Box for structural heart diseases", with additional innovative "Dragon-" series catheter-based products in its pipeline, providing more options and possible technique combinations for future clinical practice, and pushing the boundaries of interventional treatment of structural heart disease into a new era.

CONTACT: Jiamin Yu, [email protected], +86-13817553929

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1939070/Valgen_Medtech.jpg

SOURCE Hangzhou Valgen Medtech Co., Ltd.
Detection of rhythmic brain waves suggestive of near-death experiences

Note: This presentation is titled "AWAreness during REsuscitation II: a multicenter study of consciousness and awareness in cardiac arrest," and is scheduled to be presented during the resuscitation science symposium at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2022 on Sunday, Nov. 6, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago Hotel in Chicago.

NEW YORK, Nov. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- One in five people who survive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) after cardiac arrest may describe lucid experiences of death that occurred while they were seemingly unconscious and on the brink of death, a new study shows.

Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and elsewhere, the study involved 567 men and women whose hearts stopped beating while hospitalized and who received CPR between May 2017 and March 2020 in the United States and United Kingdom. Despite immediate treatment, fewer than 10% recovered sufficiently to be discharged from hospital.

Survivors reported having unique lucid experiences, including a perception of separation from the body, observing events without pain or distress, and a meaningful evaluation of life, including of their actions, intentions and thoughts toward others. The researchers found these experiences of death to be different from hallucinations, delusions, illusions, dreams or CPR-induced consciousness.

The work also included tests for hidden brain activity. A key finding was the discovery of spikes of brain activity, including so-called gamma, delta, theta, alpha and beta waves up to an hour into CPR. Some of these brain waves normally occur when people are conscious and performing higher mental functions, including thinking, memory retrieval, and conscious perception.

"These recalled experiences and brain wave changes may be the first signs of the so-called near-death experience, and we have captured them for the first time in a large study," says Sam Parnia, MD, PhD, the lead study investigator and an intensive care physician, who is also an associate professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU Langone Health, as well as the organization's director of critical care and resuscitation research."Our results offer evidence that while on the brink of death and in a coma, people undergo a unique inner conscious experience, including awareness without distress."

Identifying measureable electrical signs of lucid and heightened brain activity, together with similar stories of recalled death experiences, suggests that the human sense of self and consciousness, much like other biological body functions, may not stop completely around the time of death, adds Parnia.

"These lucid experiences cannot be considered a trick of a disordered or dying brain, but rather a unique human experience that emerges on the brink death," says Parnia. As the brain is shutting down, many of its natural braking systems are released. Known as disinhibition, this provides access to the depths of a person's consciousness, including stored memories, thoughts from early childhood to death, and other aspects of reality. While no one knows the evolutionary purpose of this phenomenon, it clearly reveals "intriguing questions about human consciousness, even at death," says Parnia.

The study authors conclude that although studies to date have not been able to absolutely prove the reality or meaning of patients' experiences and claims of awareness in relation to death, it has been impossible to disclaim them either. They say recalled experience surrounding death now merits further genuine empirical investigation without prejudice.

Researchers plan to present their study findings at a resuscitation science symposium that is part of the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2022 taking place in Chicago on Nov. 6.

Some 25 hospitals in the U.S. and U.K. participated in the study, called AWARE II. Only hospitalized patients were enrolled to standardize the CPR and resuscitation methods used after cardiac arrest, as well as the recordings made of brain activity. Additional testimonies from 126 community survivors of cardiac arrest with self-reported memories were also examined in this study to provide greater understanding of the themes related to the recalled experience of death.

Parnia says further research is needed to more precisely define biomarkers of what is considered to be clinical consciousness, the human recalled experience of death, and to monitor the long-term psychological effects of resuscitation after cardiac arrest.

Funding and support for the study was provided by NYU Langone, The John Templeton Foundation, and the Resuscitation Council (UK) and National Institutes for Health Research in the U.K.

Besides Parnia, other NYU Langone study investigators are Tara Keshavarz Shirazi, BA; Caitlin O'Neill, MPH; Emma Roellke, MD; Amanda Mengotta, MD; Thaddeus Tarpey, PhD; Elise Huppert, MD; Ian Jaffe, BS; Anelly Gonzales, MS; Jing Xu, MS; and Emmeline Koopman, MS. Other study investigators are Deepak Pradhan, MD, at Bellevue Hospital in New York City; Jignesh Patel, MD; Linh Tran, MD; Niraj Sinha, MD; and Rebecca Spiegel, MD, at Stony Brook University in N.Y.; Shannon Findlay, MD, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City; Michael McBrine, MD, at Tufts University in Boston; Gavin Perkins, MD, at the University of Warwick in Coventry, U.K.; Alain Vuylsteke, MD, at Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Cambridge, U.K.; Benjamin Bloom, MD, at Barts Health NHS Trust in London, U.K.; Heather Jarman, RN, at St. George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in London; Hiu Nam Tong, MD, at Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust in King's Lynn, U.K.; Louisa Chan, MD, at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Hampshire, U.K.; Michael Lyacker, MD, at Ohio State University in Columbus; Matthew Thomas, MD, at University Hospitals Bristol and Wexton NHS Foundation Trust in Bristol, U.K.; Veselin Velchev, MD, at St. Anna University in Sofia, Bulgaria; Charles Cairns, MD, at Drexel University in Phildelphia; Rahul Sharma, MD, at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City; Erik Kulstad, MD, at University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas; Elizabeth Scherer, MD, at University of Texas San Antonio; Terence O'Keeffe, MD, at Augusta University in Augusta, Ga.; Mahtab Foroozesh, MD, at Virginia Tech in Roanoke; Olumayowa Abe, MD, at New York-Presbyterian in New York City; Chinwe Ogedegbe, MD, at Hackensack University in Nutley, N.J.; Amira Girgis, MD, at Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Surrey, U.K.; and Charles Deakin, MD, at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust in Southampton, U.K.

Media Inquiries:

David March

212-404-3528

[email protected]angone.org

Allison Clair (on site at AHA)

917-301-5699

[email protected]

SOURCE NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Langone Health
BEIJING, Nov. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday delivered at the 5th China International Import Expo (CIIE), the world's biggest import fair, a keynote speech that underlined China's unswerving commitment to further opening up its market and to creating new opportunities for the world with its own development, as the world faces a lingering COVID-19 pandemic, energy crisis, and growing trend of anti-globalization and trade protectionism.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the 5th CIIE via video on Friday, Xi pledged that China will firmly safeguard true multilateralism, share market opportunities with the rest of the world, promote high-standard opening-up and uphold the common interests of the world.

The 2022 CIIE is the first major international expo held in China after the successful conclusion of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and comes on the heels of a flurry of diplomatic activities this week that sees leaders of Vietnam, Pakistan, Tanzania and Germany visiting Beijing.

The major trade fair, with its fifth edition boasting more participating countries, more diverse exhibits and more premium products, also came as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) mega free trade deal began to generate concrete benefits to signatory countries with its trade facilitation measures.

Xi said that the CIIE has become a showcase of China's new development paradigm, a platform for high-standard opening-up, and a public good for the whole world.

Xi's speech on Friday, which describes opening-up as the key driving force of human civilization, sends a clear message of China's determination to further open to the outside world and also share its development opportunities with the rest of the world, experts noted.

China will establish pilot zones for Silk Road e-commerce cooperation and build national demonstration zones for innovative development of trade in services, so as to encourage innovation in trade and promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, Xi said.

China will also share the opportunities of institutional opening-up, and actively work to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement and expand a high-standard global free trade network, Xi said in the speech.

The keynote speech was concise but highly summarized the spirit of opening-up in the report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC, Li Yong, senior fellow at the China Association of International Trade, told the Global Times on Friday.

Sharing development opportunities with developing countries and seeking wider and higher standard trade liberalization via institutional opening-up carries special significance under the current global situation, Li said.

Five years after being launched, the CIIE has made new breakthroughs this year.

With the addition of Rio Tinto and BHP, the world's top three miners have also gathered together at the CIIE for the first time.

With the RCEP deal beginning to exert its positive effects on regional trade, all RCEP member countries have companies hosting exhibits at the fair.

A total of 284 Fortune Global 500 firms and major industry players are set to join the business exhibition, up from last year's 281.

The attendance by a record number of companies at the CIIE also offered a strong rebuttal to the hype of "China closing itself up" made by some Western media outlets and futile efforts by some Western politicians for instigating decoupling with China.

The US-China Business Council (USCBC), an advocacy organization representing more than 260 companies that do business in China, told the Global Times that US participation at the 5th CIIE is the same as last year - 200 companies including 32 USCBC members - despite geopolitical turmoil, the volatile COVID-19 situation.

New designated exhibition areas were set up for seeds and artificial intelligence, underlining China's determination to improve its agricultural and high-tech sectors.

China continues to make strides in high-level opening-up. In October, the country issued 15 measures to facilitate the implementation of foreign-invested projects, with emphasis on the manufacturing sector. China also unveiled a new catalogue of industries to continue incentivizing foreign businesses toward advanced manufacturing, the service sector and the central and western regions.

Confidence in hour of need

Wei Jianguo, vice chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchange and former vice minister of the Ministry of Commerce, said the 5th CIIE will bring confidence to the world's farmers, fishers, miners, assembly line workers and multinational companies, as their businesses have been weighed down by global changes and turbulence.

The world is being ravaged by the pandemic, the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and soaring energy prices. For instance, as much as 17 percent of factories in Germany are slashing production, according to media reports.

In its latest world economic outlook, the IMF downgraded global growth to a meagre 2.7 percent for 2023, down from the 2.9 percent it projected in July.

"Under such circumstances, the 5th CIIE sends a signal to the world that the Chinese production and consumption market is rapidly warming up, thereby greatly boosting the confidence of the world's business circle," said Wei.

As China continues to grow, its appetite for agricultural goods, energy products and mineral goods continues to grow, and this will be a reassuring message to global companies at this hour of need, Wei said, describing China's pouring of the whole country's resources into one import trade fair as part of commitments in its efforts to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

On Friday, Chinese oil giant Sinopec signed energy purchase deals worth $40.1 billion and imports from the North American region jumped 86 percent from the last CIIE, with Canadian companies appearing on the list of suppliers for the first time.

Amazing five years

Over the past four years, the CIIE has seen the value of accumulated deals reaching $272.27 billion, with procurement orders by Chinese buyers proving to be of great value to global companies, which have flocked to the event.

Over 1,500 new products, technologies and services made their debut at the previous four shows. More and more global companies and investors have come to regard the CIIE as the place to connect with China for further opportunities to go deeper and enjoy the fruits of China's economic development.

"As China's most significant import exhibition, the CIIE very much facilitated international companies like Bayer, to share and grow together with China's economic development," Werner Baumann, CEO of German drug maker Bayer AG told the Global Times.

Since the first CIIE in 2018, the Chinese market has gradually grown to become the most important one for Dole in Asia, Wang Na, brand director of Dole China, told the Global Times on Friday.

Wang said the company is committed to bringing more of the world's fruits to Chinese consumers' dinner tables.

"The CIIE gives us a deeper understanding of the vitality and potential of the Chinese market, and makes us more confident, more determined, and more ambitious to thrive in this major world market," Zhang Heping, head of Sanofi Vaccines China told the Global Times.

"Over the course of five years, the Sri Lanka pavilion has grown from just having Ceylon tea exhibitors to including food and jewelry pavilions and dozens of categories of products. I have felt the changes and growth that the CIIE has brought to Sri Lankan exhibitors," Chiranjaya Udumullage, president of the China Sri Lanka Association for Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times.

Given the broader participation this year, and the palpable sense of optimism by attendants, Wei predicted the volume of deals reached will be larger than at the 4th CIIE.

SOURCE Global Times
SHANGHAI, Nov. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On November 5th, Sephora, the world's largest prestige beauty retailer owned by LVMH, exhibits at the 5th CIIE and presents CHA LING, a Sino-French luxury skincare brand. This year, Sephora participates in LVMH Pavilion's theme of "Reconnection" by showcasing CHA LING's commitment to the Chinese market through four star products representing the fusion of Chinese and French culture.

Sephora presents CHA LING at the 5th CIIE CHA LING showcases four star products at this years Expo

"Sephora China is a platform that integrates East and West, offering trendy beauty items from all over the world. At the same time, we are dedicated to providing Chinese consumers with cutting-edge products," said Ms. Maggie Chan, Managing Director of LVMH - Sephora Greater China. "Developed by LVMH Research Center, CHA LING organically blends together Chinese and French culture to preserve China's cultural and spiritual heritage, further deepening our connection with the local Chinese market."

Reconnecting with the World via Beauty

As an important member of LVMH Group, Sephora responds to the overall strategic objectives of the Group and partners with CHA LING to showcase at the 5th CIIE for the second time. Sephora's booth is located at the main entrance of the LVMH exhibition area. It features Sephora's classic black-and-white striped design and integrates images of Yunnan tea forests to show the perfect blend of Western minimalism and classical Eastern elegance.

Taking its inspiration from the emblematic architecture of Parisian square, LVMH's Pavilion features a modern and unique design across 640 square meters of exhibition space. Under the theme of "Reconnection", the Pavilion tells the story of LVMH's "New Connection with Outside World", "New Connection with Own History", "New Connection with Culture", and "New Connection with Youth", by showcasing the Maisons and their iconic products.

CHA LING Heritage of Chinese and French Culture

Since entering the China market in 2017, CHA LING has been bringing consumers premium skincare products that combine Eastern and Western cultures through its brand philosophy of "Beauty with a meaning, for you, for the others, and for the world".

At this year's Expo, CHA LING showcases four star products rooted in local Chinese ecology and cultural innovation  CHA LING Eau de Toilette, CHA LING The Cream, CHA LING Treatment Essence, and CHA LING Infusion Serum.

The beautiful and effective CHA LING products were developed in the mysterious ancient tea forests of Yunnan using cutting-edge technology from the LVMH Research Center. The research team spent three years developing a special 9-step extraction process to extract pure molecules from rare Pu-er teas which are used to produce the powerful cosmetic complex B-DT Complex. The skin-nourishing properties accumulated over thousands of years can effectively prevent aging of the skin and combat stresses to the skin caused by the external environment. CHA LING's special ingredient, aged tea, is sourced from the tea trees in Jingmai Mountain in Yunnan Province. In order to protect this natural ecology and preserve the area's rainforests, CHA LING invests a portion of its proceeds to the conservation of Yunnan tea forests.

"Elements of Chinese and French cultures are firmly embedded in CHA LING's DNA," said Ms. Angela Shum, Brand General Manager of CHA LING Greater China. "From ingredients to brand philosophy, CHA LING is inextricably linked to Chinese culture. We will continue to interact with Chinese consumers and develop more innovative products that cater to the local needs to provide Chinese consumers with luxurious skincare experiences as well as genuinely memorable services."

Sephora Continues Its Beauty Commitment

Sephora is committed to meeting the ever-changing beauty needs of Chinese consumers by curating the preferred brands from around the world and incubating new concepts and categories with meaningful brand stories to enrich its product offerings. As part of this commitment, Sephora leverages its strong global network, loyal community, and rich experiences in prestige beauty retail to support the development and growth of premium Chinese beauty brands.

To support the growth of CHA LING in China, Sephora has offered its rich resources in omnichannel sales and distribution, as well as its in-depth insights into Chinese consumer trends. Since CHA LING's entrance into Sephora over three years ago, Sephora has helped the brand to successfully upgrade its services and expand its channels. These actions include the launch of a dedicated lifestyle product line to expand commercial opportunities, and the creation of the CHA LING Tmall flagship ecommerce store. In offline strategies, Sephora has also partnered with CHA LING to launch the brand's spa treatment services and its exclusive Beau-Tea Class, helping the brand to diversify its product portfolio. In July this year, CHA LING has already reached the cumulative sales of RMB100 million on Sephora channels.

With 17 years in the China market, Sephora utilizes its deep understanding of local market and consumer needs to offer a curated selection of premium products and services to Chinese consumers. At this year's CIIE, Sephora and CHA LING will work together to create more possibilities in beauty through high-quality experiences that combine the best of Chinese and Western cultures, as we continue to fulfil Sephora's commitment to the China market.

Photos -

https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1939048/Sephora_Presents_CHA_LING_at_the_5th_CIIE.jpg

https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1939066/CHA_LING_showcases_four_star_products_at_this_years_Expo_Sephora.jpg

SOURCE Sephora
"Doug is a fighter and a warrior for the America First agenda and the people of this great Commonwealth."

LATROBE, Pa. , Nov. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- With three days left until Election Day, President Donald Trump appeared to support Republican gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano during a rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

"Doug is a fighter and a warrior for the America First agenda and the people of this great Commonwealth," President Trump said, to a roar of cheers from the thousands of Pennsylvanians at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport.

"As your governor, Doug will clean up Harrisburg. He'll stand up to the special interests, and he'll make sure your state is safe again," Trump added, noting that "Pennsylvania is being ransacked, torn up, looted, and brutalized" with the Democrat nominee, Attorney General Josh Shapiro, as the state's top law enforcement officer.

"You got to get this man elected. You got to straighten out this thing," Trump said after reciting a litany of shocking crime statistics from Philadelphia. "A vote for Josh Shapiro is a vote to destroy PA's future. A vote for Doug Mastriano is a vote to restore safety, opportunity, and hope."

"Failure is not an option. We have to win. The future for our children and our freedom is at stake," Mastriano said.

"On Day One of my administration, we're going to drill and dig as never before. On Day One all masking and jab requirements will end in PA. On Day One, woke is broke; CRT is done; we're going to defend our children," Mastriano pledged. "We're looking for a new day in PA."

To learn more about Mastriano for Governor, please visit www.doug4gov.com. You can follow Mastriano on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

SOURCE Doug4Gov
SHANGHAI, Nov. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The fifth China International Import Expo (CIIE) is currently under way at National Exhibition and Convention Center. ZEISS, a global leader in optics and optoelectronics, is making its fifth appearance in this year's CIIE, showcasing its products at Booth B4-01 in Hall 4.1 with a theme of "A Heart for Science". Innovative products and solutions in four major sectors on display by ZEISS are semiconductor manufacturing technology, industrial quality and research, medical technology and optical consumer goods. ZEISS will also be present at Booth A3-05 in the "Exhibitors to Investors" section in Hall 6.2. Here ZEISS will present its growth history in China during the past 65 years. It is an indication of its resolve to help quality development in China with its technological strength in optics.

Maximillan Foerst, President and CEO of ZEISS Greater China

Promoting localization in keeping with China development strategy

During the past two years China has become the world's largest single market for ZEISS. Its importance is today critical to ZEISS' future growth. As such a localization strategy with the Chinese market at its center is imminent. On November 5 ZEISS hosted a press conference of ZEISS China localization strategy at its booth in CIIE, introducing its plans in China - it will continue to increase its investments, and will thoroughly implement its localization strategy.

Said Maximillan Foerst, President and CEO of ZEISS Greater China, "Since entering the Chinese market for the first time in 1957, ZEISS has been steadfast in our long-term commitment to it. We are taking active steps to response to the Chinese government's rallying call for "Regional Innovation Hub" and "Healthy China". With full consideration of the unique nature of the Chinese market, we will continue to innovate our localization model so as to meet diverse local demands."

Strategic focus on economic zones, with increased investments in research and manufacturing

Ever since it entered the Chinese market 65 years ago, ZEISS has been constantly perfecting its strategic plans. Today ZEISS is well-established in the industrial hinterlands of Yangtze Delta and Pearl Delta regions, helping numerous Chinese industries as they achieve quality and sustainable growth. As part of its localization process which is gathering momentum, ZEISS has in early 2022 invested $60 million to incorporate two investment companies in Shanghai, respectively focusing on hi-tech and medical industries. On October 18 ZEISS held a ground-breaking ceremony for its new research, development and manufacturing base - the first proprietary project in China for ZEISS - in Suzhou Industrial Park for which the company will invest RMB 170 million. Its industrial quality, research microscope, surgical microscope and ophthalmology equipment departments offer local research and manufacturing services. From 2021 ZEISS added more than RMB 400 million in investment in its site in Guangzhou. The new investment was used in improving its smart manufacturing capacity. With the completion of ZEISS Guangzhou Knowledge City manufacturing base, ZEISS will possess a globally-influential industry ecosystem for healthy eyesight.

Deeply ingrained in China's industrial ecosystem, ZEISS works with partners to promote innovation

During the press conference, other ZEISS partners also gave their speeches. Said Mr. Li Dong, researcher of Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and the founder of Naxi Optoelectronic Technology Co., Ltd, "ZEISS is one of the leading suppliers of optical research equipment. The company has lent incredible support to fundamental research in biomedical science and imaging technology. From technological advancement and commercialization of proprietary technology to giving strong support to state-of-the-art fundamental research and development of advance technology, and then to the implementation of localization strategy in China, not to mention the accomplishment of innovative technologies, ZEISS has always embraced an liberal attitude, sharing its rich experience in optical technologies garnered over its long corporate history. Suffice it to say that ZEISS has had a significant impact on the growth of optical and imaging industries in every aspect. With its acceleration in localized innovation, ZEISS can create more business model with local companies, bring the first-class microscopic imaging solution and help scientific researchers to raise the level of fundamental research in China such that they can make scientific achievements that benefit mankind."

Said Mr. Zhou Xingtao, Director of Eye and Ent Hospital of Fudan University, a renowned expert in myopia, "ZEISS' comprehensive solutions on prevention and cure of myopia have played a critical role. We believe that as the company implements its China strategy, ZEISS will offer more innovative products and solutions in this field, helping to achieve a healthy China."

This year is the fifth time in which ZEISS takes part in CIIE. It is also the 65th anniversary of the company's presence in China. The success of CIIE is ample demonstration of the Chinese government's steadfast resolve in reforms and opening up, as well as its commitment to optimize the commercial environment. ZEISS looks set to further upgrade its localization model and take advantage of China's leadership in industry resources so as to be thoroughly entrenched in China's high-growth market.

ZEISS in Greater China

ZEISS' history in Greater China dates back to 1957. ZEISS is now represented in Greater China market with all segments including Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology, Industry Quality & Research, Medical Technology, and Consumer Markets. China is one of the fast growing regions of the ZEISS Group. About 6,500 employees through up the country with 45 sites of manufacturing factories, sales & service offices and R&D centers strongly support our customers in the region, and guarantee every related business internationally.

The headquarter of ZEISS Greater China locates in Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone. It is home to a wide range of activities: China Sales & Service headquarters, competence and training center, manufacturing facility for the ZEISS Industrial Metrology business group and Shanghai Innovation Center, ZEISS Group's first corporate innovation and research and development center outside of Germany. The headquarter also houses the central logistic and warehousing function for the Chinese market. We commit to support domestic R&D and production, positively expand cooperation fields to cultivate Chinese market in depth.

Since 2021, China has become ZEISS's biggest single market in the world, and one of the most innovative and fastest-growing markets.

SOURCE ZEISS China
Ramallah, Nov 6 : A Palestinian was killed and another seriously injured in clashes with Israeli soldiers northeast of the central West Bank city of Ramallah, the Palestinian health ministry and eyewitnesses said.

The ministry said in a press release that Mos'ab Nafal, 18, from the village of Sinjil, northeast of Ramallah, was killed on Saturday after he was shot in the chest by Israeli soldiers, Xinhua news agency reported.

Eyewitnesses in Ramallah said Israeli soldiers opened fire at the two men while they were throwing stones at Israeli military vehicles near the village.

One of them succumbed to his wound after being taken to hospital and the other was arrested by the soldiers, they added, noting the Palestinian medical teams were unable to reach the two men.

Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that Israeli soldiers shot two Palestinians throwing stones at Israeli settlers' vehicles on the main road near the village of Sinjil, adding one was killed and the other injured and arrested.

On Thursday, four Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, including Farouq Salameh, an Islamic Jihad militant Israel accuses of being behind the killing of an army officer several months ago.

The incidents come amid heightened tension between Palestinians and Israelis, especially when the final count of votes in Israeli elections this week has shown former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right bloc will return to power.
Lucknow, Nov 6 : A 32-year-old undertrial, who had allegedly attempted suicide inside jail and was rushed to the hospital here, died later during treatment.

Family members of the deceased Rahul alias Nutan Giri, staged a demonstration, accusing the police and doctors of negligence.

Rahul was sent to Lucknow jail on the charges of murder and kidnapping on September 9.

Senior Superintendent of Jail, Ashish Tiwari said, "Rahul tied a noose around his neck with the help of a towel (gamcha) and jumped from the stairs of the first floor of the barrack. Rahul was immediately rushed to jail hospital after untying him from the noose. He was given CPR and other lifesaving medicines/injections and his condition became stable. The doctors treated him, and his condition improved. But a few hours later, he died." His brothers Rohit and Pankaj, and his wife Nandani and other family members were informed. They reached the hospital and started protest.

They alleged that Rahul was murdered in jail and created ruckus following which Rohit was taken into custody.

However, he was released late on Saturday night.
Patna, Nov 6 : After losing power in Bihar, the BJP is making every effort to regain political ground in the state before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. As part of this plan, it has decided to organise a 'Sant Sansad' in Buxar district where 10 Chief Ministers as well as Union Ministers and six Governors will assemble from November 8-15.

Union Minister and local MP Ashwini Kumar Chaubey said that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will be the chief guest of the event. Besides him, Chief Ministers including Yogi Adityanath (UP), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (MP), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana), Pushkar Singh Dhami (Uttarakhand), Pramod Sawant (Goa), Eknath Shinde (Maharashtra), Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam), Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, as well as representatives of Nepal, Cambodia, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, and other countries will be present.

"It will be a religious and cultural event and it has nothing to do with politics," Chaubey claimed.

"Lord Rama, after Ayodhya, came to Buxar and killed the evil Tarkasur. There is a temple of Mata Ahilya in Buxar as well. UP CM Yogi Adityanath had started Shri Ram Karma Bhumi Yatra from Lucknow on November 3 and it will reach Buxar on November 5 via Ayodhya. The Charan Paduka of Shri Ram is present in Buxar and it will further go to Janakpur in Nepal on November 20 covering various districts of Bihar," he aid.

BJP OBC Morcha national General Secretary Nikhil Anand said that the "Sant Sansad will be a great event to promote cultural ethos and social harmony. Everyone who wants to provide moral and intellectual leadership in the society should participate in these events".

However, the question is why BJP has chosen Bihar's Buxar district for its programme comes down to one element - "fear", or rather, the fear of losing the 2024 Lok Sabha battle against the alliance of the JD-U, the RJD, and five other parties.

The BJP is the single opposition party in Bihar which is also facing identity crisis as no other leader can challenge Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad Yadav, and Tejashwi Yadav.

Over the years, the BJP is contesting elections in Bihar in the name and image of Nitish Kumar. Now, Nitish Kumar, in a bid to save his own party, went with the RJD in of August this year. On the other hand, the BJP never allow any of its leaders to flourish in Bihar like Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh. It put an established leader like Sushil Kumar Modi aside after the 2020 Assembly election and brought Tar Kishore Prasad and Renu Devi as substitutes. However, both flopped.

According to Patna-based political analyst, Bharat Sharma, the politics of Bihar is different from other smaller states like Goa, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and others.

"Here in Bihar, face is the most important factor then party cadre. BJP has made booth pramukh, panna pramukh and saptrishis on the ground but they could not turn the table for it unless and until a political face is there. BJP, after 2014 Lok Sabha election, is contesting on the face of PM Narendra Modi.

"BJP has two aspects in contesting any elections in the country. One is to select strong candidates and another is to divide the vote banks of the leaders of opposition parties. They did the same in the 2020 Assembly election through Chirag model in Bihar and also through the AIMIM in Seemanchal region. They also did the same in Uttar Pradesh by making candidates of BSP stronger to cut the votebank of Samajwadi Party," he said.

"This time, 7 parties are united in Bihar including Nitish Kumar's JD-U. The vote bank of opposition parties are not likely to divide here and BJP does not have a capacity to win the election on its own. Hence, polarising society through Sant Sansad is one of few options to go with and gain political ground," he said.

RJD Vice President Shivanand Tiwari criticised the BJP's plans. "BJP is turning out to be politically bankrupt in the country. They never talk about real issues like price rise of every product, unemployment, farmers related issues, education, health etc. Hence, they have only one option to communalise the society to win elections and remain in power.

"Sant Sansad is generally organised by saints. Why is a political person organising it and inviting Chief Ministers, Union Ministers, and Governors. There must be a political agenda hidden in it. The political agenda is to win the Lok Sabha election 2024 at any cost," Tiwari told IANS.

The situation of BJP in Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and other non BJP ruled states is not impressive at the moment. BJP leaders believe that mission 2024 may take a big jolt if the party would not perform well in these states, and amid 'padyatra politics' by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and political strategist Prashant Kishor, believe that the religious yatra may turn their fortunes/
Meghalaya: Voting underway amid tight security during Meghalaya Assembly elections on Feb 27, 2018. A total of 18,09,818 electorates, including 9,13,702 women and 89,405 first-time voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of Image Source: IANS News

Shillong/Kohima, Nov 6 : When political pundits are sceptical about the Naga peace talks while all parties and organisations are united in seeking resolution of the issue before the Assembly polls, ethnic troubles, along with resumption of agitations in support of old demands including introductions of Inner Line Permit (ILP) system, causing the situations hot up in neighbouring Meghalaya.

Assembly elections to Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Tripura are expected to be held in February 2023 even though political parties and the Election Commission already started their activities in the three northeastern states.

Ethnic tension and troubles have been prevailing in Shillong and its outskirts after the October 28 rally organised by the Federation of Khasi, Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP) highlighting unemployment problems in Meghalaya.

As per eyewitnesses accounts and official reports, some FKJGP members, many of them masked, punched, kicked, and pushed passers-by indiscriminately, injuring a large number of people, mostly non-tribals, and causing panic and huge traffic jams in the area.

Two days after the violence, the administration of the East Khasi Hills District - under which the Meghalaya capital falls, promulgated prohibitory orders 144 Cr Pc in the city and adjoining areas, banning all kinds of gatherings and rallies, except religious processions.

However, on November 1, violating the prohibitory orders, the Save Hynniewtrep Mission (SHM), a conglomerate of NGOs, organised a rally in Shilling, attended by hundreds of people, and met Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong in support of their nine-point demand, including the imposition of Inner Line Permit in the state.

The Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organisations (CoMSO), an apex body of over 17 organisations, has been spearheading the agitation since 2019 for introduction of ILP in the entire state, as against three autonomous district council areas at present.

The SHM's other demands include inclusion of Khasi language in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution, solution to the long-pending Harijan Colony issue, and review of the MoU signed between Meghalaya and Assam in phase one of inter-state border talks.

It is also demanding a CBI or judicial probe into the killing of former militant leader Cherristerfield Thangkhiew by the police, filling up of vacant posts in government departments, and immediate repeal of Gambling Act.

SHM leader Roy Kupar Synrem, who is also the General Secretary of CoMSO, said they had informed the Deputy CM that they would further intensify their stir over non-fulfillment.

"Not just in Shillong, whenever the Chief Minister, the Deputy Chief Minister or any minister visits any part of the state, our members and volunteers would go there to ask questions and remind them as to what happened to our nine-point charter of demands," he said.

If the ILP is enforced in entire Meghalaya, like in four other northeastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Manipur, the state would keep itself out of the purview of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

The ILP, under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, is an official travel document that allows an Indian citizen into a protected area for a limited period.

To visit the ILP-governed states, foreign nationals and even people from other states of India need to take a permit from the state government.

The main aim of the ILP system is to check settlement of other Indian nationals in these states to protect the native population. Protection is also extended to the indigenous people with regard to land, jobs and other facilities.

Political experts said that ahead of the election to the 60-seat Meghalaya Assembly, agitations on old issues, including ILP, expected to intensify in the mountainous state, which also often witnessed ethnic violence during the agitations of various organisations including the anti-CAA movement.

In neighbouring Nagaland, amidst the unrest over the non-settlement of the Naga political issue, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said that unresolved issues are behind the backwardness of the state.

If final solution is reached to the Naga political issue, Assembly elections may be deferred to enable interim arrangements. In the proposed political settlement, increase the number of Assembly constituencies, increase of seats in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in the state and economic packages are likely to be considered, the CM had said.

Rio, the top leader of the ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), said that though Nagaland was created in 1963, it was lagging behind in all areas of development while many states that came into existence much later had progressed faster.

(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in)
Noida, Nov 6 : Pollution is increasing continuously in Delhi-NCR and the Air Quality Index (AQI) has reached the most "severe" category, leading to many people difficulty in breathing and irritation in eyes.

Keeping the AQI in view, the governments has implemented the stage 4 of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), prohibiting all construction work and has banned diesel vehicles. However, as strict measures are being taken to ensure the safety of people from the high pollution levels, a political fight has also broken out over the causes.

Uttar Pradesh Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister, Dr Arun Kumar commented on issues related to pollution in a conversation with IANS.

Q: You are an MBBS doctor yourself, how dangerous do you consider the increasing pollution for the common public? A: This increasing pollution is very harmful for children and the elderly as it can cause many respiratory, and skin related diseases. Along with this, it also causes a lot of damage to the internal organs.

Q: Who is responsible for increasing pollution? A: Punjab is considered the most responsible for this, especially in Delhi-NCR, as stubble burning is still prevalent in the state. The air coming from the state contaminates the entire NCR including Delhi, Noida, and adjoining areas of western UP. The Punjab government does not put restrictions on the same. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on the contrary, holds the UP government responible for spreading pollution, while it is Punjab, that is actually behind it.

The AAP government in Punjab has not banned the burning of stubble which is one of the biggest reasons behind the increasing pollution levels. More stubble than last year was burnt this time.

Q: Can Odd-Even scheme be implemented in UP? A: The Odd-Even scheme is totally useless. No data suggesting its success has been found so far which is why no plan has been made to implement it in UP.

The Delhi government should inform the public about the goals it has achieved by implementing the scheme. No reduction in the AQI or pollution has been recorded when it is in force.

Q: What actions are being taken by the UP government to prevent the increasing pollution in Noida, Ghaziabad and its surrounding areas? A: A review meeting was held regarding pollution and the orders of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) are being followed. 19 sweeping machines have been allotted and water is being sprinkled incessantly.

Tiles and grass will be put at roadsides where dust accumulates. The government has provided 80 anti-smoke guns to Noida Authority. A campaign to make the streets free from potholes is also underway.

Waste management is being done in Noida and Ghaziabad. 60 ongoing projects found violating the rules have been shut down. Stage 4 rules of GRAP have been implemented at construction sites. Schools have been closed while keeping children's health in mind.

Q: What special measures are being taken in western UP, where the effect of pollution is at its highest? A: A complete ban on burning wood and coal has been enforced. The units causing pollution are being monitored. More and more electricity is being supplied to prevent people from using generators that cause pollution.

Registration of vehicles of 10 and 15 years is being cancelled to prevent vehicular pollution. Fines are being imposed on anyone found burning garbage in the open as it is completely banned.
Gandhinagar, Nov 6 : The earlier perception was that the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) would contest only in Muslim-dominated areas of Gujarat to target the Congress's support. But with its move to field Kaushika Parmar on Ahmedabad's Danilimda (reserved for Scheduled Castes) seat, it indicates that the party also has its eye on the Congress's Dalit constituency too.

However, the AIMIM denied any such plans.

"The party is planning to contest 30 Assembly seats that includes Muslims, Dalits, tribal and even general-dominated seats. When a party is in the election fray, it can't have designed that its candidate will dent X or Y party's vote bank... people will vote for our party and candidates," AIMIM spokesman Danish Kureshi told IANS.

There are 13 reserved seats for Scheduled Caste, and in the 2017 elections, the BJP had won seven and the Congress five, while one went to a Congress-supported Independent.

The AIMIM's fielding of Parmar from Danilimda is an example of how the party is planning to cut into Dalit and Muslim votes in the seat from where Congress' Sailesh Parmar was elected in the last two elections.

The party has declared candidates for Jamalpur-Khadia, Surat (East), Limbayat, and Bapunagar, and the caste equations suggest its entry into the contest on these seats directly benefits the BJP.

Congress's Dasada MLA Naushad Solanki said: "We are prepared for this, we were aware in advance that the AAP and the AIMIM will nominate candidates on seats, where Congress is winning since long and BJP can't make inroads... earlier, they were getting Independent candidates (to stand against Congress), now these are being replaced by the AAP and the AIMIM, but people have realised why these parties are interested in elections, so this strategy to sabotage prospects is not going to work this time." A month and half ago, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had addressed a public rally in the Mangrol taluka of Junagadh district, but it seems to have had a little influence on voters. "It is true that good numbers of Muslims has attended the rally, but even if AIMIM fields candidate on Kodinar seat of Gir-Somnath district, it will fail miserably to dent the Congress vote bank," said sitting Congress MLA Mohanlal Vala.

According to political observers, the AIMIM can field its candidate on Scheduled Caste reserved seats like Gadhada, Asarva, Vadgam, Kadi, Gandhidham, and Vadodara city, where the BJP feels there is a tough fight. To divide Muslim votes, it will nominate candidates on Bhuj, Abdasa, Mandvi, Jamnagar rural, Mangrol, Junagadh, Dhoraji, Umreth Khambhaliya, Somnath, Surat-West, Bharuch, and Jambusar seats.
New Delhi, Nov 6 : Political parties fielding candidates facing criminal cases in the upcoming state poll battles will have to publish full details on their official social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter ,apart from vernacular newspaper and one national newspaper.

As per the rules, both the candidates as well as the political parties have to publish complete details about the criminal antecedents. These details should be published on three occasions during the campaign period in such a way so that electors have sufficient time to know about the background of such candidates.

While candidates with criminal antecedents in polls are not unusual, it is mandatory for political parties to upload on their website detailed information regarding individuals with pending criminal cases. The details include the nature of the offences, and relevant particulars such as whether charges have been framed, the concerned court, the case number etc.

Moreover, political parties also have to furnish the reasons for such selection, as also as to why other individuals without criminal antecedents could not be selected as candidates. The reasons as to selection shall be with reference to the qualifications, achievements and merit of the candidate concerned, and not mere "winnability" at the polls, said a senior EC official.

As per the guidelines, these details shall be published within 48 hours of the selection of the candidate and not prior to two weeks before the first date of filing of nominations. The political party concerned shall then submit a report of compliance with these directions with the Election Commission within 72 hours of the selection of the said candidate. If a political party fails to submit such a compliance report with the Election Commission, the poll panel shall bring such non-compliance by the political party concerned to the notice of the Supreme Court as being in contempt of the court's orders/directions.

The Supreme Court issued some additional directions through a judgment dated August 10, 2021, which has been further circulated by the Election Commission. As per the directions, "Political parties are to publish information regarding criminal antecedents of candidates on the homepage of their websites, thus making it easier for the voter to get to the information that has to be supplied. It will also become necessary now to have on the homepage a caption which says 'candidates with criminal antecedents'." The directions also said: "We clarify that the direction in paragraph 4.4 of our Order dated 13.02.2020 be modified and it is clarified that the details which are required to be published, shall be published within 48 hours of the selection of the candidate and not prior to two weeks before the first date of filing of nominations." "We reiterate that if such a political party fails to submit such compliance report with the EC, the EC shall bring such noncompliance by the political party to the notice of this Court as being in contempt of this court's orders/directions, which shall in future be viewed very seriously," it added.

According to a recent report by poll rights body ADR, out of 412 candidates analysed in this year's Himachal Pradesh polls, 94 (23 per cent) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves, while 50 (12 per cent) have declared serious criminal cases against themselves this year.
Panaji, Nov 6 : With the Central and state government fostering cage fishing in the sea, Goan fishermen have started to opt for the scheme to save the coastal state from fish famine.

Sheldon Fernandes, an MBA from Candolim in North Goa, has become the first entrepreneur in the state to start an open sea cage farm under Goa State Mariculture Policy.

Talking to IANS, Fernandes said that he ventured into this new format to get experience and grow into it. "This is the first time that I am doing fish farming. For this, I have studied and taken training on the whole process. This encouraged me to take up this task and achieve success," he said.

"At present, we have five cages. I got full support from the Central and state government by subsidies. This has helped us to venture into this business." Fernandes said that his family was in traditional fishing and they are handling cage farming for the very first time. "We want to try this whole system, because unless, we try it, we won't get knowledge of it," he said.

The cage frames, made of galvanised iron, have a diameter of 6 metres and fishes are cultured inside a net with depth of 5 metre tied to the cage frame.

"These cages are floated into the sea and fully netted, so fish from outside do not come in and fish which are growing inside the cage will not go out," Fernandes said.

The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Karwar has been integrated in the said project.

Seeing the huge potential in mariculture activity, Goa became the first state in India to notify a policy to augment fish production through fish culture in cages.

It is trying to encourage more youth to get into this business, which would help the state and people of Goa to get fresh fish.

Goa Fisheries Minister Nilkanth Halarnkar had urged the youths to enter it and become self-reliant.

He had earlier said the Central government has sanctioned Rs 400 crore for setting up cage fishing infrastructure to boost the coastal state's catch of fish.

Though 2,475 boats and 897 trawlers are registered with the Fisheries Department for fishing activities, fish in Goa is also brought from Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra also. This is to meet demand from the people of the state and by the eight million plus tourists who visit Goa every year.

Fearing that a fish famine could pose a serious threat to the availability of the staple food of the coastal state, the Goa government, apart from notifying the "Goa State Mariculture Policy 2020" to carry out open sea cage fish culture, has also urged the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) to suggest adoption of modern methods for production of fish.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has urged the scientists and students of the NIO to suggest ways to increase fish productivity by adopting modern methods.

The NIO has played a vital role in increasing the production of green mussels in Goa, by training stakeholders.
New Delhi, Nov 6 : IIT Delhi, known not only in the country but all over the world for its excellent research and innovations, is likely to become a 'Knowledge Partner' of the Parliament.

As a 'Knowledge Partner', experts from IIT Delhi would share crucial information on topics such as 5G technology, communication technology, pollution, and climate change with MPs.

Director of IIT Delhi, Ranjan Banerjee told IANS that being located in the national capital and being a national institute, an initiative has been taken up for this. "We have discussed this with the Union Education Ministry, and the ministry has approved the proposal," he said.

Most importantly, there will be no language barrier while sharing information, research, and knowledge of new inventions with MPs. It would be made available to MPs in English, Hindi, and regional languages as well.

The proposal for becoming a 'Knowledge Partner' has been sent by IIT Delhi through the Education Ministry. Under the initiative, different groups of professors from the institute would engage with MPs on important issues and enhance their knowledge on a range of subjects.

Under the initiative, experts from IIT Delhi would meet the parliamentarians and provide them with first-hand information about new technology and innovations in various fields.

MPs would be apprised of the latest technology to reduce air and water pollution, modern methods of waste disposal, waste-to-electricity generation, and measures to deal with climate change among others.

IIT Delhi is already working with the government to combat air pollution. The institute is associated with 'Delhi Research Implementation and Innovation' (DRIIV), an initiative of the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, to fight air pollution in the national capital.

IIT Delhi's Centre of Excellence for Research in Climate Change and Air Pollution has partnered with the Centre for the DRIIV initiative.

Under DRIIV, IIT Delhi is conducting a technology pilot called Project SAMEER (Solutions for Air-pollution Mitigation through Engagement, Engineering, and Research) in Delhi-NCR from November 2022 to February 2023.

Interestingly, IIT Delhi is also trying to break the language barrier as the institute believes that language should not become a barrier in the way of learning. It was established a Hindi cell for this.

According to the Director of IIT Delhi, Hindi cell has been formed and soon efforts will be made to include Hindi in teaching and learning.
Lucknow, Nov 6 : Doctors at King George's Medical University (KGMU) here have performed the institution's first combined liver-kidney transplant after the family members of a brain-dead patient donated the organs.

The liver, kidneys and corneas were harvested from a 20-year-old resident of Lonar village in Hardoi.

He was admitted to the KGMU Trauma Centre after a road accident last month and had been on ventilator support. The accident took place on October 24 in Hamirpur. The donor worked as a helper in the transport sector.

The liver and a kidney were transplanted to a 58-year-old man from Azamgarh by a KGMU team led by Dr Abhijit Chandra, head of the department of gastro surgery.

The second kidney was sent to the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Science (SGPGIMS) for another patient via a green corridor. The corneas have been kept at the eye bank at KGMU.

After the road accident, the 20-year-old donor was first admitted to a private hospital and later shifted to KGMU.

KGMU spokesperson Dr Sudhir Singh said, during treatment, he was declared "brain dead" and, later, the doctors convinced the family to agree to organ donation.

The liver and a kidney were received by a 58-year-old man from Azamgarh.
Lucknow, Nov 6 : If this government school principal has his way, learning for school children will undergo a massive change.

'A' will no longer be for apple -- it will be for 'Arjun'.

A PDF file shared by the principal of a government school in Lucknow on WhatsApp has stirred up a major row.

The file shows how to teach the letters of the English alphabet to students by linking them to Hindu mythological characters, Hindu deities and historical figures. The file has gone viral on social media and is getting a lot of views.

Saheb Lal Mishra, Principal of Aminabad Inter College, had recently shared the PDF file that reads 'A for Arjun', 'B for Balram' (brother of Krishna), 'C for Chanakya', 'D for Dhruva', and so on.

This is a clear departure from the conventional 'A for Apple', 'B for ball', 'C for Cat' and so on. Mishra is rooting for an introduction to Indian mythology along with the initiation into the English alphabet.

In an explanatory video shot later, the principal is heard saying, "Today, our children are drifting from our Indian culture. In our day, there were grandparents who used to tell us stories about our own heritage and culture. In the era of mobile technology when everyone is busy in their own world, younger children are unaware about their own culture." Mishra said, "It crossed my mind that if we can come out with a book where instead of telling children A for Apple or B for boy, we can mention about our own Indian culture with little details, it will be a great way to teach children about the English letters of the alphabet along with our Indian culture.

"It would be good if publishers would print a book along these lines. And if any school wishes to teach students the English alphabet in this fashion, nothing like it," he said.

However, he said he cannot implement the approach at Aminabad Inter College because classes there start from 6 and this 'indigenous methodology' can only be employed at the primary level.

A professor in the English department of Lucknow University explained, "Learning letters through proper names gives us very limited knowledge. Therefore, generic terms like A for Apple and B for boy is a better idea. We should not go overboard in terms of our special understanding of national pride. We look for easy and familiar sounds and words for the understanding of children as they grow. We should teach in global neutral terms to promote our ideals of global citizenship."
Prayagraj : , Nov 6 (IANS) BJP MP from Phulpur, Keshari Devi Patel, has received a death threat over the phone.

Earlier, she had been demanded Rs 50 lakh through phone calls and letters.

Keshari Devi Patel has now filed a case against the unidentified caller at the Colonelganj police station.

Primary surveillance revealed that threats were made from Mumbai. A team of police is now trying to identify and nab the individual behind the threats, police said.

According to the FIR, a call was made on Keshari Devi Patel's mobile on November 1 from an unknown number. The phone could not be received at that time. Three minutes later she again got a call from the same number. When she asked for the caller's name, he started hurling abuses.

The caller also asked to be paid Rs 50 lakh and threatened that if the money was not paid then the MP and her whole family would be murdered.

The caller made more calls and repeated the threats and extortion demands. This time, the calls were recorded by the MP.

The MP also informed the police that a month back, a letter was received demanding Rs 50 lakh along with a threat but that then she did not take it seriously.

The SHO of Colonelganj police station, Ram Mohan Rai confirmed the FIR and said that investigation is now underway.
Seoul, Nov 6 : A police squad first arrived at the scene of the Halloween crowd crush in Seoul nearly 85 minutes after the incident erupted, police data showed Sunday.

A total of five police squads affiliated with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) were mobilised on the day of the crowd crush in Seoul's Itaewon district that killed at least 156 people, mostly those in their 20s, according to the data submitted by the SMPA to Rep. Lee Tae-won of the main opposition Democratic Party.

The No. 11 police squad first arrived at the scene at 11:40 p.m. on October 29 under the instruction of Lee Im-Jae, a former chief of the Yongsan Police Station that includes the Itaewon neighbourhood. The first call to the police's 112 emergency hotline was made around 10:15 p.m, Yonhap news agency reported.

Four other squads arrived at the scene one by one, starting from 11:50 p.m. on October 29 to 1:14 a.m. on October 30, according to the SMPA data.

Lee -- temporarily suspended from his post -- was also found to have arrived at the Itaewon police substation at 11:05 p.m., some 50 minutes after the crush happened.

Also, a total of eight units of conscripted policemen were ordered to be dispatched to the scene at 12:11 a.m. on Oct. 30, the data showed. The role of conscripted policemen is to support police officers in various tasks such as patrol.

The first unit arrived at the scene at 12:50 a.m. on October 30, followed by seven others up until 1:12 a.m., it said.

Kim Kwang-ho, chief of the SMPA, was also belatedly briefed by the Yongsan police chief at 11:36 p.m. on Oct. 29, leaving the top police command in the dark for more than an hour, the data showed.

An independent team of investigators announced that Lee had belatedly arrived at the police substation after he had insisted on moving by his car despite a heavy traffic jam around the Itaewon area at the time.

After leaving a restaurant where he had been having dinner with officers from his office, Lee had arrived at Noksapyeong Station at around 10 p.m. The station is located just 10 minutes by foot from the scene.

However, Lee's car detoured from the subway station to find other ways, and he was only able to arrive at a street near the police substation around between 10:55 p.m. and 11:01 p.m.
San Francisco, Nov 6 : Apple has settled a lawsuit against a former employee for allegedly stealing trade secrets and sharing those with a journalist.

The tech giant had filed a lawsuit against Simon Lancaster, a former design architect with the company, in March 2021.

"Apple and Lancaster have reached an agreement to resolve this matter, which includes a monetary payment by Lancaster to Apple and the dismissal of the claims in this case," read the settlement order in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

Lancaster has been barred from "disclosing, communicating, transferring, discussing, or using any confidential Information, in any form, without Apple's express prior written authorisation".

According to Apple's earlier lawsuit, Lancaster shared details of unreleased hardware, unannounced feature changes, and future product announcements with the correspondent.

Apple also alleged that Lancaster downloaded confidential documents just before leaving the company in November 2019 that would "assist his new employer", Arris Composites. Lancaster quit Arris in 2021, reports The Verge.

"Despite over a decade of employment at Apple, Lancaster abused his position and trust within the company to systematically disseminate Apple's sensitive trade secret information in an effort to obtain personal benefits," Apple had said in its lawsuit.

"He used his seniority to gain access to internal meetings and documents outside the scope of his job's responsibilities containing Apple's trade secrets, and he provided these trade secrets to his outside media correspondent," the company added.
Mumbai, Nov 6 : Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor, who tied the knot on April 14, are all set to welcome their first child. The parents-to-be were reported to be arriving at the H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital in Girgaon, Mumbai, for their D-Day.

The couple have had a successful year with 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' sealing Alia's well-deserved reputation as a talented actress and 'Brahmastra' reviving Ranbir's flagging career graph. Alia also made news because of her Hollywood foray with the Gal Gadot-starrer 'Heart of Stone', set to be released in 2023, The newborn child will truly be the crowning glory for an eventful year for the couple.

In June, Alia took the world by surprise by announcing her pregnancy with a picture featuring Ranbir on her Instagram handle. She has also launched a line of maternity wear named Edamama.
Guntur: Jana Sena Party (JSP) President Pawan Kalyan meets the villagers whose houses were demolished purportedly for road widening project, in Guntur district on Saturday, November 05, 2022. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Guntur: Jana Sena Party (JSP) President Pawan Kalyan meets the villagers whose houses were demolished purportedly for road widening project, in Guntur district on Saturday, November 05, 2022. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Guntur: Jana Sena Party (JSP) President Pawan Kalyan meets the villagers whose houses were demolished purportedly for road widening project, in Guntur district on Saturday, November 05, 2022. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Hyderabad, Nov 6 : The country has seen the Uttar Pradesh government's JCBs and demolition drives in Uttar Pradesh. Down south, now another version of demolition politics is unfolding as political opponents in Andhra Pradesh have alleged that the ruling YSRCP is resorting to demolition drives to target them.

The official reasons range from illegal encroachment to road widening work. However the opposition parties are not buying this argument.

Ippatam, a nondescript village in Guntur district, is the setting for the latest episode of demolition politics. On Friday, the authorities got down to demolish the front portions of several houses and shops, for a road widening project. Incidentally, the Jana Sena Party had organised its foundation day event here on March 14 this year after it failed to get any other venue allegedly at the state government's behest.

The residents of Ippatam allege that the demolition under the garb of road widening is the YSRCP's retribution as they had given their lands for the JSP's public meeting earlier this year.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) politburo member, Bonda Umamaheswara Rao, accused Chief Minister, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy of beginning his rule on a destructive note. "Over the past three-and-half years, he has been indulging in demolitions and attacks on those who are questioning his corrupt practices," he said.

Telugu movie star and Jana Sena Party founder, Pawan Kalyan arrived in Ippatam on Saturday to express his support for the villagers of Ippatam. As expected, high drama unfolded when authorities tried to prevent him from going to the village. Pawan Kalyan finally had his way and met the villagers of Ippatam.

"This is pure vendetta," Pawan Kalyan said later. "What is the point in widening a road to 100 feet when the village doesn't even have a bus service. This government which can't even repair the pitiable roads in the state is talking of laying a road," he commented.

TDP leaders point to several incidents of demolition politics where properties of its party leaders have been targeted ever since Jagan Mohan Reddy took over as the CM.

A few months ago, the authorities had demolished portions of TDP leader Chintakayala Ayyanapatrudu's home compound wall in Narsipatnam citing encroachment of a government property.

In October 2020, revenue department officials in Visakhapatnam had charged GITAM university of encroaching 40.51 acres of land, and went on to raze a compound wall and other structures on the encroached land. The university was established by late M.V.V.S. Murthi who was associated with the TDP.

In December the same year, revenue officials had demolished a shed and compound wall on the land owned by the Visakhapatnam (East) TDP MLA, Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu, in Rushikonda.

On Saturday, after a stone was pelted at his convoy in Nandigama, TDP supremo Chandrababu responded angrily, that his party is not scared of the YSRCP scare tactics.

The ruling party leaders have been claiming that the government is going as per the law.

Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh are due in 2024 but the political temperatures are already reaching boiling point. Political observers say that that demolition politics will continue to dominate in the run-up to assembly polls.
Shimla, Nov 6 : The grand old party Congress is trusting its old warhorses to leave behind greenhorns to win the November 12 electoral race in Himachal Pradesh.

In comparison, the state ruling BJP has largely discarded its veterans and reposed faith on comparatively younger faces with the slogan 'rivaj badlega' (electoral traditions will change), meaning to buck the trend to sweep the polls alternatively as both arch rivals ruled the state from 1985.

Out of 412 candidates in the fray, 24 are female and 388 male candidates. A total of 55,92,828 voters will elect their representatives. Of them, 193,106 are first-time voters in the age of 18-19 years. There are 121,409 voters above 80 years, while 56,501 voters with disabilities.

Among the eldest candidates, the Congress has fielded Col. Dhani Ram Shandil (82) from Solan; Chandra Kumar (78) from Jawali; Kaul Singh Thakur (76) from Drang; Thakur Singh Bharmouri (75) from Bharmour; Kishori Lal (75) from Baijnath and Khimi Ram (73) from Banjar.

Congress rebel Gangu Ram Musafir (77), who has been denied the party nomination, is contesting as an Independent from Pachhad.

The youngest candidate is Piyush Kanga (26), who is in fray from Bilaspur as an Independent.

The others are Chaitanya Sharma (28) of the Congress from Gagret; Jabna Kumari (29) of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) from Nachan; Puja (29) of the Himachal Jan Kranti Party from Bharmour, Manisha Kumari (30) of AAP from Nurpur; Kishori Lal (31) of the CPI(M) from Karsog; Vikramaditya Singh (33) of the Congress from Shimla (Rural); and Deep Raj (34) of the BJP from Karsog.

The BJP has denied the party ticket to 11 sitting legislators, shifting seats of two ministers, denying nomination to one minister, whose son has been fielded from that constituency, and swapping seats of two veterans owing to infighting.

The grand old party, which is trying to build up its ground on slogan 'Himachal ka Sankalp, Congress hi Vikalp' (For Himachal's resolve, the Congress is the only alternative), has retained all its 20 outgoing lawmakers.

Its two legislators -- Pawan Kajal from Kangra and Lakhwinder Singh Rana from Nalagarh -- in the 68-member House had joined the BJP and in the fray again from their respective seats.

Both traditional archrivals -- the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress -- have been contesting on all 68 Assembly constituencies, while the AAP, in its maiden fray to the Assembly polls, has announced fielded 67 candidates.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is in fray on 53 seats, the Rashtriya Devbhoomi Party on 29, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on 11, the Himachal Jan Kranti Party on six, the Hindu Samaj Party and the Swabhiman Party on three seats each and one seat each by the Himachal Janata Party, the Bhartiya Veer Dal, the Sainik Samaj Party, the Rashtriya Lok Niti Party and the Communist Party of India.

A total of 99 Independent candidates are also in the fray.

As per the state electoral office, the maximum number of 11 candidates are in fray from the Jogindernagar Assembly constituency, while the minimum number of three candidates each are contesting from Churah Assembly in Chamba district, Lahaul-Spiti Assembly and Drang Assembly in Mandi district.

Political observers told IANS the rebels are more vocal in the BJP compared to the Congress, though both parties have been gripped with infighting, besides the ruling party facing anti-incumbency.

The Congress expelled its six leaders for rebelling against the party candidates.

They included former Speaker Gangu Ram Musafir, who had lost 2012 and 2017 elections. The party opted for a BJP turncoat Dayal Pyari and ignored Musafir's claim. He is in fray as an Independent from Pacchad in Sirmaur district.

For the BJP, it has almost dumped its two former chief ministers and stalwarts -- Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal -- citing the party's policy of not holding any post in the government and the organisation after 75 years of age. Both are almost a miss from the party's poll campaigns and election strategy.

The prominent saffron faces who were denied ticket include legislator Kishori Lal from Anni and BJP state vice-president Ram Singh from Kullu. Both are contesting as an Independent from their respective seats.

In Mandi, the home district of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, and Kullu districts, the prominent rebels include Abhishek Thakur, son of six-time legislator Roop Singh, from Sundernagar; and Hiteshwar Singh, the son of Maheshwar Singh, from Banjar. They are in the fray as an Independent.

Maheshwar Singh, the scion of the erstwhile Kullu estate, was earlier the BJP's candidate from Kullu town. The party later withdrew his candidature after he failed to convince his son Hiteshwar Singh to withdraw his nomination as an Independent from Banjar.

Interestingly, in Banjar seat in Kullu district Hiteshwar Singh and Congress candidate Khimi Ram, both BJP's turncoats, are posing a challenge to sfarron party's outgoing lawmaker Surinder Shourie.

Political observers told IANS the BJP is facing strong dissent after the allocation of tickets in Dharampur, Karsog, Jogindernagar and Darang constituencies in Mandi district, which may upset BJP's applecart.

From Dharampur, the stronghold of Cabinet minister Mohinder Thakur, the BJP has nominated his son, Rajat Thakur from where the lawmaker's daughter Vandana Guleria has earlier raised a banner of revolt.

She accused her father of promoting patriarchy. She asked the party "why the daughters are denied their rights amidst its welfare programmes to empower womenfolk like Beti Hai Anmol".

As the name of his brother cleared, Vandana resigned from the post of general secretary of the BJP Mahila Morcha.

At Karsog constituency, the supporters of BJP MLA Hira Lal have been gunning the BJP high command for giving ticket to a new candidate.

The supporters of former BJP minister Gulab Singh Thakur, the father-in-law of Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur, are upset as the party has given ticket to Prakash Rana, the sitting legislator from Jogindernagar who won the election as an independent and later joined the BJP.

Upset supporters of Cabinet ministers Suresh Bhardwaj and Rakesh Pathania are questioning the high command over changing their stronghold seats at the last minute.

In politically significant Kangra district, sitting lawmaker Ramesh Dhawla was shifted to Dehra from Jawalamukhi, while former minister Ravinder Singh Ravi, a loyalist of Dhumal, who announced to quit the BJP if denied party's ticket, shifted to Jawalamukhi from his traditional seat Dehra.

Ravi lost to the independent legislator Hoshyar Singh, who joined the BJP in June.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur was keen to field Hoshyar Singh from Dehra but Dhumal opposed his nomination. He even apprised BJP national President Jagat Prakash Nadda about the possibility of 'revolt' by former minister Ravi for ignoring his interest.

Justifying the changes in ticket allocations, a senior BJP leader told IANS: "In a bid to counter the anti-incumbency factor, we have introduced new faces and changed seats." The Congress, too, is not lagging in infighting.

BJP leader Indu Verma, the wife of three-time legislator Rakesh Verma, in July joined the Congress. She was inducted into the party for giving a shot in the arm but she was denied the party ticket from her husband's stronghold Theog in Shimla district.

Polling in Himachal Pradesh will take place on November 12, while the counting of ballots on December 8.

There are over 55 lakh eligible voters in the state, for whom 7,881 polling stations have been set up. Of the voters, 28,54,945 are male electors, 27,37,845 female and 38 third gender voters.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
Islamabad, Nov 6 : Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan will return to the political stage within two to three days, party leader Hammad Azhar said.

Talking to mediapersons at the Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Lahore, where Imran is being treated for the leg injury, Azhar said the party would continue its peaceful protest against the "attempted assassination" of Imran Khan.

The former Pakistan Prime Minister suffered gun shot injuries in leg on Thursday when he was leading the anti-government long march toward Islamabad, Geo TV reported.

Family of Moazzam Gondal, the youth who lost his life during the attack on Imran Khan, will get a total of Rs 15 million, Azhar claimed, adding that the party will bear all the expenses of Moazzam's children.

Hammad Azhar said that the PTI has given Rs 5 million to the children of Moazzam and the Punjab province government also will give another Rs 5 million to the bereaved family in a day or two.

In a televised address from the hospital, Imran had alleged, "Three people - including Rana Sanaullah, Shehbaz Sharif, and a major in the army - made a plan to assassinate me after they saw that the number of people in my long march was exponentially increasing." Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the concerned authorities to take action against Imran Khan and his associates for levelling allegations against the armed forces.
New Delhi, Nov 6 : Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform Udaan, which raised $120 million just last month, has sacked nearly 350 employees who were on the regular payroll, while asking hundreds of contractual workers to leave too.

Company sources confirmed to IANS on Sunday that the layoffs "in the upper range of 350 employees" were done as part of cost-cutting measures as well as to tackle redundancies in certain roles across verticals.

"As we move forward in our journey towards making udaan a profitable company, the efficiency enhancement drive and the evolution in business model has created some redundancies in the system, with some roles no longer required. As a responsible organisation, we are working towards providing all requisite support to the impacted employees," a company spokesperson said in a statement.

Despite the funding winter, Udaan last month raised $120 million in convertible notes and debt, as it plans an initial public offering (IPO) in the next 12-18 months.

Udaan's chief financial officer Aditya Pande wrote in an email that the total funds raised by Udaan through convertible notes and debt in the last four quarters have crossed $350 million, making it one of the largest structured instrument fund raises in the country.

Despite raising fresh funds, the company has laid off hundreds of employees.

"We believe in efficiency as a driver of profitable growth and will continue to refine our cost structures and models. In this direction, we have taken numerous steps, with enhanced digital capabilities, to achieve efficiency and scale, become more agile and remain competitive in the marketplace," the company spokesperson noted.

Earlier this year, Udaan raised $250 million, $200 million in convertible notes and $50 million in debt.

In the calendar year 2021, Udaan raised $500 million, taking its total raise to $1.4 billion to date.

To cater to the growing demand, Udaan plans to scale its warehouse capacity to 50 million square feet across the country in the next seven-eight years.
Hyderabad, Nov 6 : Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has taken a lead of 1,034 votes at the end of the fourth round of counting of votes in Munugode Assembly by-election.

The initial trends show that the constituency is witnessing a close contest between the ruling TRS and the opposition BJP as the counting of votes was taken up on Sunday.

TRS candidate K. Prabhakar Reddy took the lead from the very first round. Prabhakar Reddy has secured 6,418 votes while BJP's Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy polled 5,126 votes. Congress party's Palvai Sravanthi was third with 2,100 votes.

In the second round, BJP took the lead of 841 votes. It was polled 8,622 votes while TRS garnered 7,781 votes. Congress was again a distant third with 1,537 votes. However, TRS took a cumulative lead of 451 votes.

The BJP was polled more votes than TRS in the third round but in the fourth TRS regained the lead and at the end of this round, the ruling party was ahead by 1,034 votes.

There will be a total 15 rounds of counting. The counting of votes began at 8 a.m. on Sunday amid tight security. The poll officials first took up counting of postal ballots.

A voter turnout of 93.13 per cent was recorded in the bitterly contested bypoll on Thursday. This surpassed 91.31 per cent polling recorded in the constituency in 2018 polls.

Out of a total 2,41,805 electorate, 2,25,192 cast their votes. This does not include the postal ballots.

Though there were a total of 47 candidates in the fray, the main contest was among three major players - TRS, BJP and Congress.

The bypoll was necessitated after sitting MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy resigned from the Congress to join the BJP in August. This time he contested on the BJP ticket.

The TRS fielded former MLA Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy, who had lost to Rajagopal Reddy in 2018.

The Congress fielded Palvai Sravanthi Reddy, daughter of former MP Palvai Goverdhan Reddy.
Seoul, Nov 6 : South Korea President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee attended a memorial mass held Sunday at the Myeongdong Cathedral for the victims of the Itaewon crowd crush.

It was Yoon's third attendance in a religious service honouring the victims, following a Buddhist memorial service at the Joggye Temple in central Seoul on Friday and a church service organised by the United Christian Churches of Korea on Saturday, Yonhap news agency reoprted.

During Sunday's Mass, Yoon was seen crossing himself and praying.

Unlike the two previous services, Yoon did not take the podium for a speech.

On Friday, Yoon said he is "profoundly heartbroken and sorry" as the president responsible for the people's lives and safety. He said Saturday that he will never be free from an apologetic heart for failing to protect young people.

At least 156 people, mostly in their 20s, were killed in the tragedy.
Patna, Nov 6 : Bihar was seeing the first contest after Nitish Kumar's JD(U) moved out of alliance with the BJP and closed ranks with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). The RJD was leading from the Mokama Assembly and in Gopalganj, the contest was close with the BJP candidate leading with a narrow margin.

In Mokama, the might of Bahubali leader was reflecting in the results which as per the trends were in favour of his wife and RJD candidate Neelam Devi. She is leading with 10,737 votes against BJP candidate Sonam Devi.

Neelam has bagged 35,036 votes after the 9th round while Sonam has obtained 24,299 votes.

The Mokama Assembly seat was vacant after the MLA-MLC court of Patna convicted Anant Singh in an AK 47 case in August.

In Gopalganj, the counting of votes was very slow. As per the election commission website, BJP candidate Kusum Devi was leading here against RJD candidate Mohan Prasad Gupta after the fourth round.

Kusum Devi has obtained 15,030 votes while Mohan Prasad Gupta has achieved 14,393. The fight between these two candidates was neck to neck with the RJD candidate initially leading in the first and second round. Now, he was trailing with a narrow margin of 637 votes.

The bypoll of Gopalganj took place after the demise of Kusum Devi's husband Subhash Singh, the MLA of BJP.
Tokyo, Nov 6 : A South Korean naval vessel took part in Japan's international fleet review on Sunday for the first time in seven years amid escalating nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.

South Korea was one of 12 countries, including the US, Canada and Australia, to take part in the review that took place in Sagami Bay off Kanagawa Prefecture, about 40 kms southeast of Tokyo, Yonhap news agency reported.

Sailors aboard South Korea's 10,000-ton logistics support ship Soyang saluted toward Japan's helicopter carrier Izumo carrying Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, as sailors from other participating countries do while passing the carrier.

The Japanese vessel was flying the flag of the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF). The flag looks similar to the Rising Sun Flag viewed by many Koreans as a symbol of Japan's imperialist past.

It marked the first time since 2015 for the South's Navy to participate in Japan's fleet review.

The Navy took part in Japan's fleet review in 2002 and 2015, while the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force joined the South's fleet review in 1998 and 2008.

Since 2018, when tensions between Seoul and Tokyo rose over historical and other disputes, the two sides have not participated in each other's fleet reviews.

Following the review, the Navy ship Soyang plans to join a multinational search and rescue exercise. The exercise will bring together service members from the United States, Britain, France, Australia, Canada and other countries.
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 6 : The CPI(M) landed in a spot after a reported letter of Thiruvananthapuram corporation Mayor Arya Rajendran to the party district secretary Anavoor Nagappan citing temporary vacancies in the corporation.

The youngest Mayor of the country has allegedly written a letter to the district secretary asking whether the party has candidates for recruitment to these temporary posts.

A leading Malayalam newspaper brought out this story on Saturday leading to CPI(M) and the Mayor coming out with statements that the letter was not written by her. However, the party district secretary Anavoor Nagappan has said that he was not aware of any such letter.

With the defence of the party weak, there was a general feeling that the CPI(M) leaders, both Arya Rajendran and Anavoor Nagappan, have something to hide. Even after 24 hours of the story coming out in the open, the Thiruvananthapuram Mayor has not yet complained to the police about the 'fake' letter in circulation. The Mayor was saying that it was a forged letter.

Senior leader of the Congress party and leader of opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V.D. Satheeshan demanded the resignation of the Mayor and said that party workers were being appointed in corporations and local bodies which were ruled by the Left Front.

After the issue came out, both the BJP and Congress hit the streets against both Arya Rajendran and Anavoor Nagappan. The CPI(M) leaders were shying away from making a public statement in the matter.

The state local self government Minister M.B. Rajesh said that all vacancies will be filled through employment exchanges.

The Deputy Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram corporation P.K. Raju while speaking to the mediapersons said that the letter was a forged one and that the opposition was trying to discredit the corporation and the Mayor.
Bengaluru, Nov 6 : Fifteen eminent robotic surgeons from India will present procedures created by them at a global symposium in Miami in the US on November 19, attended by participants from 20 countries.

Organised by Michigan-headquartered robotic surgery evangelist Vattikuti Foundation, the symposium will have over 100 specialist oncology surgeons representing the fields of orthopaedics, gastroenterology, gynaecology, urology, head and neck surgery, sharing their experiences in performing successful cancer interventions and devising innovative procedures.

"While a surgical robot uses technology to improve patient outcomes several fold it is surgeons who continuously innovate to create procedures with better outcomes. This is precisely why the symposium presents an opportunity to learn from eminent robotic surgeons, we call 'humans at the cutting edge of technology,'" said Dr Mahendra Bhandari, CEO, Vattikuti Foundation.

In addition to India, surgeons from Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the US will present procedures created by them using the surgical robots as well as joint replacement.

These innovative procedures for soft tissue cancers and joint replacement surgeries will be assessed to generate new standards of care based on improved patient outcomes.

The highlight of the symposium will be a session on how surgical precision improves patient outcomes by Dr Mani Menon, Chief of Strategy and Innovation, Department of Urology, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York; Dr Alex Mottrie, Head of Urology, OLV Hospital, Aaist, Belgium, Dr Alberto Piana, Clinical Research Fellow, Fundacio Puigvert, Barcelona, Spain and Dr Ash Tewari, Professor and Chairman of Urology, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York.

The winners of first K.S. International Robotic Surgery Innovation competition will be given their cash awards at the event, said the Foundation.

Robotic surgeons from the US, India and Spain were named the top three winners in the KS International Robotic Surgery Innovation competition in September.

The Detroit-based Foundation has also awarded one-year Vattikuti fellowships to over 50 specialist surgeons with post-graduate qualifications in surgery.
Bhopal, Nov 6 : Two out of the eight Cheetahs that were brought from Namibia to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh have been released into a larger enclosure, the officials associated with the state wildlife department said.

The big cats were released on Saturday. Both are male and are named as 'Elton' and 'Freddie'. Notably, since their arrival at Kuno National Park, all big cats (five male and three female) have been kept inside quarantine enclosures, where they completed 51 days on November 5.

Officials monitoring the daily movement and the health condition of the Namibian cheetahs at their new habitat at Kuno, said that one more big cat will be released into a larger enclosure by Sunday evening.

The development came after the officials at the Kuno National Park held another round of meeting with the members of the Cheetah Task Force of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to review the preparation for transportation of the cheetahs on Friday, sources said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed his happiness over the release of the two cheetahs. "Great news! Am told that after the mandatory quarantine, 2 cheetahs have been released to a bigger enclosure for further adaptation to the Kuno habitat. Others will be released soon. I'm also glad to know that all cheetahs are healthy, active and adjusting well," Modi posted on Twitter along with a video.

The Cheetahs were flown from the African country and released in the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district with much fanfare on September 17 by PM Modi as part of a project to revive the population in India, seven decades after the cheetahs were declared extinct.
The release dates of almost all major films have been rescheduled. Not by days or weeks, but by months, and, in one case, even by a year! The reason is something never heard or imagined before! Special Effects aka VFX! Our filmmakers cannot imagine a film without VFX; story and screenplay be damned. The building of a film with a plausible story and weaving characters around it are a thing of the past. No wonder, films are flopping left right and centre. The industry strongly believes in the 'Have star, will travel' philosophy. Alas, what comes across is that the stars the filmmakers count on are well past their best before date.

Yes, stars made film run and succeed big time. In my lifetime, I have seen two super stars, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan, both delivering multiple hits back to back. They could do that because their films were backed by storytelling and the musical score that you carried back home from the cinema.

Then, there were also other major stars such as Dharmendra, Rajendra Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Jeetendra and Rishi Kapoor. They all delivered more hits than flops. And, when the time came, they took a break. They didn't force themselves on the audience. They came back to do roles more suited to their age.

Film stars today refuse to come to terms with their age. They want to continue to do the youthful roles, the kind they made their mark in. But, a 50-plus Shah Rukh can't be accepted playing the same lover boy, nor can Salman be as effective in action films as he was some years back. It is the same for others.

The actors insist on sticking to roles that ensured their stardom, so the producers turn to VFX for a way out. VFX works on their aged face and bodies to make them look younger. The rest of the movie may or may not need VFX, but that is immaterial. On a computer, the experts can do it, erase the signs of aging from a star's face, and enhance his muscles, or even make him create his two versions, like in the Shah Rukh film, 'Fan'.

Mythological films had extensive special effects and they were all achieved within the studio floors with the help of the cinematographer's wizardry. How do you think the viewers could watch Bajrangbali fly or Lord Shiva float in the blue skies? The viewers welcomed it all with whistles and unending applause! Or, how did they manage to make Lord Ram's one arrow turn into a hundred in the battle against Ravan? Didn't the films on the epics such as 'Mahabharata' and 'Ramayana' show more special effects and, more convincingly, than what is produced by table-top machines now?

Can a director make a double-role film today without special effects? I don't think he will even contemplate it! And, to think that double role films came into existence ages ago and provided extra thrill to the audience.

I remember my first such film was Bimal Roy's 'Apradhi Kaun?'. The next was, of course, Shakti Samanta's 'China Town' with Shammi Kapoor playing two roles; it inspired films such as 'Don' and a few others.

A lot many films released recently with mainly VFX as the main attraction have cost huge sums but failed with the audience. Increasingly, a number of filmmakers spend more years working on special effects than they do shooting a film. Does it work? No! Yet, for everything, from credit titles to scenes with animals, a maker now depends on special effects. Films with animals have to get clearances, so scenes involving them need to be generated with the help of VFX. That isn't required for the rest of the film. A famous filmmaker had once said that a movie is actually made on the editing table. Present-day makers seem to believe that the computer desk can work just as effectively.

They have become too dependent on special effects. Not only is this a costly affair but also time-consuming. If one thinks about it, just the exercise of making the hero look young adds to the cost by over a crore! Yet, the hero's younger look neither convinces the viewer, nor makes the film run.

The recent release, 'Brahmastra', was all about special effects. The film took seven years for its VFX, which was completed just a day before its release. The costs were mounting so much that the VFX company was brought in as a producer and given share in the revenue rather than bill for the film.

When I watched a South remake in Hindi, I enjoyed it. When I watched the original of the remake, I liked it even better. So far, Hindi films got away with whatever special effects they worked on. Post 'Baahubali', though, there has been a regular flow of South-dubbed films releasing in the Hindi circuits, all loaded with special effects. And, to say the least, their special effects are superlative.

There were comparisons and the Hindi films emerged as much inferior compared to recent South hits -- 'RRR', 'KGF: Chapter 2', 'Ponniyin Selvan-1' and 'Kantara'. Against these, we have had movies such as 'Shamshera', 'Runway 34', 'Samrat Prithviraj', 'Brahmastra', 'Ram Setu', and so one, which used VFX extensively, but to no avail. Whatever the reason. (There was also a talk of the VFX studios picking up rejected VFX footage from Hollywood and interpolating them in films here!) Maybe the filmmakers have zeroed in on the reasons. Now, makers of big films, who were counting on special effects for their films, have all decided to postpone the release dates, and if they have been released, they are not satisfied with the results.

'Adi Purush' was trolled after its teaser was out because of which the film's release has been postponed. 'Laal Singh Chaddha' was postponed a couple of times. The same was the case with 'Saaho'. Rajnikanth's '2.0' was delayed by two years and the director, Shankar, was even sued by the VFX company! The release of 'Tiger 3' has been pushed back to the next Diwali now. The Hrithik Roshan-starrer 'Fighter', which was slated for Republic Day 2023 has been postponed by exactly a year and will now be released on the Republic Day week in 2024.

VFX is not a magic wand that can make a film run. Without a story, in fact, nothing works, be it the stars, the music, or the performances (which critics today have made a habit of praising). VFX is no substitute for creativity. The director was once called the captain of the ship. VFX steers the ship now.
New Delhi, Nov 6 : After three consecutive days of Air quality remaining into Severe category, the quality Index improved slightly in the national capital city on Sunday morning following which the GRAP Stage IV measures may be reviewed.

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the overall AQI of the city improved further on 331, however in the very poor category.

The concentration of both PM 2.5 and PM 10 was recorded at 331 under the very poor category and 211 under the poor category respectively this morning.

Delhi's AQI returned to the 'very poor' category after a change in wind direction due to southeasterly, while local winds speeds also picked up. "The AQI will start improving faster now as surface wind will pick up to enhance dispersion and the direction of stubble transport wind also is changing. The AQI will be very low to mid part of very poor by the 6th of November," said Prof. Gufran Beig, Founder Project Director, SAFAR.

However, Prof Beig also added that the relief is short lived. "The AQI will start deteriorating from the 8th evening as the stubble wind will again turn from the burning side," he said.

Meanwhile, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in NCR, is likely to hold a review meeting on Sunday in the light of improving air condition. The CAQM had imposed Stage IV measures of the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) on Thursday evening that bans the entry of diesel vehicles that were not BS VI in Delhi.

The Delhi government on Friday banned the entry of trucks other than essential services in the national capital following the introduction of GRAP IV. The government has also constituted a six-member committee to monitor truck entry in the national capital city.

"Only CNG, petrol and electric vehicles will be allowed to enter Delhi. There will also be a ban on medium and heavy vehicles of diesel registered in Delhi, which are not connected to the essential services. Small vehicles with diesel engines which are not BS6 compliant will also be banned," Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Friday.
Hyderabad, Nov 6 : The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) continued to maintain a lead over the Bharataiya Janata Party at the end of sixth round of counting of votes in Munugode Assembly by-election.

In a neck and neck race, TRS candidate K. Prabhakar Reddy was leading by 2,169 votes against his nearest rival K. Rajagopal Reddy.

With nine more rounds to go, leaders of both the parties were keeping their fingers crossed over the outcome in the crucial by-election, seen by many as a semifinal ahead of next year's Assembly polls.

At the end of sixth round, TRS had polled 38,521 votes while BJP secured 36,352 votes. The Congress party was at a distant third position with 11,894 votes.

The TRS candidate took a comfortable lead in the first round. Prabhakar Reddy had secured 6,418 while BJP's Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy polled 5,126 votes. Congress party's Palvai Sravanthi was third with 2,100 votes.

However, in the second round, the BJP took the lead of 841 votes. It polled 8,622 votes while TRS garnered 7,781 votes. Congress was again a distant third with 1,537 votes. However, TRS took a cumulative lead of 451 votes.

The BJP polled more votes than TRS in the third round but from the fourth round, the TRS regained the lead and maintained it in the fifth and sixth rounds.

There will be a total 15 rounds of counting. The counting of votes began at 8 a.m. Sunday amid tight security. The poll officials first took up counting of postal ballots.

A voter turnout of 93.13 per cent was recorded in the bitterly contested bypoll on Thursday. This surpassed 91.31 per cent polling recorded in the constituency in 2018 polls.

Out of a total 2,41,805 voters, 2,25,192 voters cast their votes. This does not include the postal ballots.

Though there were a total of 47 candidates in the fray, the main contest was among three major players - TRS, BJP and Congress.

The bypoll was necessitated after sitting MLA Rajagopal Reddy resigned from the Congress to join the BJP in August. This time he contested on the BJP ticket.

The TRS fielded former MLA Prabhakar Reddy, who had lost to Rajagopal Reddy in 2018.

The Congress party fielded Palvai Sravanthi Reddy, daughter of former MP Palvai Goverdhan Reddy.

In 2018, Rajagopal Reddy had won Munugode seat on Congress ticket, defeating his nearest rival Prabhakar Reddy of TRS by 23,552 votes.

Rajagopal Reddy had polled 99,239 votes while Prabhakar Reddy secured 61,687 votes. G. Manohar Reddy of BJP had bagged 12,725 votes.
Chennai, Nov 6 : The Coimbatore rural police will be installing CCTV cameras in Tamil Nadu's Mettupalayam and Pollachi areas of the district after a car explosion in the city in whcih one person died.

Coimbatore Superintendent of Police, V. Badrinarayanan while speaking to the mediapersons said that several people were questioned and detained by the police after the blast and the arrest of six accomplices of the deceased Jamesha Mubin.

The NIA and Coimbatore police had conducted searches and raids at many places across the district involving several people, who are suspected of having supported those arrested in the blast.

Coimbatore is a communally sensitive town after a serial bomb blast on February 14, 1998, killed 56 people and injured more than 200.

The arrest of Mohammed Talha, a close relative of Islamist terror operative, S.A. Basha, who was the main accused in 1998 Coimbatore serial blast case, has led to multiple probe in the case.

The Central intelligence agencies are also investigating the case and have put some people under the radar.
Mumbai, Nov 6 : As Bollywood star couple Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt welcomed their first child, a baby girl, on Sunday in Mumbai, Ranbir's sister and jewellery designer Riddhima Kapoor Sahni took to her Instagram and shared her joy with the followers.

She uploaded a picture of Ranbir and Alia and wrote on the picture: "Ooooffffff!! Happiest today (heart emoji). Proud parents to the most adorable baby girl #blessings. Bua (aunty) loves her already." In the picture, Alia can be seen giving a peck on Ranbir's nose.

Alia was taken to the H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre in Girgaon, Mumbai, around 7:30 a.m. on Sunday.

As members of the Kapoor and Bhatt family lined up in the hospital, Alia then went into labour around 12 noon and was delivered of the baby girl around 12:45.

Ranbir and Alia tied the knot at an intimate ceremony at their residence on April 14 this year after being in a relationship for five years. The two reportedly fell in love on the sets of their hit film 'Brahmastra'.
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 6 : The Kerala BJP unit will approach Governor Arif Mohammed Khan over the alleged letter written by the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Mayor Arya Rajendran to the CPI(M) District Secretary, Anavoor Nagappan on reported vacancies in the district civic body.

The Thiruvananthapuram BJP President, V.V. Rajesh told mediapersons that 35 party councillors in the district civic body will meet the Governor.

The councillors, including V.V. Rajesh will meet Khan at 12 p.m. at the Raj Bhavan on Monday.

The CPI(M), which is left red-faced after a leading Malayalam daily on Saturday, published a story that the Thiruvananthapuram Mayor had written a letter to the party's District Secretary stating that there are 292 temporary vacancies in the corporation.

Meanwhile, the State CPI(M) Committee and Thiruvananthapuram District Committee will be convened on Monday to discuss the controversy which has put the party on the defensive.

Despite the Corporation Mayor and Deputy Mayor having dismissed the allegation stating that the letter was a forged one, the CPI(M) District Secretary told mediapersons that he was not aware of such a letter. He also said that he did not know whether it was a forged letter or not.

Even 24 hours after the report had come up, the CPI-M had not approached the police or had given a formal complaint to the police.

The Kerala government and the Governor are involved in a slugfest over several issues, including the appointment of Vice-Chancellors to 11 universities of the state.

The Governor has also stated in the open that he had withdrawn pressure against Kerala Finance Minister, K.N. Balagopal on the minister's speech at a Kerala university programme comparing the universities of Uttar Pradesh and Kerala. Khan is a native of Uttar Pradesh and this statement by the state minister was seen as a snub to the former.
Chikkaballapur : , Nov 6 (IANS) The authorities of a temple marriage hall, which comes under Karnataka's Muzrai Department, have refused to give permission to a Dalit family to conduct marriage.

The incident took place in Gudibande town of Chikkaballapur city.

Avulukondappa, a resident of Bramhanara Halli, had approached the temple management for conducting the marriage.

The temple Secretary, Machavalahalli Venkatarayappa, told him that the community hall is already booked and not available at all.

Later, it was found that the marriage hall was not booked on the said date and the temple community hall was not given on rent deliberately as the couple belonged to the Dalit community.

Avulukondappa has alleged that the marriage hall was not given on rent because he and his wife belonged to the Dalit community.

Therefore, the couple had got married before a locked temple. They have also lodged a complaint in this regard with Tehsildar of Gudibande and the Social Welfare officer.

The Dalit organisations have also staged a protest before the taluk office in this regard and demanded action against the concerned persons.
New Delhi, Nov 6 : A triangular contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party is expected in several seats of Gujarat in the upcoming Assembly elections. Despite AAP's strong arrival in the state and Arvind Kejriwal's aggressive election campaign, the BJP is looking forward to its biggest victory.

The saffron party achieved its biggest victory so far in 2002 Legislative Assembly elections, when Narendra Modi became the Chief Minister again with a bumper victory in 127 seats.

By winning 121 legislative seats in 1995, BJP formed a government of absolute majority in the state for the first time on its own. It formed a government for the second time after winning 117 seats in 1998, and for the third time by winning 127 seats in 2002.

Subsequently, the party won for the fourth time by 117 seats in 2007 and for the fifth time in 2012 by winning 115 seats.

The party formed the government for the sixth consecutive time by winning the 2017 elections but the number of its seats decreased to less than a 100. In the last elections, the Congress gave a tough fight to the BJP by following the path of soft Hindutva.

The required number of MLAs to form a government in the state is 92 and the BJP only won seven more than the required minimum, that is, 99 in 2017. The difference of votes between both the parties came down to 7.6 per cent.

The political scenario in 2022 is completely different from 2017. With party veteran Ahmed Patel's death, Ashok Gehlot engaged in his ministerial duties as Rajasthan's CM and Rahul Gandhi being engrossed in Bharat Jodo Yatra, AAP is vigorously trying to replace the Congress.

A leader associated with the BJP's election campaign claimed that the AAP would not harm the BJP in any way. Even some votes that it may receive would be Congress' and that will only benefit the BJP's candidates.

BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia claimed that the party would form the government with a thumping majority by winning more than two-third seats in the state.

BJP leader and Union Minister Parshottam Rupala in a conversation with IANS said that the Congress would still be his party's main contender despite AAP's strong campaign.

Rupala also showed belief in the BJP's big win in the upcoming elections.

The Congress holds the record of winning the most seats in the electoral history of Gujarat since it won 149 of the total 182 seats in the 1985 Assembly elections.
Hyderabad, Nov 6 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra continued in Telangana' on Sunday.

On the 60th day of his walkathon, the Congress MP started walking at Alladurg in Medak district on Sunday morning.

He along with state Congress chief A. Revanth Reddy and other state leaders walked through different parts of Alladurg headquarters before the mid-break halt at Chintal Lakshmapur.

During the padyatra, Rahul interacted with people from various walks of life. He waved at the people standing on either side of the road and entertained the requests of some youngsters for selfies with him.

The Congress leader also held a meeting with representatives of various groups and enquired about their problems.

The padyatra will resume at Nizam underpass at Narayankhed in the evening and end for the day at Mahadevpally. Rahul will have a night-halt at Jukkal in Kamareddy district.

Bharat Jodo Yatra will enter Maharashtra on Monday.

Meanwhile, eminent lawyer and activist Bharat Bhushan lent his support to the yatra by joining Rahul Gandhi in the foot march. Political activist Yogendra Yadav also walked with the Congress leader.

Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) leader, Manda Krishna Madiga, also met Rahul Gandhi during the walkathon and explained to him about his organisation's long-pending demand for categorisation of Scheduled Caste reservation.

Rahul Gandhi had started Bharat Jodo Yatra on September 7 from Kanyakumari to unite people and 'stand up to the hatred and violence being spread by the BJP and RSS.' The walkathon will cover 3,750 km and pass through 12 states before concluding in Srinagar.

The yatra already covered Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The yatra entered Telangana from Karnataka on October 23. It had a four-day break during its journey through the state.

In Telangana, the yatra will cover a total distance of 375 kms in 19 Assembly and 7 Parliamentary constituencies.

During his journey in Telangana, Rahul Gandhi attacked both the BJP government at the Centre and the TRS government in the state.

Addressing a public meeting at Peddapur on Saturday, he said that neither Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao nor agriculture minister N. Niranjan Reddy had the slightest understanding of the problems being faced by the farmers in the state.

He alleged that the chief minister was grabbing the land of farmers in the name of Dharani portal.

The Congress leader said that the condition of farmers, workers, students and employees is not good not only in Telangana but across the country. After 2014, unemployment and poverty have increased manifold. While the country is going through such a gloomy period, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao are working for their own self-interests, he said.
Islamabad, Nov 6 : Seven police officers were killed in an attack by bandits in Pakistan's Sindh province on Sunday.

The incident happened when dozens of the criminals stormed a police camp in Ghotki district, killing seven police officers and kidnapping 20 others, local reports said.

The camp was established in the area to carry out an operation against the criminals for the release of several people they kidnapped a few days ago, Xinhua news agency reported.

A heavy contingent of police reached the area following the incident and a search operation is underway in the area, said the reports.

The area where the incident happened is a sparsely populated place and a strong hideout of bandits involved in criminal activities including robberies, target killings, and kidnapping for ransom.
Chennai, Nov 6 : Sri Lankan Navy have arrested 15 Indian fishermen, including a minor, from Tamil Nadu on charges of fishing in their country's waters after crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).

The navy also confiscated two boats of the fishermen. The fishermen are from Rameswaram in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu.

A 12-year-old boy was also among the fishermen arrested in the sea.

According to Rameswram fishermen, around 2,500 people had gone fishing on Saturday evening and while they were fishing at Dhanushkodi near Talaimannar, the Sri Lankan Navy reached the spot and chased them away.

Fishermen association leaders told IANS that 15 fishermen were surrounded by the Naval vessels and arrested. Two mechanized boats were also in the custody of the Sri Lankan Navy.

The fishermen have been taken to the Talaimannar Naval camp and after questioning will be handed over to the Sri Lankan fisheries department.

Several fishermen from Tamil Nadu have been arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on charges of crossing the IMBL and their mechanised fishing boats confiscated. The confiscation of costly mechanized fishing boats have brought serious financial woes to the fishermen.
Mumbai, Nov 6 : On anticipated lines, the Maha Vikas Aghadi's Shiv Sena-UBT candidate Rutuja R. Latke on Sunday won the Andheri East Assembly seat by-elections with a huge victory margin, officials said here.

The conquest is the first notched by the party after it got a new name Shiv Sena- Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and a new symbol of 'Flaming Torch' a couple of months ago, giving a huge psychological boost to the party which suffered a devastating split in June.

Latke secured 66,530 votes - 76.85 percent - of the total votes cast and is the winner of the seat earlier held by her husband, Ramesh Latke who died in May 2022.

In a stunner, some 12,806 voters - or 14.79 per cent - exercised the 'None Of The Above' (NOTA) option, nearly double the votes that all the candidates of two smaller parties and four independents secured.

Against the 'runner-up' NOTA. independents Rajesh Tripathi got 1,671 votes, Neena Khedekar secured 1,531 votes, Bala V. Nadar of Aapki Apni Party got 1,515 votes, independent Farhana S. Sayed secured 1,093 votes, Manoj Nayak of Right To Recall Party got 900 votes, and independent Milind Kamble secured 624 votes.

Their combined total votes came to 7,234 or 8.35 percent, compared with NOTA's 14.79 percent and way behind Latke's 76.85 percent vote share.

The MVA has slammed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena and its allies for blatantly propagating among the voters to exercise the NOTA option to stain the victory of Latke.

Top Sena-UBT leaders like Aditya Thackeray, chief spokesperson and MP Arvind Sawant, national spokesperson Kishore Tiwari, ex-minister Anil Parab, Deputy Leader in Legislative Council Dr Neelam Gorhe, and others attacked the BJP for its "low-level dirty politics" in the bypolls.

BJP state President Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Union Minister Narayan Rane, Minister Chandrakant Patil, and city President Ashish Shelar denied the allegations and hit back at the MVA citing peoples' mood which saw the "huge support" for NOTA.

The winner Latke also took a potshot at ruling alliance, saying that "this is the exact number of votes the BJP would have got if it had contested the bypolls" and that's why they withdrew their candidate, but the BJP dismissed her contentions.

The BSS, Aam Aadmi Party and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena did not put up any candidates, making it a virtual cakewalk for Latke in the elections.

Soon after her victory, Latke called on party President Uddhav Thackeray to seek his blessings, thanked all the leaders and workers of the MVA who helped in her win and also dedicated it to the 'good work' done by her late husband Ramesh Latke in the constituency.

Simultaneously, massive celebrations erupted with distribution of sweetmeats, music, jigs or 'fugadee' dancing, clapping and cheering among a large number of women, youngsters and even senior citizens in Andheri East, Bandra and Dadar near the Shiv Sena Bhavan.
Bengaluru, Nov 6 : The ruling BJP in Karnataka has sounded poll bugle in the state, with organisation of back-to-back conventions starting from Monday.

The Scheduled Tribe Morcha convention will be held in Ballari on November 20 and the SC Morcha rally in Mysuru on November 30, announced Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

Sharing this information with reporters here on Sunday, he said the 'Jan Sankalp Yatra' will resume from Monday and it will be held continuously for three days in Udupi, Gadag, Haveri and Belagavi districts.

The 'Jan Sankalp' yatra will go on till December. The response has been very good everywhere and this time, the yatra will be in Mumbai-Karnataka region. This has given the indication of victory in the coming days.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting the State on November 11 to take part in three important functions.

PM Modi will be flagging off Vande Bharat Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysuru hi-speed train; inaugurating the second terminal at Kempegowda International Airport and unveiling the 108-foot tall statue of 'Nadaprabhu' Kempegowda near Bengaluru Airport, during the visit, he said.

The second terminal at the airport was required due to an increase in the arrival of international passengers. The new terminal will have the capacity to handle 25 lakh passengers and there will be 100 counters to handle international commuters. Both Terminal 1 and II put together, Bengaluru Airport will become the second largest airport after Delhi Airport, Bommai explained.

This will help in development of tourism as well as of Bengaluru, industry, IT/BT, R&D sectors, he said.

Bommai said since 'Nadaprabhu' Kempegowda was a visionary king because of which the statue is named as 'Statue of Prosperity'. Since the PM is taking the country towards progress & prosperity, the government felt he is the right person to unveil the statue. After this function, the PM will be addressing a public meeting, he added.

Asked about the mysterious death of a nephew of Honnali BJP MLA, M.P.Renukacharya recently, Bommai said he has already spoken to the MLA and collected whatever information he has with him.

The same information has been shared with the IGP and Superintendent of Police of Davangere for a proper investigation. The truth will almost come after the postmortem report and thereafter a decision will be taken regarding the course of investigation. The incident will be probed from all angles, he stated.
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 6 : CPI-M's Kerala state Secretary M.V. Govindan on Sunday said that the party would fight against Governor Arif Mohammed Khan both legally and constitutionally.

Addressing media persons at the party state headquarters, AKG Centre here, he also said that the party would approach the Supreme Court against the Governor.

Govindan, who is also a party Politburo member, also said that the party is coordinating other parties for a unified fight against the Governors of the respective states, and Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK was willing to open such a joint opposition front.

He said that a Raj Bhavan march will be organised against the Governor and national leaders will take part in the meeting.

The CPI-M leader accused the RSS of trying to inculcate communalism in the campuses of Kerala and added that his CPI-M will oppose this with full might.

Govindan also said that the controversy over increasing retirement age of employees of the public sector undertakings of Kerala has come to an end, as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had intervened in the matter and withdrew the suggestion of increasing the retirement age from the present 56 to 60 years.

He also said that the backdoor postings in government departments were not in the agenda of the party, and the Thiruvananthapuram corporation Mayor had confirmed to the party that she had not written a letter to the CPI-M Thiruvananthapuram district Secretary apprising him of temporary vacancies in the corporation.

There was no system of posting party cadres through the backdoor, Govindan said.
Los Angeles, Nov 6 : England-based Sri Lankan medic-turned-actor Prasanna Puwanarajah, who plays Martin Bashir in Season 5 of 'The Crown', is working in tandem with 'Line of Duty' creator Jed Mercurio over an adaptation of Rachel Clarke's pandemic-themed bestseller 'Breathtaking'.

The book is being developed as a three-part as-yet-untitled drama for UK broadcaster ITV, Puwanarajah, who was formerly a doctor with the UK's National Health Service (NHS), as was Mercurio, told 'Variety'. Clarke is writing the drama with Puwanarajah and Mercurio.

Set during the time when the UK was being ravaged by COVID-19, Clarke's book provides an insider's look at the pandemic from a hospital doctor's point of view.

"Rachel Clarke is a palliative care doctor who I used to work with in the NHS, when I was a first year junior doctor and she was a medical student -- I taught her how to do IV drip lines. And she's now an incredible statesperson for the NHS and advocate for NHS staff and patients," Puwanarajah said, quoted by 'Variety'.

"It's looking at the lives of healthcare professionals in the first few months of the pandemic," Puwanarajah said. "I'm very keen to get what I think is a really important piece of public interest drama out into the world. Because, we've been living through tough times, and it is important to challenge the shifting landscape of truth that we are told and to push back against that with information and facts based on witnessed events. It's something that's really important to me." 'Variety' further states that Mercurio and Puwanarajah previously collaborated on graphic novel 'Sleeper', where the worlds of science fiction, conspiracy thriller and Westerns collide. Puwanarajah also starred in Mercurio's Sky medical drama 'Critical' and is currently filming ITV crime drama 'Payback', which is executive produced by Mercurio.
Chennai, Nov 6 : Meher Ramesh, whose birthday falls on Sunday, thanked fellow director Bobby for having planned a birthday surprise for him along with Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi.

On Sunday, Telugu Megastar Chiranjeevi celebrated director Meher Ramesh's birthday on the sets of his upcoming film 'Walter Veerayya', which is being directed by Bobby.

Taking to Twitter, Bobby posted pictures of Meher Ramesh's birthday celebrations on their sets along with their unit.

He said, "Wishing dearest Meher Ramesh anna a very happy birthday. Super happy to celebrate your birthday on our 'Waltair Veerayya' sets along with boss Chiranjeevi. May you be blessed with the best of everything. Have a blockbuster year ahead." Visibly moved by the entire unit of Chiranjeevi's 'Walter Veerayya' celebrating his birthday, Meher Ramesh responded to Bobby's tweet saying, "Dear brother Bobby, thanks a lot for the birthday surprise along with our boss 'Waltair Veerayya'.

"The way you are presenting Mega Star Mass Avatar (sic). Devi Sri Prasad (has given) rocking songs. Mythri Movie Makers' production values (are) going to be sureshot blockbuster for Sankranthi." After completing director Bobby's 'Walter Veerayya', Chiranjeevi is expected to move on to director Meher Ramesh's 'Bholaa Shankar', which is the Telugu remake of the Tamil superhit film, 'Vedalam'.
Mysuru, Nov 6 : The Karnataka Police has set up a special team to probe the murder of a retired Intelligence Bureau officer in Mysuru city.

Former IB officer R.K. Kulakarni, 82, was killed on Friday, while walking on Manasa Gangothri campus of Mysuru University, in what was seen initially as a hit and run case.

However, the CCTV footage showed clearly that he was mowed down by a car. The family had suspected the role of a local person who had property dispute with him.

Mysuru Police Commissioner Dr. Chandra Gupta stated that the motive behind the murder is not clear.

Kulkarni had retired 23 years ago. The car which was used to commit the crime did not had registration numbers and police are seeking to trace it.

Police said that the suspects have disappeared after Kulkarni's family members suspected their role, and investigations are on.
Mogadishu, Nov 6 : At least five people were killed and 11 others wounded after a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of a military training facility in the Somali capital.

Odowaa Yusuf Rage, Chief of Defence Forces, said the Somali National Army foiled the attack, preventing the bomber from reaching his target, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The bomber did not achieve his goal during the attack on the General Dhagabadan military training center. The troops thwarted him from reaching his target. We have launched investigations to find the motive behind it," Yusuf told the Somali news agency Saturday night.

Witnesses told Xinhua two other explosions were heard in Mogadishu after the suicide bomber, disguised as a new recruit, detonated the explosives at the facility, located near a former candy factory, which the extremists had previously targeted.

"The suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest blew himself up outside the military training camp. He had mingled up with a group of young people who were lining up for recruitment at the entrance of the camp," witness Yusuf Hassan said.

The al-Shabab extremist group, which has engaged the Somali government in near-daily attacks across the country, claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Saturday's attack came after twin car bombings in Mogadishu on October 29, which killed more than 120 people and wounded more than 300 others.

The bombings, also claimed by al-Shabab, targeted the education ministry and a busy market intersection in the Somali capital.

According to government officials, several children were among the attack's casualties, which was roundly condemned by the international community.
Dar Es Salaam, Nov 6 : Twenty-six passengers have been rescued from a plane that crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania's northwestern Kagera region on Sunday morning.

The Kagera regional commissioner, Albert Chalamila, said the plane flying from the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam to Bukoba Airport in Kagera region was ferrying 43 people, Xinhua news agency reported.

Chalamila said out of the 43 people on board the plane, 39 were passengers, two pilots and two cabin crew, adding that rescuers were still working to pull out 13 passengers still stuck in the fateful plane belonging to Precision Air, a private aviation company.

He said the rescued passengers had been rushed to hospitals, adding that authorities were still contacting pilots trapped inside the plane.

Chalamila said the plane crashed into Lake Victoria, the world's second-largest freshwater lake shared by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, at about 8:20 a.m. local time (0520 GMT) as it approached the Bukoba airport.

"As we continue with rescue work, Kagera region authorities have informed the country's top leaders, including the prime minister, about the plane accident," he said.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan said she was shocked by the news of the accident.
Lahore, Nov 6 : PTI chief Imran Khan said that his party would be resuming its march to Islamabad from Tuesday and he will join the protestors from Rawalpindi, media reported.

"We will start the march from Tuesday. I will hold an address daily," Khan said while speaking at the hospital. He added that he would lead the march from Rawalpindi when it arrives in 10-15 days.

Khan called on his supporters to reach Rawalpindi as an announcement of the long march's resumption, saying that the reason the Pakistani nation is treated as beggars is not because of the lack of resources but due to a lack of justice, Geo News reported.

"It is time to realise Haqeeqi Azadi. All of you should come and reach Rawalpindi when I join the party and lead (the march)." Addressing a press conference from the hospital, PTI Chairman Imran Khan said that "slave nations cannot rise".

"My first point is what will the judicial commission do when the three people I named are the ones who will head the investigation," said Khan. He added that he sought the interior minister, prime minister and a military official's resignation as he wants "transparent investigations because there is an entire pattern".

"First, video surfaces that I'm committing blasphemy, it should be probed in the investigations. The video is then highlighted by a journalist affiliated with a political party. After this, a press conference is held by Maryam Safdar, Marriyum Aurangzeb and Javed Latif and they say that I committed blasphemy," said the PTI chief, Geo News reported.

The PTI chief said that he was seeking an FIR against the three people he named as he was aware that they wanted to murder him just like Salman Taseer.

The former prime minister questioned how did it happen that the gunman's interview was leaked despite PTI having a government in Punjab.

"We ask the police and they say they were under pressure, when we ask the IG, he says it was hacked," said Khan. He also demanded that a judicial commission be formed to probe Arshad Sharif's murder.
Hyderabad, Nov 6 : The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) wrested Munugode Assembly seat from the Congress, winning the bitterly contested by-election against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in what proved to be a direct fight.

TRS candidate K. Prabhakar Reddy defeated his rival K. Rajagopal Reddy of BJP by a margin of 10,059 votes.

The Congress, which had won the seat in 2018, finished a distant third and forfeited the deposit.

Prabhakar Reddy polled 96,574 votes while Rajagopal Reddy secured 86,515 votes. Palvai Sravanthi of the Congress got only 22,449 votes.

Celebrations broke out in the TRS camp after the party won. TRS leaders and cadres celebrated the party's victory in Munugode in Nalgonda district, Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana.

At Telangana Bhavan, the party headquarters in Hyderabad, party cadres burst fire crackers and distributed sweets.

The TRS victory dealt a blow to the BJP, which forced the by-election by luring Rajagopal Reddy to its camp. He quit the Assembly seat and the Congress in August and joined the saffron party at a public meeting addressed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Munugode.

The win is expected to boost the morale of the TRS ahead of the next year's Assembly elections.

In 2018, Rajagopal Reddy had won Munugode seat on Congress ticket, defeating his nearest rival Prabhakar Reddy of the TRS by 23,552 votes.

Rajagopal Reddy had polled 99,239 votes while Prabhakar Reddy secured 61,687 votes. G. Manohar Reddy of BJP was a poor third with 12,725 votes.

A voter turnout of 93.13 per cent was recorded in the bitterly-contested bypoll on Thursday. Out of a total 2,41,805 voters, 2,25,192 voters cast their votes.

Though there were a total of 47 candidates in the fray, the main contest was among three major players - the TRS, the BJP, and the Congress.

The TRS candidate took a lead in the first round by over 1,000 votes but in the second and third rounds, the BJP took the lead to make the contest a tight one. However, the TRS maintained the lead from the fourth round and maintained the lead till 15th and final round.

After the 10th round when it became clear that the TRS was heading for a win, Rajagopal Reddy conceded defeat.

He, however, claimed that it was a moral victory for him and called the TRS win "unethical".

He alleged that the TRS misused official machinery to win and used the police force to intimidate voters.

Earlier, the BJP leaders lodged a protest with Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj over delay in announcing results after every round.

State BJP President Bandi Sanjay alleged that CEO's conduct is raising suspicions. He said that round-wise results are being announced only if the TRS is in the lead.

Union Tourism and Culture Minister G. Kishan Reddy spoke to the CEO over phone and expressed his unhappiness over the delay in announcing round-wise results.

The CEO, however, dismissed the criticism and clarified that counting was underway in a transparent manner. He attributed the delay in announcing round-wise results to the presence of a large number of candidates.
New Delhi, Nov 6 : A wanted criminal who became online shoe seller, and had been absconding after being accused in an attempt to murder case, was arrested by the Delhi Police Crime Branch, police said on Sunday.

Ravindra Singh Yadav, Special Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch), said that the accused was identified as Sahil Chaudhary alias Tiger.

The police official added that during questioning, the accused was also a vagabond in the Krishna Nagar police station.

Two years' externment order against the accused was issued by the police.

The official said that on October 23, Chaudhary had a heated altercation with his friend Furkan in Geeta Colony area and in a fit of rage the former opened fire on the latter. The bullet hit one Munazir alias Paina (also their friend) on his forehead.

The victim was rushed to the GTB Hospital immediately where he is undergoing treatment. Chaudhary was absconding since then.

The official added that the accused was allegedly involved in 11 criminal cases.

"He is a very desperate criminal who controls Krishna Nagar and adjoining area. He passed class 8 and entered the world of crime. He worked as a driver and now he sells shoes through online platforms. He is addicted to alcohol also," the official said.
Los Angeles, Nov 6 : Andy Taylor, the original 'Duran Duran' guitarist, could not attend the 'Rock and Roll Hall of Fame' induction ceremony in Los Angeles which honoured the group.

The cause behind his absence from the ceremony are his health issues related to Stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer, reports 'Variety'.

During their induction into the Rock Hall at the Microsoft Theater, Duran Duran revealed that Taylor, diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer four years ago, suffered a setback from the diagnosis due to which he had to deal with travel restrictions.

According to 'Variety', the band honoured Taylor during the ceremony reading portions of an acceptance speech letter.

"Just over four years ago I was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer. Many families have experienced the slow burn of this disease and of course we are no different; so I speak from the perspective of a family-man but with profound humility to the band, the greatest fans a group could have and this exceptional accolade," Taylor wrote in his speech.

Only part of the letter was read during the acceptance speech, but a more detailed version was published on the group's website, going into greater detail about his setback.

"I have the Rodgers and Edwards of doctors and medical treatment that until very recently allowed me to just rock on. Although my current condition is not immediately life threatening there is no cure," he said, quoted by 'Variety'.

"Recently I was doing okay after some very sophisticated life extending treatment, that was until a week or so ago when I suffered a setback, and despite the exceptional efforts of my team, I had to be honest in that both physically and mentally, I would be pushing my boundaries." Backstage in the press room, Simon LeBon elaborated on his feelings about Taylor's condition, briefly as he said, "It is devastating news to find out that a colleague... not a colleague... a friend, one of our family... is not gonna be around for very long. It is absolutely devastating. We love Andy dearly. I'm not gonna stand here and cry or anything, that would be inappropriate, but that's what I feel like."
New Delhi, Nov 6 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday said that it has arrested an accused, who was absconding, since an ambush on the convoy of the Commandant of Assam Rifles.

The accused has been identified as Machukring Zamshim Shimray alias Ningkham.

The case pertains to the attack on the convoy of 46th Batallion Assam Rifles on November 13, 2021, by a group of armed militants near Sialsih village of Churachandpur district in Manipur.

Due to the attack, seven persons, including Commanding Officer Colonel Viplav Tripathi, his wife and minor son, and four other Assam Rifles personnel were killed and six other personnel were injured.

Initially an FIR in this case was lodged at Singngat police station, Churachandpur district under sections 121, 121A, 302, 307, 326, 34 of the IPC, Section 25 (1-C) of Arms Act, Sections 10, 16, 18, 20, 39 of UA(P) Act and Section 5 of Explosive Substances Act.

Later, on the probe of the matter was taken over by the NIA.

"On November 5, based on secret information, a joint team of the NIA, Assam Rifles and Assam Police conducted a special operation and arrested Machukring Ningkham from Yaingangpokpi, Imphal East distirict, Manipur, against whom NIA had declared a cash reward of Rs 4 lakh. The accused was an active cadre of Manipur Naga Peoples' Front and was directly involved in the ambush," a NIA official said.

Further investigation in the matter is underway.
Dubai, Nov 6 : "Modi@20: Dreams Meet Delivery" and "Heartfelt: The Legacy of Faith" - two books on the achievements and legacy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi were released by Indian Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Chandrashekhar in Dubai.

The books were released at a programme of Vishwa Sadhbhavana, NID Foundation (Dubai chapter) to enhance and consolidate bonds of fraternity and solidarity among people in the US, Australia, and New Zealand.

The event was attended by dignitaries including MBM Group Chairman, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Juma Al Maktoum, Consul General of India Dr Aman Puri, philanthropist and Sarbat Da Bhala Charitable Trust Managing Trustee S.P. Singh Oberoi, NID Foundation's Chief Patron Satnam Singh Sandhu and Noida MP Pankaj Singh.

Addressing the Indian diaspora at the Vishwa Sadhbhavana event, Chandrasekhar said: "Under the leadership of PM Modi, India is now at an inflection point. From where we are today, in the coming 25 years of Amrit Kaal, India can go only forward and that would be the natural next point in its development journey." Affirming that Prime Minister Modi's leadership, extensive reforms, and the success of the government's flagship programs like Digital India, Skills India, Start-up India, etc, have changed India's earlier narrative of a leaky, dysfunctional democracy, he said that India today is a "living and breathing example" of a country that is not only plural, secular and diverse but also one that stands for economic development, innovation, growth, and prosperity.

Sharing the story of transformation, he stressed how deep and how real was this transformation in the last eight years. "We are 75 years as an independent nation and are celebrating ourselves between here and for the bulk of these years as an independent nation. What does that mean? It means the government of India today is embarking on an unprecedented infrastructure-building spree... Today, we are the fastest-growing innovation ecosystem in the world. In the last two years alone, 102 unicorns have been created. None of those unicorns are famous last names. They don't have any political connections. They built on the enterprise on their capability, and then with their determination and hard work. That is the new India, that is the transformation..." Chandrasekhar spoke about various initiatives taken by the Prime Minister for transforming New India with reimagined ambitions, to achieve the target of one trillion dollar digital economy and five trillion dollar conomy by 2026.

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Juma Al Maktoum said that he was impressed with PM Modi. "India is a big nation with a very old history, but I can see under the leadership of His Excellency, PM Modi, everyone has one mission one vision & living as a family. Indians are living as a family because of the humanity between them and as a nation as they are all represented by India." NID Foundation's Sandhu expressed his gratitude towards PM Modi and the government for his support and cooperation with the Sikh community and Punjab.

Oberoi, thanks to the Indian government for its initiative towards the development of Punjab and the Sikh community and highlighted the issues faced by young Punjabis abroad. He praised PM Modi for his initiative towards the Kartarpur Sahab corridor, and the announcement of Veer Bahadur Divas. He also raised the issue of fake job agents and portals.

Pankaj Singh highlighted the contribution of NRIs in the building of the nation and praised PM Modi's vision of self-reliance and the development of the nation.

Chandrashekhar, was on a day-long trip to Dubai, to meet with Omar Sultan Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy & Remote Work Applications. Chandrasekhar shared with him PM Modi's vision of New India and discussed the possibilities of cooperation between the two countries, especially in the field of deep tech, artificial intelligence, electronics, and semiconductors. The Minister also visited Ajman to attend the Deepotsav 2022 event organised by the Indian People's Forum, UAE Uttar Pradesh Council.
New Delhi, Nov 6 : Acclaimed film actress and director Nandita Das, who is always passionate about women's welfare and gender equality, is no stranger to tackling difficult issues that are often missed or go unnoticed, as did most notably in her film "Zwigato", starring Kapil Sharma.

At the launch of the ILSS Emerging Women's Leadership Program in New Delhi, Das, however, spoke about her short film "Listen to Her".

She shot the film, which, like "Zwigato", also revolves around the theme of the complexities of life under Covid-induced lockdowns, at home with son Vihaan and it zeroes in on the issue of women being overburdened while staying back and facing domestic violence to boot.

"One fine morning, I woke up and read this newspaper article about how women are being overburdened during the lockdown. And I am talking about the privileged class, who are attending zoom meetings and taking care of their kids and what is being cooked at home," Das said, unspooling her memories of how the idea for the film germinated.

"Domestic violence was on the rise -- not just in India, but the world over," Das said. "These two threads somehow came together. If we say domestic violence exists in a certain class, we know it's not true, it's across classes. I'll be afraid to acknowledge that." She added: "There is an overburden of work, not just in the poorer sections, but across all classes, and probably in a strange and a more subtle way, in a more privileged class." Das, who was seen most recently at the Toronto International Film Festival, where she had premiered "Zwigago", then went explain how she shot the entire short film at home

"I didn't even have a tripod. I had no filming equipment. So, just with my phones, and I had two phones -- one phone to shoot and the sound rolling in the other, which I would give to my cook. And so that seven-page story I wrote one morning, was shot by the next," Das recalled.

"It is just a little story about two women when there wasn't another woman around. The rest are all voices. And there is a male voice. A lot of people asked me where Ali Fazal was sitting. And I was like, 'No, he wasn't in my bedroom'." Das said women need to be confident and open up on different issues. She said on certain occasions, because they carried different responsibilities, women often forget what they wanted in life and what their hobbies were. She added that she advises friends not to be overburdened and think about their needs as well.

"Once my friend was visiting my place and I asked her, 'What do you want to have?'. She replied, 'My kids are like this, so I can have the same.' And I was like, 'No, you tell me what you want because that is also important.' Sometimes while thinking about our families and kids, women often forget what they want for themselves. The fact is, even I do the same and I am also no different to those women," Das said.

She later discussed how wearing the hijab has become an issue across India. Women are asked either why they are wearing the hijab, or why they are not, but no one asks them what they want.

Certain times, Das said, women believe that they do what they want to do, but it is in reality what society wants them to do. Their minds is conditioned in such a way that they get confused about their own needs and desires.

"Sometimes we think we are deciding that this is my decision, it's my body. I want to wear this or I want to wear that, I want to look like this or I want to look like that. Is it really my decision?" Das asked.

"Or is it being informed by all those images that are being bombarded that I need to be light-skinned, that I need to be thin, that my hair needs to be proper, that my waist needs to be of this size? Is it informed by that? So, it's a long and meandering journey But yeah, there is no wrapping up really because it's an ongoing journey that we all have," Das added.

Later, Das also discussed about the positive changes that are happening in the film industry with more women directors and writers coming up and making their voices heard.

She concluded by saying: "After becoming a mother at 40, I was challenged with my own thoughts, thoughts of what I thought I knew, what I had thought I had internalised, and what I thought I was capable of. I started observing myself and other women around me much more and realised till we individually, in our own hearts, don't really change, the collective and cumulative change is not going to happen as fast as we want it to.

"We are here because we need to hasten that change because it is just taking too long, and many lives are perishing while we still think, feel and understand our own self-doubts and vulnerabilities." At the end, Anu Prasad, founder and and CEO, ILSS, flagged an important concern. She noted: "Women comprise 50 per cent f our population, so we should be having at least 50 per cent of the voice. In terms of numbers, we are a force. Yet, when we see that women have little representation in Parliament, in civil services, or in industry leadership roles." ILSS, or India Leaders for Social Sector, is a Delhi-based non-profit that works to strengthen the leadership talent pool in the social sector. Prior to setting up ILSS in 2017, Prasad was the founding Deputy Dean of the prestigious Young India Fellowship (YIF) and a founding member of Ashoka University, India's first liberal arts university.
Kolkata, Nov 6 : The Indian Navy will not allow the Yuan Wang-6 to enter the country's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) that extends up to 200 nautical miles into the sea.

Though it is known fact that the Yuan Wang-6 is a spy ship of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), sent to the Indian Ocean Region to track India's missile tests from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast, she is officially registered as a research and survey vessel.

While foreign vessels, including warships, can freely sail through the EEZ, Indian law forbids any survey, research or exploration there by a foreign nation without permission.

In 2019, the Indian Navy had forced the Chinese research vessel Shi Yan 1 out of India's EEZ after it was found lurking near Port Blair.

The Shi Yan 1 is also considered a PLAN spy ship masquerading as a research vessel. That move by the Indian Navy had led to a diplomatic row with China but India had put her foot down.

According to sources, the Indian Navy will do the same this time round if the Yuan Wang-6 attempts to enter India's EEZ. The destination of this vessel is not marked to any port but to 'open sea' and that is where she will have to remain, a senior official said.

"We are constantly monitoring her every movement. Our surface and sub-surface assets are tracking the Yuan Wang-6. So are our Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and long-range maritime surveillance aircraft. In fact, we are also in a position to find out what this ship is tracking. Though we can't do anything till she is in the open seas, action can be taken once she attempts to enter our EEZ. Had she been a normal PLAN warship, we could have done nothing due to the international right to passage laws.

"However, a foreign survey and research vessel can't be allowed to operate in our EEZ. She won't be able to get close to our coastline. We know that Yuan Wang-6 has powerful equipment on board that can track from hundreds of nautical miles away, but there is nothing anybody can do so long as she is in international waters," the official said.

India's Territorial Waters extend to 12 nautical miles from the nearest low tide mark on shore.

No foreign warship or submarine can enter this zone without permission from the Government of India. Even if permission is granted, foreign submarines have to traverse these waters on the surface with their countries' flags flying.

It is the same for warships. There are no restrictions on other foreign vessels. As the Yuan Wang-6 is not registered as a naval vessel, she may attempt to enter India's Territorial Waters, if not prevented from entering the EEZ. This could land India on a sticky wicket.

"The only problem is if the Chinese vessel receives permission from any one of our maritime neighbours to enter their territorial waters. We share our maritime boundary with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Near these countries, we can't enforce our EEZ laws as the sea is contiguous. That is why we have International Maritime Boundary Lines to demarcate territory. Now, if Bangladesh allows the Yuan Wang-6 to dock at Chittagong or Sri Lanka grants permission to her at Hambantota Port, she will be lying extremely close to our coastline and tracking everything," another official said.

Sri Lanka is neck deep in debt and has been forced to lease away the Hambantota Port to China. In August this year, the Yuan Wang-5, another spy ship from China, docked at Hambantota despite India's reservations.

But then, Sri Lankan authorities could do little, except defer the arrival of the ship for some time, as much of Hambantota Port is in Chinese hands.
Hyderabad, Nov 6 : The people of Munugode have upheld Telangana's self-respect and gave the mandate for development, said Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Working President K.T. Rama Rao after his party's victory in the Assembly by-election.

He said people of Munugode have given befitting reply to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who out of their "arrogance" imposed a by-election.

Rama Rao was addressing a news conference after the TRS won the bitterly contested by-election, defeating BJP by a margin of over 10,000 votes.

The TRS leader said though Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy was the face of BJP, it was Amit Shah and Narendra Modi who were running the show from behind.

KTR, as Rama Rao is popularly known, said that despite the BJP using money power, misusing authority and all their allurements and conspiracies, people stood by the TRS and voted for the self-respect of Telangana.

He said the BJP's conspiracies reduced the majority of TRS but it could not stop the party from registering a victory. He pointed out that despite all the conspiracies and allurements by BJP, the TRS increased its vote share to about 43 per cent from 34.29 per cent in 2018.

KTR said the TRS would have got a higher majority because of the situation in the constituency but the BJP leadership spent hundreds of crores and distributed liquor to lure voters.

Citing media reports, he said the husband of a BJP corporator and a close aide of state BJP President Bandi Sanjay was arrested with Rs 1 crore while BJP MLA Eatala Rajender's personal assistant K. Srinivas was caught with Rs 90 lakh.

He alleged that BJP leader G. Vivek brought Rs 2.5 crore through hawala from Gujarat. He claimed that soon after Rajagopal Reddy joined the BJP, Vivek transferred Rs 75 crore to his account. He said earlier when Rajender had joined the BJP, Vivek had transferred Rs 25 crore to the account of his family company Jamuna Hatcheries.

KTR also alleged though the TRS complained to the Election Commission with proof that Rajagopal Reddy's company Sushi Infra transferred Rs 5.25 crore to BJP leaders to lure voters, pressure was brought on EC not to take any action.

He alleged that the BJP misused its authority and deployed as many as 15 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the constituency.

He said 40 teams of the Income Tax with each team comprising 10 officials were sent to the constituency to conduct raids by making false allegations that the TRS is distributing money.

KTR said in the last eight years there were many by-elections in the state but it was only Huzurabad and Munugode that hundreds of crores were used in an assault on the democracy. He said in both the by-elections, the BJP candidates were rich and big contractors.
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 6 : The Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) on Sunday announced that it will join hands with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras to support startups in the maritime sector.

The CSL, in a statement, said that this programme will help young talented entrepreneurs to develop products or services with financial support from the shipyard. This is part of the startup engagement programme 'USHUS' launched by the CSL to support the Centre's initiative in supporting maritime startups.

The agreement was signed between IIT-Madras Director, Prof V. Kamakoti, and CSL General Manager Deepu Surendran. The statement said that IIT- Madras will act as an implementation partner and will provide incubation, mentorship and training to the startups.

Applications will be invited online twice a year to identify startups for funding under seed fund scheme, pilot grants, and equity investment schemes.

The statement said that the startups selected under the scheme have to work on innovation, improvement and development of products, services and employ a scalable business model with a high potential for business generation and creating employment as well as wealth creation.

Prof Kamakoti said: "The management of the maritime sector is becoming automated and is posing interesting challenges to the creative minds." He also said that the partnership with CSL would lead to several innovative Atmanirbhar solutions.

CSL Managing Director, Madhu Nair, said that the CSL has declared a corpus of Rs 50 crore for the start up programme 'USHUS'.

Startups will get seed grants of Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore as prototyping grants, as well as equity funding at the scale up stage.
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 6 : A Norwegian oil vessel was detained by Equatorial Guinea and its 26 sailors, including 3 Keralites, are also in custody.

According to the sailors who have communicated with their families, they were detained on suspicion of crude oil piracy.

The Norwegian ship Heroic Idun, which had reached the AKPO Terminal in Nigeria on August 8 to fill crude oil, was intercepted by a Guinea naval ship when it set sail and detained.

According to reports arriving from the ship, the Norwegian ship owners had even offered $2,00,000 as ransom money but the Guinea Navy didn't agree.

One of the crew members from Kerala is Navigating officer, Vijith from Sasthamkotta in Kollam. Talking to media persons from the ship, he said that they are worried about the ship being handed over to Nigerian authorities and they suspected a Nigerian hand behind the detaining of the vessel.

"A Nigerian naval vessel has anchored near to our ship and we don't know what will happen to us. We want the Indian government to intervene and rescue us," he said.

Global ship tracking sites have spotted the Norwegian ship still in the Gulf of Guinea on the West African coast on Sunday.

According to shipping industry sources, oil piracy is rampant in the Gulf of Guinea.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan told media persons in Thiruvananthapuram that the Indian government would bring the Indian sailors detained in Guinea back to India. He also said that ministry officials have contacted the government officials there to prevent the handing over of the sailors to the Nigerian Navy.
Bhopal, Nov 6 : With liquor increasingly becoming a political issue in Madhya Pradesh, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state is likely to face a tough time as more than the Opposition, the members of the saffron camp are sounding more critical of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government on the matter.

Firebrand BJP leader and former Union Minister Uma Bharti is going to protest against the sale of liquor by setting up tent in forest and near liquor shops from November 7.

Other BJP leaders are also in the process of upping the pressure on the government over the sale of liquor in villages.

The politics around liquor has been peaking in the state at a time when the preparations are underway for the upcoming assembly elections.

Former Chief Minister Uma Bharti's stance on the issue has remained aggressive ever since the liquor policy was formulated in April 2022.

She has already shown her dissent by pelting stones and throwing cow-dung at liquor shops.

Despite CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan's assurances regarding changes in the policy and organising public awareness campaigns, Bharti is adamant on continuing her agitation.

During the conversation with the Chief Minister regarding the state's liquor policy, Bharti said that liquor shops should not be set up within 1 km of places of worship and education institutions.

She also asked for special arrangements to be made for those who come out of beer bars and pubs so they can be taken home by providing chauffeur driven cars.

Meanwhile, senior BJP legislator and former minister Ajay Vishnoi also raised questions for the Chief Minister over the issue.

Vishnoi alleged that liquor is being sold in villages, and political will is necessary to put a stop on the sale of liquor outside of shops.

He claimed that a stop on liquor sale will increase 100 votes in all BJP booths in the upcoming election.

Meanwhile, Uma Bharti tweeted that on completion of 30 years of her "sanyas life", she plans to visit Amarkantak -- a pilgrim town in Madhya Pradesh, in December.

Taking a jibe on this, Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Narendra Saluja, tweeted: "How shall your new schedule be interpreted, have you taken u-turn on your crusade for liquor free MP or struck a compromise with the government on the issue?"
New Delhi, Nov 6 : Rapper Abhishek Baisla, who is better known by his stage name MC Square, has proved his mettle by giving a tough battle to his co-contestants and bagging the trophy of "Hustle 2.0".

After receiving much appreciation from judge and famous rapper Badshah, the 23-year-old is on cloud nine and opens up about his journey from being a son of a farmer to a winner on the rap-based reality show.

"Coming from a farming background it was a little tough for me as in our area they don't even know what is hip hop or rap. Plus I come from a family where even talking about hip-hop and all is not considered decent and it took me a lot of time to convince my family regarding my rapping career." Abhishek is a civil engineer by profession but his first love always remains music.

"When I was pursuing my B. Tech degree, I was only thinking about what can I write next and how can I be better at music... I was quite good at my studies. Just because as an artist, I knew how to think and do something logically and studies came to me naturally." He never took formal training in his chosen career. "I don't have any formal training regarding music or rap, I used to listen to a lot of poets and rappers. I started off by writing poems and then slowly I tried to be more professional." Recalling his first day on the show, MC Square adds: "I was not nervous at all because this chance for me was like one in a million shots, and I just knew that I was gonna kill it.

"I remember listening to Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' before going on the stage, and it gave me a lot of motivation, and Badshah sir was quite impressed with what I did on the floor and secondly, I think my song was quite relatable to him as he too belongs from the same background. So, thanks a lot to Badshah Sir." He continues to share about the memories he will cherish forever: "There are a lot of memories that I will cherish forever. We all were living together under the same roof for 3 months and we all became a family. It was an emotional moment for us to go our own ways, but that's how life works and that's how the world works." Showering words of praise on the judge, he said: "There's no such thing as a limit, everything is limitless, when he said that he wanted to be the biggest rapper on this planet, it was quite a big motivation for me to never stop and keep going. And he is one of the most real people I have ever met. I never felt as if I was meeting him for the first time." He further opens up about his parent's reaction to his victory and says: "I have had very little time to talk to them in the last 3 months but they are excited to meet me and celebrate this victory together. My mom is the closest companion I have so I am very eager to meet my mom and a few of my friends and all of my family members. My Dad must be so proud of me, I know for sure." The 'Hustle 2.0' winner concluded by sharing his hopes for the future. He says: "No plans as such. My journey on the show is the most beautiful part so just gonna make sure that it becomes more and more beautiful. In the future too, I am going to focus more on my craft and drop a lot of music for my people." "Hustle 2.0" aired on MTV.
Gurugram, Nov 6 : Four doctors of a private hospital here have been booked for their alleged negligence of duties that eventually led to the death of a 22-year-old UK citizen who was hospitalised in a critical condition after an accident, officials said on Sunday.

Amit Kataria, a citizen of the UK, hailed from Chandigarh. His father Atul Kataria stated in the police complaint that his son had come here to study music, and was residing in Sector 66.

"My son had met with an accident on May 10 after he failed to apply his car break as a sanitizer bottle was stuck under his vehicle's break. He received serious injuries while parking his car in the basement of his apartment. His car collided with the generator after breaking the wall," the deceased's father told the police.

He was rushed to a private hospital in critical condition.

The doctors at the hospital, despite several tests, could not ascertain why the deceased's lungs were filling up with blood, the complaint told the police, adding that the doctors administered heavy direct electric shocks and resumed cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

"The negligent act led to the unnatural death of my son. Later, the doctor who performed the autopsy confirmed that his son's lungs had burst and not punctured," he told the police.

Thereafter, the complainant approached the district Medical Negligence Board, which also confirmed the autopsy report.

The board found the allegation to be true. After this, he reported the matter to the Sector 50 police station.

"Based on the report, an FIR has been registered against the doctors. After verifying the facts, appropriate action will be taken as per law," said Sub-Inspector Dharambir Singh of Sector 50 police station.

A case under sections 304-A (death due to negligence) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code had been registered at Sector 50 police station.
Srinagar, Nov 6 : Is former senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad dangling an olive branch to the Congress from whose basic membership he resigned on August 26 this year? Azad subsequently formed his own political party, Democratic Azad Party which he said would contest the forthcoming assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

Surprising his supporters who followed him by resigning from the Congress, Azad on Sunday said that the Congress alone has the capacity to challenge the BJP in Gujarat and Himachal assembly elections.

He said the the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is just a party restricted to the Union Territory of Delhi.

Talking to some reporters during his visit to Doda district, Azad praised the Congress for its secularism and said that he was only against the Congress' weak party system.

He also made it clear that he was never against the Congress policy of secularism.

"I would still want the Congress to win Gujarat and Himachal assembly elections," he said.

Surprisingly, Azad showed his confidence in the Congress saying that it takes along Hindu and Muslim farmers.

While praising the Congress, the party's former senior leader was highly critical of AAP.

"AAP has failed in Punjab. It can't do anything in these states and the people of Punjab will not vote for AAP again.

"Only Congress can run Punjab efficiently. It is the only party that can challenge the BJP in Gujarat and Himachal. AAP is a party that merely exists in Delhi UT. Congress has an inclusive policy," he said making it difficult for many to decide whether the former senior leader had mellowed down toward the party that he said two months back had completely ignored and over-ruled him.

He had even said that all the decisions taken by Rahul Gandhi were being taken by his security guards.

On August 26 this year, Azad had ended his decades-long association with the Congress after sending his resignation leader to Sonia Gandhi in which he was highly critical of Rahul Gandhi's handling of the party affairs.
New Delhi, Nov 6 : The Delhi State Election Commission has convened an all-party meeting on Monday following the declaration of the Municipal Corporation election schedule on Friday, sources said.

The voting will be held on December 4, the counting will be held on December 7 and the results will be announced the same day.

With the announcement of the civic polls, the Model Code of Conduct came into force in the national capital from Friday itself.

The notification for the civic body poll will be issued on Monday, the last day for filing nominations has been scheduled on November 14, scrutiny of the nominations will be on November 16, and the last date of withdrawal of candidature is November 19, State Election Commissioner Vijay Dev had announced on Friday.
Nouakchott Airport, Nouakchott, Mauritania [ NKC / GQNN ]

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Nouakchott Airport IATA Code: NKC Nouakchott Airport ICAO Code: GQNN Latitude : 18.0978 Longitude : -15.9478 City : Nouakchott Country : Mauritania World Area Code : 545 Airport Type : Medium Nouakchott Airport Address / Contact Details :

Nouakchott International Airport (NKC), Nouakchott, Mauritania Airport Type : Public Owner : Government\ASECNA"African air traffic management organisation" Operator : Government Hub for : Mauritania Airlines International Timezone : Africa/Nouakchott Nouakchott Airport Timezone : GMT +00:00 hours Current time and date at Nouakchott Airport is 11:02:53 AM (GMT) on Tuesday, Nov 29, 2022

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"At Signature Auto Group, we are focused on providing an online car leasing experience that is easy and convenient. This is why we are a true online pioneer in the car leasing industry"

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The first component of Signature Auto Groups streamlined leasing service is their fully online car leasing website which allows people to shop lease deals on all makes and models. The signatureautoworld.com website can be used to submit credit applications, appraise their vehicles, begin the car lease exit process, and more. All of this creates a transparent car leasing environment which is why many people choose car leasing brokers over dealerships in 2022.

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Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhomwik De Blouw LLP For more information about the class action lawsuit against DG Therapy Group, Inc., call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

The Los Angeles employment law attorneys, at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a class action lawsuit against DG Therapy Group, Inc. alleging the company violated the California Labor Code. The lawsuit against DG Therapy Group, Inc. is currently pending in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Case No. 22STCV34057. To read a copy of the Complaint, please click here.

According to the lawsuit filed, Defendant 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 pay sick pay wages, and (g) failed to provide wages when due, 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.

The complaint further alleges DG Therapy Group, Inc. failed to pay employees their accurate sick pay wages, which violates California Labor Code Section 246. Employees routinely earned non-discretionary incentive wages which increased their regular rate of pay. However, when paid sick pay wages, it was allegedly paid at the base rate of pay rather than the higher regular rate of pay.

For more information about the class action lawsuit against DG Therapy Group, Inc., call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

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This weekend's Saturday Night Live guest host Amy Schumer appeared in a sketch lampooning the Netflix thriller, The Watcher.

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In the 3-minute, pre-taped video called The Looker, family members Schumer, James Austin Johnson, Marcello Hernandez and Chloe Fineman receive a strange letter after moving into a new home.

The missive is disturbing because it accurately details what each person privately does in the house, including the mother's apparent obsession with the home-improvement show, Property Brothers.

"Your life may seem perfect, but The Looker knows it's not and your poor wife seems to be having trouble in the bathroom," the voice of the person who penned the letter said.

"Just today, the kids practiced a TikTok dance, Dad worried about his hairline and Mom was on her exercise bike. She doesn't even pedal, just sits on the bike and looks at her phone, but she still ends up drenched in sweat."

The Watcher is said to be based on the true story of a New Jersey family spooked by a letter-leaving stalker in their new home. It stars Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 11/05/2022



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

star Serena Pitt has addressed pregnancy rumors after her unexpected and spontaneous courthouse wedding to Joe Amabile "A lot of people did ask if I was pregnant, which I guess makes sense," Serena, 25, said in joint video with Joe, 36, they posted Thursday on YouTube."People are wondering if we had a shotgun wedding because I'm pregnant. I'm not pregnant."Serena, originally from Canada, and Joe, a Chicago native, got engaged on 's seventh season in Summer 2021.They moved in together in New York City this past spring, and while fans have assumed they've been planning a big wedding ever since, they shocked Bachelor Nation with an October 27 courthouse wedding , which only their witness Natasha Parker attended.The pair had intended to keep their wedding a secret and only share the news with close family and friends, but a person apparently spotted them at the courthouse and so Serena and Joe were worried the story may get leaked.Serena and Joe therefore posted a sweet video of their union on Instagram, announcing their marriage in their own special way."I feel like because we were already, like, committed to each other for life, like, the marriage didn't change that," Serena said in the couple's video."Our relationship doesn't feel any different, like, I feel the same level of commitment now that we're married, but I have accidentally called [Joe] my fiance multiple times this past week... That's still so weird [and] going to take some a minute to get used to."When Serena and Joe announced their marriage on Instagram, they shared how they're still planning a big wedding for their family and friends to attend in September 2023.And Joe confirmed in the YouTube video, "The wedding is going to be in the U.S."Serena and Joe are thinking about tying the knot -- again -- in either Charleston, Nashville, or Austin. Their wedding will therefore take place in South Carolina, Tennessee or Texas."We picked a wedding planner and we're gonna vlog the entire experience [on our YouTube channel]," Joe shared.Serena later added, "We want people to have a really good time, us included. We want it to be, like, fun and [a] great energy and really enjoyable for everyone to be there."In addition, Serena said there will be no bridal party -- other than a best man, Joe's brother, and a maid of honor, her sister -- she plans to go wedding dress shopping in November in Toronto with her mom and sister.And until their wedding takes place, Serena will remain a Pitt. She and Joe confirmed Serena won't be changing her name until after their 2023 nuptials.During the latest episode of Joe's "Click Bait with Bachelor Nation" podcast, Joe asked Serena how she'd feel about having twins or triplets considering they run in his family.Serena admitted she'd only like to have one baby at a time, but it's clear she and her new husband plan to expand their family in the near future.The 7 finale, which featured Joe's marriage proposal to Serena, aired in October 2021.Serena told Us Weekly in September that she and Joe hadn't started planning their wedding yet."We have to be a little flexible in terms of venues and such and what's available," Serena told Us. "But we would love to get married next September. We definitely wanna get married next year."Serena, who confirmed the couple wouldn't be traveling abroad for a destination wedding, also revealed that she and Joe would be open to "maybe August or October" in 2023 as well and they were already looking into a wedding planner.Serena admitted at the time she was "very overwhelmed by the planning process" but felt ready to dive in."Joe will start off saying, 'Whatever you want,' but he is an opinionated guy. He has a vision for the wedding, for sure," Serena shared in September."I think it's actually gonna be very 50/50. I want it to feel like our wedding, not my wedding. And if anything, I would say he's probably more opinionated than I am about this stuff... It'll be a team effort."As far as her wedding gown goes, Serena said she doesn't have a dream dress in mind."I think once we see the venue and where we pick to get married, I'll be able to start envisioning a mood board for the dress and the hair and the makeup," Serena explained."But I don't wanna, like, look or feel like anyone else on that day. You know, I love my neutral, glowy bronzed makeup and that's probably what I'm gonna do on my wedding day even though that's what I do every day because that's what I love."She added, "For my wedding dress, I want it to be comfortable. If I have to wear it all night, I want to be comfortable in it."Serena and her fiance celebrated their engagement party in July 2022, and that's when their parents met each other.Serena and Joe believe they established a strong relationship foundation while filming .Serena, for instance, never let the fact Joe's ex-girlfriend of nearly two years, Kendall Long , was on the beach get in the way of her connection with Joe.Serena kept her eye on the prize, avoided jealousy, and trusted Joe as Kendall sought closure.Looking back on Joe's marriage proposal, Serena previously told Becca Kufrin on her "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast how she was in "complete shock" by Joe's decision to propose marriage on the show."The logical thing to do would be like, 'This is crazy. This is so fast, let's just do the step-by-step thing and get engaged down the line,'" Serena explained at the time."I was so emotional when he got down on one knee and I was so excited to say 'yes.' I was obviously in complete shock but I knew he was the one."Serena called the moment "beautiful" and insisted she had no regrets about the quick engagement.Prior to appearing on 7, Joe got eliminated very early from Becca's season of The Bachelorette and met Kendall on Season 5 of Paradise.Despite being happy and in love, Joe and Kendall broke up because they couldn't agree on whether to live in Chicago or Kendall's home city of Los Angeles long-term.Joe gave Los Angeles a chance during and after his stint on Dancing with the Stars in 2018 and wanted to move back to Chicago to be with his friends and family, but Kendall apparently wouldn't even consider relocating and trying out a life in Chicago.And Serena dumped Matt James on his The Bachelor season that aired in early 2021 after her hometown date.Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group
As he approaches two decades on a powerless throne, Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni has found himself caught in a political fight between the countrys long-time strongman and a former opposition leader forced into exile.

The dispute, which began with a public mudslinging between Prime Minister Hun Sen and his political nemesis, Sam Rainsy, over who had betrayed the nation, has put a spotlight on the European-educated former dance instructor, who as king has preferred to remain in the shadows.

I believe that King Norodom Sihamoni did not want the honor or fame as his predecessors. He did not have such ambition or greed, Oum Daravuth, who is one of Norodom Sihamonis advisers, told RFA. The king does not want his name to be as famous as others. He just wants to live in hiding; he does not want anything else.

But the fight between Hun Sen and Sam Rainsy has broader implications than who wins a war of words. Hun Sen has threatened to dissolve the little that remains of his political opposition, which traces its roots to Rainsy, less than a year out from a national election.

It has also revived a debate over the 69-year-olds rightful role as the constitutional monarch of a fractured parliamentary system that has been slowly deconstructed under Hun Sens rule.

While the king is legally required to reign as national figurehead and leave governing to the National Assembly and the prime ministers Council of Ministers, some in the opposition have called upon Sihamoni over the years to challenge Hun Sens repression of their ranks.

But the king has rarely even responded to such requests, instead mostly remaining inside the royal palace, quiet and out of view.

Upon taking the throne in 2004, the king had pledged to remain close to the people of Cambodia and serve out his days promoting national unity.

I will never live apart from the beloved people, Sihamoni said. The Royal Palace will remain a transparent house and, for me, there will never be an ivory tower. Every week, I will devote several days to visiting our towns, our countryside and our provinces, and to serving you.

Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni greets Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen during the annual Water Festival on the Tonle Sap river in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 10, 2019. Credit: Reuters

The quiet king

Sihamoni comes from a family that claims lineage back to the god kings of Angkor, when the Khmer Empire ruled much of Southeast Asia before being forced under Siamese, Vietnamese and eventually French rule.

His father, the late King Norodom Sihanouk, was also known as the father of independence for overseeing Cambodias 1953 breakaway from French colonial rule. Sihanouk later led the 1980s shadow government that opposed the Vietnamese occupation, after its army had driven the Khmer Rouge from power, and fought a civil war against Hun Sens government before the 1991 U.N.-brokered peace restored elections.

Sihanouk abdicated in 2004 to ensure he had a say in choosing his successor. Prince Norodom Ranariddh, whose party won the U.N.-run 1993 elections but was forced into a coalition with Hun Sen, reportedly wanted the throne, but Hun Sen preferred Sihamoni.

Lesser known than his politician half-brother at the time, Sihamoni, who was born in May 1953, had previously served as Cambodias UNESCO ambassador and lived in France, where he taught classical dance. As a young boy, he had been sent to study music and dance in Prague, and earned a masters degree from the citys Musical Art Academy.

In 1975, the year the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia, Sihamoni went to North Korea to study filmmaking. But he soon returned to Phnom Penh, where he was kept prisoner in the royal palace with his father and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath until Pol Pots regime fell in 1979.

Since assuming the throne, the son has embodied the principle enshrined in the 1993 Constitution that the king shall reign but shall not rule.

Cambodias unequivocal ruler has been Hun Sen for more than three decades, and he has recently announced plans to keep that power in the family, pushing his son Hun Manet as successor after 2028.

Self-exiled Cambodian opposition party founder Sam Rainsy speaks during an interview at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Nov. 10, 2019. Credit: Reuters

The t word

The recent trouble started when Rainsy said on RFAs Oct. 25 nightly program that the kings acquiescence to Hun Sens rule  and, in particular, decisions made in 2005 and 2019 to cede territory claimed by some Cambodians to neighboring Vietnam  made him an accomplice to treason.

What Hun Sen uses as a ploy is to force the king to support his treason. If the king yields to Hun Sen's intimidation, and turns to support Hun Sen's treason, the king must be responsible, he said. If it was me, I would have abdicated, because I must not be intimidated by Hun Sen.

Rainsy, who in 2015 fled Cambodia to his home in Paris after the government reignited a 2011 defamation conviction against him, said on RFA that Sihamonis faintheartedness would be long remembered.

It is dangerous for our nation that you turned out to be a rubber stamp for the traitor, Rainsy said. It means you contributed to committing treason, for which you must be responsible before the Khmer nation and history.

In response, Hun Sen called for Cambodians to stand up to oppose this traitor and any party that dares to connect with this traitor, alluding to the Candlelight Party, which was once named the Sam Rainsy Party. The prime minister has since called on members of the party to denounce their former leader, or risk their party being banned from politics.

We must do so in order to defend the monarchy, he said.

Prince Sisowath Thomico [right], a member of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, speaks to supporters during a demonstration at the Freedom Park in Phnom Penh on April 24, 2013. Credit: AFP

Border disputes

Large stretches of the 1,270-kilometer border between Cambodia and Vietnam have remained poorly demarcated since the colonial period, when both countries were part of French Indochina. Efforts to strictly define the boundaries are highly politicized and have been complicated by a belief among some Cambodians that Vietnam wants to take over their country.

Hun Sens personal history  as a fluent Vietnamese-speaking former communist  has fed into concerns about borders. In 2005, a supplemental border treaty recodified controversial treaties Hun Sens government signed in the 1980s  during Vietnams post-Khmer Rouge military occupation of Cambodia  to cede disputed territory to Hanoi.

In his first year as king, Sihamoni had initially demurred on signing the law, citing his fathers opposition. But he relented when Hun Sen threatened to create a republic.

Another treaty was then signed in 2019 that further solidified the earlier treaties, with Cambodias opposition again criticizing the law on the basis that it legitimized treaties signed during Vietnamese occupation.

The king as a pawn

Lao Mong Hay, a political analyst who previously served as an adviser to Kem Sokha, a co-founder with Rainsy of the Cambodia National Rescue Party that was dissolved in 2017, said the dust-up shows how political figures tend to try to use the king to further their own interests.

It appears like such respect exists only as lip service, when one says they respect the king or follows the kings ideas, Mong Hay said.

It made little sense to suddenly bring the king into a political fight when both sides refused to collaborate with him, Mong Hay said.

That alone ought to shield the king from criticism leveled by politicians, who should focus on each other and keep the king above politics, said Prince Sisowath Thomico, a nephew and adopted son of Sihanouk and a former member of the outlawed Cambodia National Rescue Party.

Theres extremism on both sides, frankly. Both from Prime Minister Hun Sen, who quarreled with Sam Rainsy, and Sam Rainsy, who went to quarrel with Prime Minister Hun Sen, Thomico said. All of this reflects extremism, and we will not be able to lead the nation with extremism.

Son Soubert, a former member of Cambodias Constitutional Council who heads the kings advisory council, said whatever criticisms are leveled against him, Sihamoni was not likely to enter the political fray.

He never wanted to ascend the throne, but because there was no one else, he had to ascend to the throne, Soubert said. He knows his role, and he knows his duty clearly: that he may fulfill his duties as permitted by the Constitution until the day he stops existing on this planet.

Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Alex Willemyns.
Russian troops shelled Kherson and 30 settlements in the Kherson region 258 times in the past week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on November 28 in his evening address after calling on Ukrainians to be prepared to endure more electricity shortages amid dropping temperatures.



Russian forces retreated from the west bank of the Dnieper River earlier this month but have been shelling towns, villages, and the city of Kherson, from their new locations on the opposite bank.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

The Ukrainian government last week called on residents of Kherson to evacuate the city for the winter to avoid the bombardments, which Zelenskiy said damaged a pumping station supplying water to Mykolayiv, a city northwest of Kherson.



"This is the true essence of those random 'comrades' who took over Russia," Zelenskiy said.



"They are capable of nothing but destruction," he added. "This is all they leave behind. And what they are doing now against Ukraine is their attempt to take revenge...for the fact that Ukrainians have repeatedly defended themselves from them."



He said Ukraine will never be a place for destruction and will never accept orders from these "comrades" from Moscow. He again pledged to do "everything to restore every object, every house, every enterprise destroyed by the occupiers."



The British Ministry of Defense said earlier in its daily intelligence update on November 28 that Kherson continues to suffer daily bombardment by Russian artillery.

"The city is vulnerable because it remains in range of most of Russias artillery systems, now firing from the east bank of the Dnieper River, from the rear of newly consolidated defensive lines," British intelligence said.



Zelenskiy said earlier that Russia was "planning new strikes" on the country's power grid. As long as they have missiles, Russian forces "unfortunately, will not calm down," he said.

The head of the joint coordination press center of the Defense Forces of Southern Ukraine, Natalya Humenyuk, said a Russian warship capable of firing cruise missiles had recently deployed to the Black Sea with Kalibr-type missiles on board.



"This indicates that preparations were under way," Humenyuk said. "It's quite likely that the beginning of the week will be marked by such an attack."



Zelenskiy also reflected on a visit on November 28 from the foreign ministers of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland. He said he spoke with them about Ukraine's needs for protection and reconstruction and told them their support and solidarity is very important right now.



"We have agreements on further cooperation in the defense and energy spheres as well as in the reconstruction projects of our state and in the sanctions sphere," Zelenskiy said.



A joint statement issued by the foreign ministers after their meeting condemned Russias aggressive war against Ukraine, which they said had caused enormous suffering in Ukraine, undermined stability in Europe, and attacked the rules-based international order.



We are in complete solidarity with Ukraine. We will never recognize the illegal attempt to annex the territories of Ukraine, including Crimea, the joint statement said. Ukraine has an inalienable right to self-defense to ensure its independence and sovereignty and restore its territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders. Russia must stop its aggression and withdraw its troops from the entire territory of Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials said earlier on November 28 that Russian forces continued to shell civilian areas across the country, hitting a dozen settlements in Donetsk, including the main targets of Bakhmut and Avdiyivka, and several villages in the Nikopol district of the central Dnipropetrovsk region.

The General Staff accused Russian troops of shelling civilian areas and then attempting to shift responsibility to Kyiv's military.

On the battlefield in the east, Ukrainian forces fought pitched battles, repelling 10 Russian attacks in the Donetsk region, Ukraine's General Staff of the Armed Forces said on November 28.

Russian forces had launched several failed attacks on the town of Soledar, near Bakhmut, and had taken heavy losses in a separate push toward Avdiyivka, Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov told Reuters.

The claim could not be independently verified.

With reporting by Reuters and AP
The recent detentions of politicians, activists, and journalists in Kyrgyzstan and the two conflicts the country has fought in the last 18 months with neighboring Tajikistan have one thing in common -- they stem from attempts to finally demarcate disputed areas of Kyrgyzstans borders with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Marking Kyrgyzstans borders with its southern and western neighbors has not only been difficult, it has been risky. Joining host Bruce Pannier to discuss the situation are Viktoria Akchurina, author of the recently released book Incomplete State-Building In Central Asia: The State As Social Practice, and Bakyt Beshimov, formerly a member of the Kyrgyz parliament, a Kyrgyz ambassador to India and to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Hanoi builds headquarters of Vientiane justice, procuracy sectors as gift

Construction of new headquarters of the Department of Justice and the People's Procuracy of the Lao capital city Vientiane began on November 5.



The work is the gift of the Hanoi Party Committee, authorities and people to the Lao capital city.

Chairman of the Hanoi Peoples Committee Tran Sy Thanh and Mayor of Vientiane Capital Athsaphangthong Siphandone at the groundbreaking ceremony for the project. (Photo: VNA)



Covering a total area of 2.5ha, the project comprises two three-storied buildings and one one-storied hall, along with auxiliary facilities and technical infrastructure system. It will be built within 12 months at a total cost of 3 million USD.



Vice Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee and Chairman of the Hanoi Peoples Committee Tran Sy Thanh pledged to direct agencies concerned to ensure the progress of the project.



The Hanoi official is on a two-day working trip to Laos from November 4, during which he also attended a symposium connecting investment, trade and tourism between Hanoi and Vientiane on November 5. It was a follow-up of a conference on investment, trade and tourism promotion between Hanoi and Vientiane and a Vientiane goods exhibition held in Hanoi in August.
By Fatima Hasanova

On November 4, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry denied Armenia's statement about the shelling of its territories, Azernews reports, citing the ministry.

The information spread by the Armenian Defense Ministry pertaining to the purported shelling of its territory by units of the Azerbaijani army is inaccurate and does not reflect reality.

The Defense Ministry flatly denied the shelling of the alleged territories by military units in the area.

Earlier, the ministry reported that on the night of November 3-4, units of the Armenian armed forces using various calibers of weapons subjected to five-hour fire positions of the Azerbaijan army, stationed in the directions of Yellija and Mollabayramli settlements of Kalbajar District, from their positions in the directions of Azizli and Verin Shorzha settlements of Basarkechar region.

Following the October 31 bilateral meeting in Sochi of the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders, an agreement was reached to refrain from the use of force and threats.




When the war began, said 45-year-old Sergei about Russias February 24 massive invasion of Ukraine, we decided to leave for Kazakhstan.



As soon as the school year finished in June, Sergei shut down his furniture-assembly plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, and left Russia with his wife and children. Like other Russians who spoke to RFE/RL for this story, Sergei asked that his identity be concealed out of concern for relatives and interests in Russia.



I hopewe can stay here forever, he told RFE/RLs Siberia.Realities. In Kazakhstan, I can say what I think, and I can breathe freely.



In the first half of 2022, 419,000 Russians left the country, according to the Rosstat statistics agency. Although more recent figures have not been released, the exodus has likely grown since President Vladimir Putin announced a military mobilization on September 21. While it is unclear how many of those departures were Russians leaving the country for the long term, the loss of working-age people, entrepreneurs, and trained specialists has been a significant drain for Russia.



According to the BCS Global Markets analytical firm, individual Russians sent $14 billion abroad in the first nine months of the year.



In addition, more than 1,000 international companies have stop working in Russia because of unprecedented Western sanctions levied against Moscow following the invasion. Some 320 have left Russia completely. Hundreds of Russian businesses have also sought greener pastures abroad.

Although the large influx of Russians -- many of whom have left their homeland for economic reasons rather than being political dissenters opposed to Putins policies -- has produced spikes in rent and property prices and enflamed anti-Russian tensions in some quarters -- countries like Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia, and Turkey are reporting significant economic benefits in the wake of Moscows invasion of Ukraine.



Kazakhstan



Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev said last month that more than 50 international companies had relocated from Russia to Kazakhstan. According to Prime Minister Alikhan Smaiylov, dozens more firms are in the process of negotiating such a move.



This will significantly help the economy of our country, Toqaev said.



In addition, more than 100 Russian firms -- including Tinkoff Bank, ride-share company InDrive, game developer Playrix, and software developer MNG Partners -- have either relocated to Kazakhstan or are in negotiations to do so.



According to Daulet Argandykov, president of the Human Resources Development Center in Kazakhstan, such companies have created 4,000-6,000 jobs and have a total capitalization of $27 billion.

Kazakh banks have also seen a windfall, according to the state financial markets regulator. As of October 10, deposits held by Russian citizens in Kazakh banks totaled $1.42 billion, while in June the deposits of all foreigners (Russians and non-Russians) in Kazakhstan amounted to $692 million.



We are seriously thinking about settling here, Sergei from Novosibirsk said. My wife is a doctor and has found work. Our children are going to a Russian school and seem to be liking the new situation. Im working as a real-estate agent and at the same time Im looking for opportunities. Well see what niches are open and where there is demand. I think there are good opportunities for business here. So well try to settle in Kazakhstan.



Armenia



At the end of 2021, Armenias expected economic growth for 2022 was projected to be 5 percent. However, after Russias invasion of Ukraine in February, that figure was revised downward to 1.6 percent because of Armenias tight economic relationship with Russia.



On October 18, however, Armenian Central Bank Chairman Martin Galstian revised that figure again.



We are now seeing a huge influx of Russians and expect 13 percent economic growth this year, he said. We are seeing 25 percent growth in human capital in the IT sphere. Talented, well-educated people are moving to Armenia, and this could have a long-term effect.

More than 100,000 Russians entered Armenia in the first three quarters of 2022. About 300 large firms and 2,500 small businesses with Russian capital were registered in Armenia during the same period. In the first half of the year, money transfers from Russia to Armenia amounted to $1.1 billion, according to the ArmInfo/FinPort financial news website.

Aleksandr is a 36-year-old Muscovite who moved his digital design studio to Armenia earlier this year.



After the war began, my team and I decided we had to move, he explained. For everyone in the IT sector, the sanctions meant the end of any prospects. Using Chinese equipment -- and that is the best-case scenario -- simply wouldnt work.



All his team members took the maximum $10,000 in cash with them as they left.



The rest we transferred through cryptocurrency, Aleksandr added. In the spring, Armenian banks were freely opening accounts for nonresidents, and we took advantage of this.



He said he quickly registered his company -- It took less than an hour. And he has been able to take advantage of reduced tax rates that the government has implemented for the IT sector. He added that he doesnt worry about staffing, since new people are coming from Russia every day.



This is a huge bonus, Aleksandr said. There are people to discuss ideas with, there is a fruitful environment for communication, and there are people we can grow with.



Georgia



Georgia has also experienced economic growth with the massive influx of Russians since the invasion of Ukraine. The International Monetary Fund forecast on October 11 that the countrys economy would grow by 8.8 percent this year. The head of Georgias national bank, Koba Gvenetadze, was even more bullish, predicting growth of 10 percent.

As a result of the Russia-Ukraine war and the corresponding sanctions, migrant flows into Georgia have increased significantly, which has stimulated corresponding growth, Gvenetadze told journalists on October 26.



The bank also reported that money transfers from Russia to Georgia over the first 10 months of 2022 reached $1.135 billion, more than four times the figure from the same period in 2021. Russian citizens registered 6,419 companies in Georgia between March and June. The Interior Ministry has reported that 112,733 Russians entered Georgia between January and September, adding that the number of Russians in Georgia is now significantly higher because of Russias September 21 mobilization announcement.

The influx has driven up rental costs, particularly in Tbilisi, with low-income families and students confronting a mounting housing crisis. Experts warn the current boom might not last.



We have to be aware that all these factors that are driving growth this year are temporary, Dmitar Bogov, the lead economist for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), told Reuters. And it does not guarantee sustainable growth in the following years. So caution is therefore needed.



Oksana, 32, used to own a cafe in Novosibirsk. She and her husband made the decision to move to Georgia -- where they had honeymooned -- in the early days following Russias invasion of Ukraine. On March 21, she said, they bought their one-way tickets.



Her husband, an IT specialist, continues to work remotely for his Russian employer. Later this month, she is opening a new cafe in Tbilisi together with another Russian woman who left Moscow because of the war.



Georgia is a country of young people in love, Olga said. There are enormous opportunities here. And the main thing is that there is genuine freedom. You can do what you want, say what you think. Create, flourish, open a business -- all avenues are open.



She said it took only minutes to register her business and she was able to complete all the forms in English.



You can tell immediately that you are a welcome guest, Olga said. I hope that we Russian refugees can organically merge into Georgian society, that Georgia will become our new homeland. We have nowhere to go back to, and I am very grateful that they have welcomed us.



Turkey



The Turkish economy has also seen a boost from Russias travails. Turkey is the only NATO member that did not impose sanctions on Russia over the unprovoked invasion. In June, Turkish exports to Russia reached $791 million, a 46 percent rise over the previous year and the highest one-month volume since 2010. Over the year, trade between the two countries is expected to exceed $60 billion.



Turkish economic growth was 7.6 percent in the second quarter, exceeding expectations and making Turkey one of the fastest-growing of the Group of 20 (G20) leading economies.

Russians have become the leading foreign purchasers of residential properties in Turkey this year. The Turkish governments statistical agency reported that Russians purchased on average 34 Turkish apartments per day through August. Demand has increased significantly since the Russian mobilization announcement.



Under Turkish law, purchasing real estate worth at least $75,000 qualifies foreigners to apply for permanent residence.



Roman Kazakov, an investor from St. Petersburg, purchased a residence in Antalya this year and moved to Turkey with his wife and their three children.



My wife and I made the decision to leave Russia on February 24, Kazakov told RFE/RL. But when you have children and businesses, you cant just up and move somewhere like a lot of people did after the war. You need to prepare a place for a soft landing. So we acted prudently.



By the summer, the couple had settled on Turkey and Kazakov traveled to Antalya to buy a home.



During the summer, the prices started going up, but it wasnt so bad then as it is now, after mobilization, he said. We bought tickets for September 19. A few days after we left, the prices were already completely different. A friend of mine flew from Moscow to Istanbul on September 25 [four days after the mobilization announcement] for 270,000 rubles [$4,400] per person.



Kazakov is now in the process of developing a co-working facility in Antalya with another Russian who arrived there two months ahead of him.



It is a new niche, he said, very promising, particularly now with the flood of new people from Russia and Belarus. Plus I wanted to create a Russian community and find interesting people. So it turned out that almost straight off the plane, I took on a new business.



He plans to open the facility soon and hopes to recoup his investment in eight or nine months.



Well see how it goes with the co-working, he added. If everything is OK, I have an idea for my next business. There are a lot of unoccupied niches in Turkey.

Robert Coalson contributed to this report
Colombia: Vote on Verification Mission Mandate Renewal*

This morning (27 October), Security Council members are expected to vote on a draft resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia until 31 October 2023.

The UK and Mexico co-authored the draft text in blue, which renews the missions mandate for a period of one year. It does so without making any changes to the core mandate of the mission that was foreseen by the peace agreement of November 2016 (the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace between the government of Colombia and the former rebel group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejercito del Pueblo, FARC-EP).

The missions tasks include verifying aspects of the agreement related to the political, economic and social reincorporation of former FARC-EP combatants and personal and collective security guarantees, including comprehensive security programmes and protection measures for communities and organisations in conflict-affected areas. The Council expanded the verification missions mandate through resolution 2574 of 11 May 2021 to include monitoring compliance with the sentences handed down by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (SJP), the judicial component of the transitional justice system established by the 2016 agreement.

Ahead of this years negotiations on the verification missions mandate, Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs Alvaro Leyva Duran sent a letter to the Council on 17 October, conveying the Colombian governments support for a one-year extension of the missions mandate. In the letter, Leyva Duran requests the Council to expand the missions mandate to include monitoring the implementation of the 2016 peace agreements chapter on comprehensive rural reform and the agreements ethnic chapter. He notes that this is a joint request by the Colombian government and representatives of the former FARC-EP.

The 17 October letter thanks the UN for its support for the implementation of the 2016 agreement and the governments efforts to achieve total peace. Since assuming office in August, President Gustavo Petro Urrego has advanced his vision of total peace, which entails furthering the implementation of the 2016 peace agreement alongside the promotion of dialogue with non-signatory armed groups. In this regard, the government has taken steps to resume peace talks with the guerrilla group Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN), with formal negotiations expected to begin in early November. Special Representative and head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia Carlos Ruiz Massieu was among the international actors who participated in a preliminary meeting between representatives of the Colombian government and the ELN in Cuba in August. (For more information, see our 11 October Whats in Blue story.) Leyva Duran notes in the letter that, as the government takes steps to implement initiatives to advance the total peace policy, it may require additional support from the verification mission; in such a case, it will submit further relevant requests to the Security Council.

The draft resolution in blue is a short text, which contains only a few new additions to resolution 2603 of 29 October 2021 that most recently renewed the verification missions mandate. A new significant element contained in the draft is a request to the Secretary-General to submit to the Council within 45 days from the resolutions adoption recommendations on the possible expansion of the missions mandate, in response to the request made in Colombias 17 October letter. According to the draft in blue, the recommendations should describe how the additional tasks will be carried out and outline any potential implications for the missions configuration. The draft text in blue further expresses the Council intention to consider these recommendations swiftly, without specifying a timeline within which the Council will do so.

The negotiations on the draft text in blue apparently went smoothly, reflecting Council members unified support for the peace process in Colombia and for the work of the verification mission. Mexico and the UK circulated an initial draft of the resolution on 20 October and convened one round of negotiations on 21 October. The co-penholders then placed an amended draft under silence procedure until Tuesday (25 October), which was broken by France and the A3 members (Gabon, Ghana and Kenya). A second revised draft addressing these members comments was placed under silence on Tuesday afternoon, until yesterday morning (26 October). Russia subsequently broke silence. A third revised draft, aiming to address Russias concerns, was put in blue yesterday afternoon.

Members were apparently generally supportive of the Council taking note of the request made by the Colombian government in its 17 October letter. It seems that members also agreed with the co-penholders suggestion to request the Secretary-General to submit recommendations in this regard. As such, this issue did not require extensive discussion during the negotiations.

It seems that the A3 members suggested additional language welcoming the engagement of the peacebuilding commission (PBC) on Colombia and encouraging further cooperation, including with relevant UN agencies, to ensure an integrated approach to sustaining peace in Colombia. These members apparently wanted to highlight that more focus should be given to promoting socioeconomic development to address the many issues faced by Colombia, particularly by indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, who have been disproportionately affected by conflict. Therefore, the A3 proposed language on UN agencies which can contribute to that end.

The co-penholders apparently preferred a short resolution without many additions and therefore did not include the proposal by the A3 in the first draft that was put under silence. Additionally, some members apparently felt that issues relating to development should not be addressed within the scope of a Security Council resolution on the verification missions mandate. However, following the silence break by the A3, the text was revised to reflect their proposed amendment. Russia then broke silence because of the additional language, seeking to revise the reference to the PBC. As a result, the draft text in blue specifies that the PBCs engagement is with the government of Colombia. Moreover, while the A3 proposal described cooperation among UN agencies to ensure a coherent approach to sustaining peace, the draft text in blue instead references a coherent approach to the comprehensive implementation of the 2016 peace agreement.

There was apparently some discussion around language proposed by the co-penholders in the zero draft on Petro Urregos total peace policy. It seems that the zero draft took note of the presidents plans for the implementation of the 2016 peace agreement and his total peace policy. A similar formulation was used in Council members 14 October press statement on Colombia, which they adopted following their 12 October Colombia meeting. However, this reference was removed at the request of Russia, which apparently felt that it is not appropriate to address this issue in a resolution on the verification missions mandate. At the 12 October meeting, Russia emphasised that the achievement of total peace is currently beyond the scope of the missions mandate.

During last years mandate renewal negotiations, there was some sensitivity around whether Mexico should serve as a co-penholder together with the UK. (For background, see our 28 October 2021 Whats in Blue story.) It seems that an objection by the previous Colombian administration to having another Council member share the pen with the UK on the Colombia file may have played a role in this dynamic. However, the new administration appears to be more amenable the idea of the UK sharing the pen on products relating to Colombia. At the 12 October meeting, both Mexico and the UK indicated that Mexico would serve as co-penholder together with the UK.

_______________________________________________________________

*Post-script: On 27 October, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2655, renewing the mandate of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia for another year, until 31 October 2023.
News

spotlight

From 2-year wait lists to nannies: How working S.F. parents make infant care happen

Craig Lee/The Examiner Monique Guidry with Ky-Anna, age 5, at Guidrys Early Care and Education Program, an in-home child care facility in Ingleside. Craig Lee/The Examiner Monique Guidry (with Lulubelle, age 5): It breaks my heart to have to say, Sorry, I have a waiting list and to be honest, by the time your baby comes up they will be in preschool. Craig Lee/The Examiner Ingrid Mezquita, executive director of the San Francisco Department of Early Childhood. Craig Lee/The Examiner Monique Woodford Breaux with her children (from left) Victoria Breaux, 4, DJ (Duane) Breaux, 7, Nala Breaux, 12, and Duncan Breaux, 6, at Meadows Livingstone School..

For parents of infants and toddlers, finding affordable, high-quality child care in San Francisco can be a nightmare.

Just 15% of babies ages 0 to 2 have access to child care in San Francisco, compared with about 94% of preschool-age children between 3 to 5 years old, according to estimates from the Childrens Council, a child care advocacy and referral agency.

For a family with two adults and one infant, the cost of child care in San Francisco is about $2,100 per month, according to estimates from the Insight Center, an Oakland economic research and advocacy organization. Thats among the highest price tags in the state, with child care for the same family costing less in counties such as Alameda, Marin, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Los Angeles.

In San Francisco, the waiting lists for infant care are so long, that many parents who can afford to often look for private nannies, while families without the means must choose between work or caring for young children. Those who cant afford those options can turn to financial assistance, but even then, spaces for infants are limited.

For many working families, life in The City with a baby just doesnt pencil out easily.

Im full for the next two years for infants and toddlers and get calls every other day. It breaks my heart to have to say, Sorry, I have a waiting list and to be honest, by the time your baby comes up they will be in preschool, said Monique Guidry, who owns and runs an in-home child care facility in Ingleside. It can be especially challenging here finding toddler care.

Infant care is particularly difficult to provide due to federal regulations requiring very low teacher-to-child ratios. In California, there must be a minimum of one adult for every 4 children under 2. But many teachers like Guidry prefer to have as close to 1-to-1 as possible since babies require near-constant attention.

Caring for just one baby is a lot. Those ratios are there for the health and safety of children. But it is very difficult to provide infant and toddler care, said Ingrid Mezquita, executive director of San Franciscos newly minted Department of Early Childhood Education.

Nearly 33% of child care programs did not have enough teachers and staff to enroll as many children as desired, according to a 2017 estimate from the former S.F. Office of Early Care and Education, now the Department of Early Childhood Education.

Those challenges have continued to persist for infant caregivers in the years since.

I have more infants than preschoolers this year, which is different. And I have more than Ive ever had previously under age 3, said Guidry, who currently has six infants and four preschool-age children in her class, along with two teachers. A lot of families had babies. I know because I teach their siblings.

How parents are doing it

Parents like Jonah Horowitz, a father of a six-month-old in Bernal Heights, had heard of the long wait lists and challenges ahead for child care. As soon as his partner became pregnant, they went to online community message boards and found a neighbor they could share a nanny with.

Others have had success navigating subsidy programs that offset the costs of child care through organizations like the Childrens Council.

But due to a need for more staff to take care of infants, its still hard to get a spot even if you qualify for assistance.

That leaves the third option: leave San Francisco for cheaper alternatives.

Monique Woodford Breaux was born and raised in San Francisco before moving to Oakley, where she said it has been easier to afford housing and child care for her six kids.

It was more of a challenge than I had expected. So many people go, Why dont you just leave your kids with the neighbor? People assume there is someone available or that its affordable for everyone. Not everybody has access to the same things, she said.

Advocates for better infant care options in San Francisco are determined to change the notion that families should have to leave The City to raise their babies.

As a native San Franciscan, Ill tell you, S.F. is a wonderful place to grow up. We want to make sure this is where families have children and are able to raise a family, said Mezquita, who is now overseeing her Department of Early Childhood Educations target to provide universal child care access for infants and toddlers.

What The City is doing

Today, San Francisco has just over 1,000 licensed child care centers. Of those, about 650 are family in-home child care facilities and 350 are child care centers that currently together have capacity for 26,194 children under 5. Overall, The City has an estimated 35,053 children under 5, according to 2021 U.S. Census data.

The number of child care facilities in San Francisco has actually grown since 2020, unlike many parts of the country, largely due to emergency grants and funding provided during the pandemic. Still, demand for infant care has not budged. Early educators like Guidry say theres a drastic need for more caregivers who can take on infants.

Right now, its so challenging to find teachers (for infant care). And thats not just my experience, thats across the field, said Guidry, This means a lot for the teachers. It means retention and hopefully bringing back teachers we lost during the pandemic.

In June 2018, voters passed Proposition C, which an additional tax on some commercial leases to subsidize child care wages and build-out facilities. About $300 million has been collected through Prop. C to date, according to the Department of Early Childhood Education.

To entice more workers to the field, the department is now funneling $70 million annually from the Prop. C funds into the early care workforce in order to bring the pay rate for city-funded caregivers to a minimum of $28 per hour.

Thats more than double the national average hourly pay for child care workers, which was $13.31 in 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Meanwhile, animal care workers, like dog walkers, earned even higher than child-care givers, at a mean hourly rate of $14.19.

But once wages go up, so do child care costs. So, to get families in the door, the department is also spending $40 million annually to increase subsidy rates for child care and $180 million to help families afford child care.

Scholarships and subsidies helped Woodford Breaux cover care costs for her young children, and its also provided her space to pursue opening up a child care facility of her own.

Dont be afraid to ask for help. There are caring and trusting people who will be supportive throughout the process, she said. Just dont try to figure it out when the child is here, start as early as possible.
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The body of eight-year-old Pranav Vivekanandan was found by divers in a Canberra lake on Sunday morning, a day after the bodies of his mother and young brother were recovered from the water.

ACT Police said they did not believe anyone else was involved in the deaths of the three family members.

Police said they had found the body of Canberra boy Pranav Vivekanandan.

Sadly, the 8-year-old boy we posted about as missing yesterday, has been located deceased in Yerrabi Pond, ACT Police said in a statement.

The investigations into his death, and those of his mother and brother who were also discovered deceased in Yerrabi Pond yesterday, are continuing.
To NSW now, five teenagers who refused to leave a protest at Whitehaven Coals Newcastle office have been arrested.

As readers of the blog will know, today is the first day of COP27, the latest round of United Nations climate talks.

The protest at Whitehaven Coals Newcastle office.

The stakes are high for young people whose futures are under threat from rising global temperatures and the increased risk of extreme weather events, crop failures, and rising sea levels.

Twenty-five protesters staged a sit-in at the Whitehaven Coal office, protesting against the companys plans to double coal production.

When police arrived and officially asked people to leave, 20 of them complied. However, the protest organisers said a 16-year-old boy, two 17-year-old girls, a 19-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man remained, knowing they would likely be arrested.

A spokesperson for NSW Police confirmed officers were called to an office building on Newcommen Street, Newcastle because of reports of trespass.

Police said three juveniles and two adults refused to leave and were arrested at the scene, and taken to Newcastle Police Station where they were assisting police with inquiries.

While at the Whitehaven office, the protesters pinned a poster labelled notice to cease and desist new coal mines and expansions on the wall, and put through calls and text messages to the phones of company executives and board members, including chief executive Paul Flynn and board chair Mark Vaile.

The group is calling for Whitehaven to drop its three expansion projects  Vickery, Winchester South and Narrabri Stage 3  and for the Albanese government to block all new coal projects.

A Whitehaven Coal spokesperson declined to comment, except to provide the sustainability chapter in its annual report.

One of the 19-year-olds arrested was joined at the protest by her parents, who said in a statement they were inspired by the way their daughter and many other young people had sounded the alarm about the climate emergency.

[Her] decision to risk arrest was not taken lightly, but she realises that we need immediate and extensive action, and we support her 100 per cent, they said.
A broken gas pipeline has left more than 20,000 people in the states central tablelands without gas for heating and cooking for up to a month.

Lithgow is expected to be without gas for three to four weeks and much of Bathurst will remain disconnected for a week after floods apparently damaged a gas pipeline at the Macquarie River south of Bathurst.

Oberon and Wallerawang are also facing a month without gas, leaving thousands of people without heating while nighttime temperatures are still dropping close to zero.

Make-safe checks are taking place on Sunday and Monday in Oberon and surrounding areas, but a reconnection to the main line will take longer. Credit:Kate Geraghty

Police, State Emergency Service and Fire and Rescue personnel have been called in to help energy company Jemena with the reconnection.
Police have located the body believed to be the second of two Sydney men who were swept away in floodwaters in the Southern Tablelands.

Bob Chahine and Ghosn Ghosn had been identified as the men washed away on Monday. NSW Police said the second body was found on Sunday at 11.15am, and the search operation had now concluded. The first body was found by police divers on Thursday.

Two men who went missing in floodwaters earlier this week in the states Southern Tablelands have been identified as Sydney fathers Bob Chahine and Ghosn Ghosn. Credit:Facebook

The search of Prestons Creek, about 50 kilometres from Boorowa, started on Monday after a group of four men attemped to cross the creek near Bevendale in a ute before the vehicle was swept away in floodwaters.

Two of the men managed to swim to safety and call for assistance, early responders had difficulty finding the remote site in the pouring rain, police said. Chahine and Ghosn were swept downstream with the ute.
Gus Silber of Johannesburg was most interested to read of the lion escape from Taronga Zoo, as lion escapes are fairly common from wildlife parks in South Africa. The most recent was a lioness escaping after the electrified fence stopped working because of load shedding, a scheduled power outage familiar to all South Africans. The record for an escape is still held by the lion that found its way out of the Karoo National Park a few years ago, roaming for more than 160 miles during a spree that lasted almost a month. It was finally darted and recaptured and returned to the park after being held overnight in a small-town prison cell.

Guards continuing to issue reminders in the quiet carriage (C8) reminded Richard Horsley of Alexandria of exam invigilators during reading time saying, This is your reading time. Do not pick up your pens, you cant write anything yet. Its important you use this time to read the paper carefully. Dont miss any pages. Read the paper carefully, etc, until a frustrated student loudly asked them to shut up. And fair enough too.

The stories of enduring trauma from school lunches (C8) continue to come in. Meri Will of Northmead remembers that as children it was my sisters and my job to make our own sandwiches for school, and those of our two younger brothers. One brother always asked for peanut butter on his sandwich, the other invariably chose Vegemite. Decades later my sister still cant abide peanut butter, while I relish Vegemite, thickly spread.

My mum would make all our sandwiches (C8) for the week and put them in the freezer with our initial on, writes Claire Ansoul of Maroubra. A great idea in summer but in winter, a still frozen Pecks fish paste sandwich was not so delicious.

Chrissie Whitlock of Earlwood extends her thanks to Barbara Ryan. Silkworm poo tea (C8) sounds like a great Christmas present for those too hard to buy for. Not to mention those who have everything.
For campaigners trying to get psychedelic drugs prescribed for clinical use in Australia, the last few months have resembled a bad trip. The main charity leading the push to get MDMA and psilocybin (the ingredient in magic mushrooms) rescheduled for clinical use by the Therapeutic Goods Administration is a mob called Mind Medicine Australia, run by investment banker Peter Hunt and his opera singer wife, Tania de Jong.

Tania de Jong and Peter Hunt run Mind Medicine Australia. Credit:James Alcock

With a board that boasts former trade minister Andrew Robb, Ethics Centre boss Dr Simon Longstaff, and investment banker Nicholas Smedley, the group looked well placed to give shrooms and pingers the old legitimacy they so badly needed to get the typically risk-averse pointy-heads at the TGA on board. So far, those pointy heads have resisted.

Then along came Four Corners. An episode aired on Auntys flagship investigative program in July alleged harassment and legal threats made against former employees, plus the small matter of a convicted drug cook acting as a scientific adviser.

MMA immediately went on the defensive, denying claims in the story before it had even gone to air, and hitting out at what it called unsubstantiated, misleading and disingenuous claims made by Four Corners.
Karen was smuggled into Australia from South Korea for sex work, and was sent to a brothel where she was made to work up to 25 hours in a row. She narrowly escaped with her life.

October 30, 2022

by Nick McKenzie
Read more of our Victorias Agenda coverage on the health system. See all 17 stories .

Victorians face waits of up to six months for MRI scans as delays in securing appointments for crucial medical imaging, used to diagnose potentially life-threatening diseases, worsen well after lockdowns.

Professor Gerard Goh, dean of the faculty of clinical radiology at the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists, said record demand and workforce shortages of radiologists, radiographers, medical imaging technologists and nurses, had combined to blow out wait times for almost every scan  including MRI and CT scans, often used to help detect diseases such as cancer.

Premier Daniel Andrews is promising more PET scanners, which can detect cancers, heart disease, brain disorders and other conditions. Credit:Nic Walker

We are seeing an increase in waitlist times for most imaging modalities, Goh said.

Imaging obviously is absolutely necessary to help guide patient decisions and make diagnoses. Its certainly a very challenging situation.
University of Melbourne Student Union president Sophie Nguyen said the pull to attend university on campus had diminished for many. Our lectures are pretty empty, she said. There is a cohort of students who can just do their lectures online rather than just come into class. Universities are not the vibrant, busy places they once were. Credit:Wayne Taylor Nguyen, who is in her fourth year of university, values campus life. But, she said, there was a generation of students who never experienced it. I think students kind of either dont know or dont care enough about the kind of extracurricular activities or the general socialising on campus, that isnt just your lectures and [tutorials], she said.

This semester, the University of Melbourne is aiming to have 80 per cent of students on campus. From first semester 2023, the universitys undergraduate program will be on campus and graduate program students will have the option of campus-based, online and dual-delivery courses, depending on the program. La Trobe University Student Union president Joel Blanch is worried for campus culture. Credit:Eddie Jim. A spokeswoman said fewer than 10 per cent of subjects were delivered online, but many on-campus subjects had online options. La Trobe University Student Union president Joel Blanch said that before the pandemic there were a number of businesses that catered to a thriving student body. Many were now gone.

In our main precinct at La Trobe, there are five or six empty businesses just sitting there. There are half the number of businesses there used to be at La Trobe, he said. They cant seem to find vendors because there arent enough students. Loading Students were slowly filtering back on campus, he said, but many still preferred online classes, so they could be flexible with their day. Twenty per cent of classes were online, and some students preferred not to commute. Blanch worries that campus culture wont recover. The university cut the funding to the student union by $2.7 million between 2020-2021. In 2020, the La Trobe Student Association, a separate entity, formed. It means the engagement in events and clubs has significantly reduced and that affects the culture of the entire university. Thats been a sore point, he said.

The student unions budget has since increased to less than one-third of the 2019 amount, to provide academic advocacy and student representation for all La Trobe campuses. Student life at La Trobe has taken a massive hit. When students dont feel like they have the same voice and control over culture, clubs and events at the uni, of course they arent going to want to come back, Blanch said. The uni parties I heard of from my parents, these sorts of things which are at the core of student culture  thats been ripped away. National Union of Students president Georgie Beatty La Trobe University deputy vice-chancellor Professor Jessica Vanderlelie said students were transitioning back to campus in greater numbers. Vanderlelie said about 84 per cent of all learning activities were offered either on-campus or with a choice of on-campus or online. La Trobe also offers students a mixture of on-campus and online study.

The university allocates its students services and amenities fee in consultation with students; and the services are provided by the university, the student union at the Bundoora campus and by the student association at the Bendigo, Melbourne, Mildura, Shepparton and Wodonga campuses. While funding to the [student union] has reduced from 2019 because they no longer represent regional campuses, overall investment in student engagement and support activities has increased, a university spokesperson said. National Student Union president Georgie Beatty feels a sense of loss for her time as a university student. Credit:Luis Ascui Monash University Student Union president Ishka De Silva said the student population had made a successful return to the Clayton campus, as Monash had focused on in-person classes. Swinburne University has moved to a blend of both online and in-person education, and a spokesperson said there had been an increase in parking, events, foot traffic and demand for services. However, a student union spokesperson said Swinburne campuses were still fairly sparse.

National Union of Students president Georgie Beatty said there was no doubt campus culture had changed as a result of the pandemic. Loading But she also said the past 2 years had made university more accessible for students with disabilities and for those who worked casual, low-paying jobs amid rising cost-of-living pressures. Ive had three students cry to me in the past week because they dont have enough money and they dont have that backup, she said. Beatty said she didnt know anyone who was living out of home and managing full-time university.
We will put a strong welfare cop on the beat. We will be stopping the rorts. With these slogans, then Minister for Social Services Scott Morrison launched the Employment Income Matching effort, commonly known as robo-debt, in 2015. Last week, a royal commission began exploring just how a scheme which once promised $3.9 billion in savings turned out to be a landmark scandal in public administration.

The politicians will always have their say. One side looks forward to their opponents being grilled. The other dismisses an independent inquiry as political payback. But why does every Australian have a stake in learning from a scheme that is about to pass into history?

The royal commission into the robo-debt scheme began last week. Credit:Janie Barrett

All but the most privileged Australians have to place their trust in government at key moments in our lives. We find ourselves at our kitchen tables, hoping for the NDIS plan for our child, the aged care package for the parent who suddenly needs it. All of us hope for the basic dignity of a properly reasoned, evidenced decision. All of us need to know that our governments approaches can be called out and tested against basic principles of consistency and fairness. The persistence of robo-debt across five long years underlines that the rule of law arrives too late or not at all for many everyday Australians.

When they hear the word robo-debt, Australians should not see politicians. We need to see the young woman who hid the debt letter in terror of her partner. The Townsville tradie who cancelled his Jobseeker payment and lived in poverty fearing further debts. The parent whose world was crashing down, trying to fake a smile as their children played with them. This is our chance to act for them.
The Climate 200 group that bankrolled the teal independents and upended federal parliament at the last election has revealed Atlassian founders Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brookes collectively donated more than $2.5 million to its campaign.

But the largest individual donor to Climate 200 and the teals is Rob Keldoulis, a relatively unknown share trading firm founder from Sydneys eastern suburbs, who put in $1.85 million and is readying for more donations ahead of the NSW and Victorian state elections.

Rob Keldoulis, the top donor to the teals and Climate 200 in the 2022 federal election cycle. Credit:Steven Siewert

Im hooked, Keldoulis said, despite the teals not winning the balance of power in the House of Representatives that many of their backers hoped would provide decisive influence over lawmaking.

I think its really good that they didnt get the balance of power now... because anything that didnt work [Prime Minister Anthony] Albanese could have blamed on the teals.
More than eight years since the Campbell Newman government weakened the rights of citizens to fight new mines, Queensland Labor  which repealed the laws once in power  is now set to commission a review into its subsequent laws.

The accompanying draft terms of reference, seen by the Brisbane Times, has sent a chill through the anti-coal movement.

The New Acland coal mine, near Oakey, in Queenslands Darling Downs. Credit:New Hope Group

The document noted action in the Queensland Land Court  which has been used to hinder controversial coal mines owned by Clive Palmer, Adani and New Hope  caused long and expensive delays.

Further, the objection processes in the Mineral Resources Act were unique, it said. Broadly, it asked: Should there be change?
Read more on integrity in government. See all 27 stories .

Premier Daniel Andrews has unequivocally rejected a plea from Victorias anti-corruption watchdog for tough new laws that would result in jail for journalists who reveal details of draft investigation reports before they have been finalised.

Andrews on Sunday clarified that the states Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission had asked the government for the legislative overhaul, but we chose not to make those changes.

Premier Daniel Andrews on Sunday. Credit:Nine News

I have no plans to change the law in that regard, and we havent done it, he said. And because we havent done it, the agency has had a go at us.

Andrews comments follow revelations this week in The Age that the premier was secretly interviewed, along with former health minister Jill Hennessy, as part of an investigation into the awarding of $3.4 million in grants to the Health Services Union.
London: British police say evidence revealed an extreme right-wing motivation behind an attack last week at an immigration centre on the English coast, describing it as a terrorist incident.

A 66-year-old man threw at least two petrol bombs at the walls of a migrant centre on October 30 near the port town of Dover, a point of arrival for many who attempt the perilous journey to Britain across the English Channel in small boats. The assailant was later found dead. Authorities identified him as Andrew Leak.

Emergency services investigate a car allegedly involved in the bomb attack on the migrant processing centre in Dover, last week. Credit:AP

British counterterrorism police said they found evidence indicating the man who arrived alone in a car and hurled a number of crude incendiary devices outside was motivated by a terrorist ideology. While the agency said the probe continues, it added there were no signs he had accomplices.

The police statement said investigators spoke to witnesses and recovered items including digital devices. Examining these items suggests there was an extreme right wing motivation behind the attack, it said, without elaborating further on the evidence.
Rolling blackouts also were planned in the nearby Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Kharkiv and Poltava regions, Ukraines state-owned energy operator, Ukrenergo, said. Kyiv plans to deploy about 1000 heating points, but noted that this may not be enough for a city of 3 million people. Worshippers at St Volodymyrs Cathedral in Kyiv. Electricity and heating outages across Ukraine caused by missile and drone strikes to energy infrastructure have added urgency preparations for winter. Credit:Getty As Russia intensifies its attacks on the capital, Ukrainian forces are pushing forward in the south. Residents of Ukraines Russian-occupied city of Kherson received warning messages on their phones urging them to evacuate as soon as possible, Ukraines military said on Sunday. Russian soldiers warned civilians that Ukraines army was preparing for a massive attack and told people to leave for the citys right bank immediately. Russian forces are preparing for a Ukrainian counteroffensive to seize back the southern city of Kherson, which was captured during the early days of the invasion. In September, Russia illegally annexed Kherson as well as three other regions of Ukraine and subsequently declared martial law in the four provinces.

The Kremlin-installed administration in Kherson already has moved tens of thousands of civilians out of the city. Russia has been occupying and evacuating Kherson simultaneously, trying to convince Ukrainians that theyre leaving when in fact theyre digging in, Nataliya Humenyuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraines Southern Forces, told state television. Loading There are defence units that have dug in there quite powerfully, a certain amount of equipment has been left, firing positions have been set up, she said. Russian forces are also digging in in a fiercely contested region in the east, worsening the already tough conditions for residents and the defending Ukrainian army following Moscows illegal annexation and declaration of martial law in Donetsk province.

The attacks have almost completely destroyed the power plants that serve the city of Bakhmut and the nearby town of Soledar, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the regions Ukrainian governor, said. Shelling killed one civilian and wounded three, he reported late Saturday. The destruction is daily, if not hourly, Kyrylenko told state television. Loading Moscow-backed separatists have controlled part of Donetsk for nearly eight years before Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. Protecting the separatists self-proclaimed republic there was one of Russian President Vladimir Putins justifications for the invasion, and his troops have spent months trying to capture the entire province. While Russias greatest brutality was focused in the Donetsk region, constant fighting continued elsewhere along the front line that stretches more than 1000 kilometres, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

Between Saturday and Sunday, Russias launched four missiles and 19 airstrikes hitting more than 35 villages in nine regions, from Chernihiv and Kharkiv in the northeast to Kherson and Mykolaiv in the south, according to the presidents office. The strikes killed two people and wounded six, the office said. In the Donetsk city of Bakhmut, 15,000 remaining residents were living under daily shelling and without water or power, according to local media. The city has been under attack for months, but the bombardment picked up after Russian forces experienced setbacks during Ukrainian counteroffensives in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions. Loading The front line is now on Bakhmuts outskirts, where mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a shadowy Russian military company, are reported to be leading the charge. Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the group who has typically remained under the radar, is taking a more visible role in the war. In a statement Sunday he announced the funding and creation of militia training centres in Russias Belgorod and Kursk regions in the southwest, saying that locals were best placed to fight against sabotage on Russian soil.

The training centres are in addition to a military technology centre the group said it was opening in St Petersburg. In Kharkiv, officials were working to identify bodies found in mass graves after the Russians withdrew, Dmytro Chubenko, a spokesperson for the regional prosecutors office, told local media. DNA samples have been collected from 450 bodies discovered in a mass grave in the city of Izium, but the samples need to be matched with relatives and so far only 80 people have participated, he said. In one sliver of good news, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was reconnected to Ukraines power grid, local media reported on Sunday. Europes largest nuclear plant needs electricity to maintain vital cooling systems, but it had been running on emergency diesel generators since Russian shelling severed its outside connections. AP, Reuters
Ukraines Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said some 20,000 foreign fighters from 52 countries had applied to join the fight. Trevor Kjeldal (top) with James Durose (bottom) were rejected by Ukraines military unit due to their lack of experience. No official figures are available on how many Australians are fighting in Ukraine, but previous estimates put the number at between 200 and 600, despite warnings from the Australian government not to travel to the country. Kjeldal had no military experience, only a will to go to the frontline to fight Russia. British welder James Durose first met Kjeldal at the Polish-Ukrainian border.

How are ya? the Australian said to Durose, 29, as he was being questioned by Ukrainian border guards. Durose and Kjeldal, along with an American, then went to stay at one of the bases of the newly created foreign legion. Trevor Kjeldal in Ukraine. But given their lack of military experience, the three men were rejected. Thats when Kjeldal told the two others they should soldier on and find another battalion to join.

Me, Ninja and a lad from America set off further east, says Durose, who returned to Britain after sustaining head injuries on the battlefield in September. Loading We had a really hard look trying to find a battalion at first. I think we were out there for about eight weeks without a battalion. The three men ended up in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv and came across an advertisement on Facebook for the Carpathian Sich Battalion, which was welcoming foreign fighters. They were accepted, and after completing a month of training in Kyiv, they were sent to the frontline in the countrys north-east.

The central task of the unit was to liberate the city of Izyum, which had been under Russian occupation since the early days of the invasion. We did a big attack that managed to push forward to Izyum, so we managed to take all of Izyum, Durose says. Thats what we had been fighting for since getting on the frontline, that was our target. And thats all me and Ninja used to say to each other: Izyum is coming, were going to take Izyum. And we did. But it wasnt without huge losses to their unit. Kjeldal was seriously injured in mid-July after coming under heavy fire from a small group of Russian soldiers.

While the Australian was in hospital in Kyiv, Durose was in a trench with another Australian, medic Jed Danahay, who was also from Queensland, when Russian soldiers ambushed them. He [Danahay] got killed right next to me, Durose says. We were in a firefight, I was in a trench with Jed at the time. The Russian approached us from behind  he must have been about 10 metres away  Ive looked at Jed and said: Is that one of our guys? And he looked and said, I dont know, is it? I done what I needed to do with that guy, but we didnt know there was another [Russian] guy behind him  the guy behind him shot Jed straight through his chest, and got a British guy straight through the head. It was a pretty bad day, but we achieved great things from that attack  thats how we managed to push through to Izyum from that attack.

A few weeks later, Durose was injured in a tank attack and returned to Britain to recover from his head injuries. But his friend Kjeldal decided to return to the frontline. I beat the odds once, so lets just see if I can do it again, I suppose, Kjeldal said in July. Durose says his last conversation with his friend was shortly after he returned home to Britain. Glad youre back, Kjeldal told Durose, letting him know that it had gone relatively quiet on the frontline after the unit took Izyum. But then on Wednesday, Kjeldal and a man from Taiwan, Tseng Sheng-kuang, were at the top of a hill when Russian tanks zeroed in on them and fired. Both men were killed.

Kjeldal had become close to Tseng as he spoke his language; the Australian had a Chinese wife and daughter who still both live in China. Loading The soldiers he served with say Kjeldal constantly thought about his wife and daughter. He was always sending them money, even though he was going through the hardest times, Durose says. He had a heart of gold. He always had the best intentions. He was also a very comical lad  he was a funny guy.
Iran has acknowledged for the first time that it supplied Moscow with drones but said they were sent before the war in Ukraine, where Russia has used them to target power stations and civilian infrastructure.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said a small number of drones had been shipped a few months before Russias February 24 invasion.

Iranian drones are prepared for launch during a military drone drill in Iran. Credit:AP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Tehran of lying, saying Kyivs forces were downing at least 10 of the unmanned aerial vehicles every day.

In Irans most detailed response to date, Amirabdollahian denied Tehran was continuing to supply drones to Moscow.
Washington: NBC News reporter Miguel Almaguer had what seemed like a scoop about an intruders attack last week on Paul Pelosi. The curious new details he presented on the Today show quickly went viral on right-wing sites and social media accounts.

One problem: Much of Almaguers account was inaccurate, based on flawed information provided by a source who was unnamed in the report, according to people at the network. Those people said Almaguer was incorrect when he reported that the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave police no indication he was in danger when he answered the door. In fact, San Francisco police have said that Pelosi was struggling with the intruder, David DePape, when they first saw him.

David DePape (left) allegedly attacked Paul Pelosi, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosis husband, in their San Francisco home. Credit:AP

But before NBC News hasty removal of the video from its website  accompanied by a vague note that the story did not meet NBC News reporting standards  it spawned a sinister new narrative.

Like a match on a tinder-dry woodpile, the NBC story fed the unfounded speculation and conspiracy theories that have been swirling around the incident ever since the October 28 home-invasion assault.
It has specifically targeted Democratic candidates in the most contested races, including the Senate seats up for grabs in Ohio, Arizona and Pennsylvania, calculating that a Republican majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives could help the Russian war effort. Republican before a rally with Senator Marco Rubio and other Florida Republican politicians and candidates competing in the US 2022 midterm elections in West Miami, Florida. Credit:AP The campaigns show not only how vulnerable the American political system remains to foreign manipulation but also how purveyors of disinformation have evolved and adapted to efforts by the major social media platforms to remove or play down false or deceptive content. Last month, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued an alert warning of the threat of disinformation spread by dark web media channels, online journals, messaging applications, spoofed websites, emails, text messages and fake online personas. The disinformation could include claims that voting data or results had been hacked or compromised.

The agencies urged people not to like, discuss or share posts online from unknown or distrustful sources. They did not identify specific efforts, but social media platforms and researchers who track disinformation have recently uncovered a variety of campaigns by Russia, China and Iran. Recorded Future and two other social media research companies, Graphika and Mandiant, found a number of Russian campaigns that have turned to right-leaning Gab, Parler, Getter and other newer platforms that pride themselves on creating unmoderated spaces in the name of free speech. Russian trolls seek to aid Republicans in hopes they will lessen US support for Ukraine. Joe Biden said the NATO alliance will support Ukraine for as long as it takes. Credit:Bloomberg These are much smaller campaigns than those in the 2016 election, where inauthentic accounts reached millions of voters across the political spectrum on Facebook and other major platforms. The efforts are no less pernicious, though, in reaching impressionable users who can help accomplish Russian objectives, researchers said. The audiences are much, much smaller than on your other traditional social media networks, said Brian Liston, a senior intelligence analyst with Recorded Future who identified the Nora Berka account. But you can engage the audiences in much more targeted influence ops because those who are on these platforms are generally US conservatives who are maybe more accepting of conspiratorial claims.

Many of the accounts the researchers identified were previously used by a news outlet calling itself the Newsroom for American and European Based Citizens. Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has previously linked the news outlet to the Russian information campaigns centred around the Internet Research Agency. Yevgeny Prigozhin, left, and Vladimir Putin in 2011. Prigozhin, known as Putins chef, owns the IRA troll farm. Credit:AP The network appears to have since disbanded, and many of the social media accounts associated with it went dormant after being publicly identified around the 2020 election. The accounts started becoming active again in August and September, called to action like sleeper cells. Nora Berkas account on Gab has many of the characteristics of an inauthentic user, Liston said. There is no profile picture or identifying biographical details. No one responded to a message sent to the account through Gab. The account, with more than 8000 followers, posts exclusively on political issues  not in just one state but across the country  and often spreads false or misleading posts. Most have little engagement but a recent post about the FBI received 43 responses and 11 replies, and was reposted 64 times.

Since September the account has repeatedly shared links to a previously unknown website  electiontruth.net  that Recorded Future said was almost certainly linked to the Russian campaign. Loading Electiontruth.nets earliest posts date only from September 5; since then, it has posted articles almost daily ridiculing Biden and prominent Democratic candidates, while criticising policies regarding race, crime and gender that it said were destroying the United States. America under Communism was one typical headline. Liston said that links to electiontruth.net appeared to be closely coordinated with the accounts on Gab linked to the Russians. In another campaign, Graphika identified a recent series of cartoons that appeared on Gab, Gettr, Parler and the discussion forum patriots.win. The cartoons, by an artist named Schmitz, disparaged Democrats in the tightest Senate and governor races.

One targeting Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, who is black, employed racist motifs. Another falsely claimed that Representative Tim Ryan, the Democratic Senate candidate in Ohio, would release all Fentanyl distributors and drug traffickers from prison. Loading The cartoons received little engagement and did not spread virally to other platforms, according to Graphika. A recurring theme of the new Russian efforts is an argument that the United States under Biden is wasting money by supporting Ukraine in its resistance to the Russian invasion that began in February. Nora Berka, for example, posted a doctored photograph in September that showed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine as a bikini-wearing pole dancer being showered with dollar bills by Biden.

As working class Americans struggle to afford food, gas, and find baby formula, Joe Biden wants to spend $13.7 billion more in aid to Ukraine, the account posted. Not incidentally, that post echoed a theme that has gained some traction among Republican lawmakers and voters who have questioned the delivery of weapons and other military assistance. Loading Its no secret that Republicans  that a large portion of Republicans  have questioned whether we should be supporting what has been referred to as foreign adventures or somebody elses conflict, said Graham Brookie, senior director of the Digital Forensics Lab at the Atlantic Council, which has also been tracking foreign influence operations. While Russians in the past sought to build large followings for their inauthentic accounts on the major platforms, todays campaigns could be smaller and yet still achieve a desired effect  in part because the divisions in American society are already such fertile soil for disinformation, he said. Since 2016, it appears that foreign states can afford to take some of the foot off the gas, said Perez, who previously worked at Twitter, because they have already created such sufficient division that there are many domestic actors to carry the water of disinformation for them.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Acting Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation & Telecommunication (TEATT), the honorable Omar Ottley, issued an urgent advisory to businesses, especially those in the low-lying area, to exercise caution and possibly close early for their safety and that of their staff.



This evening, Minister Ottley's release came around 8:00 pm as several areas on St. Maarten started experiencing signs of potential flooding. Although the Government has not issued a mandatory close order, this advisory was given mainly to the business community, in particular, to consider their workers who may need to get home to secure their families and belongings.

"We ask all business owners to use their discretion with their employees. If your businesses are in low-laying areas, we advise you to take precautions and possibly close to ensure the safety of everyone," said Minister Ottley.



According to the release, heavy rainfall in St. Maarten is causing flash flooding in some low lying areas and rock falls along hillsides. As such, motorists should also avoid areas known for rock falls and floods. "Residents in areas prone to flooding are also advised to act responsibly and take all necessary precautions until the water levels subside." Said Minister Ottley.

These areas are L.B. Scott Road from Emilio Wilson Park to Cake House Supermarket, Zagers gut from Petro Plus Gas Station until the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Welgelegen Road, Cay Hill from Welgelegen Road Roundabout until the One Tete Loke Roundabout, Beacon Hill Road from Sunset Bar and Grill until the beginning of White Sands Road, and Rhine Road also known as Mullet Bay Road, after Sonesta Maho Beach Hotel to the entrance of Cupecoy from the intersection of University Drive until the corner of Rio Grande.



The Meteorological Department of St. Maarten also stated at 6:00 pm this evening that a combination of favourable mid- to upper-level conditions and a low-pressure system would maintain abundant moisture and instability through the weekend and into early next week. As a result, cloudy to overcast skies can occur with scattered showers, thunderstorms, and gusty winds across the local area. Heavy rains may lead to flooding in vulnerable areas. Consequently, a flood watch is in effect for St. Maarten.



The advisory also states moderate to rough seas are expected throughout the weekend. A small craft advisory is in effect for St. Maarten, as waves are predicted to peak at 10 feet. Sea users and persons with interest along the coast should exercise caution.
~We currently have a hostage situation in our government.~

PHILIPSBURG:--- The meeting of the Democratic Party (DP), scheduled for November 12th is in essence a membership meeting, required according to the partys constitution. The organizing committee saw it fit to also seize the opportunity to offer non-registered members and past members the opportunity to not only (re)register, but also to register their social and political interests. The meeting will also provide an update on the countrys current political affairs.

MP Wescot explained, this part of the registration is important because an essential part of the DPs return to its base is a year-round community and grassroots outreach.

Too often, such things are put off until campaign time, when unfortunately they become entangled with the more opportunistic mentality, usually seen during election campaigns and no one knows for sure how genuine these efforts are.

MP Wescot minced no words in stating that one of the reasons we find ourselves today in a political hostage situation is the disconnect between parliamentary membership and that of parties. If we want to address what everyone likes to call the instability in government, we should start here.

For me, electoral reform should be on the top of the agenda, but other than lip service, not many actually support the call for such, except when deemed expedient for themselves.

Stability is also very much about transparency and accountability, the MP added.

The dilemmas facing political parties are not unique to St. Maarten. There have been many studies exploring the politics of political parties. But the consequences for St. Maarten have been disastrous and embarrassing so far, and have brought us to an all-time low, in my opinion.

The present NA/UPP government (what is left of it) camouflages this hostage situation with a lot of propaganda and cumbersome policies, which they themselves do not apply. But they look good on the books.

Getting back to the DP meeting, the DP leader stated I know it is a long shot, but we have to start somewhere and for me, that somewhere is at home, where the DP is at.

The United Democratic Party(UD) back in 2017 was an attempt at unifying forces in the interest of the country, that unfortunately was short-lived, due to personal agendas of some in a position to hold the country hostage, said MP Wescot, in a clear reference to the 2019 coalition breakup, caused by 2 wayward members of the UD, stealthily orchestrated by the current coalition partners.

Political parties must be able to articulate where they stand on issues of national interest and how they look at issues that affect the population at large.

MP Wescot further addressed the criticism that everyone should be able to form a new party, by explaining that, measures to promote political stability should never be equated with stifling the blossoming of new parties, new ideas or the right to associate oneself with whomsoever.

Political parties as units however should verbalize where and how they stand on issues that affect the population at large. If these positions are known, these parties, extra-parliamentary, in opposition or in government, can be held accountable by their membership and ultimately by the voters.

We have political parties legislation, that has the party central, and we have the election law, that has the party central, and until we change that system, we have to ensure some type of stability through strengthening the parties and the voice of the membership therein.

Chaos reigns in confusion and thats what we have right now, a confusing political landscape.

Explaining her scathing criticism of the current NA/UP coalition MP Wescot questions where in the world would any political party get away with sacking one of its members from a prominent position with no account to the people?

Worse yet, the few times a coalition member spoke on the matter, it was even more alarming and damaging to the political fabric of the country. While the government is walking on eggshells, they muffle the press, snub parliament, even with their shaky majority, and the show goes on.

Finally, it is from this premise, that I will address the need for a strong DP membership, a transparent party hierarchy, and general political education in the partys membership meeting on Saturday, November 12th.
Berlin (Germany), 6 November 2022 (SPS) - The Secretary-General of the National Union of Sahrawi Women (NUSW), member of the National Secretariat of the Polisario Front, Ms. Shaba Seiny, participated on Saturday in the work of the Second International Women's Conference held in Berlin, Germany.



The Conference was an opportunity for the NUSW Secretary-General, during which she shed light on the struggle of Sahrawi women for more than 45 years on the struggle against the Moroccan occupation and the course of Sahrawi women in weaving solidarity relations with their counterparts in the world in order to find political support for the Sahrawi cause.



Ms. Shaba Seiny also touched on the grave violations against Sahrawi women in the territories occupied of Western Sahara by Morocco.



The Conference discusses a number of issues, including racial discrimination and equality, occupation of land and its consequences, and fight against imperialism and colonialism in all its forms.



062/T
Madrid, 6 November 2022 (SPS) - The Spanish municipalities in solidarity with the Sahrawi people have reaffirmed their support for the Sahrawi people's cause and the inalienable right to self-determination and independence, in a statement following their conference in Madrid, Spain.



In their statement, the Spanish municipalities recalled that "the Sahrawi people have struggled for more than fifty years to exercise their right to self-determination through a free and democratic referendum, recognized through numerous resolutions of the United Nations, the European Union and the African Union, and that the Sahrawi question is listed in the United Nations as an issue of decolonization that has not yet been completed due to the Moroccan occupation."



The Spanish municipalities denounced the failure of the United Nations and the European Union to exert the necessary pressure on the Government of Morocco to comply with the resolutions and end this conflict, which threatens stability and security in the region, especially after the resumption of war in Western Sahara.



The Spanish municipalities, indicates the statement, intend to increase political initiatives and cooperation in the humanitarian field to alleviate the suffering in the Sahrawi refugee camps.



The municipalities condemned Morocco's violations of human rights in the occupied territories of Western Sahara and the plundering of Sahrawi natural resources, calling for the intervention of human rights organizations and the immediate release of Sahrawi political detainees in Moroccan prisons.



062/T
The General Inspectorate of the Border Police (IGPF) on Sunday informs that, in the last 24 hours, it banned 27 foreign citizens who did not meet the legal conditions from entering the country, while it also banned 21 Romanian citizens from exiting the country for various legal reasons.

According to a press release sent to AGERPRES on Sunday, on November 5, approximately 187,000 people, Romanian and foreign citizens, completed the control formalities (both on the way in and out of the country) through the border crossing points nationwide, with over 50,500 means of transport.

There were 86,732 people entering Romania, of whom 9,158 were Ukrainian citizens (up 16.81pct compared to the previous day). Between February 10 and until Saturday, November 5, 2,762,841 Ukrainian citizens entered Romania.

As part of the specific activities at crossing points and the green border, the border police found 74 illegal acts (32 infractions and 47 contraventions) committed by both Romanian and foreign citizens.

Goods were seized worth over RON 206,400.
Romania currently provides Moldova with over 90% of the electricity consumption needs, minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu said on Saturday at the private television broadcaster Digi 24.

"The situation is serious, because at the moment the Republic of Moldova has a very complicated energy situation, being dependent cent per cent on external resources in terms of gas and electricity. For electricity, Romania already at this moment assures I think over 90% of the consumption needs of the Republic of Moldova. From this point of view, I'd say that Romania's reaction was extremely prompt from the moment when, in fact, after the bombings in Ukraine, Ukraine could no longer export electricity to the Republic of Moldova. And then, that necessary amount that the Republic of Moldova was buying from Ukraine was and is ensured at this moment by Romania. For now, we can ensure this need. Of course, energy specialists can better say what are the time intervals that can be counted on. At this moment we can support the Republic of Moldova with electricity deliveries," Aurescu said.

Minister Aurescu added that Romania has also helped Moldova with the supply of fuel oil and firewood, according to agerpres.ro.

"The government approved 130,000 cubic meters of firewood at the request of Moldova. We continue with the calls to the international community to provide grants to the Republic of Moldova so that it can buy energy from the free market," the minister said.
Romania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday rejected the statements expressed by the president of the Russian Federation in his speech on the occasion of the National Unity Day, "which falsely induce" the idea that Romania has territorial claims against Ukraine.

At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that the "war of aggression" unleashed by Russia on February 24 represents "a serious and brutal violation" of the principles of international law, including Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to agerpres.ro.

"In this context, Romania reaffirms its firm support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, within its internationally recognized borders," the MAE said.
The Military Prosecutor's Office attached to the Bucharest Military Court took over the investigation in the case of the French soldier found dead on Sunday in a hotel room in the Capital City, judicial sources told AGERPRES.

The on-site investigation is carried out by the Homicide Service of the Bucharest Police, under the supervision of a military prosecutor.

According to some judicial sources, investigators are currently considering the possibility of a suicide.

A French soldier was found dead in a hotel room in the northern part of Bucharest, with a pair of scissors stuck in his neck. The discovery was made by a maid.

The soldier is part of the French battalion deployed at the Cincu military base, part of the NATO Battle Group in Romania.
As many as 180 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 were recorded in the last 24 hours in Romania, by 139 fewer than on the previous day, the Health Ministry informs on Sunday.

Of the new cases, 36 were in re-infected patients who tested positive more than 90 days after the first time they recovered from the disease, according to agerpres.ro.

Most of the newly confirmed COVID-19 cases in Romania since the previous reporting were recorded in Bucharest City - 64, and in the county of Prahova - 13.

The 14-day COVID-19 notification rate is highest in Bucharest City - at 0.78, and in the county of Cluj - 0.5.

- Hospitalisations -

As many as 634 people with COVID-19 are hospitalised at specialist care facilities across the country, by 16 more than the day before; 31 of this total are children.

Out of the total number of hospitalised patients, 90 are in ICUs. Of the ICU patients, 81 are unvaccinated for COVID-19.

- Deaths -

23 deaths (men) were recorded, both in the 70-79 age category. All deceased patients had underlying conditions, and they were vaccinated.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 67.213 people diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 infection have died in Romania.
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

When St. Louis added its name to the tragic list of cities that have endured a fatal school shooting, Shannon Watts was not particularly surprised.

Missouri, she knew, has among the weakest gun laws in the country. Conversely, it has the fourth-highest rate of gun deaths per 100,000 people.

As it says atop the page on the Everytown for Gun Safety website that tracks these things: Gun Safety Policies Save Lives. In the sites rankings, the states with the toughest gun laws have the lowest gun death rates. Missouri, ranked 41st weakest in gun safety laws, is among the 10 states that are both lowest in that category and conversely have among the highest gun-death rates.

Its no accident that in the case of last months shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, the system and its weak laws failed student Alexzandria Bell and teacher Jean Kuczka.

The weak laws in the state enabled this, says Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, the growing grassroots gun-safety organization that is having success changing state and federal laws. If we look at what happened in St. Louis, this was a situation where at every stage, this shooter should have been stopped.

At first, the system worked. When Orlando Harris tried to buy an AR-15 from a licensed gun dealer, he was foiled by a federal background check. But because Missouri doesnt have universal background checks, he was able to later buy the gun from a private dealer.

When Harris family became suspicious of his behavior, caused by mental health issues, they called St. Louis police. But because Missouri doesnt have a red-flag law that clearly allows for a gun removal in such a situation, they were unable to secure the weapon. And because Missouri lawmakers last year passed a federal gun-law nullification bill, local police were hesitant to confiscate the weapon, even though the department had been notified that Harris previously failed a background check.

More than many other school shootings, the one in St. Louis checks all the boxes, Watts says. The family did the right thing. The school, with its locked doors and multiple security officers, was prepared. Police did everything right. And, still, two innocent people were slain.

At the end of the day, Watts says, Missouri lawmakers have allowed unfettered easy access to weapons of war, and thats why this horrific and preventable tragedy occurred.

The tragedy is compounded because this is not the Missouri that Watts used to know.

One the nations foremost gun-safety advocates graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1994. She began her professional career working in St. Louis for Monsanto and other large corporations. At the time, Missouri had strong gun laws and lower gun-death rates. It was also a political bellwether, the sort of state that during presidential years was seen as an independent-minded place and a good predictor of where elections were going.

But Missouri has since turned a deep shade of political red, and the turn to extremism coincides with the constant reduction in gun safety laws, beginning with the repeal in 2007 of a law requiring a permit to buy a handgun. As someone who writes all too frequently about the tragedy of gun violence, it is frustrating, I shared with Watts this week. I feel like I am banging my head against an immovable brick wall.

I understand that it can feel hopeless, Watts says. But I think cynicism is often an excuse for inaction. Policy should be made based on data, and the data shows us what saves lives.

Even in Missouri, where Republican lawmakers are headed the wrong way on guns, there is progress. Four state representatives are Moms Demand members who turned their activism to action. And as sad as the cause is, states that suffer tragic school shootings often head in the right direction toward gun safety in future legislative sessions.

We are winning, Watts says of the gun-safety movement.

She pointed to the federal legislation passed this year, the 19 states that have passed red flag laws and the 30 states that have made it possible for police to keep guns in domestic violence cases.

Politics is cyclical, she says. Lawmakers need to look at the data to see what will save the most lives. Parents are never going to be desensitized to fearing for their kids safety.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY  Jamie Corley is a 35-year-old artist from University City who believes people should have a right to an abortion. Stacy Washington is a conservative radio show host from Chesterfield who believes former President Donald Trump excelled as commander-in-chief.

Theyre both Republicans who plan to vote Tuesday for the same person for St. Louis County executive: a former Democrat. By nominating Mark Mantovani, the party is banking on conservative and moderate voters uniting to turn around more than three decades of GOP failure here.

Voters who are normally Democrats are looking around saying, These are the not the values I support as a Democrat, Washington said. The Republican party has a huge opportunity to expand.

St. Louis County Republicans picked Mantovani two months ago after the primary winner, Katherine Pinner, bowed out. That marks this Tuesdays contest as an anomaly for county GOP: party leaders have picked their champion. Mantovani, who describes himself as a fiscal conservative and social moderate, is a test for a party that has generally rewarded candidates who appeal to deep conservatives.

And while many expect incumbent Democrat Sam Page to win easily in a county leaning ever more blue, some whisper that Mantovani has a chance this year, with predictions of a national red wave boosting local GOP turnout, too.

Nominating Mantovani renewed my hope in the Republican Party, said Corley, who owns a small business and said shes a Republican because she supports limited government, strong national defense and fiscal responsibility. That to me was a very smart, strategic decision.

Still, its an uphill battle. Voter turnout patterns indicate Democrats are gaining numbers. And Republicans have struggled for years to successfully organize candidates, volunteers and voters  the party role has been minimal in recruiting for at least three of the last five regular county executive primary elections.

This Augusts primary caught the party flatfooted. Pinner, unknown to county Republican leaders, won handily without their help. The party only got to pick Mantovani because Pinner dropped out just two months before the election.

Not having a handle on the primary was a critical failure by the GOP, said Ernie Trakas, a Republican county councilman who represents most of South County.

That kind of organization is charged with the responsibility of searching for, recruiting, vetting and putting forth candidates, Trakas said. What else is their reason for being?

Failure to recruit

H.C. Milford was the last Republican county executive, succeeding Gene McNary who quit in 1989 to take a job in President George H.W. Bushs administration. Milford was defeated by George R. Buzz Westfall in 1990, and Republicans came up short in every election since, even under the best circumstances.

In 2002, for instance, Westfall was facing criticism over bribery and embezzlement scandals, but the GOP picked a political newcomer, former Army commander Craig Borchelt. He lost to Westfall by 19 points.

In 2006, Republican candidate Joe Passanise ran without party support. He lost by 36 points to Democrat Charlie Dooley, who had replaced Westfall in 2003 after his death due to complications from a staph infection.

By 2010, Dooleys popularity had faded over trash pickup, talk of a city-county merger and controversy surrounding how county contracts were awarded. Republicans won big nationwide that year, the middle of former President Barack Obamas term, picking up seven U.S. Senate seats and 63 in the House.

But Dooley still beat Republican Bill Corrigan Jr., a corporate attorney, by four points.

Republicans got closest in 2014. Democrat Steve Stenger beat Dooley in the primary, and faced then state Rep. Rick Stream in the general election. Stream had a strong resume: a former Navy officer, Department of Defense manager and Kirkwood School Board president. But he wasnt the party pick. County Republicans hadnt endorsed him in the primary.

He lost by less than a point.

Stream is now the countys Republican elections director and doesnt want to run for office again.

County Republican Central Committee Chair Rene Artman agrees the partys role has been spotty. And its a hard sell to convince someone to spend their time and money on a losing battle.

Its also getting harder. Stream pulled recent data on turnout in presidential elections. In 2004, 51,000 more people voted for Democrat John Kerry than Republican George W. Bush. But in 2020, that number soared: 129,000 more voted for President Joe Biden than Donald Trump, even as turnout in those two elections stayed roughly the same.

The uphill battle makes the committees role to recruit candidates and support them even more important.

But theres no clear recruitment strategy.

The committee basically just asks people to run, Artman said. They had someone in mind for the St. Louis County executives race earlier this year, but it didnt work out, Artman said. And if no one agrees to run, they try to support whoever files on their own.

They tried just that in August, but Pinner wanted nothing to do with the party.

A conservative network

Few pundits or party officials took Pinner seriously. Republicans were on autopilot, expecting a win for Shamed Dogan, a state representative who has been involved in politics his entire career. Even Dogans campaign decided to save its money for the bigger fight in the Nov. 8 election against Page. Pinners win with 33,000 votes sent a shockwave through the GOP. Conservative radio talk shows, Republican groups and political reporters scrambled to shine a light on her candidacy.

Political commentators gave plenty of theories. A white-sounding womans name seemed friendlier than Dogans. Conservative Republicans voted against Dogan, whose policies leaned moderate. Dogan didnt campaign hard enough because campaign advisers expected an easy win against Pinner.

She didnt raise any money. She didnt campaign other than on her website, said David Kimball, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. I dont think primary voters knew anything about her. So I tend to guess that some Republican voters knew a little bit about Shamed Dogan and there was something they didnt like about him, or they just went by the names that appeared on the ballot.

Washington, the radio show host, sees it differently.

I think she won because we are in a period of politics where a lot of people are coming out and running for office and they dont have a history, and theyre running on their background, Washington said. President Trump never lost touch with his base when he was in office, and Katherine Pinner could have been that. Thats what people were looking for when people voted for her.

Washington heard Pinner, an author and entrepreneur, speak to about 100 attendees at a conservative womens event at Promise Christian Academy in Town and Country before the primary. Pinner talked about her vision for bringing sanity back to county government, and how shed approach government with her business-minded perspectives, Washington said.

Washington was impressed. She recommended Pinner by word of mouth to her network and, the day after the primary, promoted her on the Marc Cox Morning Show on KFTK (97.1 FM), a conservative radio show whose signal reaches all of St. Louis County.

Pinner won big. She had an average of 51% of the vote in precincts where more than 200 voters turned out. In one precinct near the district Dogan represents between Wildwood and Ballwin, she won nearly 83%. Pinner beat Dogan in predominantly Black precincts in North County and in mostly white precincts in South County.

But Pinners candidacy didnt last. After she won, she refused to describe her campaign strategy at a meeting of the St. Louis Young Republicans, and hung up on a radio host who asked her about a lawsuit she filed against her former employer over COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

I dont think she understood what it would be like to run, Artman said. Until youre in politics and you get a taste of it, you dont know what its like.

When Pinner dropped out, the Republican central committee had a process set by election law to replace her. They started collecting resumes. Mantovanis GOP friends wanted him to submit his. He hesitated. He had already lost  twice, as a Democrat. But Artman had heard his name circulating in Republican circles.

She asked a mutual friend to reach out to Mantovani to see if he would call her. Artman was sitting at home one evening a week after Pinner dropped out when the phone rang. It was Mantovani.

We talked to for a long time. I asked him questions. He asked me questions. At the end of it he said, I liked what you said. I can agree with what you said. I think I really want to do this, Artman said. We have a candidate who excites people right now in Mark Mantovani.

Freedom and barbecue

St. Louis County Republicans recently met over barbecue and potato salad at the Young Republicans FreedomFest luncheon in Fenton.

U.S. Senate candidate Eric Schmitt spoke to the crowd about suing President Joe Bidens administration. U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner and Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft hobnobbed with local party leaders and candidates as the press, barred from the event, peered in through front windows.

Dr. George Hruza was among the candidates mingling after a plate of pulled pork. Hes running against Democratic state House member Tracy McCreery for the 24th state Senate district, which includes Maryland Heights to the north and Town and Country to the south.

Hruza said he decided to run because St. Louis County, the economic engine of Missouri, doesnt seem to be firing on all cylinders. The economy, public safety and education are troubled, said Hruza, a father of four from Huntleigh.

One prominent candidate, however, was conspicuously absent: Mantovani, who said he had to attend his daughters birthday party at his home. He later said that he had entered the race so late, campaigning just sometimes conflicted with his plans.

Frank Catanzaro, the 31-year-old chair of the Young Republicans, has a vision of an inclusive party focused on free-market principles, public safety and a strong economy to draw younger people to the GOP.

For the Republican Party to grow in St. Louis County, we need to make sure that people can feel included, Catanzaro said. Were a big tent party. We want to make sure folks from all across the Republican spectrum feel like they can come out and run for office.

Editors note: This article has been edited to correct Hruza's opponent, Tracy McCreery, in the Senate District 24 race.

Missouri Voters Guide for today's elections The Post-Dispatch and the League of Women Voters of Metro St. Louis present this guide to the candidates and races on the Nov. 8 ballot.
CATANIA, Sicily (AP)  The captain of a charity-run migrant rescue ship refused Italian orders to leave a Sicilian port Sunday after authorities refused to let 35 of the migrants on his ship disembark  part of directives by Italy's new far-right-led government targeting foreign-flagged rescue ships.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni's two-week-old government is refusing safe port to four ships operating in the central Mediterranean that have rescued migrants at sea in distress, some as many as 16 days ago, and is allowing only those identified as vulnerable to disembark.

On Sunday, Italy ordered the Humanity 1 to vacate the port of Catania after disembarking 144 rescued migrants, including with children, more than 100 unaccompanied minors and people with medical emergencies.

But its captain refused to comply until all survivors rescued from distress at sea have been disembarked," said SOS Humanity, the German charity that operates the ship. The vessel remained moored at the port with 35 migrants on board.

Later Sunday, a second charity ship arrived in Catania, and the vetting process was being repeated with the 572 migrants aboard the Geo Barents ship operated by Doctors Without Borders. The selection was completed by late evening, with 357 allowed off but 215 people blocked on board.

Families were the first to leave the ship. One man cradling a baby expressed his gratitude, saying Thank you, Geo Barents, thank you, as he left. Another man in a wheelchair was carried down by Red Cross workers.

Yet two other boats run by non-governmental organizations remained stuck at sea with no port willing to accept the people they rescued.

Humanitarian groups, human rights activists and two Italian lawmakers who traveled to Sicily protested the selection process as illegal and inhumane. Italy's new Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi is targeting non-governmental organizations, which Italy has long accused of encouraging people trafficking in the central Mediterranean Sea. The groups deny the claim.

Free all the people, free them,'' Italian lawmaker Aboubakar Soumahoro said in an emotional appeal directed at Meloni from the Humanity 1 rescue ship.

The passengers have faced trauma, they have faced everything that we can define as prolonged suffering," said Soumahoro, who spent the night on the ship.

Later at the port, he accused Meloni of playing politics at the expense of newborns, of women, of people who have suffered traumas of all kinds," including torture in Libyan prisons.

He said neither translators nor psychologists were on hand during Italy's selection process and many of the migrants were from Gambia, unable to speak French, English or Italian.

"Their fault is to speak another language. Their fault is to have another color,'' Soumahoro said, accusing the Italian government of using the migrants to distract from other issues, including high energy prices.

Aboard the Humanity 1, doctors in Italy identified people needing urgent medical care after the ship's doctor refused to make a selection, said SOS Humanity spokesman Wasil Schauseil. Thirty-six people were declared non-vulnerable and were not permitted to disembark, prompting one to collapse and be taken away by an ambulance.

You can imagine the condition of the people. It is very devastating, he said.

Both SOS Humanity and Doctors Without Borders issued statements declaring that all of their passengers were vulnerable after being rescued at sea, and deserving of a safe port under international law. SOS Humanity said it plans to file a civil case in Catania to ensure that all 35 survivors on board have access to formal asylum procedures on land.

Doctors Without Borders emphasized that a rescue operation is considered complete only when all of the survivors have been disembarked in a safe place.

Two other charity ships carrying rescued migrants remained stuck at sea, with people sleeping on floors and decks and spreading respiratory infections and scabies as food and medical supplies drew low.

The German-run Rise Above, carrying 93 rescued at sea, sought a more protected position in the waters east of Sicily due to the weather, but spokeswoman Hermine Poschmann said Sunday that the crew had not received any communications from Italian authorities.

Poschmann described cramped conditions on the relatively small 25-meter (82-foot) ship.

The Ocean Viking, operated by the European charity SOS Mediteranee, with 234 migrants on board, remained in international waters, south of the Strait of Messina, and got no instructions to proceed to an Italian port, a spokesman said Sunday. Its first rescue was 16 days ago.

Agitation is evident among the survivors,'' a charity worker named Morgane told The Associated Press on Sunday. Cases of seasickness were soaring after high waves tossed the ship through the night.

Today, the weather considerably deteriorated, bringing strong winds, rough seas and rain on deck. ... these extreme conditions added suffering, she said.

The confrontational stance taken by Melonis government is reminiscent of the standoffs orchestrated by Matteo Salvini, now Melonis infrastructure minister in charge of ports, during his brief 2018-2019 stint as interior minister. Italys new government is insisting the countries whose flags the charity-run ships fly must take in the migrants.

In a Facebook video, Salvini repeated his allegations that the presence of the humanitarian boats encourages smugglers.

Nongovernmental organizations reject that claim, saying they are obligated by the law of the sea to rescue people in distress and that coastal nations are obligated to provide a safe port as soon as feasible.

Amnesty International called Italy's stance disgraceful.

Italy legitimately expects other EU member states to share responsibility for people seeking asylum, but this does not justify imposing measures that only increase the suffering of already traumatized people," the group said.

Colleen Barry reported from Milan. Emily Schultheis contributed from Berlin and Angela Charlton from Paris.

Follow AP's coverage of global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
The U.S. and South Korea jointly warned North Korea on Thursday that use of any kind of nuclear weapon against Seoul or other regional allies would result in the end of Kim Jong Un's regime, as Pyongyang continued to rattle the peninsula with escalating missile tests.

North Korea launched more than two dozen missiles over the prior two days in response to U.S.-South Korean military exercises that began Monday.

On Wednesday, North Korea fired more than 20 missiles, the most it has launched in a single day.

WAR IN UKRAINE: The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest nuclear power plant, was relying on emergency diesel generators to run its safety systems Thursday after external power from the Ukrainian electric grid was again cut off, Ukrainian and U.N. officials reported. The generators have enough fuel to maintain the plant in southeastern Ukraine for just 15 days, state nuclear power company Energoatom said.

COVERT OPERATION: The White House on Wednesday accused North Korea of covertly shipping a "significant number" of artillery shells to Russia in support of its invasion of Ukraine. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. believes North Korea is "trying to make it appear as though they're being sent to countries in the Middle East or North Africa."

TWITTER: New Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday that Twitter will not allow anyone who has been kicked off the site to return until it sets up procedures on how to do that, a process that will take at least a few weeks.
Regarding "Legal marijuana in Missouri: 10 questions and answers about Amendment 3" (Oct. 31): As a retired undercover narcotics officer with the Missouri State Patrol in the 1970s I witnessed young people using marijuana containing 1% to 3% THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the chemical that causes. By the 1980s, I learned that street marijuana had increased in THC content to 10% to 11%.

Since then, the marijuana trade has been taken over by commercial enterprises dominated by the already powerful tobacco and alcohol industries, aided by their political allies. Using laboratory-based technology to isolate and concentrate THC and other cannabinoid molecules from hemp and cannabis plants, they have commercialized the delivery of THC in food, beverages, candy and vaping cartridges. The national average for edibles, extracts, and vape cartridges is near 70%, and sometimes up to 99% THC.

Cannabinoid receptors are in regions of the brain closely associated with emotional health and the formation of memories and learning skills. Scientists question the long- and short-term health effects of flooding these brain receptors with cannabinoids. Contrary to what is advertised in the popular media, scores of reputable medical experts around the world caution that these effects could be catastrophic over the long term, producing harmful physical and psychological effects that are unpredictable and irreversible.

Ed Moses  Warrenton
Regarding Missouri Republicans likely to block any push for red flag gun laws (Oct. 31): The Republican Partys refusal to pass a red-flag law makes it more difficult and dangerous for officers to do their job. Every time a law enforcer knocks on a door or pulls a car over, that officer is keenly aware that he or she might have to interact with an unstable person who is carrying a gun. Obviously, this adds an incredible amount of stress to the officers job. Also, Republican refusal to pass a red-flag law creates more danger for the rest of us by making it easier for robbers, carjackers, and school shooters to commit their crimes.
Regarding "Biden admin relaxes rules for student debt forgiveness" (Oct. 31): In 1769, Samuel Adams posted (under a pseudonym) that "No man can take away another's property from him without his consent." He was protesting Britain's taxes on colonists when they had no representation in Parliament. Couldn't the same argument be made to President Joe Biden's forgiveness of college student loans by executive order, without the consent of the people as expressed through their elected representatives in Congress?
Regarding the editorial "For serious voters, Missouri's ballot offers an array of unacceptable choices." (Oct. 27): The Post-Dispatch Editorial Board refused to endorse Eric Schmitt because he is "uniquely unfit" and Trudy Busch Valentine because she lacks "political savvy and political credibility." Schmitt is unfit on numerous levels, but refusing to recommend Valentine because she didn't perform well in a candidate interview and is an inexperienced politician is not sufficient, in my opinion.
Pandemic rebooking issues drove many air passengers to book directly with airlines instead of third-party travel sites. While ancillary fees have become a major part of airline revenue over the past 15 years, airlines have more recently ramped up efforts to drive revenue from add-on fees. Customers could end up paying more when booking directly with airlines because of the aggressive push toward extra upgrades, combined with seat selection and baggage fees. Online travel agencies such as Expedia and Kayak may help travelers save money because they offer better comparison shopping, which helps travelers choose the lowest overall cost, not just the lowest base cost.
How to Leverage Interactivity in Corporate Streaming

How is enterprise streaming effectively leveraging interactivity? Erdal Kilinc discusses the ways his company Deal Room Events has discovered that interactivity has benefited its clients in dynamic and unexpected forms that incorporate marketing, media, and customer engagement.

Page 1

What are some new ways that enterprise streaming is leveraging interactivity? Chris Pfaff, CEO, Chris Pfaff Tech Media, Producers Guild of America (PGA), VR AR Association (VRARA), speaks with Erdal Kilinc, CEO & Co-Founder, Deal Room Events, about the unique ways that his organization works with enterprise customers.

You do some very different things with enterprise customers, Pfaff says to Kilinc. What's been your experience in terms of the maturation process? And maybe you can give us some examples of some of the people you're working with.

Kilinc talks about how the distinctions between media and marketing channels are becoming blurred and are evolving into something like a dynamic hybrid incorporating many different elements. Media is a marketing channel, right? he says. And events are another marketing channel. Now with online events, events and media together is becoming like another channel. So we had corporates running their internal eventsteam building events or roadmap events, etc. And then we had big global companies that had mergers so that they wanted to build a culture using the platform so people can contact their HR managerand then people were able to book one-on-one meetings. And we also had some corporates using our platform to do showcases and product launches.

The ways that these channels are now being integrated with a hybrid mix of marketing, running events, and engaging partners and customers have distinctively surprised and satisfied some of the companies that Deal Room Events work with. He provides an outstanding example. We had a Finnish company that wanted to run a one-day webinar, he says. And [with] that agreement, they were expecting around a couple of hundred people. But Kilinc notes that around a week before the event the attendee numbers had soared beyond expectations. He alerted them to the fact that their invoice for the work would be much higher than originally projected. He asked if they were sure they wanted to proceed. They were like, no, no, no, don't touch it. It's great, he says. The company immediately saw the value in collecting so many verified leads despite the increased cost and scale of the webinar. They were extremely happy that now the marketing teams were focused on running events, running content, and engaging their potential partners or customers, he says.

Yeah, and that's exactly where I see this going, Pfaff says. The scale issue is not so much the issue; it more seems to be the quality of experience and the quality of service.

Learn more about enterprise streaming at Streaming Media West 2022.

Watch full-session videos from Streaming Media Connect 2022.

Page 1
Administrative leaders will share best practices in student support, DEIB and a range of topics

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Leaders with University of Phoenix join the proceedings of the Pacific Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (PACRAO) Annual Conference, taking place November 6-9, 2022, in San Diego, CA, and will be contributing to sessions on a range of topics including student support practices, digital credentialing, risk and quality management, veterans, and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB).

University of Phoenix is a leader in providing empathetic student support and sharing best practices in higher education, states Audra McQuarie, vice president, registrar. We have cross-functional departments collaborating to identify meaningful ways to best support our students. We look forward to sharing more about the policies and methods weve implemented as a result of this collaboration and focus on student support, including discussing our policy that eliminated transcript holds.

Leadership from the University of Phoenix Academic Operations will present on numerous topics at the PACRAO Annual Conference, including the following:

Jonathan Graff , MBA, associate registrar, and Joe Tate , director, program and policy implementation, will lead the session, Empathy in Praxis: Supporting Students through Policy and Digital Recognition, sharing some of the changes the University implemented such as the removal of transcript holds, academic policy updates geared towards supporting students' busy lives and growing digital recognition opportunities.

, MBA, associate registrar, and , director, program and policy implementation, will lead the session, Empathy in Praxis: Supporting Students through Policy and Digital Recognition, sharing some of the changes the University implemented such as the removal of transcript holds, academic policy updates geared towards supporting students' busy lives and growing digital recognition opportunities. Chelse Thomas , MAED/AET, manager, University Program Lifecycle Evaluation Improvement, and Nick Williams , Ed.D., director of Assessment, will present in the session, A 'slow but fast' approach to Digital Credentials, providing an interactive badge-building experience and a behind-the-scenes look at University of Phoenix's digital credentials initiative.

, MAED/AET, manager, University Program Lifecycle Evaluation Improvement, and , Ed.D., director of Assessment, will present in the session, A 'slow but fast' approach to Digital Credentials, providing an interactive badge-building experience and a behind-the-scenes look at University of Phoenix's digital credentials initiative. Laura Schonberger , Strategic Integration manager, will present at the DDC Book Club, Tell Me Who You Are: Sharing Our Stories of Race, Culture, & Identity in a session where participants will learn to seek out and listen to the stories of others with more intentionality surrounding race and other perceived differences.

, Strategic Integration manager, will present at the DDC Book Club, Tell Me Who You Are: Sharing Our Stories of Race, Culture, & Identity in a session where participants will learn to seek out and listen to the stories of others with more intentionality surrounding race and other perceived differences. Andrea Siegrist , director, Veterans Affairs operations, will present in the session, Managing Process Change for VA Enrollment Certification, providing different strategies and best practices to support process change related to highly regulated processes, using the example of the submission of Enrollment Certifications for student veterans to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

, director, Veterans Affairs operations, will present in the session, Managing Process Change for VA Enrollment Certification, providing different strategies and best practices to support process change related to highly regulated processes, using the example of the submission of Enrollment Certifications for student veterans to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Tate will also present in the session, Simplified Risk & Quality Management for Admissions & Registrar Functions.

Leaders from University of Phoenix are active in leadership roles with PACRAO as well. McQuarie is a member of the PACRAO Board and serves as the Vice President of Diversity Development. Marc Booker, Ph.D., vice provost of Strategy at University of Phoenix, is a past president of PACRAO and serves as Dean for the Leadership Development Institute of PACRAO.

The event is intended for higher education professionals from a variety of disciplines, and offers presentations, workshops, and panels featuring presenters from across the Pacific region including Arizona. PACRAO is a non-profit, voluntary, professional association representing more than 350 regionally accredited 2-year, 4-year, and graduate schools with an individual membership of 1,500 professional admissions officers and registrars.

Learn more here about the Annual Conference of PACRAO.

About University of Phoenix

University of Phoenix is continually innovating to help working adults enhance their careers in a rapidly changing world. Flexible schedules, relevant courses, interactive learning, and Career Services for Life help students more effectively pursue career and personal aspirations while balancing their busy lives. For more information, visit phoenix.edu.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221106005038/en/

Sharla Hooper

University of Phoenix

[email protected]

Source: University of Phoenix
Shanghai, China--(Newsfile Corp. - November 5, 2022) - Frost & Sullivan has conducted extensive investigation across the global graphite and graphene industry chain, and released the White Paper for Global Graphite and Graphene Markets, which focuses on the recent development of global graphite and graphene industry as well as new growth opportunities. Graphene is seen as the wonder material of the 21stcentury due to its extraordinary properties as well as the wide applications in various downstream areas such as energy, electronics and bioengineering. However, extremely high cost and potential pollution during the production process are the major restraints of graphene's large-scale commercialization, thus finding a cost effective and sustainable way to produce synthetic graphite and graphene has become more urgent.

Based on Frost & Sullivan's investigation and calculation, the global market size of graphite was USD22.0 billion in 2021, of which the Asia-Pacific region, North America and Europe accounted for 44.1%, 27.3%, and 18.6%, respectively. The global graphene market size was USD12.6 billion in 2021, with Asia Pacific, North America, and Europe accounting for 54.4%, 21.2%, and 20.0% respectively. The global graphite and graphene market is expected to reach USD30.4 billion and USD71.9 billion, respectively in 2026.

Electronics and energy are the main sectors for graphene applications. Now graphene is commonly used as a heat-dissipation material in the electronics field and a conductive material in the energy field. The graphene market size in the electronics and energy industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 35.2% and 32.6% from 2022 to 2026. In the future, the automotive industry is the most promising segment of graphene, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 42.1% from 2022 to 2026, according to Frost & Sullivan.

Major economies globally including the EU, the U.S., and China have all issued a series of graphite and graphene related favorable policies, creating a good policy environment for graphite and graphene's development. Favorable policies are the fundamental preconditions for the development of the industry with strategic importance or emerging industries such as graphite and graphene, which can attract abundant resources from both the financial side and the industrial side. Except for the policy support, the diversified downstream applications, especially the disruptive applications demonstrate the enormous commercialization potential of graphene and drive.

However, the White Paper also indicates that the graphite industry is facing the pain points of uneven distribution of natural graphite resources and high pollution in the production process, while the graphene industry has pain points such as high production costs, high energy consumption, and high pollution. Hence the commercialization process of graphene is relatively slow, and the high-end applications of graphene such as biology, semiconductors, and other fields are still waiting for substantial technology breakthroughs to increase production efficiency and lower the cost or pollution.

Under such circumstances, developing a cost effective and sustainable way to produce synthetic graphite and graphene is becoming even more attractive. For example, biomass waste is among attractive carbon sources that have been widely investigated as raw material for graphite production. The synthesis and application of biomass as carbon source have drawn attention due to its availability, sustainability and cost effectiveness, according to Frost & Sullivan.

The global graphene market competition is relatively concentrated due to its high barrier to realize commercialization. Among graphene companies that have realized commercialization or substantial technology breakthrough, NanoXplore, Global Graphene Group, Talga Resources, Versarien PLC, and Graphjet are the major leading players in the industry, according to Frost & Sullivan.







Source: Frost & Sullivan

Graphjet Technology Sdn Bhd was incorporated in 2019 in Kuala Lumpur, and it has the world's first patented technology to recycle the palm kernel shells generated in the production of palm seed oil to produce single-layer graphene and artificial graphite. Malaysia is the second largest palm kernel shell waste producer, which has provided the rich raw material for Graphjet. With palm kernel-based technology, Graphjet can manufacture graphene that is of higher quality than currently available and at a price that is 80% lower than the current market price. In terms of environmental protection, the resources supply of palm kernel shell guarantee sustainable green and recyclable regeneration for the production of graphite and graphene. Due to using palm kernel shell as the raw material, the CO2 emission during the whole graphite production of Graphjet is only 2.95 kg CO2 eq which is much lower than the industry average level. At present, Graphjet has cooperated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and various local universities in Malaysia, and it has become a member of the Industrial Liaison Program (ILP). For the production capacity, Graphjet expects to open its first manufacturing plant in the Kuantan district of Pahang State with an annual output of 10,000 tons of graphite and 60 tons of graphene.

Frost & Sullivan's White Paper for Global Graphite and Graphene Markets 2017-2026 highlights the following:

Graphite (classification, development course, industry chain, etc.);

Graphene (classification, technology, development course, industry chain, etc.);

Global graphite industry (market size, etc.);

Global graphene industry (status quo, market size, cost, patents, industrialization, development trends, etc.);

Graphene downstream sectors (market size, segments, application, etc.);

Introduction of Major Companies

Key Topics Covered:

Introduction of Graphite and Graphene Overview of Global Development of Graphite and Graphene Graphite and Graphene Definition Graphite and Graphene development history Graphite and Graphene properties and characteristics Development status of graphene industry Graphite and Graphene Industry Chain Analysis Upstream: Raw materials and supply Midstream: Graphite and Graphene Production Analysis of Graphene Preparation Technology Technology Advancement Analysis Downstream of Graphite and Graphene: Industrial Applications Regional Development of Graphite and Graphene Graphite and Graphene development in North America Graphite and Graphene development in Asia-Pacific Graphite and Graphene development in Europe Graphite and Graphene Global Market Size Graphite and Graphene global market size and forecast by applications Graphite and Graphene global market size and forecast by regions Graphene Industry Policies, Development Drivers, Trends, Restraints, Operational Risks, Entry Barriers, Investment Highlights, and Investment Advices Competitive Landscape Prominent Companies Recommended

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 60 years, Frost & Sullivan has been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community.

Media contact

Contact: Rachel Zhang

Company Name: Frost & Sullivan

Website: http://www.frostchina.com

Email: [email protected]

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/143076
HAMILTON, Bermuda, Nov. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Seadrill Limited ("Seadrill" or "the Company") (NYSE: SDRL) (XOAS: SDRL) is pleased to announce a new extension has been secured by Sonadrill Holding Ltd ("Sonadrill"), Seadrill's 50:50 joint venture with an affiliate of Sonangol E.P. ("Sonangol"). Sonadrill has secured a 12-well extension in Angola for the Libongos drillship at $402,500 per day.

Total contract value for the firm portion of the contract is approximately $327 million, inclusive of additional services. Commencement is expected in Q4 2022, with a firm-term of approximately 25 months, in direct continuation to the existing contract.

There are currently three drillships bareboat chartered into Sonadrill, a Seadrill owned unit, the West Gemini and two Sonangol-owned units, the Quenguela and Libongos. Seadrill manage and operate the units on behalf of Sonadrill.

Seadrill's Chief Executive Officer, Simon Johnson commented "Sonadrill remains strategically important for the development of the Angolan oil and gas sector. Sonadrill is the number one rig operator in Angola and this new contract will generate significant free cash flow for the joint venture which will ultimately flow to Seadrill and Sonangol as shareholders."

Seadrill Contact Information

David WarwickDirector of Investor Relations[email protected]

About Seadrill

Seadrill is a leading offshore drilling contractor utilizing advanced technology to unlock oil and gas resources for clients across harsh and benign locations around the globe. Seadrill's high-quality, technologically-advanced fleet spans all asset classes allowing its experienced crews to conduct operations across geographies, from shallow to ultra-deep-water environments.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking statements. Such statements are generally not historical in nature, and specifically include statements about the Company's expectations about the 12-well extension described above, as well as the Company's plans, strategies, business prospects, changes and trends in its business and the markets in which it operates.

These statements are made based upon management's current plans, expectations, assumptions and beliefs concerning future events impacting the Company and therefore involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, offshore drilling market conditions, including supply and demand, dayrates, fluctuations in the price of oil, international financial market conditions, changes in governmental regulations that affect the Company or the operations of the Company's fleet, the review of competition authorities and other factors listed in our public filings. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company to predict all of these factors. Further, the Company cannot assess the impact of each such factor on its business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to be materially different from those contained in any forward looking statement.

Consequently, no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. When considering these forward-looking statements, you should also keep in mind the risks described from time to time in the Company's filings with the SEC, including its Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on April 29, 2022 (File No. 001-39327).

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to article 19 of the Regulation EU 596/2014 (the EU Market Abuse Regulation) and section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/seadrill-limited-announces-new-contract-in-angola-for-seadrill-joint-venture-301667176.html

SOURCE Seadrill Limited
YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER, Wash. (Tribune News Service)  By the time the three soldiers stepped out of the HIMARS  High Mobility Artillery Rocket System  they operate, they had been at work for more than 24 hours straight.

After waking in the middle of the night the day before at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, they had flown with the HIMARS  essentially a rocket or missile launcher mounted on a 5-ton truck  and deployed at the Yakima Training Center to test their vehicle and themselves.

"It's been tiring," Sgt. Anthony Phalon said. "But you get used to it, especially if you've done it for a long time."

They spent hours cooped up in the truck's cab, conducting maneuvers with their unit  the 1st Battalion, 94th Field Artillery Regiment  simulating combat against an opponent with similar weapons capabilities.

"What makes (1st Battalion, 94th Field Artillery Regiment) more unique is the rigorous training that we do," said the battery commander, Capt. Trevor Breitenbach. "They're put through the worst possible situation we could give them."

Despite the long hours, the crew's spirits were high. A few minutes later, they conducted a live fire test, sending rockets soaring into the sky. The test was the result of months of work and preparation from the battalion.

"Our soldiers have worked tirelessly over the last 11 months to really prepare for what is this culminating event out here at the YTC," said Lt. Col. Grady Lowe, the battalion's commander. "They face a wide, opposing force that replicates the threats that an adversary would have in a real-world conflict. It culminates in them conducting a live fire at the platoon and battery level."

The HIMARS has been used in real-world conflicts. The U.S. has been supplying the weapon to Ukraine, where it has been used to attack Russian supply lines and logistics centers. Lowe said that it was also used in conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.

The HIMARS is one of the U.S. military's premier weapons systems, Lowe added, due to its maneuverability and range. It can reach about 60 miles with rockets or almost 190 miles with missiles and can launch and change locations in roughly five minutes, Breitenbach said.

That range is one of the reasons that the HIMARS is tested at YTC. At Joint Base Lewis-McChord, there simply is not enough room to conduct live-fire trainings. At YTC, the U.S. Army can safely use test rockets with a reduced range.

Rockets cost about $100,000 per launch, according to Al Jazeera. Trainings at YTC used test rockets, though. While the U.S. government has promised more HIMARS for Ukraine, the units tested at YTC were for U.S. military use.

The 1st Battalion, 94th Field Artillery Regiment, is regularly deployed on training exercises with countries in the Indo-Pacific region  like Indonesia or the Philippines  and is ready to be deployed throughout the Pacific, if necessary.

Jasper Kenzo Sundeen's reporting for the Yakima Herald-Republic is possible with support from Report for America and community members through the Yakima Valley Community Fund.

(c)2022 Yakima Herald-Republic (Yakima, Wash.)

Visit Yakima Herald-Republic (Yakima, Wash.) at www.yakima-herald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE-Albany (Tribune News Service)  Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany was recently awarded a project through a General Services Administration areawide contract to Georgia Power for the installation of electric vehicle chargers in support of an all-electric fleet of vehicles.

The effort consists of 21 charge points at nine locations throughout the installation as well as underlying infrastructure to support new requirements and ease future EV charger installation. MCLB-Albany is moving forward after taking advantage of Georgia Power's "Make Ready" program, through which the utility is providing funding to construct the infrastructure between the existing electrical grid and new chargers.

Officials with Georgia Power said this project could allow up to 96 vehicles to be plugged in on the base simultaneously.

"Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany is actively moving forward building the necessary infrastructure to support electrical vehicles of all types," Col. Michael Fitzgerald, commanding officer of MCLB-Albany, said. "These upgrades are required as market forces push the electrification of commercial vehicles and equipment. Part of the Make Ready program requires us to look beyond the surface of installing charging stations, but also upgrading the power grid to support Level II chargers to efficiently and effectively re-charge vehicles in a timely manner to support mission requirements.

"We must plant the seeds of Make Ready today to have them flourish in the future to support an entire commercial electric vehicle and equipment fleet of tomorrow, while supporting mission requirements of today."

The Level II charger is served at either 208 or 240 volts and typically uses about six kilowatts of energy per hour.

Naval Facilities Engineering Command signed the task order for the MCLB-Albany turnkey electrification project on Set. 27. This is a public/private partnership to implement the first-ever turnkey electric vehicle supply equipment solution using the GSA areawide contract. MCLB-Albany is receiving approximately $800,000 in Make Ready dollars, while Marine Corps Installations Command is funding the remaining approximately $1.2 million for Georgia Power to provide charging as a service where the company will own, operate and maintain the equipment.

The GSA areawide contract, authorized under 40 U.S.C. 501 and FAR Part 41, provides for a public/private partnership with regulated servicing utility companies to cover utility service needs of federal agencies within the franchise territory of the supplier for up to 10 years. This unique federal construct allows MCLB-Albany to use Make Ready to accelerate its plans and maximize the government's investment.

This project will be the model for the Department of Defense to use across the country in partnering with a local utility to design, construct, operate and maintain EVSE. It is also the first time the GSA areawide contract will be used to provide for a holistic and scalable EVSE solution to support both current and future electrification requirements.

The chargers being installed as part of the project at MCLB-Albany will be exclusively for government vehicles.

The Make Ready program allows customers to apply for funding to assist in the infrastructure required to support electric transportation charging systems. Officials with Georgia Power said this funding came together as a part of the 2019 rate case designed to help remove barriers to EV adoption.

"Georgia Power is always focused on finding ways to partner with our customers to meet their energy needs, and we are proud to have played a part in this electric vehicle supply equipment project," Les Charles, federal, state and military key account manager for Georgia Power, said. "This is just one example in a long list of projects where MCLB-Albany and Georgia Power teamed up to create a solution, in this case, positioning the installation to maintain a 100% zero-emission fleet. Georgia Power looks forward to supporting MCLB on future endeavors, helping them accomplish their assigned mission."

The workings of this project date back to roughly a year ago. MCLB-Albany was on the heels of announcing its achievement of the net-zero milestone for electricity at the time, something else Georgia Power was instrumental in.

"We have a good working relationship with Georgia Power," Lt. Cmdr. Michael Feeney, the public works officer at MCLB Albany, said. "We pitched the Make Ready program to pay for part of the charger installation."

Officials within MCLB-Albany looked at the practicality of this method and decided to go for it.

"This is part of a transition to an all-electric fleet," Feeney said. "We got $1.2 million in funding (for the chargers), and Georgia Power is going to install the infrastructure required to serve them.

"This fits into the (Biden administration's) plan for an all-electric fleet."

The $1.2 million from MCICOM covers installation of the chargers and necessary electrical upgrades, including transformers and meters. Georgia Power estimates the installation to be completed within a window of roughly eight months.

"This achievement is an outstanding example of how GSA areawide contracts can be utilized for electric vehicle infrastructure," MCICOM Public Works Director Walter Ludwig said. "Innovative contracting is an often-overlooked tool in the fight to achieve the zero-emission vehicle targets set by this administration and to ensure the success of the warfighter."

A mandate to make the federal fleet all-electric was included in an executive order signed by President Biden on Jan. 27. A policy letter issued by Headquarters Marine Corps two months later said planning was underway for the transition of all government fleets.

Conversion of all federal fleet acquisitions to zero-emission vehicles is expected by 2035.

"This effort will require collaboration across many functions and organizations in the Marine Corps to ensure that electrification is achieved in concert with transportation mission requirements and that it is supported with the necessary EVSE charging infrastructure," the policy letter, signed by Brig. Gen. Daniel Conley in March, reads. Conley was the commander of MCICOM and assistant deputy commandant for Installations and Logistics (Facilities) at HQMC at the time of his retirement in June.

The policy mandated transitions occur immediately where feasible, and that electrification would be taken into account in installation master plans and leased facility negotiations. Such efforts are also helping the Marines achieve the targets outlined in the Department of the Navy Climate Action 2030 climate strategy released earlier this year.

The Marine Corps placed an order in October 2021 for 21 mobile solar-powered electric vehicle charging systems to be deployed across 14 Marine Corps bases in the continental U.S. and Hawaii. MCLB Albany received one unit, used mostly on hybrid vehicles, although it can be used on any green vehicle.

This serves to demonstrate a commitment of MCLB-Albany to green energy, which far pre-dates Biden's directive.

"We had these plans in place before the executive order," Feeney said. "We saw electric vehicles coming. We came out as already well down the way with this."

The solar unit was purchased through GSA. It is an energy resiliency and energy security asset that can be relocated to charge vehicles in the event of power failures, natural disasters or emergency situations.

Solar panels and a high voltage electrical system are among the number of things to have come from the base's partnership with Georgia Power.

Having the incoming charging infrastructure in place further reinforces the net-zero energy milestone MCLB-Albany has become well known for.

"Because we produce our own electricity, the power to charge these is almost free," Feeney said.

Net-zero, in the context of MCLB-Albany's energy usage, is defined as the production of as much electricity from renewable "green" energy sources as it consumes from its utility provider.

"We are taking net-zero and growing it to the fleet," Feeney said. "We are the net-zero for electricity in our facilities. Now we are applying that to the equipment."

(c)2022 The Albany Herald, Ga.

Visit The Albany Herald, Ga. at www.albanyherald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
KABUL  After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last year, nearly a third of the resident doctors in Omeida Momand's class at a Kabul women's hospital fled the country, she said, leaving the staff stretched thin.

Momand decided to stay, to finish the last step in her 11 years of training to care for Afghanistan's women. By day, she examines gynecology patients and monitors mothers with high-risk pregnancies in a room sometimes so crowded that patients lie on the floor. Night shifts are spent performing emergency Caesareans.

Her determination to practice medicine in her home country has aligned, ironically, with the Taliban's own interests. In the highly conservative Islamic society the Taliban hopes to create, officials say, women should be cared for by other women. That means educating more female doctors.

This marks a rare instance of the Taliban publicly and loudly promoting women's education and employment. Training female doctors and nurses is part of the movement's effort to prove it can provide essential services while building a society structured on gender segregation.

Muhammad Hassan Ghyasi, acting deputy minister of public health, said in an interview that his ministry has received "clear instructions from the top level" to bring policies in line with the Taliban's strict interpretation of sharia, or Islamic law. A new policy submitted recently to the Taliban's supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, for approval would formalize a rule already applied in some hospitals that female health workers should treat women, while male health workers should treat men.

Ghyasi said the policy will stipulate that if there is no qualified female doctor available, a female patient can see a male doctor. But with Afghanistan's health system under strain  and an economic crisis fueled by Western sanctions exacerbating hunger and sickness  the need for qualified medical professionals of both genders is greater than ever.

The Taliban effort to expand medical education for women, especially in fields traditionally dominated by men, contrasts with the government's draconian restrictions on girls and women. Since taking power, the Taliban has barred many girls from secondary school and shut women out of most professions. This fall, authorities prohibited female university aspirants from enrolling in subjects including journalism, engineering and economics.

The educational restrictions seem certain to limit the number of women in the coming years who can train as doctors. Other Taliban policies, such as requirements in some areas that women only travel with male guardians, have hamstrung the efforts of female doctors to practice.

But at several government-run institutes for nursing, radiology and other health fields, the proportion of women admitted  at least 46 percent this semester  represents a slight increase compared with 2020 figures, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which supports the institutes.

Taliban authorities also point to residency programs like the one at Rabia Balkhi Hospital, where Momand works, as evidence of their commitment to educating female health workers. Hospital director Seemin Mishkin Mohmand said the Taliban health ministry has been supportive of her ambitions to expand the program and offer more-advanced training.

Momand is set to graduate this fall at the top of her class, and hopes to open a gynecology clinic in a rural province.

"When I was a child, this was my hope  to become a doctor, to serve my country and my people, especially to serve our poor women," she said.

A health system on life support

The needs in Afghanistan are enormous. The maternal mortality rate is among the highest in the world. Worsening malnutrition has contributed to a rise in premature births and pregnancy complications, according to Hamida Hamidi, a doctor at Rabia Balkhi and head of its training programs.

The health system, heavily reliant on foreign aid, neared collapse in the wake of the Taliban takeover. After billions in funding were cut, the ICRC and the United Nations stepped in last year to cover tens of thousands of health workers' salaries. Still, some hospitals have closed. Significant numbers of doctors have left the country. And with war over, the volume of patients seeking care is rising.

The main hospital in Wardak, a province neighboring Kabul, used to be on the front line of fighting. Since the end of the war, the number of patients has doubled, hospital director Mohammad Nader Rahmani said.

As in many areas in Afghanistan, families here prefer that female relatives see women doctors. But while women make up a majority of patients, they account for only a quarter of the hospital's doctors.

The hospital, run by the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, recently hired a female radiologist, Rahmani said. But the limited pool of female health workers has made it difficult to hire more.

The Taliban's stated goal of creating a separate but equal health system for men and women remains a distant dream, hospital administrators and international aid workers said. "In the short term, this policy is impossible to implement," Rahmani said.

A dearth of specialists

In Afghanistan, as in many other countries, the essential task of caring for mothers and babies has long been dominated by women. Women make up a significantly smaller proportion of other medical specialists, Afghan doctors and hospital administrators say.

Six years ago, the World Health Organization raised the alarm about how a lack of female health-care workers was preventing Afghan women from receiving adequate care.

But it wasn't always this way. When Hamidi was in medical school in the early 1990s, the country had female neurosurgeons and urologists, she recalled. When civil war broke out in 1992, many fled to the West. The Taliban took power, for the first time, four years later and "everything changed," Hamidi said. Families grew uncomfortable with their daughters entering medical fields outside of maternal health, and that attitude outlasted initial Taliban rule.

At the hospital in Wardak and others run by international organizations, gender segregation has not yet been enforced, administrators say. The ICRC has also not observed gender segregation at government hospitals it supports, according to Lucien Christen, ICRC spokesperson for Afghanistan.

On a recent Saturday afternoon, a young woman named Shayma who had gone into labor arrived at the hospital in Wardak, needing an emergency C-section. The only doctors available at that time were men. After some convincing, Shayma's husband and brother agreed to let two male doctors perform the operation alongside two female midwives.

If male doctors had been prohibited from operating on women, "we would have lost our daughter and my grandson," said Shayma's mother, Sharifa, who uses only one name.

While gender segregation has not been enforced in the Wardak hospital, at least so far, three current or former female surgeons at public hospitals in Kabul said male and female staff have already been forced to work separately.

One of the surgeons, a first-year resident from Wardak, said she wanted to become a surgeon to help the women of her province. But in September 2021, Taliban officials barred women at her hospital from working night shifts and said they must work in separate rooms from their male colleagues.

"The problem is you cannot separate men and women because we need to work together," said the resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. "That's why we stated we cannot be separated. They sent us home and suspended us."

More than a year later, she has not been allowed to return to her post.

Kobra Safi worked at a teaching hospital in Kabul as a plastic reconstructive surgeon until August 2021, treating burn patients. Several days after Kabul fell, Taliban officials told her she could no longer have contact with her mentor, a male surgeon. "That destroyed my dream of doing plastic surgery," she said.

Safi got on an evacuation flight two months later and spent nearly a year in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates before resettling in Canada this September.

Counterproductive policies

Even as the Taliban says it is looking to expand medical training for women, other policies are limiting the ability of women to provide health care  or access it.

Fouzia Shafique, senior health adviser for UNICEF in Afghanistan, said the agency is hearing more and more reports, especially in the country's south and east, of women being told at health facilities that they must arrive with a male guardian to get treatment. Female health workers, meanwhile, have faced "significant issues" traveling to work in some areas because they must find a male relative to take them.

Ghyasi, the deputy health minister, said he had "not seen" reports of women being turned away from health facilities, though he added: "We are not denying it, because at the moment we have some problems."

The pipeline for future female doctors is also narrowing. Schools in 24 out of Afghanistan's 34 provinces remain closed to girls above sixth grade, U.N. special rapporteur Richard Bennett told the U.N. Human Rights Council in September.

The Taliban closed the high school Wajeha Kazimi, 19, attended just before she finished 12th grade. She was still able to graduate, and spent more than a year studying for the university entrance exam at a test-prep center in Kabul. In September, she survived a suicide bombing there that left more than 50 people dead.

Kazimi hopes to go into public health or pediatrics, and ranked medicine as her top choice on the university exam.

"When we were choosing, we remembered our friends who were killed who wished to become a doctor," she said. Her 15-year-old sister, though, remains shut out of formal education.

The Taliban's curbs on girls' education are also costing the country some of its best male doctors. Five of the eight surgeons at the Emergency NGO-run trauma hospital in Kabul left the country after the Taliban takeover  some so their daughters could continue their schooling, medical coordinator Dimitra Giannakopoulou said.

Aid agencies continue to lobby Taliban authorities to reopen secondary schools for the sake of public health.

"Girls need to have finished high school if they're going to enroll in a midwifery course, if they're going to be a paramedic or if they're going to train as vaccinators," Shafique said. "And we now have two years of which we have no cohorts graduating out of high school and therefore no people to train."



The Washington Post's Susannah George and Zahra Nabi in Kabul contributed to this report.
CAB officers claim dad of dismembered teen is part of notorious Price-Maguire criminal crew

Gardai pictured at the site on wasteland in Drogheda where the torso of Keane Mulready Woods was discovered

Gardai seal off an area where body parts were found.

The father of slain teenager Keane Mulready-Woods has been named as a member of a criminal gang involved in the lethal Drogheda feud which claimed his sons life.

Barry Woods, whose car has been the target of an arson attack, is stated as being part of the gang headed up by notorious mobsters Owen Maguire and Cornelius Price.

The stark assertion came in an affidavit filed with the High Court as part of a Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) case against mobster Owen Maguire and his brother Brendan.

Listed among dozens of incidents to highlight the gangs involvement in serious criminality is a complaint to gardai by Barry Woods over an attack on his car.

Gardai seal off an area where body parts were found.

On the 23 June 2019, Barry Woods, who is a member of the Price-Maguire OCG [organised criminal gang], reported that his vehicle had been petrol bombed.

Barry Woods is the father of the late Keane Mulready-Woods who was murdered in January 2020.

The 17-year-olds murder in January 2020 shocked the nation after his body parts were found in a bag in Coolock and in a burning van in Ballybough.

Teenager Keane Mulready-Woods   PA

While the same affidavit states that Keane Mulready-Woods was known to gardai for his involvement in criminality, there is no reference to whether or not he was a member of the Price-Maguire gang.

There is no other reference to Barry Woods to explain his role in the gang or whether he is considered a senior or junior member.

Two men are due to go on trial next year in the Special Criminal Court charged with the murder of Keane, in which Robbie Lawlor was also a chief suspect before being murdered in Belfast in April 2020.

Gardai examine body parts

Lawlor was also named as being the gunman who shot Owen Maguire six times in July 2018, leaving him paralysed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair.

The CAB case against the Maguire brothers charts their gangs rise and fall and its involvement in two separate lethal feuds and their links to the murders of at least six people.

Both Maguire brothers were lucky to survive being shot by would-be assassins in separate gun attacks in Drogheda.

Brendan Maguires survival was helped when prominent gang member Mark Kavanagh drove straight to hospital after the attack outside a gym in February 2019.

Maguire and Kavanagh were one of three men who got into Kavanaghs car which was then approached by a gunman who opened fired.

Mark Kavanagh then left the scene at speed and drove Brendan Maguire to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, where he was admitted and received emergency treatment.

Owen Maguire

Kavanagh is currently awaiting trial in the UK accused of a tiger-kidnap plot along with gang boss Cornelius Price, who is seriously ill with limbic encephalitis.

The leading members of the rival gang, who cant be named at this time for legal reasons, were also lucky to escape attacks by the Price-Maguire gang.

Gardai were called to the scene after been alerted to a brand-new Mercedes at a dual carriageway in Drogheda where a device was burning in the exhaust pipe of the car in November 2018.

The army bomb squad stated that it was a viable improvised explosive device that had burnt out due to the lack of oxygen and the manner in which it was used.

The car was owned by a girlfriend of one of the leading gang members.

The same gangsters brother also had a close shave when he was driving toward the home of a family member in June 2019 as a vehicle approached from behind.

When shots were fired at him from the other car, he was hit in the chin and shoulder but drove aggressively from the scene and made his way to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.

Cornelius Price

Not so lucky was his close friend Keith Brannigan, not believed to have been involved in crime, who was shot dead at Aishling Caravan Park, Clogherhead in August that year.

Parents, uncles and grandparents of individuals believed to have been aligned with either faction were also subject to terrifying arson attacks.

One woman, described as a girlfriend of the rivals to the Price-Maguire gang, told gardai an attempt was made to ram her off the road in a short pursuit.

An innocent taxi driver was injured in January 2020 when an attempt to shoot a rival gang member was made in Drogheda.

While the gang is believed to have been involved in an attempt to shoot Robbie Lawlors brother-law Richie Carberry in March 2019 they are not mentioned as being linked to his subsequent murder seven months later.

Carberry, who was described as being closely aligned with a leading member of the rival gang did not co-operate with the Garda investigation.

At the centre of the current CAB case is 304,000 in cash, two properties, a Rolex watch, a Mercedes car and Ford van.

Last month, CAB applied to serve orders on Brendan Maguire outside of the jurisdiction which was granted.

Also granted was an order for a substitute service on Owen Maguire, who officers believe has deliberately avoided being served official papers in relation to the CAB case.
Ian Gillen was charged with false imprisonment, assault causing harm and making a threat to kill

A 60-year-old man accused of a serious assault and holding a female against her will at a house in south Co. Dublin has been granted bail.

Ian Gillen of Caryfort Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin, was charged with false imprisonment, assault causing harm and making a threat to kill or cause her serious harm.

The incident allegedly happened at a residential address in Monkstown on December 23, 2021.

The accused made "no reply" when Detective Sergeant Rachel Kilpatrick charged him and Blackrock Garda station on Saturday morning. He was then brought before Dublin District Court.

Judge John Hughes noted the DPP had directed trial on indictment in the Circuit Court, which has broader sentencing powers.

Detective Sergeant Rachel Kilpatrick objected to bail due to flight risk concerns. She said the accused had booked a one-way flight to Australia later this month.

The officer voiced concerns he was going to start a "new life" there.

However, she agreed with defence counsel Maeve MacCabe that the accused was cooperative on arrest.

Counsel put it to her that her client was going to Australia for a sporting event later this month, in which his son, now deceased, had previously taken part. She also told the court that Mr Gillen had a one-way ticket to Australia because he also intended to visit friends in New Zealand.

The barrister submitted that her client has strong ties to this jurisdiction, and she pointed out that he had family and property here.

The court heard he recently retired on a large gratuity but now has an ad hoc consultancy job with a video production firm. He was also getting treatment for a medical issue.

Judge Hughes was told the accused also volunteered the information he intended to travel to Australia.

The court also heard his son's inquest is in the new year.

The accused did not address the court and has not yet indicated a plea.

Judge Hughes noted the objections outlined in court and the circumstances of the accused. He stressed that this is an allegation and he had the presumption of innocence.

Refusing bail, he held, would lead to "immense and prolonged hardship" for the accused and his family.

He released Mr Gillen on a 500 bond, but ordered him to surrender his passport to gardai within 24 hours and not apply for duplicate travel documents. He also instructed him to sign once a week at a garda station, reside at his current address or notify gardai of any change of residence.

He said the accused is to have no contact with witnesses and must remain contactable by mobile phone at all times.

Judge Hughes ordered him to appear at Dun Laoghaire District Court on December 2 to be served with a book of evidence.
Malvern Dobbin (54) was arrested in the early hours of Friday after armed response officers stopped his car in Belfast city centre

A serial road traffic offender who rammed police cars has admitted driving a car on the wrong side of the road while drunk, a court has heard.

Malvern Dobbin, who has 424 previous convictions including 281 for driving offences, was arrested in the early hours of Friday after armed response officers managed to stop his car in Belfast city centre.

The 54-year-old appeared before the citys magistrates court today on five charges including dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, drunk and without insurance and failing to stop.

Objecting to the Omagh man being released on bail a police officer told the court Dobbin is banned from driving until February 2027.

The officer described him as a prolific road traffic offender who admitted during interview to driving on the wrong side of the road and going through three red lights on the Lisburn Road.

She also said he confessed that his driving was poor and he was going far too fast for that particular road.

Dobbins barrister said he had been given a lift from Omagh to Belfast on Friday to sell a puppy and was given the silver Audi car in lieu of cash payment which he had only reluctantly accepted.

He said Dobbin was driving the vehicle to a location to sell it for cash and when he was approached by police, he only made off because he mistook them for men who viciously attacked him earlier this year.

The barrister said Dobbin had served a four month prison sentence earlier this year and found jail life very hard.

He said Dobbin could be facing a lengthy period on remand if the case were to be dealt with by the Crown court.

Despite Dobbins lengthy alcohol-fuelled criminal record, bail conditions could be put in place to manage his behaviour, he said.

District Judge George Conner refused to release Dobbin, of Golan Villas in Omagh, stating he posed a serious risk to the public.

He is due to appear in court again via video-link on December 2.

A 30-year-old man arrested in relation to the incident was issued with a Community Resolution Notice.
Vile predator Iosach O Riain admitted the sexual abuse of the three children who were left with lifelong problems

Iosach O Riain was met at the Midlands Prison by a pal   Gary Ashe

A man jailed for sexually abusing three children walked free from prison this week after he was sentenced just last April for a sickening litany of assaults.

Iosach O Riain (62), who had pleaded guilty to sexually abusing the victims, was given a nine month sentence at Dublin Circuit Court.

At his sentencing hearing, the three victims of the abuse told of the devastating effects O Riains abuse had on their childhoods and how it impacted them as adults.

O Riain, from Mount Eagle Rise, Leopardstown Heights, Dublin, served just under seven months behind bars, benefiting from the standard 25 per cent remission.

He emerged from the Midlands Prison clutching a plastic bag and still wearing the coat he wore when he appeared at the Courts of Criminal Justice. He was driven away by a friend.

The three victims, who did not want to be named in court, wanted O Riains identity published in the reporting of the case last April. He had known all three children well.

He attacked a boy and a girl in separate cases in the late 1970s and another boy in 1995. They all reported the abuse to gardai in March 2020.

One, who was six when O Riain abused him, said in his victim impact statement that O Riain preyed on him and used him as a commodity.

Iosach O Riain was met at the Midlands Prison by a pal   Gary Ashe

He said he felt suffocated, powerless and fearful during the attacks.

He was asleep and woke up to what was a disgusting experience.

My innocence and trust were taken away from me, he said.

He said it affected his ability to relate to people and he turned to alcohol, drugs and violence to cope with anger, shame and despair  but is now sober and in therapy.

He said to O Riain: You had no respect for the sanctity of my childhood, my safety or my body.

The victim of the 1995 abuse told the court that he felt ashamed as a child, that he wasnt brave enough to tell someone what O Riain had done.

He said the abuse left him with lifelong problems with intimacy and if his wife touches him unexpectedly his instinct is to push her away.

He thanked gardai for their professionalism and compassion in their handling of the investigations.

In her statement, the woman said the abuse she suffered as a child resulted in self-destructive behaviour.

While feeling compassion for O Riain, she said in court that there has to be consequences for his actions.

His defence lawyer said O Riain had a traumatic childhood in a family home affected by violence, alcohol abuse and constant fear. She said O Riain was a child when his alcoholic mother would get him to buy drink for her.

He had also reported that when he was a child an older relative sexually assaulted him.

By the age of 11 he was stealing his mothers vodka, and was drinking to the point of blacking out by the age of 14.

In 1998 he gave up alcohol and began attending counselling with One In Four.

It was also heard how he had written letters of remorse to each of the victims who all refused to accept them.

At sentencing hearing

At a previous hearing last November, O Riain pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the young girl in her family home in Dublin on dates around 1978 and 1979 when she was seven.

He also admitted sexually assaulting a boy at around the same time when the boy was aged around six and when O Riain was around 19.

The court heard that on two occasions in 1978 he attacked this boy in his bed and forced him to perform a sexual act on him.

O Riain also pleaded guilty to attacking another boy in the summer of 1995 when he would have been in his mid-30s.

The night after a family funeral he went to the room of the 15-year-old boy and molested him. This victim later told gardai that he was terrified and lay there frozen, but when O Riain continued to assault him, the boy got up from the bed and left the room.

At the sentence hearing in April, Judge Orla Crowe imposed a sentence of 12 months on each count, having taken into account mitigating factors including O Riains lack of previous convictions, his early guilty pleas and a probation report which indicated that he was at a low risk of re-offending.

She suspended the final three months of the sentences on conditions, including that O Riain engage with the Probation Service for two years upon his release from custody. O Riain was also registered as a sex offender.
By Sabina Mammadli

Azerbaijani servicemen have been awarded a Combat Ready certificate by an authorized representative of the NATO Operational Capabilities Concept (OCC) Program, Azernews reports, citing the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

The award ceremony took place during the annual conference of the alliance held in Belgium's Mons city.

Representatives of various NATO headquarters, as well as the Azerbaijani Armys servicemen, participated in the event. The conference addressed that Azerbaijan widely uses the OCC program and has best practices among partner states.

A Maritime Interdiction Operations Boarding Party declared (MIO BP) into the NATO OCC Pool of Forces successfully participated in NATO-evaluation Level-2 (NEL-2) on Maritime Interdiction Operations, held in Turkiye as part of the NATO OCC program, and was awarded the status of Combat Ready.

Relations with NATO started in 1992 when Azerbaijan joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council. This forum for dialogue was succeeded in 1997 by the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, which brings together all allies and partner countries in the Euro-Atlantic area.

Bilateral cooperation began when Azerbaijan joined the Partnership for Peace (PfP) program in 1994. Thanks to regular participation in PfP activities, Azerbaijan has been able to contribute actively to Euro-Atlantic security by supporting NATO-led peace-support operations.

Azerbaijans participation in the PfP Planning and Review Process (PARP) since 1997 has enabled NATO and individual allies to assist Azerbaijan in developing selected units to improve interoperability with those of the allies.

NATO and Azerbaijan started work on a jointly agreed Defense Education Enhancement Program (DEEP) in 2008 to integrate NATO standards into the teaching methodologies and curricula of the countrys Professional Military Education (PME) institutions.

In 2018, Azerbaijan asked NATO to also involve the Military High School, a pre-commissioning school, in DEEP.
IN Argentina they are now using Malbec to make both a red and a white wine? So why not give both versions a try.

2021 DADA White Malbec 12.99

You can make white wine from red grapes, but you cant make red wine from white grapes. The colour comes from the skin of the grape, so they crush the red grapes and then ferment the juice without contact with the grape skin. This has aromas of peach, but taste it and you find red apple flavours with a lively acidity.

Look out for it on offer in Tesco (with Clubcard) for 9.00. Available in Dunnes, SuperValu, Gala, Fine Wines, Next Door and Number 21. Why not serve this with Spaghetti Bolognese.

2019 Trapiche Malbec 13

2019 Trapiche Malbec 13

Trapiche began in 1883 in a small vineyard called el Trapiche in Godoy Cruz, Mendoza. Today they are one of Argentinas biggest wineries. Their Malbec is rich and intense with lots of dark berry fruit flavours and soft tannin.

Enjoy this with a burger topped with blue cheese or chicken cooked in a creamy mushroom sauce. Available from Dunnes & SuperValu, look out for it on promotion in the run up to Christmas.

See jeansmullen.com
A spokeswoman said there is a caretaker living at the facility but there is no date for when it will open.

Meath TD Peadar Toibin and local people protest outside the site for the Narconon rehab centre linked to scientology

A 9m residential drug rehabilitation centre linked to the controversial Church of Scientology in Co Meath has yet to open its doors.

Last November the Court of Appeal upheld a decision of the High Court that An Bord Pleanala was incorrect in deciding the facility at Ballivor, Co Meath, required planning permission.

This gave Narconon Trust, the rehab centre linked to the controversial church, the go-ahead to proceed with its plans for the site, originally earmarked as a nursing home.

Despite this, almost a year later, it remains unopened.

When contacted, a spokeswoman for Narconon confirmed: Planning is moving forward to open the facility, with the recent Covid pandemic period causing delays to our plans. We are fully intent on helping people overcome and recover from addiction, and our planning is again full steam ahead.

The spokeswoman said there is a caretaker living at the facility but there is no date for when it will open.

The Ballivor rehab centre is intended to be the first Narconon facility in Ireland, though the Church of Scientology already has a community centre in the Dublin suburb of Firhouse as well as headquarters in Merrion Square.

Aontu leader and Meath TD Peadar Toibin, who was involved in protests opposing the opening of the centre, said he questioned whether the facility will ever open its doors.

It is very clear that the business model for the Church of Scientology in Ballivor is not working. That is a very good thing for the community in Ballivor, who have never supported it, he said.

The TD was critical of the fact all private drug and alcohol rehabs in Ireland are entirely unregulated. Right now, anyone can set up a private rehab clinic, using any regime and they are not subject to any HSE inspections. That needs to change immediately, he said.

The site was acquired in 2016 by Narconon Trust, registered in Sussex, England, which is linked to the Church of Scientology and supports drug rehabilitation charities as part of its mission.

The trust was founded by Massimo Angius, a trustee and director of the Church of Scientology in England for more than 20 years.

It has about 40 drug rehab facilities around the world and has spent some 9m to date on purchasing and constructing the Ballivor facility.

It bought the site after getting a declaration from Meath County Council in 2016 that the proposed change of use from a nursing home to residential drug rehabilitation facility is exempted development.
Fr Sean Sheehy vowed to continue to celebrate mass at his home to people who wish to listen to his sermons

Controversial cleric Fr Sean Sheehy led a prayer service in Tralee town square yesterday afternoon and vowed to continue to celebrate mass at his home to people who wish to listen to his sermons.

The retired priest, who gave a widely condemned address in a Co Kerry church last weekend, has been prevented from saying church Mass again after the Bishop of Kerry rebuked his comments as unchristian.

More than 30 parishioners walked out of the mass after Fr Sheehy condemned transgenderism, same-sex couples, and supplying condoms to teenagers in his sermon.

Fr Sheehy told worshippers at St Marys Church in Listowel that gay couples were sinful, and criticised free contraception being provided by the HSE as it was promoting promiscuity.

He also criticised abortion and the trans community.

Despite this storm of controversy surrounding his remarks, the retired cleric went to Tralee yesterday to lead the Monthly Mens Rosary, which he explained consists of the recital of the 15 mysteries of the rosary.

I got a very nice reception from the faithful Catholic today, he told sundayworld.com.

There was about 30 men present, as well as some women and children. It was prayers for people who live and are faithful to the Christian life. Prayer is always peaceful and I enjoy praying with others. It is called the Monthly Men's Rosary because it was initiated by men, it is celebrated internationally each month.

Fr Sheehy agreed that he was disappointed that he is no longer permitted to celebrate mass at Catholic churches in Kerry following a direction from the bishop in recent days.

But the priest insisted that he will continue to celebrate mass at his home in a personal capacity - which he said is something he has been doing for some time in his retirement.

Of course it is disappointing I am no longer permitted by the bishop to celebrate mass. But I will still celebrate mass. I already do so in my home and I will continue to do that, of course I will. People often come to my home for mass. That will continue, he added.

The retired cleric continued that the he was mostly disappointed for serving priests in Kerry, because he will longer be permitted to fill in when they are ill or unable to work for other reasons.

I am mostly disappointed for the other priests. I wont be allowed to fill in for them when they are sick. I am no longer allowed to provide cover. That is a real shame, for them.

Speaking on Radio Kerry last week, the priest claimed that some parishioners have since thanked him for his sermon.

When asked by Kerry Today host Jerry OSullivan: Do you think that our politicians, the ones who legislate for things like same sex marriage - some of them are openly gay, the soon to be Taoiseach again Leo Varadkar - do you think they are going to hell?, he responded: Absolutely, if they dont repent on sin and seek forgiveness.

Because what theyre doing is contrary to the law of nature and secondly, and more importantly, its contrary to the law of God. When you go against God, who is the author of life, you actually go against life itself.

A spokesman for Leo Varadkar said after speaking to him in Singapore, where he is leading a trade mission: The Tanaiste profoundly disagrees with Fr Sheehys views, however he respects his right to express his religious beliefs freely.

The Tanaiste does not believe that gay people will go to hell for being who they are, nor does he believe that any man or woman can make such a judgment. As Pope Francis said, who are we to judge .
An employee who lost their job at Twitter in Dublin noticed that their password had changed overnight

The Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise Leo Varadkar has not yet received a collective redundancy notification from Twitter, the Department of Enterprise confirmed this evening.

Companies proposing a collective redundancy are required to inform the Minister for Enterprise at least 30 days before the first dismissals take place.

Under relevant legislation, companies are also required to carry out a 30-day consultation with employees and their representatives where collective redundancies are being proposed.

"The Tanaiste has not received a collective redundancy notification in relation to potential redundancies at Twitter," a spokesperson for the department told RTE.

"The Tanaiste expects the company to comply with its legal obligations under the Protection of Employment Act 1977, as amended."

The spokesperson added that the department has asked officials in the IDA to keep it informed of any information regarding potential job cuts to Twitter employees here.

Twitter began laying off members of its Irish workforce with some staff in the Dublin office receiving emails this morning telling them that they were being made redundant.

Around half of the social media company's 7,500 employees have been laid off, an internal document has shown, as new owner Elon Musk began a major revamp of the company.

"Roughly 50% of the workforce will be impacted," said a question-and-answer email seen by AFP that was sent to Twitter employees who lost their jobs.

Twitter had been expected to tell employees by email about whether they have been laid off.

It also temporarily closed its offices and prevented staff access, following a week of uncertainty about the company's future under Elon Musk.

Twitter said in an email to staff that it will alert employees by 9am Pacific time (4pm in Ireland) about staff cuts.

Around 500 people are employed at Twitter's Dublin office.

"Woke up to the sad news that I'm no longer a Tweep," said one former Irish employee in a post on Twitter, RTE has reported.

It is understood that those being laid off have been disconnected from the company's email and other internal systems.

An employee who lost their job at Twitter in Dublin noticed that their password had changed overnight.

"My timeline is full of folk who have lost their jobs. Twitter was a special place to work, and the people made it so," they told RTE News.

"The platform isn't without its flaws, but what made it worthwhile was knowing the moral integrity of the teams who were trying their best to improve the place.

"The failures of the company came from a lack of funding and support, and not from a lack of caring.

"The company we knew is dead, and that's devastating. It really was magic."

The Taoiseach Micheal Martin had earlier hit out at Twitter over its treatment of Irish staff.

Mr Martin warned that the manner in which Twitter employees were treated with summary dismissal notices was not acceptable.

However, he also warned against commentators overstating the impact of jobs losses on Irelands IT sector and creating hype over a possible Tech Wreck.

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said tech companies may have expanded too quickly.

Twitter employs more than 500 people in Dublin and over 7,000 globally.

The company sent an email to staff informing them that they would be told yesterday whether they still have a job.

Team, in an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday, the internal memo to the employees read.

We recognise that this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but this action is unfortunately necessary to ensure the companys success moving forward.

Speaking in Tipperary, Mr Martin said the Government was concerned for the employees of Twitter.

It has changed ownership globally  there seems to be a fairly unprecedented approach adopted here to a global workforce and that is manifesting itself in Ireland, said Mr Martin.

What I would say is that no matter who you are or what sector you are in, one must always treat people with dignity and respect.
Margaret Thatcher coined that phrase (crime is crime) so if youre of that mind, youre of that mind, Ms McDonald said

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald during her keynote speech at her party's Ard Fheis at the RDS in Dublin. PA   PA

There is no comparison between violence of the IRA during the Troubles and gangland violence, according to Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald.

She was asked about not having any time for former Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall, while her party has a sitting TD who served time in prison on explosives charges, and former members of the parliamentary party have been previously convicted for similar charges.

I think if were going to talk about things that happened in the course of the conflict, thats one thing. Thats one discussion, she told Newstalks On the Record with Gavan Reilly.

As somebody who represents the North Inner City from Dublin, and who has seen and sees at first hand the damage, the corrosive damage that so-called gangland has caused to communities, there is absolutely no comparison, she said.

Ms McDonald said former UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher coined the phrase crime is crime.

Margaret Thatcher coined that phrase so if youre of that mind, youre of that mind, Ms McDonald said.

The things that happened in the course of a very long political conflict  which thank God is now long over, weve had 25 years of peace  there is no comparison between that and the kind of challenge, and it is an ongoing challenge, to our society between this and the so-called gangland crime epidemic poses.

I say that as somebody who represents fine communities, the best of people, for whom this is a daily scourge.

The Dublin TD, whose partys Ard Fheis took place this weekend, said she first found out about Mr Dowdalls links to criminality in 2016 when he was arrested after he waterboarded a man.

Ms McDonald said she wouldn't have had him in her party if she was aware of his links to criminality.

Had I had even an inkling that he was involved in any form of criminality, much less than what he was now accused of, he wouldn't have been within a roar of me or within Sinn Fein, she said.

The former councillor is now a State witness in the Regency Hotel murder trial after he pleaded guilty to helping to facilitate the murder of David Byrne.

The first I knew of any of this was when he had been arrested for a different offence. And I was very, very shocked by that, Ms McDonald said.

Prior to that he had been a person running a very successful business, with very high-level contracts, employing a lot of people. And certainly there wouldnt have been any indication for me or for anybody else that he would be involved in this type of activity.

Had I had even an inkling that he was involved in any form of criminality, much less than what he was now accused of, he wouldn't have been within a roar of me or within Sinn Fein, she said.

Ms McDonald also said the 1,000 donation Mr Dowdall made to the party was most likely used for election purposes.

She said the donation was made to the Dublin Central constituency. Sipo records show he gave Ms McDonald a cheque of 1,000 in 2011.

Separately, Ms McDonald has said she would speak to all parties about forming a government after the next general election.

Ms McDonald said the party will go out to win every single seat, but once the votes are counted the Dublin TD said she will speak to everyone.

But she went on to say that the best option for the country would be a government that does not include Fianna Fail or Fine Gael.

It comes as a Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks opinion poll revealed that support for the party remains ahead of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.

However, the poll also found that support for Sinn Fein dropped three points to 34pc, but the party retains a 13-point lead ahead of Fine Gael at 21pc, while Fianna Fail sits at 17pc. Support for both parties remains unchanged.

The poll was carried out among 1,002 people.

Support for Sinn Fein has been growing in recent years, with the party taking 22.3pc of first preferences in the 2020 general election.

The party has been polling well since then, with the vast majority of its support base coming from young people.

However, Mrs McDonald said there are no "foregone conclusions in elections".

"We will keep working very, very hard," she told RTE's The Week In Politics.

"I hear a lot of commentary around that things are foregone conclusions or sometimes assertions that I or we think that things - there's no foregone conclusions in political life and there are certainly no foregone conclusions in elections.

"We will go out to win every single seat, every single vote, the confidence of every single voter that we can."

Meanwhile, Ms McDonald repeated her calls for a joint authority between Dublin and London if an executive in Northern Ireland is not restored.

The Sinn Fein leader said that if the DUP continues to boycott the Northern Ireland Assembly, then the British and Irish governments should form a partnership.

She said that there should not be direct rule if an executive cannot be formed.

Ms McDonald said: "The reason I made the point as regards direct rule is, we have to be absolutely clear on one thing and it's this. It is not a choice between powersharing on the one hand or direct rule from London on the other.

"The best scenario is that the executive is up and running. So the British government, having said now that we won't have an election this side of Christmas, needs to very speedily this week set out the plan of engagement with Brussels, to sort out the outstanding implementations of the protocol to get the executive up and running.

"If at that stage the DUP still are on boycott mode, then it is partnership between Dublin and London.

"I'd use the term joint authority, partnership, whatever language you use, it has to be a co-equal situation and it has to reflect not just the building blocks of the Good Friday Agreement, it also needs to take account that the politics in the North has very much changed.

"There is no longer a unionist electoral majority, that you now have for the first time a nationalist, a republican, Michelle O'Neill, as first minister designate."
The event will take place at 11.35am and the public are urged to bring flowers and peaceful messages

A silent protests take place tomorrow at the church where controversial priest Fr Sean Sheehy was roundly condemned for his comments about condemned transgenderism, same-sex couples, and supplying condoms to teenagers.

Flowers are to be laid at the front of St Marys Church Listowel, as part of an event being organised by the LGBTQ+ community during the main Sunday mass.

Members of the Green Party in Kerry are supporting the gathering with one member saying they wanted to highlight how Kerry has a LGBTQ+ community and that they also belong to God.

"This event is in response to a sermon on October 30 made by Father Sean Sheehy that preached transphobia and homophobia, Killarney Green Party representative Diarmaid Griffin sad.

It will be a silent event that wishes to provide an opportunity to those who empathise with those mentioned in the sermon and wish to act in solidarity with the rainbow community in Kerry and throughout Ireland.

"It brings great sadness to my heart that someone 'so holy' can think that he can decide who are the children of God, and who is not," Dzana Raszewska, one of the organisers of the protest said.

"So this Sunday, as a support to LGBTQ+, bit also true Christians who never wanted to be part of this, we are bringing flowers in front of the church" said Dzana

"Everyone is welcome, but please note that no hate speech, anger or pointing fingers is allowed. No hate is ever healed by giving the hate back", she said.

The event will take place at 11.35am and the public are urged to bring flowers and peaceful messages.

More than 30 parishioners walked out of mass after shocked mass-goers were subjected to an outpouring of anger from the pulpit, which many deemed tactless, insensitive, and represented a throwback to the days of clerical authority.

Fr Sheehy, who is deputising for Listowel Parish Priest Canon Declan OConnor, criticised Government legislation around what he said was the promotion of abortion and described the lunatic approach of transgenderism.

Fr Sheehy has since said he stands over his comments at the mass in Listowel last weekend, despite having since been taken off the local parish roster.

Fr Tim Hazelwood from the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland said during the week that the biggest issue was with the way the homily was given.

He had no regard for the families that were sitting the pews, for people who would have gay or transgender members and their families, he told RTEs Morning Ireland.

It was, I'm going to let you have it whether you like it or not.

Asked whether Fr Sheehy, who is a retired priest, should be saying mass in Ireland in the future considering the fact that he believes he was right, Fr Hazelwood said that was up to the Bishop.

He (Fr Sheehy) is not a priest of the Diocese of Kerry, he's a retired priest who worked in the United States where that kind of polarised way of thinking and engaging is very prominent.

I think in Ireland, there's a different way we try and do things where we are bit more considerate.

So, it's up to the Bishop of Kerry but I don't think many priests in Kerry will be inviting him to fill in for them.

On Tuesday night, Fr Sheehy said he stood over his remarks.

"Bishop Browne said that he was going to take me off all mass and I said okay fine, I couldnt care less really.

I know myself what I said cannot be disproven by any honest to God Christian or Catholic teaching, and thats the bottom line he told Radio Kerry.

He added that Bishop of Kerry Ray Browne, who has apologised for the comments and said they do not reflect Christianity, is muzzling the truth in order to appease people.
A paramilitary-linked charity said it would take the classes into primary schools to educate children

The model bonfire which Action for Community Transformation wanted to bring to primary schools

A UVF-themed model workshop for children has sparked outrage after a paramilitary-linked charity said it would take the classes into primary schools to educate children.

Action for Community Transformation (ACT) Initiative posted images online of children and adults making models alongside pictures of a model bonfire as well as a model caravan and hut, both of which had UVF daubed on the side.

The post has since been deleted.

ACT, which is dedicated to rehabilitating former UVF gangsters and has some convicted killers on its board of directors, posted the images on one of their Facebook pages last week.

The caption read: The model club met to start on projects for the winter months, one of which will include bonfire building which will be taken into local primary schools educating the children on the bonfire theme.

The images and proposal by ACT to take the workshop into primary schools caused outrage on social media with Twitter users expressing their despair at the idea.

Model with UVF on side

Tim Maloy labelled it sectarianism being taught at schools while fellow user Constance Short said: How could anyone believe there is an ounce of creativity in building bonfires, a symbol of hate, and there is nothing historical about them either. How old is the pallet?

Josie C added: Thats not education. Thats indoctrination and brainwashing.

ACT Initiative is a UVF-linked registered charity which receives thousands of pounds of public money from peace initiatives including 365,000 from the government in the Republic of Ireland. ACT and the Education Authority did not respond to requests for comment.

The organisation was given charitable status in 2015 and operates out of a building on Belfasts Shankill Road. Four convicted UVF killers sit on its nine-person board of trustees  PUP councillor Billy Hutchison, Tom Roberts, Tom Winstone and Ron McMurray.

Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson

Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson, who stressed he has no connections to ACT and was speaking in a personal capacity, said he didnt know what all the fuss was about.

People are entitled to take whatever view they want of the past, Ive made mine pretty clear and that wont change, he said.

In regards ACT it is an organisation which does much fantastic conflict transformation work. Loyalism is entitled to commemorate it history.
The aircraft, which had departed from Dar es Salaam, "fell in Lake Victoria this morning due to storms and heavy rains", TBC reported

Rescuers seen at the wreckage of the plane in Lake Victoria. Photo: The Independent.

A passenger plane crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania on Sunday while attempting to land in stormy weather at an airport in the lakeside city of Bukoba, killing at least 19 people on board, the state broadcaster said.

"All Tanzanians join you in mourning these 19 people  who have lost their lives," Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa told reporters in Bukoba.

Fifteen people have been rescued so far but it was not known how many passengers were on board the Precision Air flight or whether there were any fatalities, Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) reported.

The aircraft, which had departed from Dar es Salaam, "fell in Lake Victoria this morning due to storms and heavy rains", TBC reported.

Video footage and images that circulated on social media showed the plane almost fully submerged, with only its green and brown-coloured tail visible above the water line of Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake.

Rescue boats were deployed and emergency workers were continuing to rescue other passengers trapped in the plane, TBC added.

Precision Air, Tanzania's largest privately owned airline, identified the plane as flight PW 494 and said it was "involved in an accident as it was approaching Bukoba Airport". The airline's statement gave no further details.

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan called for calm as the rescue operation continued.

"I have received with sadness the news of the accident involving Precision Air's plane," she tweeted. "Let's be calm at this moment when rescuers are continuing with the rescue mission while praying to God to help us."
Our community is in shock. Nothing like this has happened in 30 years of service

At least seven people have died after a helicopter flying from Italy's Tremiti islands to the mainland crashed earlier today.

The aircraft came down about 50km from the city of Foggia, in the southern-east region of Apulia, with all seven on board believed to have been killed.

While weather conditions were reportedly bad a spokeswoman for the police's office in Foggia said the cause of the accident was still unknown.

The spokesperson added that asp police were still working to reach the site, the nationalities of the victims were not clear.

However, several Italian newspapers reported that four tourists coming from Slovenia were among the victims,

The mayor of the islands, Peppino Calabrese, told media that a local doctor had decided at the last minute to take the helicopter rather than the ferry "because of the bad conditions at sea".

"Our community is in shock. Nothing like this has happened in 30 years of service," he said.

The president of Apulia, who was attending a rally in Rome to call for peace in Ukraine, said in a post on Facebook that he had left the event to go to Foggia.

"On board the helicopter were seven people who all lost their lives. It is a terrible moment that leaves us dismayed," Michele Emiliano said on Facebook.
When she attempted to stop the vehicle, she fell to the ground and was run over the first time

A Swiss woman has been left seriously injured after being run over by her own car THREE times.

The 45-year-old had stepped out of her car in a residential area in St Gallen when, police belive, she went to retrieve something from the boot.

According to the Swiss news agency ATS, she left the engine on and the car, which was on a slight slope, began rolling backwards.

When she attempted to stop the vehicle, she fell to the ground and was run over the first time.

The car had then rammed into another vehicle and rebounded back in the opposite direction, running over her second time, police said.

Then , the car hit the footpath, sending it back towards the woman and running her over a third time, before it finally to a halt after hitting a wooden barrier.

The woman was rushed to hospital and is said to be seriously injured, Swiss police said.
The rugby star helped Ireland beat world champion South Africa 16-9 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin yesterday to justify its ascent to No. 1 in the rankings.

Conor Murray of Ireland and his fiancee Joanna Cooper after the Bank of Ireland Nations Series match between Ireland and South Africa at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile   SPORTSFILE

Model Joanna Cooper hailed her fiance Conor Murray as her inspiration in a heartwarming Instagram post.

The rugby star helped Ireland beat world champion South Africa 16-9 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin yesterday to justify its ascent to No. 1 in the rankings.

And it was an historic day for Conor as he became the eighth Irishman to reach 100 test caps, following in the footsteps of Brian ODriscoll, Johnny Sexton, and Paul OConnell.

Taking to Instagram after the monumental victory, Joanna shared some sweet snaps of her and her beau looking delighted and walking hand in hand on the sidelines of the pitch.

Another photo showed the pair stealing a kiss with Conor wearing his green IRFU jacket.

She captioned the post: My inspiration everyday and the hardest worker I know. Congratulations on 100 caps my love, youre one of a kind.

Friends and fans flocked to the comments section to congratulate Conor on his feat and gush over the cute couple.

Una Healy and Pippa OConnor Ormond each left some heart emojis while one fan wrote: Massive congratulations Conor on your 100th Cap... You are an inspiration to many... Enjoy the celebrations tonight.

Another said: What a team you two make. Huge congrats to you both xxx.

While a third chimed in: Congratulations Conor on your 100 caps, looking good Joanna.

Conor and Joanna got engaged earlier this year during a romantic trip to Dubai.

At the time, Joanna posted a video to Instagram showing the moment when the rugby player popped the question.

She captioned the post, which also featured various clips from their trip: A dream week followed by four emojis including an engagement ring.

Joanna Cooper and Conor Murray   SPORTSFILE

The 28-year-old gave her Instagram followers a glimpse of her ring as she posted a photo with her fiance that showed off the jewellery.

The snap shows the pair enjoying a drink as the bride-to-be plants a kiss on her future husbands cheek as he smiles down the camera.

Last day of the best week ever, she wrote, tagging Conor.

The Limerick man also filled his fans in on the big news by posting a photo on his grid of him and Joanna, where she shows off the ring, writing: Phew 21/03/2022.

The couple first began dating in 2018 after meeting on a night out in London in 2017.

They moved in together in early 2020 and adopted a puppy called Kevin.
The 27-year-old placed fourth in the hit ITV dating show this summer with his girlfriend Tasha Ghouri.

Love Island finalist Andrew Le Page has revealed he plans to return to his day job after leaving the villa this summer.

The 27-year-old placed fourth in the hit ITV dating show with his girlfriend Tasha Ghouri.

Before taking part in Love Island, Andrew was a real estate agent in Dubai and he hopes to bring his career to the UK.

During a Q&A video on his YouTube channel, a fan asked him if he felt pressured to earn lots of money since the show ended.

The Guernsey native replied: I think for me, no. I dont really get a lot of pressure anyway Im quite a relaxed guy. I went on the show and I know this is probably quite hard to believe for a lot of people, for me I genuinely went on the show to find love.

It wasnt a job opportunity or to increase anything. For me, theres no pressure. If this means I just go back into a normal real estate job, Im quite happy with it. Ive ultimately come on the show and done exactly what I wanted to do.

Earlier in his video, Andrew admitted his dream career would be in property development as he would love to follow in the footsteps of his parents.

Thats something that is on my list literally to do as soon as possible, is to learn the UK market, he explained.

He also told viewers of his plans to showcase property and real estate in future YouTube videos, adding: Hopefully, I can show you some decent properties and show you around.

Andrew and Tasha finished in fourth place during the live Love Island final back in August, following behind Irish contestant Dami Hope and Indiyah Polack.

Michael Owens daughter Gemma and her partner Luca Bish were runners-up while Ekin-Su Culculoglu and Davide Sanclimenti ultimately took the crown and the 50,000 prize.
Weather Eye

with John Maunder

This week over 40,000 people will attend COP 27, the 27th gathering of the Conference of the Parties dealing with climate change.

In contrast, 37 years ago a small group of 100 scientists met in the small town of Villach in Austria to begin talks on climate change which in effect was, in the minds of many people, the original pre-runner of the COP meetings.

So 37 years on, what has changed. Of the many climate science meetings I have been to, the most significant, at least in terms of climate change, was the UN sponsored International Conference held in the beautiful town of Villach, Austria. One hundred experts from 30 countries attended the meeting (in contrast to the forty thousand plus who now attend such meetings), and I was privileged to be the only New Zealander invited.

We were all there as experts - and not representing our respective organisations - in various fields of science, endeavouring to do the best we could in looking at the complexities of climate change and climate science.

This conference predated by three years the establishment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) established by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The first session of the IPCC was held in Geneva in November 1988.

Among the principal findings of the 1985 Villach Conference was that while other factors, such as aerosol concentration, changes in solar energy input, and changes in vegetation, may also influence climate, greenhouse gases are likely to be the most important cause of climate change over the next century.

At that time, even though I was partly responsible for the writing of the above paragraph, I along with some of my colleagues, had some serious misgivings about this phrase, and in particular the almost overall emphasis on greenhouse gases compared with the natural causes of climate change, and in particular the role of the oceans, the sun , and the volcanoes.

These natural causes of climate change are discussed at length in my new book Fifteen shades of climate... the fall of the weather dice and the butterfly effect.

Additionally, my 1986 book The Uncertainty Business : Risks and Opportunities in Weather and Climate focuses on the opportunities provided to humanity in regards to all aspects of the climate... whether it be cold or hot, or wet or dry, or something in-between.

Nevertheless, within a year of the 1985 Villach Conference human-induced global warming caught the imagination of much of the world. Indeed today, not an hour goes by without some mention of global warming, 'climate change', 'emission trading scheme's etc., all terms which up until 1980s were the preserve of academic text books.

In 2004, Australian, Bill Kininmonth, wrote a book called Climate Change - A Natural Hazard and this book shows clearly the divergence of views on the causes of climate change.

The author demonstrated that the model of the climate system represented by the IPCC is inadequate as a foundation for future planning. In a recent paper Kininmonth has updated the views he expressed in his earlier book.

There are two 'competing' views on how the Earths climate changes.

The first, as espoused by the IPCC, holds that Earths temperature is primarily a function of the properties and atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, and how these gases interact with atmospheric radiation. The second, is that Earths temperature is regulated by atmospheric transport of energy from the tropics to polar regions, and how the rate of transport varies with ocean circulations, particularly the millennial period thermohaline circulation.

My experience suggests that there are two main views on the subject of global warming and climate change.

First, those who are mainly involved in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and many or most government scientists, plus others, such as Al Gore, and many politicians and most journalists, and probably the public at large who consider that humans activities, including domestic animals, are the prime cause of the recent and current changes in the climate, and who are actively seeking a consensus to decarbonise society by promoting Net Zero.

Second, those - in the main some university scientists, many retired climatologists, a minority of politicians and journalists, and probably a minority of the public who consider that nature is the main cause of changes in the climate. T

he understanding of the public in this regard stems from the fact that most mainstream media is left of centre and generally follows the party line. This will be well demonstrated at COP 27.

Thirty years ago, it was inconceivable that any Government in the world would have a Minister of Climate Change; indeed back then, as weather forecasters and climatologists we just got on with our job of making the best possible weather forecast and providing the best climate advice to all those who requested information, without guidance or interference from the government of the day. How things have changed.

*******************

For further information about a wide range of weather/climate matters see my new book Fifteen shades of climate... the fall of the weather dice and the butterfly effect. The book is available through the web site amazon.com. Just Google fifteen shades of climate for details.
The Papamoa War Memorial Community Trust is to mark this years Armistice Day with a ceremony at the flag pole and memorial in Stella Place, Papamoa, this Friday, November 11.

In addition to Tauranga and Mount Maunganui RSA members, a large turnout from local schools, service organisations and the wider Tauranga and Mount Maunganui community is expected.

We are particularly pleased to be able to include in this years commemoration the addition of three more names to the Papamoa Beach memorial, all Maori servicemen; one who died in Italy in World War II and two Vietnam veterans who succumbed to the toxic cancerous after-effects of being sprayed by Agent Orange, says Trust member Buddy Mikaere.

These men are Seargent Honiana (Jack) N. Te Kani for his service in Vietnam; Private David J. R. Mikaere for his time in Vietnam; and Private Thomas Bridger Wharepapa, who was killed in Italy during WWII.

The ceremonies will begin shortly after 10am Friday, November 11, with the unveiling of the new names. The commemoration service will follow and will observe the customary two-minute silence at 11am.

The eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month has been the day and time used to remember the end of World War 1 or The Great War  as it is still sometimes called. And we will continue to observe that tradition, says Buddy.

It depends on whose statistics you use but more than 16,000 Kiwis died during that war or shortly after its end.

That sacrifice deserves to be remembered, particularly at this time as with the situation in the Ukraine, Europe once again faces the possibility of war.

The commemoration welcomes attendance by ex-servicepeople, who are asked to assemble beforehand. Parking is available adjacent to the memorial and intending attendees are asked to please arrive a little early.
Connecting a community through food is behind a new social supermarket that is now open in Otumoetai.

Referral based, once fully operational, the social supermarket will provide access to food and connection into the local community.

The two criteria are that people facing hardship are living within the Otumoetai catchment area, and are referred by a local organisation or Here to Help You, says Linkt Community Trust founders John and Jackie Paine.

Foodstuffs North Island and Linkt Community Trust partnered to bring the social supermarket to the region.

John says the aim is to support and enable Otumoetai shoppers so that one day, they wont need to rely on the social supermarket anymore.

Our vision is to create a connected community here in Otumoetai, and to connect people into the local community, says John.

The Linkt Trust founders have spent the past 14 months surveying and collecting data from dozens of local community organisations throughout Otumoetai and surrounding suburbs.

We believe everyone has something to bring to the table, so that we all have the ability to get through the times of hardship together, says Jackie.

Theres definitely a lot of deprivation evident within Otumoetai. Local organisations know the need, and those experiencing hardships. We want to provide tools to support and help people thrive in this community, says John.

John says while general references will come through Here to Help You, specific referrals will come from organisations within the catchment area as they work with the local schools, marae, Plunket and medical practices.

Operating like a normal supermarket in every other way, families will receive a points allocation to shop with and will pay a fee to cover handling costs.

We want to create a community where people contribute, as that builds mana and dignity.

John and Jackie are excited about the partnership with the 100 per cent New Zealand owned and operated co-operative Foodstuffs North Island.

Foodstuffs is committed to backing locally led projects that make a difference, with this being the co-operatives fifth social supermarket location.

We believe that strengthening and connecting the existing community support networks through the addition of a social supermarket will make for a place where our community has access to affordable, safe, nutritious kai, says Jackie.

We want to say a special thanks to the Foodstuffs community of stores and our buddy stores New World Brookfield and PAKnSAVE Cameron Road for backing this.

Enquiries can be made to: office@oss.org.nz
A secret witness was inspired by Hollywood movies to concoct an elaborate tale of drug- and gun-running, the lawyer acting for an alleged gang boss says.

The former gang insiders account is similar to a plot twist in the movie The Usual Suspects, says Bill Nabney, whos acting for Mongols national president Jim Thacker.

In that film, a character played by the actor Kevin Spacey makes up a story, using things [he sees] in the room in order to weave a web.

Likewise, some people the witness described as being involved with the gang were like film characters, Nabney suggested during his closing argument in a High Court trial in Hamilton on Friday.

Two Times, like Jimmy Two Times in [the movie] Goodfellas ... Marko, Irish.

These sound like things in a movie that hes made up, to sound or feel real. Thats what I would suggest.

It would be a great movie script, Nabney later added. But thats all this is. Its just a story.

The witness has permanent name suppression and gave evidence earlier in the trial.

The seven men and five women of a High Court jury will soon have to decide whether his evidence is something that could have been penned by a screenwriter.

Nine senior members and affiliates of the Mongols, including Thacker, are standing trial on a raft of drugs and weapons charges.

Following a covert surveillance operation, police arrested the entire senior hierarchy of the gang in June 2020.

At the time the police said a gang war was brewing in the Bay of Plenty region, with numerous groups battling for the lions share of the drug market there.

Among those also on trial is the gangs sergeant-at-arms Leon Wolf Huritu; Jason 666 Ross; Kelly Rhino Petrowski; Hone One-er Ronaki; Matthew Ramsden; Kane Ronaki; Te Reneti Tarau; and another man who has interim name suppression.

Much of Friday was devoted to the closing argument of Nabney, who is acting for both Thacker and Huritu in the trial.

The police had obtained a warrant to monitor Thackers phone in late 2019 and over the following six months he had made not a single comment in which drugs of any sort were mentioned, Nabney said. Not one.

And yet the Crown would have you believe he was the main person in a major drug operation.

The lack of references to methamphetamine, cocaine and other drugs did not stack up against the charges against Thacker, the lawyer said.

[Thacker] is so good, he is so astute that despite moving massive amounts of drugs, as the Crown insists, he never mentioned drugs even once.

You will have no difficulty in finding Mr Thacker not guilty on all the charges he faces because the evidence is simply not there.

The jury had earlier been played Snapchat footage of Thacker snorting a long line of cocaine  however this was not the damning evidence the Crown believed it was, Nabney said.

While it would seem to be a prodigious amount, it was a single occasion.

The evidence of the secret witness  who said he had communicated with his colleagues in the Mongols using the code name Wheelman  was filled with vague dates and times of his exploits, Nabney said, such as when he had met a person called Marko in Johnsonville  or possibly, as he earlier told the police, in Christchurch.

Another area in which there was simply no evidence against Thacker was the January 28, 2020 incident in which a home in Haukore St in Tauranga was sprayed with gunfire.

The Crown alleges the home was targeted as part of a series of increasingly violent exchanges involving the Mongols and the rival Mongrel Mob gang.

We dont know who the shooters are. Thats common ground. Nobody does, Nabney said.

Thacker, Hone Ronaki, Huritu and the defendant with name suppression had been charged by the police with discharging firearms with reckless disregard in relation to that incident.

The Crown position is ... if they are not the shooters, then they are certainly part of what happened. Well, theres no evidence of that.

Theres no evidence that Mr Thacker encouraged it to happen, [or] wanted it to happen.

Likewise, no one could say for certain that Thacker was involved in a subsequent firefight between Mongrel Mob and Mongols members west of Te Puke.

We dont know whether Mr Thacker actually got there, Nabney said.

Its for the Crown to prove that he was there, and they then have to satisfy you that he was not acting in self-defence.

The trial continues.

-Mike Mather/Stuff.
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Re: Help! Dealer not handing over RC, insists on doing ownership transfer himself Quote: zaks Originally Posted by

After nearly 5 months, the dealer somehow got the RC card after coaxing the original owner to get it from RTO. Now when I ask the dealer to send me the RC card he is refusing to do it and is insisting he will do the RC transfer. But having had a horrible experience with this dealer for last 5 months, I don't want anything to do with him and asked him to send me the RC card saying I will do the transfer but he refusing to give me the RC.



Now my question is: whose responsibility is it to get the RC transfer done when the vehicle is sold; isn't it only between the owner and the buyer? Can the dealer withhold the original RC card from new owner? What can be done, will a complaint help?

1) Tell the dealer to transfer it asap



2) Meet the owner, ask him to file a "wallet lost" FIR (You will file, but he is needed) with the mention of RC and cash in wallet, hand the FIR over to an RTO agent with some chai-paani, and they will get you another RC - after that you can do your process without any issue. The moment he discovers that you have procured the RC, please click hs pic and upload here to show his expressions; he has no right to keep the RC with him if he hasn't yet initiated the process - its his fault, not yours.



I have always followed the second one as I don't like making a lot of calls! There are 2 ways:1) Tell the dealer to transfer it asap2) Meet the owner, ask him to file a "wallet lost" FIR (You will file, but he is needed) with the mention of RC and cash in wallet, hand the FIR over to an RTO agent with some chai-paani, and they will get you another RC - after that you can do your process without any issue. The moment he discovers that you have procured the RC, please click hs pic and upload here to show his expressions; he has no right to keep the RC with him if he hasn't yet initiated the process - its his fault, not yours.I have always followed the second one as I don't like making a lot of calls! Last edited by VKumar : 6th November 2022 at 09:39 .
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TimeControl is the market's most adaptable and multi-function timesheet entry software. It is ready to link with different project management systems as well as company finance and administrative systems and services such as HR, Payroll, Billing, Estimating, Job Costing, and your ERP. When you integrate TimeControl with your project management and corporate systems, you can have a single timesheet input that serves numerous functions.

Key Features

Time Requests: TimeControl's vacation permission system is TimeRequest. It is a basic and easy-to-use interface where you may request future time off, and if accepted, the time will immediately show in the appropriate future timesheet. It is extremely adaptable and can be designed to monitor approvals for any type of future time request.

Workflow: This timesheet entry comes with a robust workflow engine. It lets you create a wide range of possible actions when timesheets are published, and automatic Validation Rules are verified. Email notifications can be generated, the timesheet can be moved along the approval procedure, or data can be modified inside TimeControl depending on the data circumstances you test for. TimeControl Workflow is intended to help you address several business problems and optimize your timesheet entries.

Project Management Links: TimeControl is frequently used to measure not just how much time is spent in an organization but also where it was spent, which for some businesses means tying it to a project management system. Secondly, it has the most project management linkages of any timesheet on the market. It can assist in the creation of an integrated Enterprise Project Management System whether you use Microsoft Project or Project Server, Oracle's Primavera or Deltek's Open Plan, or Cobra.

HR and Finance Links: Timesheets are frequently connected for financial or human resource reasons. It can track and send timesheet entries to payroll and service systems, finance/ERP systems, and human resource systems.

Tracking and Notifications: TimeControl makes work simple with automated scheduled email warnings, a Missing Timesheet report, and capabilities for discovering and dealing with timesheets that are not complete for specific periods.

With TimeControl Online: TimeControl Online is TimeControl available as a Software as a Service subscription that allows you to start using TimeControl immediately without having to purchase or configure servers and databases, or manage, upgrade, monitor, or service the system during its lifespan.

Comprehensive Timesheet Report: TimeControl produces an impressive list of reports, and its Drill-Down Analyzer allows administrators to quickly combine data for ad-hoc examination.

Validation Rules: Creating Business Validation Rules is one of TimeControl's most powerful capabilities. Validation Rules enable the establishment of automated tests for timesheets that are run when the timesheet is released for approval. The Validation Rules have already evaluated the timesheet for compliance with the business procedures before a supervisor sees it.

In addition, TimeControl has established a standard for all clients since 1984 to give a good reference for future clients. Their client list includes a who's who of the industry. Among those who trusted the timesheet entry software are Aegion, AMD, CAE, CANAM, CRIM, EXFO, Foster Wheeler, Kelly Services, the Government of Quebec, MCAP, Kawartha Conservation, Pontoon Solutions, Progress Rail, SEFA, Volvo Novabus, and hundreds more.

Benefits

Multi-Purpose: When you pick TimeControl, you can only deploy one timesheet at a time. TimeControl was built from the start to meet the demands of both Project Management and Finance. This has grown over time. TimeControl can now fulfill the requirements of a wide range of company procedures. TimeControl is designed to provide data for Payroll, Human Resources, Job Costing, R&D Tax Credits, Invoicing, Sarbanes Oxley asset accounting, and Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) needs, in addition to project management updates of both time and progress.

User-friendly Interface: TimeControl's interface is basic and intuitive, making it ideal for beginners. Aside from that, it is multi-device, multi-browser, and multi-lingual compatible. The best part is that there are different timesheets for all reasons, making this the one-stop shop for all timesheet data.

Flexible Timesheet: The TimeControl timesheet's design concept is based on flexibility. Delivering a commercial timesheet system that would meet different demands was necessary from the very first bespoke timesheet built by HMS.

TimeControl Industrial: TimeControl has multiple versions, including TimeControl Industrial, which is offered in the cloud as a subscription service or on-premise. TimeControl Industrial expands on what TimeControl currently does well by adding Crew Timesheets, Field Data Collection for Material Consumption, Equipment Usage, and Production Accomplished. Aside from data entry, TimeControl Industrial has additional rate capabilities to support all aspects of industrial labor and non-labor cost management. This provides the option to set various conditions for rate premiums and rate increases.

Available in a Mobile App: The free TimeControl Mobile App goes much further. Aside from mobile inputs for individual and crew timesheets, the App also supports approvals, adding costs, uploading and attaching photos such as receipts, and collecting field data for TimeControl's non-labor entries such as material consumption and equipment usage. Additionally, the App allows user-defined data from the main system and the ability to update task progress. It is compatible with both iOS and Android smartphones.

Overall, TimeControl is a multi-purpose timesheet system aimed to fulfill multiple functions simultaneously. It measures time task by task and project by project, and it incorporates financial controls for both corporate users seeking project management timesheets. Besides being a timesheet entry, it also contains all features required to meet the strict requirements of payroll, human resources, and finance.

You can try TimeControl for a free trial right now or request a live online demo! No need to install any software, too.

#2 Scoro

Scoro provides all of the capabilities required for effective project timesheet software comprising but not limited to, team communication, reporting, and billing. It's also an all-in-one company management system that allows you to oversee projects, clients, and funds. If you work in a creative, digital, PR, or advertising business, Scoro can replace all of your existing tools and save you a lot of money.

But, in addition to tracking time, timesheet entry, and logging activities, it allows you to do much more. Scoro integrates job management, project management, and CRM to improve team communication and make it simple to manage all of your company activities in one location.

Key Features and Benefits

With time tracking and time billing

Get time and work reports

See real-time dashboards

Billing automation, including quoting & invoicing

With project & task management tools

Highly customizable timesheet entry

Using this timesheet entry, you may plan work, share a team calendar, designate priorities, and set deadlines all in one location. Determine who is working on what and eliminate tasks that are wasting your team's time. Then on a single dashboard, you can track, share, and analyze critical metrics about your team's usage. You can manage your whole business in one location, schedule your hours more efficiently, and better understand how everyone's time is spent.

#3 Beebole Timesheet

Beebole Timesheet is a time-tracking and business intelligence program for small, medium, and large businesses. Managers can measure staff time with Beebole Timesheet to limit expenditures and monitor budgets. It appeals to businesses of all sizes because of its simple yet highly adjustable reports and modules. The mobile app is also available offline and is compatible with all devices. It should be noted that Beebole is accessible in eight different languages.

Using a project timesheet template, this software allows you to track only what you need. You may manage the project and task hours, produce highly configurable reports, and more. It is one of a kind and perhaps one of the best time management software you'll ever need, with more features and better flexibility than competing programs.

Beebole's employee time and attendance software are ideal for task and time management in remote employees and enterprises. With this, employees can easily clock in and out from their desktop computer, any mobile device, or any location. You can also schedule your team members' work hours personally and conveniently track their breaks and absences.

Key Features and Benefits

Timesheet entry for performance and projects

Easy time clock and attendance

Lets you get a report on the time spent

Available in 11 languages

Billable hours and budgeting features

#4 Replicon

Replicon is a sophisticated multi-feature solution that allows businesses to track work hours and get a complete picture of their employees. By integrating AI/ML to produce review-ready timesheets, you can automatically gather worldwide workers' time and work data with this timesheet input. Allow AI to handle the heavy tasks and free your staff from traditional timesheets.

Boost your hybrid workforce with AI-powered time monitoring for automated work and time data gathering across all their work apps. With 100% correct data, you may eventually improve employee efficiency and project profitability. Using Replicon's customized user interfaces for phones, tablets, or computers, you can easily record hours spent on any activity, project, or job. Capture accurate and relevant time data from your workers' use of numerous work applications and collaboration platforms.

Replicon timesheet software assists in verifying, cleansing, analyzing, reviewing, and applying the appropriate processes to your time information to guarantee data are error-free and ready for processing. Finally, you can track project time to ensure correct pricing and billing. Never miss a billable minute by tracking time against customer projects, activities, or custom fields.

Key Features and Benefits

AI-based timesheet applications

Track time across over 100 work apps

Flexible and 100% accurate timesheet

GDPR-compliant and security features

Error-free for tracking financial data

#5 Teamwork

Understanding how and where you spend your time is critical for managing your job, billable hours, and projects. But this is where Teamwork can assist. By using project management software with an integrated online timesheet, you can stay focused, deliver work on time, and gain greater insights.

Easily track all time spent on a project across different tasks and team members to understand better where your team's time is being spent. You may provide better estimates, precise task records, and accurate invoicing to your clients if you have a clearer breakdown of how time has been spent across client projects. Use a project time tracker application to understand better how much time work needs to be accomplished, allowing you to manage team resources and timetables better.

This timesheet entry software allows you to develop more honest, trustworthy connections with your clients if you have complete insight into where your team's time has been spent. With comprehensive records of hours worked and work completed, you can provide more accurate offers, give them better peace of mind, and minimize future disagreements.

Key Features and Benefits

Project time tracking

Optimizes time management

Measures project profitability

Invoice and budget management

Integrates with work apps

What Is the Best Time Tracker Software?

When most companies begin looking for a time-tracking system, they do not just consider how to monitor time effectively. They're also creating a window into their whole business operations. With timesheet entry software like TimeControl, Scoro, Beebole, and others, you can make better-informed decisions regarding project pricing and management, team scheduling, and even how you spend your day.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Argonauta Argo is an octopus but not quite the typical one. Even the sound of its name suggests that it is more intriguing than you would expect. The female species can create a protective shell for herself and her eggs.

Shell-like Egg Case

After mating, the female will initially keep the sperm-filled limb of her male partner. After that, she gets to work on what seems like a handbag.

She emits a mineral compound via the tips of her two blue-sheened arms and weaves it into a delicate basket in the shape of a shell. More than 40,000 embryos may be housed until it reaches its full length of about a foot. The argonaut octopus utilizes the trapped air to float just below the surface of the water in warm environments all around the globe.

The New York Times reported that due to the striking similarities between its egg bearer and the tough shells of the Nautiloids, the octopus's distant relatives, the argonaut has been dubbed the "Paper Nautilus" by scientists. In contrast to what was previously believed, genomic sequencing data shows that the octopus independently developed the genes to construct its elaborate embryo armor.

See Also: Scientists Find 'World's Largest Seagrass Forest' With the Help of Cameras Attached to Sharks

A Recent Study

Davin Setiamarga, a researcher at the National Institute of Technology, Wakayama College in Japan, published the new evidence with colleagues in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution last month. He claimed the results might fundamentally alter several misunderstandings among scientists about how cephalopods originated.

The last common ancestor of most cephalopods presumably possessed a chambered, pearly shell like the nautilus's, which exists today.

As a result of millions of years of evolution, however, cephalopods with soft bodies - such as octopuses, squids, and cuttlefish - have learned to internalize that outer shell and reduce it while adapting to their unique environments. That's why most people associate softness with octopuses (the ram's horn squid being an exception).

The argonaut's nautilus-like shell has sparked scientific debate about whether an animal can lose and regain such a characteristic throughout evolution.

At first, some experts thought that the argonauts' egg case was formed by reactivating archaic genes from the age of mollusks. But when the genome of Argonauta argo was sequenced from samples taken from the Sea of Japan, the data showed this was not the case.

Argonauts have been shown to possess protein-coding genes necessary for developing "true shells," like those that encase oysters. However, they use a different set of genes than the nautilus does to create these structures. This suggests that the shell-resembling egg case did not develop from a primitive shell form.

Should We Call it a Shell?

Dr. Setiamarga feels confident to call it a shell, but not Michael Vecchione, a zoologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

The zoologist said that whereas most mollusks use mantle tissue produced by a gland to create their shells, the argonaut's shell material is secreted from the arms.

Also Read: Researchers are 3D-Printing Concrete 'Innoreefs' to Help Save Natural Coral Reefs

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Trisha Kae Andrada

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
News of a 'spy' whale made the rounds on the Internet in 2019. It was when a tame beluga whale was spotted approaching fishing boats in Norwegian waters, according to reports at the time. It was also seen wearing a harness stamped with "Equipment of St. Petersburg."

Accused 'Spy' Turned Tourist Attraction

This sparked speculation that the beluga was part of a Russian military program that trained cetaceans for various military activities such as underwater surveillance and recovery. It has since escaped to seas near Norway.

The use of cetaceans in military exercises, such as the beluga whale, has been practiced by the United States armed forces and other nations, which has alarmed animal rights groups. The International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) slammed the US Navy in 2017 for the tragic death of Makai, a 46-year-old male dolphin.

The cetacean's apparatus was removed in a rescue operation in 2021, according to IMMP, and the beluga, which has been particularly fond of showing affection for human interaction, drew a steady stream of tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of the friendly mammal. This sparked an unexpected boom in the tourism industry in the area, affecting local fishing routes. The viral whale quickly became an Internet sensation.

Read Also: Humans May Have Abnormalities in the Future Due to Excessive Use of Technology, Research Claims

The whale is now known as Hvaldimir, after the Norwegian word for whale and the current Russian president. Unfortunately, Hvaldimir's fondness for human vessels led to fishing problems and serious injuries as a result of the whale's visibility in the busy bodies of water. Reports indicate that the beluga has been injured by boat propellers, sharp objects, and fishing hooks. This is according to news updates released by the same advocacy group.

Efforts to Save Hvaldimir

The whale's activity, which disrupted fishing in Norwegian waterways, frustrated fishermen in the area. According to The Guardian, Hvaldimir's situation has inspired a British entrepreneur to set up a charity and begin raising funds to establish the world's first open-water whale sanctuary in the Norwegian fjords.

Former real estate tycoon Adam Thorpe, who reportedly learned about Hvaldimir from a National Geographic article in 2019, is the founder of OneWhale. OneWhale is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the protection and monitoring of the beluga whale. Studies on establishing the previously stated sanctuary are also being funded by the charity organization.

OneWhale thinks that a protected reserve will safeguard Hvaldimir from tourists and allow him to live his life as naturally as possible. The group also hopes to assist other rescued cetaceans in the sanctuary. Their goal is for Hvaldimir to be joined by others of his kind and possibly be released into the wild soon.

The Norwegian government has given Thorpe and OneWhale authorization to net off the fjord, according to The Guardian. This is if he can raise 250,000 to pay for the nets to secure the area, build housing for staff to stay nearby and keep an eye on the whales, as well as establish a veterinary lab to provide care for the inhabitants.

Related Article: Military Activities Amid Russia-Ukraine War May Be Killing Dolphins in the Black Sea

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Listen to the continuation of the story of the English scientist Charles Darwin, told by the historian Virginie Girod, in an unpublished story in two episodes. During a scientific expedition in Latin America where he was able to observe nature, Charles Darwin saw his vision of the world, supposed to be organized by God, called into question. His theory of evolution, according to which species evolve over time to adapt to their environment, is in the making. But it's a new discovery that will shake up his certainties! This story is a Europe 1 Studio production.
Voters walk to and away from voting, on the first day of early voting at the State Archives building on Essen Lane in Baton Rouge, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022. Early voting for the Nov. 8 Louisiana open congressional primary election runs through Tuesday, Nov. 1. Polls are closed Sunday, Oct. 30. Voters statewide will consider a U.S. Senate primary and eight constitutional amendments. All voters in the Baton Rouge area will have a congressional race on the ballot. All area parishes except West Feliciana have local races. Visit geauxvote.com for additional information on candidates and issues. A list of early voting locations is available at https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/earlyvoting; please note that hours may be different at satellite offices. Voters are asked to bring an ID with them to vote. Voters without an ID will be allowed to vote after filling out an affidavit.
Australias minister for the Pacific, Pat Conroy, will use the first days of the global climate talks  known as the world leaders summit  to meet with Pacific island leaders to discuss plans to co-host a COP summit with them in 2026.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will not be in Egypt for the talks, choosing instead to attend ASEAN, Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation and G20 meetings in Cambodia, Thailand and Bali, respectively. Conroy will represent Australia during the first days of the talks in Egypt, along with the newly appointed climate change ambassador, Kristin Tilley.

Minister for the Pacific Pat Conroy will represent Australia at COP27 in Egypt. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Conroy will meet with a range of leaders individually and host events for regional groups and organisations, he told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on Sunday before flying to Egypt.

It is important to be asking them what role they think they would like to play rather than having Australia dictating to them as we have done in the past, he said.
Unless the Government stopped encouraging gambling New South Wales would become a great modern Monte Carlo, the delegation said.

Members of the NSW Council of Churches sign a petition condemning new poker machine legislation on August 7, 1956. Credit:Ronald Leslie Stewart

A deputation of Church leaders told the Premier, Mr Turnbull, yesterday that the State was turning too much to gambling.

First published in The Sydney Morning Herald on November 8, 1957

The deputation was from the N.S.W Council of Churches.

The deputation protested at jackpot tote legislation, the legalisation of poker machines, and Government plans to raise funds for the Opera House through mammoth lotteries.

People queue up for Opera House Lottery tickets at the State Lotteries Office in Sydney on November 27, 1957. Credit:Frank Burke

It said the Opera House fund-raising plan was Most ill-advised and strikingly incongruous even in these days.

In a prepared statement, the deputation told Mr Cahill: In recent years gambling has increased alarmingly and has assumed the proportions of a virulent disease and social mania throughout the State.
In northern Victoria, the Goulburn River flooded the entire Discovery Parks Nagambie Lakes caravan park, which included 56 tourist cabins and 136 powered sites for camping and caravans, as well as 200 spots for annuals who holiday at the park regularly. An extensive clean-up is under way, with workers stripping the walls and floors of cabins that were extensively damaged by floodwater even though some were built high off the ground on stilts. The clean-up at Discovery Parks Nagambie Lakes caravan park. Credit:Joe Armao Workers have piled plaster, wood and insulation outside the cabins, while much of the park still remains underwater. The Goulburn River rushed through the vast site with such for force it lifted caravans from their sites and swept away personal belongings, including canoes and toolboxes.

Discovery Parks chief operations officer Matt Lang said the company was committed to rebuilding the park. We will reopen, he said. We dont know when. Discovery Parks Matt Lang outside cabins that were flooded in Nagambie. Credit:Joe Armao Lang said many guests at the park holidayed there every year and made an important economic contribution to Nagambie, where the town centre was spared the worst of flood damage. Theyve created traditions for their families.

At nearby Mitchelton Estate, head of hospitality Martin Garrett said the business  which includes a winery, hotel and restaurant  had reopened two weeks after its cellar and acclaimed art gallery were extensively damaged by floodwater. Estate staff managed to move about 120 artworks to safety, but many could not be moved before the floodwaters arrived. Some paintings have been shipped to Canberra for specialist restoration We got a lot of the culturally significant pieces out, which is great, Garrett said. But unfortunately, there wasnt time to get everything. The gallery is yet to reopen.

Garrett said guests had cancelled their bookings immediately after the floods, and the Melbourne Cup weekend had been quiet, but confidence was returning. We are open. The town is open. We want people to come back. Martin Garrett at Michelton Estate. Credit:Joe Armao However, Garrett said the closure of the Nagambie Lakes caravan park was a blow to the town. We certainly do get trade from the caravan park.

Strathbogie Shire mayor Laura Binks said the council was working to fix and reopen roads, but it could take three months to examine the extent of the damage. Flooding has damaged our roads so badly we must look at repairs that are above and beyond our normal maintenance programs, she said. Binks said most businesses in the shire remained open, but warned visitors should take care on damaged roads. Lee Rowland, president of business and tourism group Go Nagambie, said the holiday season was likely to have a slow start, and the damage to the caravan park was a loss. However, he remained confident that visitors would return.

Were still expecting to have a busy summer, he said. A spokesman for the Andrews government said it was backing businesses across the state to get back on their feet, citing more than $1.4 billion in flood support programs funded together with the federal government. Were making sure flood affected communities have the support they need to rebuild and reopen roads as quickly and safely as possible, he said. Some customers have begun returning to Mitchelton Estate in Nagambie. Credit:Joe Armao The government has allocated $165 million for emergency repairs to reopen roads, and it insists workers have carried out repairs to more than 600 roads, including patching almost 55,000 potholes.

But opposition spokeswoman for regional recovery, Cindy McLeish, said roads had been neglected for too long and were crumbling as a result. She said lack of maintenance around drains and culverts was contributing to the problem. The most inquiries I get into my office are about the state of the roads, and its been like that for years, she said. Roads have suffered extensive flood damage across Victoria. Credit:Australian Financial Review Many tourism operators along the Murray River are now facing their third summer of severely disrupted trade after the losses inflicted by the pandemic.

Barmah Bridge Caravan Park co-owner Brad Panos said much of the site remained underwater, and they would be lucky to reopen by the end of January. Loading Its a long road to recovery for us, he said. We were just clawing our way back from COVID. He estimated the business would lose about $100,000 in income. Panos said flood insurance had become impossible to find or far too expensive for caravan parks on rivers. But everyone in Australia wants to holiday on water, whether its a river or the ocean, he said. Thats why these parks exist.

Murray Regional Tourism Board interim chief executive Will Flamsteed said many accommodation providers had zero per cent occupancy because roads were closed or customers had cancelled because of concerns about the floods. Were seeing it in Echuca. Were seeing it right along the river, he said. People going to Swan Hill or Mildura are cancelling because they think the whole Murray is flooded. Theres a lot of that at the moment. Flamsteed said tourism businesses on the Murray had also suffered in recent years from pandemic restrictions applied by both the Victorian and New South Wales governments. Flooding in Echuca is expected to inflict a heavy blow to its tourism sector. Credit:Jason South He estimated the flood disaster would now cost tourism businesses tens of millions of dollars in lost trade.

Theyre hurting. Victorian Tourism Industry Council chief executive Felicia Mariani said the Murray region was among the hardest hit by the floods. Loading These people will not be recovered in time to welcome back Christmas visitors, she said. We know many people have started shifting their bookings from the Murray to Gippsland. She said businesses that relied on natural surroundings, including caravan parks, were unable to secure affordable flood insurance.
A West Australian tradie and father of a young daughter has been killed in a freak workplace accident only several months before his wedding.

David Outhwaites devastated fiancee Jodi Dunlop told Nine News her partner was sunshine in human form, especially to his 16-month-old daughter.

The 36-year-old electrician was killed Friday afternoon while working on a power pole at Nirimba, south of Perth.

About 2:35pm Friday, police were called to a property on Thompson Road where Outhwaite was found unresponsive.
James Merlino, Victorias former deputy premier and ex-minister for many things  education and mental health among them  was looking pretty relaxed at Friday nights opening of Phantom of the Opera.

The member for Monbulk and reported Hawthorn board aspirant was among notable audience members including entertainer Rhonda Burchmore, ABC comedian Sammy J, songstress Linda Bull, and actress and singer Tottie Goldsmith, gathered at the Arts Centre for the Opera Australia revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber stage show.

James Merlino at his Dandenong Ranges home earlier this year. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui

While only about 20 per cent of male attendees seemed to get the memo about dressing in black tie, Qantas (and the AFL commission and Woodside) chair Richard Goyder did. Perhaps hed brought it with him from Perth.

Merlino, meanwhile, appeared unruffled by both the upcoming state election and the enormous shaky chandelier suspended over the audience in the stalls of the State Theatre.
Most women are not lucky enough to have the public support of the institution where they were harassed, she says. I was unemployed, my mental health was poor, and I was focused on surviving week to week. If I had to think about paying legal bills at that point I dont think I would have engaged [lawyers] Maurice Blackburn. The Albanese government is soon to enact legislation which, despite the best intentions, many experts say will scare off complainants from pursuing harassers in legal proceedings. The legislation will amend the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 to fully incorporate changes recommended by the Respect@Work: National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces. This is the report by esteemed Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, which the Morrison government sat on for over a year, before releasing it in 2021. Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins. Credit:AFR The Labor government promised to implement fully the reports recommendations, but one provision is contentious with lawyers who represent sexual harassment complainants.

At present, the federal jurisdiction for anti-discrimination claims is an adverse costs jurisdiction, which generally means that costs are paid by the loser in a dispute  a huge risk for an individual against a big company, for example. But the new laws to be introduced by the government would change the costs structure of litigation to costs neutrality. That means the default position is that each side of a dispute or claim pays their own legal costs, no matter what the outcome, although the court has a discretion to award costs orders, taking into account the financial position of the parties. Bearing in mind that litigation costs can run into many hundreds of thousands of dollars, this costs neutrality provision could also present a major obstacle for many would-be litigants. Illustration: Reg Lynch. Credit:Fairfax Often, legal costs can outstrip the damages awarded to a person. Complainants already take a big risk in that they might be ordered to pay the other sides costs if they lose. Many only feel confident commencing legal proceedings if they know they can recoup their legal costs in the event they win.

Over 100 individuals and organisations (including Eggerking) have signed an open letter to Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and Minister for Women Katy Gallagher expressing deep concern about the costs neutrality change, saying it will undermine access to justice. The signatories are calling for an asymmetrical costs provision modelled on whistleblower laws, where complainants, if they lose their claim, will not face adverse costs, unless the claim is found to be vexatious. Independent Kooyong MP Monique Ryan is also worried about the costs neutrality provision. In a speech to parliament last week she said that under the changes, a victim-survivor shown to have been wrongfully treated in the workplace could end up out of pocket for seeking recognition of that fact  defendants who want to punish and wear down a woman complainant can do so. On Monday, Ryan will move an amendment to change the provision to the same sort of model urged by the open-letter signatories. No-win-no-fee lawyers are the ultimate losers here, so it makes sense they would object to the change, but many legal academics also think its a bad idea, as does the not-for-profit litigation funder Grata Fund  whose director is renowned civil liberties barrister Jennifer Robinson (its patron is Tony Fitzgerald AC KC, of Fitzgerald Inquiry fame).

Community legal centres, such as the Kingsford Legal Centre in Sydney, are also critical. KLC director Emma Golledge says she doesnt believe the change is a truly neutral provision at all, because the playing field is so uneven. Loading Its an individual against a highly resourced other side in most cases, she says. The risk of having to pay big costs mean that people reluctantly settle matters, and often cant discuss anything afterwards because they sign Non Disclosure Agreements. Under the costs neutrality changes, we will still have to advise clients they may get a costs order made against them, Golledge says. She also says airing discrimination matters in court can have an important public transparency benefit, and this measure will discourage valid claims going to court.

We have made it hard for people to litigate and enforce their rights. Cases get run reflecting the resourcing of the parties. Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins says the costs neutrality position is a good balance because some complainants reported that under the present system, they worried they would get a costs order against them if they lost against a big employer. The Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee report into the legislation supported the provision, noting that the Attorney-Generals Department believes costs neutrality would provide certainty and improve access to justice. The Law Council also supports it, but with carve-outs for class actions with certain characteristics. But the Committee report recommended the operation of the provision be reviewed by the Australian Law Reform Commission in six to 12 months. The Respect@Work changes to discrimination law are excellent, overall. They represent a paradigm shift, putting the onus on employers to create a safe, discrimination-free workplace. But all regulation needs the prospect of enforcement to back it up. It would be bitter if the costs-neutrality provision meant potential litigants were scared off.
Jack Ta offers to help 'heroin traffickers'

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Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size A global human trafficking syndicate has exploited flaws in Australian border security and the immigration system. See all 15 stories . A migration agent who has boasted of cosy meals with Coalition ministers and who donated more than $25,000 to the campaign fund of former Liberal assistant home affairs minister Jason Wood is suspected of repeatedly gaming the visa system to help more than a dozen drug offenders remain in Australia. Wood was the chair of parliaments migration committee when the donations took place and he hosted migration agent Jack Ta on at least two occasions to dine with now opposition leader Peter Dutton when he was home affairs minister. A major investigation by The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes can reveal that Ta has been identified by law enforcement agencies for allegedly running a firm that has been used by Vietnamese drug offenders to exploit the visa system to avoid deportation and extend their stay in Australia. An undercover sting has also captured Ta on camera offering to help a man posing as a heroin trafficker get visas for two people he said were Vietnamese drug runners. Asked if he could help the drug dealers extend their stay in Australia for two to three years, Ta told the undercover operative it would be easy and that its doable. Despite the fact that theyre unlawful at the moment, there are five or six different types of visas that they can apply for, Ta told the undercover operative organised by The Age, the Herald and 60 Minutes. The revelations come as Home Affairs Minister Clare ONeil declared the nations immigration system broken and signalled an independent review into what she called systemic failures, including in the migration agents sector, that have allowed overseas criminals to remain in Australia.

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Authorities have linked Tas migration agency to dozens of unmeritorious asylum seeker claims, including at least 15 made by convicted Vietnamese drug offenders. Ta has a federal government licence to give migration advice and his firm operates in every state in Australia, as well as in Vietnam. Three official sources who briefed this masthead on the condition of anonymity said policing agencies first identified concerns about overseas drug offenders using Tas migration agency to file visa applications in 2014. Records show that between 2017 and 2019, Ta donated $26,700 to a fundraising vehicle linked to Wood, who Ta has described as his friend. Between 2016 and 2019, Wood chaired federal parliaments joint committee on migration as it ran inquiries into unscrupulous migration agents and into visa cancellation for criminals. Wood became an assistant home affairs minister in May 2019. In a September 2019 Vietnamese-language post on a personal Facebook page that also advertises his business, Ta described meeting Wood and Dutton at a very cosy dinner in the dining room of the Parliament in Canberra. Jack Ta with Jason Wood and former prime minister Scott Morrison. We talked about bills, amendment policies, and definitely this year there will be many good changes. Congratulations to my friend Jason Wood for being promoted as Deputy Minister for Home Affairs after the election, and certainly later we will discuss and contribute opinions to how policies should be amended, and the author will also continue to represent you guys when the files have to be in need of the intervention of the Minister/ Deputy Minister. Home Affairs Minister Mr Peter Dutton was still in great form, and we also exchanged what family, business and indispensably, vehicles, are all about.

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There is no suggestion that Dutton or Wood knew that Tas company had been used by criminals. Ta was identified by policing agencies as part of an investigation into Vietnamese drug offenders seeking visas they were not entitled to, but there is no suggestion he was personally under investigation for any crime. Sources confirmed that the federal government agencies have been briefed that Tas business is linked to more than 150 baseless asylum seeker claims over several years and that 100 per cent of protection visa applications his businesses have helped lodge are ultimately determined as being without any merit. At least 15 convicted drug offenders are among those who have lodged the suspect applications. Jack Ta. The data suggests Jack Tas migration agency, which retains its federal government licences to provide immigration advice, has been enabling criminals to lodge false visa claims to extend their stay in Australia. Once a protection visa is lodged, a person can stay in Australia awaiting the approval or rejection of the claim or apply for other visa types, a process that due to departmental and tribunal backlogs can take years. Investigators linked Tas office to the applications by analysing IP addresses, according to sources who are not authorised to speak publicly.

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It is a breach of the migrant agents code to knowingly assist a person make a false visa claim, for a migration agent to fail to declare their involvement in a visa claim, or to claim a special or privileged relationship with any government official. In an interview, Ta appeared to defend the lodging of unmeritorious asylum seeker claims for drug offenders because often the only option and the only visa that they can lodge is for protection visa. Protections visas are reserved only for those who are escaping persecution in another country. Pressed on why a drug offender would qualify for such a visa, Ta indicated that lodging an asylum seeker claim was a means to allow them to stay in Australia while any appeal process was exhausted, or another visa was lodged. You can lodge it. And then you can bring the matter on appeal, he said. Former deputy secretary of the immigration department, Abul Rizvi, said there was no justification for applying for a protection visa for a known or suspected criminal. Asked why there was a 100 per cent refusal rate on more than 150 protection visas linked to his office, Ta said he could not recall if his business was involved in the applications. He also said he could not recall if his office had any role lodging asylum seeker claims for at least 15 convicted criminals from Vietnam.

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I cant give a general comment about the so called 15 people, he said. He did, however, state that he had offered lawful advice to more than 1000 Vietnamese cannabis crop minders caught up in the Australian criminal justice system, while also claiming there are at least 300 criminals planning to enter Australia from Vietnam. The suspect activity of Tas Australia-wide migration business has occurred over a period of several years, during which Ta like many migration agents posed with multiple politicians and posted the photos on his social media accounts that also advertise his migration business. When the Coalition held power, Wood appears to have introduced Ta to a host of senior ministers who briefly posed for pictures with Ta, including prime minister Scott Morrison, treasurer Josh Frydenberg and immigration ministers Alex Hawke and David Coleman. Ta also attended an election campaign launch event for then shadow minister Clare ONeil, where he was photographed in a small group with ONeil and then shadow minister Penny Wong. He recently posed for a photo with Labors immigration minister Andrew Giles at a migration industry event. There is no suggestion any of these Liberal or Labor politicians had anything but fleeting contact with Ta. Jack Ta poses with then shadow ministers Clare ONeil (left) and Penny Wong. ONeil said of the photograph with Ta featuring her: People like this tend to attend open community events with politicians to give an impression of political access. If I have met him, I certainly do not recall it and we have no association Im aware of. There is no record of any financial donation from Ta to Labor.

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Editor's note: Information provided by the Ministry of Environment of Peru.

#PeruenlaCOP27????

??????????????Todas y todos jugaremos este mes un partido muy importante: se trata de la cumbre climatica global @COP27P, en Egipto.



Quieres saber de que se trata y por que es importante la participacion de nuestro pais?Enterate aqui y comparte.??#TierraSoloHayUna?? pic.twitter.com/Dm6xRV1Sl8
Batavia, NY (14020)

Today

Overcast. High 46F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy early then becoming windy with periods of rain after midnight. Low 39F. Winds SSE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Higher wind gusts possible.
There is one thing that ancient Greeks, Renaissance artists, a 17th century astronomer, and 21st century architects all have in commonthey all used the golden mean, otherwise known as the golden ratio, divine proportion, or golden section. To be precise, this is the number 1.61803399 represented by the Greek letter phiwhich is considered truly unique in its mathematical properties, its prevalence throughout nature, and its ability to achieve a perfect aesthetic composition.

According to astrophysicist Mario Livio:

Some of the greatest mathematical minds of all ages, from Pythagoras and Euclid in ancient Greece, through the medieval Italian mathematician Leonardo of Pisa and the Renaissance astronomer Johannes Kepler, to present-day scientific figures such as Oxford physicist Roger Penrose, have spent endless hours over this simple ratio and its properties. But the fascination with the Golden Ratio is not confined just to mathematicians. Biologists, artists, musicians, historians, architects, psychologists, and even mystics have pondered and debated the basis of its ubiquity and appeal. In fact, it is probably fair to say that the Golden Ratio has inspired thinkers of all disciplines like no other number in the history of mathematics.

In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities. When the golden mean is conceptualized in two dimensions, it is typically presented as a regular spiral that is defined by a series of squares and arcs, each forming Golden Rectangles.

This symbolic potential arises because of the way the means spiral shape resembles growth patterns observed in nature and its proportions are reminiscent of those in human bodies. Thus, these simple spirals and rectangles, which served to suggest the presence of a universal order underlying the world, were thereby dubbed golden or divine.

The Golden Ratio in History

The golden ratio has fascinated Western intellectuals of diverse interests for at least 2,400 years. The earliest known monuments believed to have been built according to this alluring number are the statues of the Parthenon in Greece, dating back between 490 and 430 B.C. However, there are many who have argued that it goes back much further than this and that the Egyptians were well versed in the properties of this unique number.

According to some historians, the Egyptians thought that the golden ratio was sacred. Therefore, it was very important in their religion. They used the golden ratio when building temples and places for the dead. In addition, the Egyptians found the golden ratio to be pleasing to the eye. They used it in their system of writing and in the arrangement of their temples. The Egyptians were aware that they were using the golden ratio, but they called it the sacred ratio.

The first recorded definition of the golden ratio dates back to the period when Greek mathematician Euclid (c. 325c. 265 B.C.) described what he called the extreme and mean ratio. However, the ratios unique properties became popularized in the 15th century when aesthetics were a vital component of Renaissance art, and geometry served both practical and symbolic purposes. As the famous mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer, Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) wrote:

Geometry has two great treasures: one is the Theorem of Pythagoras, and the other the division of a line into extreme and mean ratio; the first we may compare to a measure of gold, the second we may name a precious jewel.

The Golden Ratio in Architecture

Many artists and architects have proportioned their work to approximate the golden ratio with the belief that the outcome will be more aesthetically pleasing. Devising forms from this ratio, an architect can design a door handle that has a complementary relationship to its door, which in turn has a similar relationship to its enclosing wall, and so on. But more than this, the golden ratio has been used for the facade of great buildings from the Parthenon to the Great Mosque of Kairouan and all the way through to modern landmarks such as the Sydney Opera House and the National Gallery in London.

The Golden Ratio in Nature

Perhaps what is most surprising about the Golden Ratio is that it can be seen as a naturally occurring phenomenon in nature. The golden ratio is expressed in the arrangement of branches along the stems of plants and the veins in leaves. It can be seen in the skeletons of animals and humans and the branching of their veins and nerves. It can even be seen in the proportions of chemical compounds and the geometry of crystals. Essentially, it is all around us and within us and for this reason, German psychologist Adolf Zeising (1810-1876) labelled it a universal law:

in which is contained the ground-principle of all formative striving for beauty and completeness in the realms of both nature and art, and which permeates, as a paramount spiritual ideal, all structures, forms and proportions, whether cosmic or individual, organic or inorganic, acoustic or optical; which finds its fullest realization, however, in the human form.

As a result of the unique properties of this golden proportion, many view the ratio as sacred or divine and as a door to a deeper understanding of beauty and spirituality in life, unveiling a hidden harmony or connectedness in so much of what we see.

Republished with permission. Read the original on Ancient Origins.
Open floodgates provide easy access for illegal aliens crossing into the United States from Mexico along the southern border wall fence in Douglas, Ariz., on Aug. 24. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

Arizona Candidates Kari Lake, Blake Masters Tour the Southern Border

SIERRA VISTA, Ariz.With less than a week to go before the Nov. 8 election, Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters spoke to the media at the southern border.

This is the material that you and I paid for, Lake said, while pointing to border wall construction material that was lying on the ground. When Im governor, my plan calls to take that back and start finishing the wall, This is outrageous that its sitting here rusting.

She said she would declare the material abandoned federal property, and if elected, shell take it back and start constructing President [Donald] Trumps wall.

That will help slow illegal crossings, which will help the Border Patrol, Lake said. And once caught, Lake wants to send illegal immigrants back across the border, not deeper into the United States.

Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb speaks with Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for Arizona governor, during a roundtable discussion of the fentanyl crisis in Goodyear, Ariz., on March 14, 2022. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

Earlier in the day, during a Facebook Live event, Lake pointed out that school nurses nowadays have Narcan, an emergency overdose injection, instead of just Band-Aids. She also said that because of the porous southern border, drugs are flowing in unchecked and children as young as a year old have died from drug poisoning. She said that if elected, she wants to stop the cartels and the drugs and smugglers from pouring across our border.

We are going to take an aggressive approach to our border. Article 1, section 10 of the Arizona Constitution defines Arizona by its border. This is Arizonas border, and were going to protect Arizonas border, she said. If we dont secure our border here, every sheriff around this country has to deal with the ramifications of that.

Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb joined Lake at the border event. He said what he sees at the border is an invasion by the cartels.

Lamb noted that a common argument against building a physical wall is that technology is sufficient. But, in addition to not completing the wall, President Joe Biden decided to never turn on the available technology, he said.

As a result, Lamb said counties such as his and others across the country are affected by increased human trafficking, drugs, and cartels.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, on the other hand, wants to pass comprehensive immigration reform but calls the border wall an anti-immigrant policy thats not a real solution, according to her campaign website.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters speaks during his election night watch party in Chandler, Ariz., on Aug. 2, 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Masters said his opponent, Sen. Mark Kelly (R-Ariz.), conceded that the southern border is a mess. But instead of doing something about it, Kelly has voted in lockstep with Bidens open border policies.

Masters said he wont vote for a single thing that Biden wants, not a single piece of funding, not a continuing resolution, not a single appointee, unless and until he agrees to give us some border security. He said this is the leverage that Kelly has had but hasnt used.

According to his website, Kelly introduced bipartisan legislation to require the federal government to develop a coordinated response that ensures a safe, orderly, and humane process at the border. He also said hell continue to push the administration to provide better communication and more resources to secure our border.

However, instead of a wall, Kelly wants advanced technology and staffing at the border, upgrading ports of entry, more immigration judges, fencing and barriers where they make sense, and modernizing our legal immigration system to set up Arizonas economy for success and keep families together.

Still, according to FiveThirtyEight, Kelly voted in line with Bidens position 94.4 percent of the time. Kelly voted for partisan measures that increased Affordable Care Act subsidies, expanded firearm regulations, and supported vaccine mandates. He also advocated establishing a commission to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach, voiced support for Build Back Better, and wanted to eliminate the filibuster.

Masters said that starting on Jan. 3, 2023, hell do everything he can at the federal level to secure the border. Pointing to Lake, he said theyll work together to take care of business at the state and federal levels.

Lake said shes a humanitarian. Because Biden rolled out the welcome mat, people are dying in the desert trying to come to the United States illegally. Lake noted that part of being a humanitarian means fixing the border. It also means taking care of the needs of Arizonans first and foremost.

Hobbs, Kelly, and White House officials didnt respond to requests by The Epoch Times for comment by press time.
A general view of the Harmondsworth immigration detention centre in Middlesex, England, on Nov. 29, 2006. (Bruno Vincent/Getty Images)

Armed Detainees Cause Unacceptable Violence at UK Immigration Centre During Power Cut

A group of armed detainees caused an unacceptable level of violence and disorder at an immigration removal centre in London during a power outage, a British minister has said.

The incident took place at the Harmondsworth detention centre near Heathrow Airport on the night of Nov. 4.

According to UK media reports, a group of detainees left their rooms and went out into the courtyard area armed with various weaponry.

None of the detainees left the premises during the incident, and they have since been returned to their rooms.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said on Nov. 5 that those responsible for the disturbance will be held to account.

He said in a statement: Thankfully no staff working or individuals detained there were hurt, despite clear evidence of unacceptable levels of violence and disorder.

The public should be reassured that offenders and others waiting removal from the UK are being held securely.

The perpetrators of this disturbance will be held to account and, where appropriate, removed from the country as swiftly as is practicable.

Metropolitan Police officers attended the incident at 7:45 p.m. on Nov. 4 but did not make any arrests, the force said.

The Home Office said it would move the detainees to other centres while engineers fix the power and repair the damage.

Detainees inside the Manston short-term holding centre for illegal immigrants wave to members of the media outside, near Ramsgate, Kent, southeast England, on Nov. 3, 2022. (Daniel Leal /AFP via Getty Images)

Cheek

It comes after illegal immigrants and pro-immigration campaigners complained about the conditions at another immigration centre.

Campaigners are threatening legal action against UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman over conditions at the Manston holding centre for illegal immigrants in Kent, where at one point as many as 4,000 people were being detained in a site intended to hold just 1,600.

Lawyers on behalf of Detention Action, an NGO, and a woman held at Manston sent an urgent pre-action letter to the Home Office on Nov. 1, slamming the unlawful treatment of people held at the facility and the egregiously defective conditions there.

But Chris Philp, a Home Office minister, said the centre is legally compliant and the UKs asylum accommodation is better than most European countries.

Talking to Times Radio on Nov. 4, Philp said, If people choose to enter a country illegally and unnecessarily, it is a bit of a cheek to then start complaining about the conditions when youve illegally entered a country without necessity.

He said that people who had passed through other countries in Europe dont even have to come here, and described the numbers as overwhelming.

Were spending something like two or three billion pounds a year looking after people who have entered the country illegally and unnecessarily, he added.

PA Media contributed to this report.
Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) preaches from his pulpit at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga., on Nov. 6, 2022. (Jackson Elliott/The Epoch Times)

At Sunday Sermon, Warnock Calls on Worshippers to Vote

ATLANTA, Ga.Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) used his Sunday sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church to encourage the congregants to vote.

The senator wore an African-patterned vestment. He occasionally sang along with his churchs gospel choir while waiting to preach. At one point, he led worship.

Every attendee needed to present proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter the building.

Warnock seemed to grow less tense and tired as the service continued. Several times, he brought the congregation of around 400 people to its feet.

Evangelizing the Electorate

Warnocks sermon mainly focused on how believers often only recognize Gods work after it has happened. He referenced his election campaign for Senate.

My dad, wearing a soldiers uniform, couldnt even keep his bus seat. Now I sit in a Senate seat, he said.

A voter registration table inside Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia on Nov. 6, 2022. (Jackson Elliott/The Epoch Times)

He implied that forces in American politics wanted to reverse civil rights victories. Warnock pastors the church once led by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Were not allowing anybody to turn the clock back 60 years, he said.

Warnock described voting as both a civic and sacred obligation.

That is not only our civic responsibility. I believe its our sacred obligation to use the voice that God has given us so that Gods values of love and justice might reign in the world, he said.

Warnock added that he isnt concerned about the result of the election because its in Gods hands. Then he said that after campaigning, he napped at 6 p.m. rather than spending every moment on the task.

This is your project. This is your work. I might as well go to sleep, Warnock said

Congregants leave Ebenezer Baptist Church after service in Atlanta, Georgia on Nov. 6, 2022. (Jackson Elliott/The Epoch Times)

Terry Cummings, the Georgia State House of Representatives candidate for District 39 attended Sundays sermon.

Warnock softened his focus on the election by announcing that Republicans, Democrats, and independents were all welcome at the church. He offered an altar call to reporters covering the service.

With his comments on voting, Warnock may have been preaching to those already converted. Of four church attendees the Epoch Times interviewed, all said they, their families, and their friends had all voted early.

All my friends and family have cast their vote, said one young woman who chose not to give her name.

Some voters said abortion was the most important election issue for them.

I never thought that [restricting abortion] was a subject to be discussed. It surprised me that you can go back, said Birgitte Houen-Tolstrup.

Birgitte Houen-Tolstrup outside Ebenezer Baptist Church after service in Atlanta, Georgia on Nov. 6, 2022. (Jackson Elliott/The Epoch Times)

She added that she didnt normally go to church but went to support Warnock.

Deaconess Irmogene Alexander also said abortion is important in this election.

I dont think that other people should decide on what a woman is doing with her body, she said.

None of the congregants interviewed said they were worried about accusations of scandal hovering around Warnock.

Warnocks ex-wife accused him of driving over her foot in an argument and sued him for failing to provide adequate child support. He told his church that dictator Fidel Castro had a complex legacy. The Washington Free Beacon reported that Ebenezer Baptist Church threw needy people out of low-rent housing in Columbia Tower because they were only $28.55 behind on rent.

Alexander said that Ebenezer Baptist Church didnt own the low-rent housing in the story.

Ebenezer does not own that complex, she said.

Deaconess Irmogene Alexander Houen-Tolstrup outside Ebenezer Baptist Church after service in Atlanta, Georgia on Nov. 6, 2022. (Jackson Elliott/The Epoch Times)

According to documents obtained by the Free Beacon, the church has 99 percent ownership of the low-rent housing.

Several congregants said they were concerned that Georgias new voting laws would suppress voter turnout. But when asked, none presented any instance where someone they knew couldnt vote.

Most people got out early so that they wouldnt run into any issues, said Venita Jackson, a congregant.

Jackson said she has attended Ebenezer for 33 years and knows that Warnock is a good man.

I am very familiar with both situations. And it has not changed my vote, she said. As a person. I know him to be a true man of God with the best intentions for the church community and for the people of Georgia.

Outside the church, pro-life protester Fred Smith displayed signs to the congregation condemning Warnocks support for abortion. Smith has protested outside the church since April 2022.

Fred Smith outside Ebenezer Baptist Church after service in Atlanta, Georgia on Nov. 6, 2022. (Jackson Elliott/The Epoch Times)

I cannot compromise in my mind how he could be a pro-choice pastor and preach it even from the pulpit, Smith said.
Ukrainian soldiers inspect a damaged Russian tank on a road near the recently retaken village of Kamianka, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on Oct. 30, 2022. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo)

Australian Man Fighting Against Russias Invasion Dies in Ukraine

An Australian man has died in Ukraine as the conflict from the Russian invasion continues, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has confirmed.

Consular assistance is being provided to the family of Trevor Kjeldal, a DFAT spokesperson said on Saturday.

Kjeldal was a very treasured and loved member of his family.

Our depth of sadness at his loss is unfathomable, the family said in a statement.

We would like to thank DFAT for their ongoing assistance in bringing him home to us.

At this incredibly sad time, we would request that the media respect our privacy as we grieve.

Kjeldal went by the call sign Ninja, and was injured in July and hospitalised in Ukraine but had no plans to immediately return to Australia, according to Nine.

He told Nine News in October his battalion wanted to support the people of Ukraine.

Ukraine was in trouble and they needed people to help, so we came and helped, he said.

I beat the odds once so lets just see if I can do it again, I suppose.

DFAT expressed its deepest condolences to the family and said it was unable to provide further comment.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also passed on his condolences to Kjeldals family and friends on Saturday.

This is tragic news. I remind people that the DFAT advice is that people do not travel to Ukraine, he said during a press conference in Queensland.

It is a dangerous place, but my heart goes out to the family and friends of the gentleman involved.

Consular assistance can include support and guidance to families and liaison with local and Australian authorities to assist with funeral arrangements or repatriation of remains.

The Australian Governments advice for Ukraine remains at do not travel.
A baby squirrel who was once rejected by her mother has formed a beautiful bond with the disabled U.S. veteran who rescued her. The veteran hoped to release her once she was healthy, but the squirrel had her own plans.

Formerly of the U.S. Marines, 53-year-old New York City native Paul Materasso was injured in service. He is now a father of two living in Queens.

Paul Materasso with Stella the squirrel. (Courtesy of Paul Materasso)

On June 1, 2019, after dropping his daughter off at a Japanese weekend school, Materasso was at a red light, waiting, when he noticed a baby squirrel being attacked by birds.

The baby was on a store awning, he told The Epoch Times. The birds knocked the baby off the awning, I pulled over to help.

Materasso fetched a ladder and climbed up to place the baby squirrel back on the awning, in sight of her mother.

I knew where her nest was, but it was way too high for me to get her there, Materasso said. I put her near and her mother saw her. I believe the mother kicked her out for her flea infestation.

Materasso then drove home but returned to the site several times over the next few hours to check on the baby squirrel. Her mother never returned. Nine hours later, the baby squirrel, who he named Stella, was on the floor being chased by stray cats.

Paul aged 8 with his first rescued squirrel, Suzy. (Courtesy of Paul Materasso)

Witnessing this sight, Materasso decided to take 7-week-old Stella home with the intention of releasing her when she was old enough.

Caring for Stella was not the veterans first rodeo with a squirrel. As a child, he helped his father raise a squirrel when a pair was booted out of their nest by their mother in the family backyard, according to Bored Panda. However, one of them died in the first month, as he was sick. Materasso named the other baby squirrel Suzy, and she lived in his home for nine long years.

Due to his prior experience, Materasso knew that baby squirrels need to drink milk every four hours. Apart from feeding Stella with dog milk formula from a bottle, he made her cozy in a small cage in his home.

Stella is on bottle feed. (Courtesy of Paul Materasso)

I also had to help Stella; she had fleas  over 20 on her little body, Materasso told The Epoch Times. She was in pain, and when I got all the fleas off she was so happy. That is when our special bond started  I had to be Stellas mom, feed her, play with her, and keep her happy.

When Stella turned three months old, Materasso began feeding her solid food: 80 percent fruits and vegetables, and 20 percent nuts. Like most squirrels, avocados were Stellas favorite.

Even at 7 months old, Stella was so small that she could fit into a human hand.

When Stella was healthy, Materasso tried releasing her, but Stella would always come back.

I guess she saw the love I gave her, attention, and of course the great food, Materasso said. She definitely trusts me and I trust her  the bond that we have is unbelievable.

Materassos 18-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter also fell in love with Stella, begging their dad to set her up her own Instagram account to share her antics with the worldMaterasso obliged.

His favorite of Stellas antics is when she runs around outside without a leash and always comes to him when he calls.

She does this chatter with her teeth, letting me know she wants to play and explore more, Materasso said. I usually let her. If I start to walk away, she comes running, like, Hey where do you think youre going without me?'

Sharing more about Stellas personality, Materasso said: If she hears me opening up a bag of anything, she needs to run and see what it is. If you come over to my place and bring something for her, she gets all happy to see you. She does these back flips in her cage so that nobody can resist giving her something; she knows how to use her charm, big time!

Materassos father passed away in 2017. He hopes that Stella might live longer than their once-beloved squirrel Suzy, telling Bored Panda, I truly think she was sent to me from God and my father.

Squirrels dont make great pets as they need more attention than a dog or cat because they get lonely fast, Materasso said. But adorable Stella chose her home, and Paul found a bond like no other, telling The Epoch Times, We need to take care of each other like we want to be taken care of if we need help. Animals need us, and we need animals.

Watch the video:

(Courtesy of Paul Materasso)

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
Bomb Squad Deals with Suspicious Device in Long Beach

LONG BEACH, Calif.The sheriffs departments bomb squad was deployed to Long Beach Nov. 5 to deal with a suspicious device in the Belmont Shore area.

Long Beach police officers were called around 3:25 p.m. to the 6400 block of Marina Drive, the departments Allison Gallagher told City News Service.

A photo published on Twitter by the bomb squad showed an object that looked similar to a hand grenade, but police did not immediately provide a further description.

#LASD SEB Tactical Bomb Techs on scene assisting our partners @LBPD with a suspicious device on 2nd Street in Long Beach. Device rendered safe. Neighborhood safe. pic.twitter.com/zT2irh8Eh1  SEB (@SEBLASD) November 6, 2022

Second Street was closed from Naples Plaza to Pacific Coast Highway while the bomb squad examined the device.

About 6 p.m., the police department wrote on Twitter: LASD Bomb Squad rendered the device safe. Roads have re-opened. The investigation is ongoing.
Dave LeMote wipes down a post clock at Electric Time Company, Inc. in Medfield, Massachusetts, March 7, 2014. Most Americans will set their clocks 60 minutes forward before heading to bed Saturday night, but daylight saving time officially starts Sunday at 2 a.m. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Californians Gain One Hour of Sleep as Daylight Saving Time Ends

Despite a majority of California voters approval in 2018 to end setting their clocks twice a year, the daylight saving time change returns this Sunday, Nov. 6, at 2 a.m. when clocks fall back to standard time across the United States.

Daylight savings is the practice of setting clocks an hour ahead to take advantage of the natural extension of daylight hours during the summer. This usually happens in March and lasts until November when the clocks are set back again by an hour.

The only states in the U.S. that have stopped the practice are Hawaii and Arizona, except on the Navajo Nation reservation.

By 2021, 33 states had introduced legislation to end clock changes, and nineteen states voted to pass it. This includes California, Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Idaho, Louisiana, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah, Wyoming, Delaware, Maine, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington, and Florida.

However, legislative action by these states is pending until the U.S. Congress officially allows permanently eliminating or adopting daylight saving time.

The Sunshine Protection Act of 2021, passed by the U.S. Senate this March, still requires discussion and passage by the House of Representatives and President Joe Bidens signature. It would make daylight saving time the new, permanent standard timestarting Nov. 5, 2023except for states already exempt from the twice-a-year time changes.

Howie Brown adjusts the time on a clock back one hour for the end of daylight savings time at Browns Old Time Clock Shop in Plantation, Fla., on Nov. 2, 2007. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Daylight saving time was first introduced during World War I as an effort to save coal by reducing the need for artificial light in the evening.

The practice continued in the U.S., originally beginning on the last Sunday of April, and ending on the last Sunday of October. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended the daylight saving periodnow spanning from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in Novemberthough most countries in western Europe continue to follow the original schedule.

Daylight savings is still practiced to conserve energy since it is expected that fewer lights are used when theres more sunlight in the evening.

However, a study conducted in Indiana found that daylight savings no longer saves energy, but rather slightly increases electricity consumption because people turn on the air conditioning on hot summer evenings. Some other government studies have shown a decrease in energy consumption, but only by one percent or less.

Reportedly, daylight saving shifts also lead to more car accidentsa Cell Press study in 2020 show a 6 percent increasethe week after the time change, as people adjust to either less sleep or lower light levels than normal.
Demonization of Fossil Fuels Is Driving Diesel Shortage Crisis, Supplier Says

The Biden administrations attacks on the energy industry is a main driver behind the impending diesel crisis in the United States, a major supplier has said.

The Democrats demonization of fossil fuels and energy policies that are being marketed as being green are behind the nationwide diesel and heating oil shortages, Mike Taylor of Combined Energy Services told Fox News Tucker Carlson.

The top executive for a U.S. energy supplier in the northeast, said that far-left policies are restricting energy production and preventing it from keeping up with critical consumer needs in the region.

National average diesel prices are 33 percent higher for November deliveries and are expected to go up even more, reported CNBC.

U.S. diesel reserves are at their lowest levels since 1951, while a ban on Russian energy is set to take effect next year, which will only increase competition for fuel supplies worldwide.

The United States is reportedly on the verge of running out of diesel fuel in less than a month, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The nations diesel supply has fallen to 25 days over the last two weeks, well below the 35-40 days that offers a comfortable buffer for the fuel markets.

At least seven southeastern states are at code red levels as stockpiles of diesel hit rock bottom, Mansfield Energy told customers on Oct. 25.

The code red alerts have been applied in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee.

Looming Hardship

The American economy is dependent on the supply of diesel fuel. Without it, commercial trafficespecially trucking and non-electric powered railroad lineswill come to a halt.

Almost all consumer items are transported across the country via truck or by train.

If locations run out of diesel, commerce would be paralyzed, leading to a cascade effect on everything ranging from retail to groceries.

Meanwhile, supplies of diesel distillates, such as heating oil and jet fuel, have fallen to their lowest levels in more than 10 years, Taylor said.

He said that New England will freeze this winter because of Democrat-led policies.

The climate change agenda in the Northeast, Tucker, is really whats causing this, he said, citing the demonization of fossil fuels by Bidens White House.

Diesel inventories in New England and New York are down over 50 percent since last year and at their lowest levels since 1990, Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, told CNBC.

Lipow said East Coast refineries are trying to produce as much diesel as possible, but they are dependent on seaborne shipments of crude.

Any serious delay in the weather can cause a terminal to run out of supplies.

East Coast refineries operated at 100 percent capacity in June and July, but now they are running at 102 percent, according to the EIA,

No more supply is forthcoming from the four East Coast refineries, Lipow said.

Taylor said most of the northeasts supplies of diesel, kerosene, home heating oil, and other fuels, comes from refineries in the Philadelphia and New York metro areas.

The Midwest is also seeing supply constraints, raising prices for farmers, reported CNBC.

Democrat Policies, Sanctions On Moscow Blamed For Shortages

The oil tanks and the Bayway Refinery of Phillips 66 in Linden, N.J., on March 30, 2020. (Mike Segar/Reuters)

Additionally, oil from Russia will soon no longer be able to supplant restrictions imposed on domestic U.S. production, due to the sanctions the Biden administration has imposed on Moscow.

Energy traders are currently diverting oil tankers away from Europe to the United States because the price of diesel is now higher here than in Europe.

The United States may face increasing competition with Europe for diesel, particularly after the sanctions on Russia take effect in February 2023.

Taylor also said that the states pushing detrimental green energy policies are the same ones sourcing much of the fuel, being very reliant on it.

He explained that New Jersey and New York are on the fast track to try to eliminate the types of energy resources Americans still rely on, which are now facing shortages.

All of our oil comes out of that region, Taylor told Carlson.

It floats up through New York Harbor, and that supplies New England. Weve already seen curtailments and shortages up on the Hudson River terminals. That was early October, he explained. His firms operation are based in the Catskills of southeastern New York.

Our suppliers are really saying its a fine tightrope  that if we have a drastically cold winter could be trouble.

All of New England and the Mid-Atlantic states have signed onto the RGGI cap-and-trade pact, which critics say will quickly lead to double digit increases in home heating costs, in addition to other shortages.

Pennsylvania and Virginia also currently on a moratorium on state-parkland fossil fuel speculation, due to Democrat-led policy. But Republicans in the two states are pledging to pull out of that pact if they win.

Meanwhile, Taylor noted that the resumption of operations at a key refinery in Paulsboro, New Jersey, near Philadelphia is a good sign, as reserves remain at 60 percent of the five-year average.

High Diesel Prices to Hurt Lower Income Families Heating Bills

Taylor said that $7 a gallon Kerosene is hurting low-income Americans the most, as many of their homes are often heated by kerosene or propane.

Its very hard to get [kerosene] right now and its going to be unaffordable, he warned if the same energy policies continue to rule the day.

Taylor added that the average heating oil price is now at $6 in the colder northeastup $3.50 since Biden took office.

One major issue preventing the northeast from receiving additional diesel is the Jones Act, also known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, which prohibits a foreign vessel from transporting all goods between two U.S. ports.

Refiners are pressuring the Biden administration to relax the shipping ban.

The 25-day diesel supply estimate can be misleading, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy.

That number will move around. Its been as high as 40, he said. Thats not days of supply, its a calculation based on supply and demand right now.
By Trend





Iranians on Friday held massive outdoor rallies to mark the seizure of the U.S. Embassy to Iran in 1979, showing defiance against U.S. hegemony, Trend reports citing IRNA.

Iranians marked the National Day of Fighting Global Arrogance on Friday, with people in Tehran taking to the streets leading to the building of the former U.S. embassy and gathering outside the building, waving flags and chanting anti-U.S. slogans.

Similar protests were held in roughly 900 cities countrywide, according to Iranian media. Participants demonstrated "their disgust at the hostile policies of the hegemonic system at the head of America," the official news agency IRNA commented.

On the same day 43 years ago, Iranian university students took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran. Every year on this day, the Iranians commemorate the seizure of the embassy with anti-U.S. demonstrations.
Copper Lake Resources Ltd.

TORONTO, Oct. 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Copper Lake Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: CPL, Frankfurt: W0I, OTC: WTCZF) ("Copper Lake" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the results from the Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders (AGM), the appointment of a new CFO, and the granting of options.

Results of AGM

A total of 47,394,476 shares representing 21.78% of the total issued and outstanding shares at the record date of the AGM were voted.

Shareholders passed all resolutions set out in the management information circular of the Company dated September 19, 2022, including the re-election of the incumbent directors, setting the number of directors at five, the appointment of McGovern Hurley LLP as the Companys auditor, and the approval of Copper Lakes stock option plan as required annually by the TSX Venture Exchange. The percent of votes in favor of the various motions ranged from 93.23% to 99.97%.

Appointment of Chief Financial Officer

The Company is pleased to announce that David McDonald, CPA, CA has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Company. Mr McDonald has over 16 years experience in the mining industry and qualified as a CPA with Ernst & Young in 1991. He currently serves as the CFO of McLaren Resources Inc, the CFO and director of Talisker Gold Corp., and Controller of Argo Gold Inc.

Mr. McDonald replaces Paul Mcgroary, who remains as Chair of the Board of the Company.

Granting of Options

The Company also announces that, effective October 25, 2022, it has granted an aggregate of 6,450,000 options to certain officers, directors and consultants of the Company in accordance with the Companys current Stock Option Plan. Each option is exercisable into one common share of the Company at a price of $0.075 per share for a period of five years from the date of grant, being today. The options will vest immediately. The common shares issuable upon exercise of the options are subject to a four-month hold period from the original date of the grant.

Story continues

ABOUT COPPER LAKE RESOURCES



Copper Lake Resources Ltd. is a publicly traded Canadian mineral exploration and development company with interests in two projects both located in Ontario. www.copperlakeresources.com

The Marshall Lake high-grade VMS copper, zinc, silver and gold project comprises an area of approximately 220 square km, located 120 km north of Geraldton, Ontario and is accessible by all-season road from the Trans-Canada Highway and just 22 km north of the main CNR rail line. Copper Lake has a 79.45% interest in the joint ventured property, which consists of 233 claims and 52 mining leases. The project also includes 148 claim cells staked in 2018 and 2020 that are 100% owned and not subject to any royalties, which add approximately 30 square km to the original property.

In addition to the original Marshall Lake property above, Marshall Lake also includes the Sollas Lake and Summit Lake properties, wholly owned by the Company and not subject to any royalties. The Sollas Lake property consists of 20 claim cells comprising an area of 4 square km on the east side of the Marshall Lake property where historical EM airborne geophysical surveys have outlined strong conductors on the property hosted within the same favorable felsic volcanic units. The Summit Lake property currently consists of 100 claim cells comprising an area of 20.5 square km, is accessible year-round, and is located immediately west of the original Marshall Lake property. The Marshall Lake project is located in the traditional territories of the Aroland and Animbiigoo Zaagi igan Anishinaabek (AZA) First Nations.

Copper Lake also has a 69.79% joint venture interest in the Norton Lake nickel, copper, cobalt, and palladium PGM property, located in the southern Ring of Fire area, is approximately 100 km north of the Marshall Lake Property. The Norton Lake property has a NI 43-101 compliant Measured and Indicated resource of 2.26 million tonnes @ 0.67% Ni, 0.61% Cu, 0.03% Co and 0.46 g/t Pd. The Norton Lake property is located in the traditional territories of the Eabametoong (Fort Hope) and Neskantaga First Nations.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Copper Lake Resources Ltd.

Terry MacDonald, CEO

(416) 561-3626

tmacdonald@copperlakeresources.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.




Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting with the U.S. secretary of state in Kyiv on Sept. 8, 2022. (Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images)

DOD Announces Additional $400 Million Military Aid Package For Ukraine

The Department of Defense (DOD) plans to send millions of dollars worth of additional military aid to Ukraine under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), the agency announced on Nov. 4.

The assistance package is aimed at helping to build the Ukrainian forces capacity to defend its sovereignty in the long term and underscores Washingtons continued support to help meet Ukraines most urgent needs, a Nov. 4 press release by the DOD stated.

The department will send 45 refurbished T-72B tanks with advanced optics, communications, and armor packages; 1,100 Phoenix Ghost Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems; and 40 armored riverine boats.

The T-72B tanks included in the package are part of a trilateral coordinated effort between the United States, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands.

In addition, the DOD will provide funding to refurbish HAWK air defense missiles and 250 M1117 armored security vehicles in future presidential drawdown packages. The department will also grant funds for training, maintenance, and sustainment activities, as well as secure tactical communication and surveillance systems.

Unlike Presidential Drawdown authority (PDA), which DoD has continued to leverage to deliver equipment to Ukraine from DoD stocks at a historic pace, USAI is an authority under which the United States procures capabilities from industry, the release said.

This announcement represents the beginning of a contracting process to provide additional priority capabilities to Ukraine.

Since President Joe Biden took office, the United States has committed more than $18.9 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, $18.2 billion of which came after Russias invasion of the country began on Feb. 24. Since 2014, the United States has granted Ukraine more than $21 billion in security assistance.

Weapons Inspections

The DOD is also sending weapons experts to Ukraine to inspect the arms it has supplied to the war-torn nation. The decision comes as concerns rise about the proper delivery and use of the weapons.

In an Oct. 31 briefing, a senior defense official said that the department has not seen credible evidence that U.S.-supplied weapons have been diverted.

We see Ukraines frontline units effectively employing security assistance every day on the battlefield. Nonetheless, we are keenly aware of the possible risk of illicit diversion and are proactively taking all available steps to prevent this from happening, the official said.

On Oct. 18, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) stated that there would be no blank check for Ukraine should Republicans gain the majority in the House.

In an interview with CNBC, McCarthy reiterated his stance, pointing out that though Ukraine is very important, there should be no black check on anything, as the United States is already $31 trillion in debt.
Dont Fall for the Ginned-Up Social Security Scaremongering

Commentary

Here are two snippets from Wednesdays New York Times piece contending that Republicans have embraced plans to cut Social Security and Medicare:

The fact that Republicans are openly talking about cutting the programs has galvanized Democrats in the final weeks of the midterm campaign.

Still, the fact that key Republicans are openly broaching spending cuts to Social Security and Medicare 

Boy, it sounds like theres a ton of chatter in Washington about cutting entitlements. And its about time we embraced reform. So, which brave key Republicans are openly talking and openly broaching the idea of reforming Social Security and Medicare? We dont know, because the author, Jim Tankersley, doesnt offer a single quote from anyone in the GOP making that argumentnot an elected official, not a candidate, not even some fringe backbencher spouting off. How can one of the most prestigious newspapers in the country run a 1,500-word piece asserting that a major political party has been talking about a highly controversial policy position and not substantiate the claim with a single quote? That would be the first question of any competent editor.

Of course, as much as I wish it existed, there is no plan or campaign or reform effort aimed at slashing or weaning us off entitlements. The entire ginned-up issue basically relies on a single line from Rick Scotts save America agenda, which Mitch McConnell rejected as soon as it appeared. (Youll find out about that in paragraph 13.) In truth, Scott doesnt even target Social Security or Medicare reform specifically, but rather supports an audit and renewal of all federal programs every five years. (The Times incorrectly says every year.) There is a strong case to be made that revisiting legislation every few years is far more democratic than compelling millions to live with antiquated economic ideas that were popularized during the Depression. But only a Republican, not Republicans, has embraced that idea.

Not that any of it stops Tankersley from going on about how several influential Republicans have signaled a new willingness to push for Medicare and Social Security spending cuts. Several, huh? The hyperlink bolstering this assertion leads us to a more nuanced Bloomberg Government piece by Jack Fitzpatrick that details possible GOP efforts to use the debt ceiling as a negotiating tool to curb perpetual, massive auto-spending.

As we learn in paragraph 23 of the Times story, Democrats and Republicans largely agree Congress will need to ensure the solvency of the programs in the decade to come. Spending for the programs is projected to balloon in the coming decade as more baby boomers retire. Among the ideas the Republican Study Committee bring to the table is gradually raising the retirement age for some workers due to higher life expectancy (with increased benefits). And Bloomberg quotes Lloyd Smucker saying we may need future reductions of benefits for wealthy Americans to save the program from insolvency. President Joe Bidens plan to raise payroll taxes on the rich to save the program is also in effect a reduction of benefits for the wealthy.

But, again, the Bloomberg piece does not feature a single person talking or proposing slashing Social Security or Medicare programs.

Whenever Democrats latch onto some new scaremongering effortsaving democracy or voting rights, or whatever hysteria is being floutedestablishment media instantly take up the issue, often ham-fistedly backfilling the accusations with alleged reporting. Though the Times piece does not offer any Republicans talking about cutting Social Security, it does give Biden, Barack Obama, and other Democrats the space to go off on this imaginary threat.

Youve been paying into Social Security your whole life. You earned it. Now these guys want to take it away, Biden is quoted saying during a visit to Hallandale Beach, Florida. Who in the hell do they think they are? Excuse my language. Obama, who never shies away from flogging a strawman to within inches of its life, says that American retirees had long hours and sore backs and bad knees to get that Social Security.

As Obamathough, perhaps, not Bidenknows very well, there is no proposal from Republicans to take Social Security from those whove paid in. Not even George W. Bush, the last Republican to openly campaign on reforming the untenable entitlement infrastructure, has ever proposed taking a penny from anyone who paid into it. That was always a lie. Even those reforms would only have allowednot compellednew participants to divert a portion of their tax dollars to private retirement accounts and opt out of an unsustainable, state-run Ponzi scheme that brought them back a paltry 1 percent return on their investment.

Dont worry, though, no one is going to reform entitlements. As 2022 proves, its a politically toxic issue that can be easily demagogued.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk arrives on the red carpet for the Axel Springer media award in Berlin on Dec. 1, 2020. (Hannibal Hanschke/Pool Photo via AP)

Elon Musk Confirms Twitter Employees Sold Verification Badges Behind the Scenes

Elon Musk on Nov. 5 confirmed claims that Twitter employees were selling verification badges for certain users.

Twitter employees were selling verification for upwards of $15,000. For certain accounts, mine included, they would refuse to verify you through the standard application and then privately offer to verify you for $$ behind the scenes. Investigation needed, WSBChairmana user with 900,000 followersclaimed on the platform on Nov. 5. Musk confirmed that users claim, responding: Yup.

Neither WSBChairman nor Musk provided further details or evidence. Meanwhile, no prominent former Twitter executives have publicly commented on the matter.

Far too many legacy verified checkmarks were handed out, often arbitrarily, so in reality they are *not* verified, Musk wrote. You can buy as many as you want right now with a Google search. Piggybacking off payment system plus Apple/Android is a much better way to ensure verification.

The Tesla CEO last week unveiled a plan to get verified users to pay $8 per month to keep their blue checkmark, which has become something of a status symbol on the social media platform. Verification badges were proposed as a system to show that an account is authentic, but Musk said that it created a lord-and-peasant system on the platform.

Musk also confirmed he carried out layoffs in recent days because the firm was losing more than $4 million per day. Reports have indicated that he terminated the employment of thousands of Twitter workers.

Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50 percent more than legally required, he wrote.

Meanwhile, some Democrat lawmakers have already set their sights on Twitter and Musk. A letter from Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen requested an investigation into the acquisition because members of the Saudi royal family are prominent investors in the company. However, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal had bought a stake in the company many years before Musk acquired it last month.

I write to draw your attention to potential national security concerns arising from the recently completed takeover of Twitter, Inc. by Elon Musk and a number of private investors, Murphy wrote, according to reports. Setting aside the vast stores of data that Twitter has collected on American citizens, any potential that Twitters foreign ownership will result in increased censorship, misinformation, or political violence is a grave national security concern.

Musk last week announced that the newly acquired firm has suffered significant revenue losses after prominent advertisers pulled out. The tech billionaire accused activist groups of leading the charge against him and said that theyre trying to destroy free speech in America.

Twitter didnt respond to a request for comment by press time.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, L, campaigns for Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, R, in Winder, Ga. on November 4, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Justin Kase Photography.)

Former NJ Gov. Christie Joins Brian Kemp on Campaign Trail

WINDER, Ga.Walter Yarbrough got his mom to pull him out of school Friday morning so he could go to the Brian Kemp rally in their town, Winder, Georgia.

Yarbrough came to the rally in a downtown park in cowboy boots, jeans, a blue dress shirt, and a blue blazer.

He dresses like Brian Kemp. Every day, Gwen Rice said of her 12-year-old grandson before he arrived. Its his goal in life to be Brian Kemp.

She checked the time and fretted Walter hadnt arrived yet. I cant believe hes not here. Hes been ready since 7 oclock in the morning. If Brian Kemp is not elected, I dont know what were going to do.

Walter Yarbrough, 12, dressed up like Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp for a Kemp rally November 4, 2022 in Winder, Ga. Walter, 2nd from the left, with his grandmother Gwen Rice, L, his grandfather Mike Rice, 3rd from the left and his aunt Michael (cq) Miller, R. (Photo by Dan M. Berger of The Epoch Times.)

Walter, who, according to his grandfather Mike Rice, plans to run for mayor when hes 18, made it in time to see his hero.

Kemp campaigned on a Friday bus tour through Winder and other small towns northeast of Atlanta. Accompanying him was former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

Christie got mileage out of Jersey humor and said it was part of his job to help criticize Kemps opponent Stacey Abrams. He needled her for basking in the national spotlight since 2018.

She loves being famous, doesnt she? How about Stacey? She loves being on TV. She loves being in Vogue Magazine. She loves going to those fundraisers in Hollywood, California, with all the stars who donate to her campaign. She loves going to the Upper East Side of New York City, collecting all the money from the elite liberals there as well.

Former New Jersey Govenor Chris Christie, once a federal prosecutor, joked with the crowd about New Jersey mobsters and Tony Soprano as he campaigned for Georgia Governor Brian Kemp in Winder, Ga. on November 4, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Justin Kase Photography.)

Whats that do for Georgia? It doesnt do anything for Georgia. It just makes Stacey rich, and it just makes Stacey famous. Well, Ive got a suggestion for her, a kind suggestion like the kind people of New Jersey give: Guess what, Stacey? Next Wednesday, you can be famous full-time because youre not going to be governor.

The campaign website for Stacy Abrams calls Kemp a far-right extremist who is too dangerous for Georgia.

His extreme and unpopular agenda hurts Georgians: his criminal carry policy puts lives at risk, his refusal to expand Medicaid closes hospitals and his cruel anti-abortion mandate hurts women, the website says.

Four more years of his radical policies threaten our states future and our freedom, and it favors the wealthy few at the expense of hardworking families.

Leading in most polls, Kemp obeyed the campaign dictum to Always campaign like youre behind.

Do not believe any polls, Kemp told a crowd of about 125 people. He urged them to vote early. That was probably unnecessary: all interviewed by a reporter from The Epoch Times said they already had. When Kemp asked for a show of hands of traditionalists who only vote on Election Day, only one or two raised their hands.

Kemp reminded people that Abrams, like most media and politicians, supported the COVID-19 lockdown which Kemp defied to reopen the state. And he tied her to the defund the police movement. The crowd contained several law enforcement officers. Some had their photos taken with Kemp and Christie, a former federal prosecutor, afterward.

Govenor Brian Kemp, First Lady Marty Kemp, a police officer supporter, and Govenor Chris Christie during a campaign bus tour in Winder, Ga. on November 4, 2022. Several police officers had their photos taken with the Kemps and Christie. (Photo courtesy of Justin Kase Photography.)

Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith introduced Kemp and Christie. He recalled the day six years ago when Kemp walked into his office and told him he was running for governor.

And he told me his plan. And he told me what he was going to do. And he sat there and talked to me for a while, and he said, Can I have your support? And I said, Youll have my support from now on,' Smith said.

Then Smith turned to Kemp.

Governor, I gotta give you an honest answer, and I gotta be truthful with you. You remember the story of Jerry Maguire? You had me at hello. You had me at Im running for governor. I didnt hear anything after that, Smith said.

Kemp reminded the crowd hed gone against the wind to keep small businesses open during the pandemic. The downtown streets in Winder are lined with small businesses.

I was listening to the folks that were working in the restaurants. I was listening to the folks that didnt have their barbershop or their hair salon open. People criticized me, saying bowling alleys and tattoo parlors arent essential. Well, if you get your paycheck from there, its pretty dang essential to keeping the roof over your head and buying groceries for your children, Kemp said.

One man in the crowd, Dennis Butler of Winder, owns a Western store called Horse Country. He told The Epoch Times hed voted for Kemp because he kept us small business people open when a lot of politicians wanted to close us down.

Christie urged the crowd to campaign for Kemp every day to give him a clear victory Tuesday and avoid a runoff.

I dont want to have to come back down here, Christie said. I promise you something. If you people let me down, Im coming down here, and I aint coming alone. Were going to come back with some friends of mine from New Jersey, Christie said to laughter from the crowd. and were going to have an individual talk.

Kemp praised Christie for coming South to campaign. He added that Christie had also done so in 2018 and in 2010 and 2014 for Georgia Republican Nathan Deal.

Christie came, he told The Epoch Times afterward, because its one of the most important states in the country. Its growing. The businesses are growing. People are moving here. Its important Republicans never take a state like Georgia for granted.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks to the media at the last day of the three-day G7 summit at Schloss Elmau, near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, on June 27, 2022. ( Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images)

German Chancellor Visits Beijing Amid Lingering Questions of Rivalry

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with the head of the Chinese communist regime in Beijing during his Nov. 4 visit that focused on business ties, drawing criticism at home and also from the international community.

Scholtz, who was leading a group of CEOs from German companies on the trip, was the first foreign leader to meet with Xi Jinping since he secured a third term as head of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) last month.

While other Western government leaders have pledged to take a tougher stance against the regime in China, a delegation of 12 German-based business executives accompanied Scholz. Most of these companies, such as Volkswagen, BMW, and Siemens, have been in the Chinese market for a long time.

Scholz told Xi during their meeting that China is an important trading partner for Germany and for Europe as a whole, according to the CCPs Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The UKs Financial Times reported on Oct. 30 that critics believe that instead of deepening economic ties with authoritarian regimes, Germany and the [European Union] should decouple from them.

Germany firmly opposes decoupling, the ministry said, showing how the CCP interpreted the visit. Germany stands ready for closer trade and economic cooperation with China and supports more mutual investment between Chinese and German businesses.

In return, Xi specifically approved the vaccines produced by Germanys BioNTech and Pfizer to be used in China. On the same day, China Aviation Supplies Corp. announced that it has signed a bulk purchase agreement with Airbus for 140 aircraft, with a total value of about $17 billion.

Syringes in front of displayed BioNTech and Pfizer logos on Nov. 10, 2020. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters)

Song Guocheng, a senior researcher at the Center for International Relations at National Chengchi University in Taiwan told The Epoch Times that the entire EU is re-examining the dependence of that economic bloc on the Chinese market.

Scholtzs visit shows that Germany basically has no way to get rid of its dependence on the Chinese market. Because its trade with China is a relatively high-end structural relationship, which is mainly concentrated in automobiles, machinery, chemicals, Medical and other industries, he said.

Questionable Timing

Currently, the German government is drafting a new China strategy.

According to the German business daily Handelsblatt, an official China strategy is expected to be officially released in the spring of 2023, which will be tougher than former Chancellor Angela Merkels China policy. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who has called for more assertive measures against China, publicly criticized the Beijing regimes human rights record when she took office, emphasizing that China is Germanys institutional rival.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock delivers a speech during the congress of the Green Party (Buendnis 90/Die Gruenen) in Bonn, Germany, on Oct. 15, 2022. (Ina Fassbender/ AFP via Getty Images)

Xi is seeking to meet with foreign government leaders to mark his achievement during the party congress of securing a third term in office, Chinese economist Li Hengqing told The Epoch Times.

Two months ago, when Scholz announced that he was planning to visit Beijing, Germany and the European Union, including NATO ministers, expressed their opposition, Li said, noting that the implication of the visit is to kowtow to Xi, especially when Xi had secured his third term.

Li said Scholzs visit shows a two-sided mentality.

On the one hand, he particularly wants to preserve the interests of German companies in China. But he also knows that China differs from the Western world on human rights issues. He also knows that the CCP has been helping Russia behind the scenes.

So, hes in a dilemma, Li said.

Criticism From Human Rights Groups

Scholzs China trip has sparked strong criticism from human rights organizations and activists.

The German chancellors decision to visit Beijing to pay tribute to Xi Jinping is a choice that totally ignores the suffering of millions of Uyghurs, Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress, said at a press conference in Berlin on Nov. 1.

Hanno Schedler, a spokesman for the Society for Threatened Peoples said, that Scholz shouldnt forget the human rights situation in Tibet and Inner Mongolia, let alone the deprivations of freedom of the press and speech that Hong Kong people endure.

Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress, gestures as he speaks during a demonstration against China during its Universal Periodic Review by the Human Rights Council in front of the United Nations office in Geneva, on Nov. 6, 2018. (Denis Balibouse/Reuters)

I think Scholzs visit to China is a symbol, representing the economic dependence of Western countries on China, Qin Jie, a dissident in exile in Germany, told The Epoch Times.

This dependence has brought prosperity to Western countries in the past few decades. But all this is based on the pain and blood and tears of the Chinese people.

I hope that the governments of Germany and the United States can realize that their appeasement will only infuse blood to the CCP bandits, and will only prolong the suffering of the Chinese people. It will always put Western countries under threat by the CCP dictatorship.

Qin said hes concerned that even though there is internal opposition, the mainstream in Germany is still swayed by the CCP and that Germany will continue to rely on the Chinese market for a long time.

They will still choose their interests, he said. Their standard of living is based on the huge market [of China].

Li Xinan and Luo Ya contributed to this report.
A GO Transit train sits parked at the Niagara Falls Train Station in Niagara Falls, Ont., on Aug. 26, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Tara Walton)

GO Transit Union Says Members Will Strike Monday; Bus Service Set to Be Affected

About 2,200 GO Transit bus operators, station attendants and other employees will go on strike Monday, the union representing them said Fridaywith the potential job action set to affect some transit service.

The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1587 said the planned strike comes after members voted 81 percent against a contract offer from employer Metrolinx.

The union has said negotiations between the two sides began in April and members have been working without a contract since June 1.

Local president Rob Cormier has said the unions key issues include job security and job safety relating to hiring contract workers from outside companies.

Our members have made it utterly clear. We will not accept a deal unless it addresses our primary concern, which is contracting out, Cormier said in a written statement.

Cormier said protections against contracting out are the norm at other transit agencies to ensure experienced workers are safely operating buses. Without those practices in place, he said inexperienced workers can be hired at low wages.

We have had enoughstarting Monday, we will walk the picket lines until we reach an agreement that protects job security for our current and future members, he said in the statement.

Cormier said the union remains committed to meeting with Metrolinx to reach a deal that addresses members concerns.

Anne Marie Aikins, head of media and public relations at Metrolinx, said if the strikes goes ahead, there will be no bus service starting Monday, though trains will continue to operate as scheduled.

She said Metrolinx is disappointed the union voted against its current offer and is instead planning to strike, and encouraged GO customers to plan ahead, prepare extra time for commutes and stay informed on strike developments, as well as GO Transits website and social media accounts.

We will be working throughout the weekend to get an agreement and remain open to discussing ways forward with our ATU employees, Aikins said in an emailed statement.

GO Transit operates in the Greater Golden Horseshoe region.

The planned strike is expected to come three days after thousands of Ontario education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees walked off the job indefinitely. ATU has said it supports those workers.
As discussed in Part 1 of this series, colonoscopies are a major money-maker for the conventional medicine machine, generating at least $42B per year, year after year. And thats without taking into consideration the cost complications. We also briefly talked about polyps  which rarely become cancerous. Doctors can charge more for the procedure if they remove a tiny benign polyp.

A conventional colonoscopy isnt simply a routine doctors visit, but an ambulatory surgical procedure performed under anesthesia.

Like other routine screenings for early detection  mammograms, pap smears, prostatic biopsies  colonoscopies have become synonymous with cancer prevention. Pause and think about that for a minute. The cancer industry has used its heavy-handed fear and propaganda machine to push tests that are costly, may not be necessary, are not benign and may not even lower the risk of cancer or death.

Sounds a bit like the big push for everyone to get Covid-19 shots doesnt?

However, regarding screening colonoscopies, a new study was recently released by a group of brave European researchers. The internet and MSM was immediately on fire to discredit it and support the Party Line.

Eye On the Evidence

On October 9, 2022, The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published a landmark study that dared to suggest colonoscopies are not as effective as previously thought. Colonoscopies were compared head-to-head against those who did not undergo cancer screening in a randomized trial that collected data over 10 years.

The large northern European trial that included nearly 85,000 people in a ten-year follow-up found an 18% reduction in colorectal cancer and a 50% reduction in risk of dying from colorectal cancer compared to an 88% death rate generally touted. Study researcher Dr. Michael Bretthauer, a gastroenterologist at the University of Oslo in Norway, said he found the results disappointing but worthy of consideration. He went on to say, We may have oversold the message for the last 10 years or so, and we have to wind it back a little.

Based on his results, screening colonoscopy reduced the risk of cancer by 18-31% and the risk of death from colon cancer by around 50%, much lower than generally promoted.

For decades, gastroenterologists have put colonoscopies on a pedestal, calling the procedure the gold standard for preventing colon cancer. In fact, clinicians believed that if everyone had this screening exam  a 66-inch rubber tube inserted in the rectum to view the colon  colorectal cancer would essentially become extinct. But this new study (above), published in a peer-reviewed journal, brings to question colonoscopys dominance.

Routine Colonoscopies be Challenged

Colorectal screening is advocated for healthy, asymptomatic people; therefore, the risks from screening are important issues. As it turns out, more than 1,000 studies have reported serious complications after colonoscopy can occur.

Heres an example:

A study published in 2006 in the Annals of Internal Medicine reviewed 35,945 charts of patients who had undergone colonoscopies within the Kaiser Permanente, Northern California (KPNC) health care system. This is what they found (whole numbers reported here for clarity): Serious complications occurred in nearly 1 per 1000 exams without biopsy or polypectomy

biopsy or polypectomy Serious complications other than bleeding occurred in 7 per 1000 exams with biopsy or polypectomy

Bleeding occurred in nearly 5 per 1000 colonoscopies with biopsy62% of bleeding episodes and 40% of all serious complications occurred following removal of polyps smaller than 10 mm

occurred in nearly 5 per 1000 colonoscopies with biopsy62% of bleeding episodes and 40% of all serious complications occurred following removal of polyps Perforation of the colon occurred more commonly with biopsy and occurred at a rate of almost 1 per 1000 exams Ten deaths (1 confirmed to be causally related to colonoscopy) occurred within 30 days of the colonoscopy

What does this study mean in real numbers?

Given that 15,000,000 colonoscopies are performed each year in the US alone, the study points out:

Exam only, no biopsy/polypectomy : Up to 15,000 persons per year (1/1000) can have a serious complication  colon perforation, persistent pain/burning, persistent diarrhea, etc.

: Up to 15,000 persons per year (1/1000) can have a serious complication  colon perforation, persistent pain/burning, persistent diarrhea, etc. Exam with biopsy/polypectomy : Up to 105,000 persons per year (7/1000) can have a serious complication 75,000 persons per year (5/1000) may experience extended bleeding that may result in hospitalization, surgery and/or need for blood transfusion. 15,000 persons per year (1/1000) may have a perforated colon . Small perforations are less likely to cause immediate peritoneal irritation and the diagnosis can be delayed for as long as 30 days, leading to poor prognosis.

: Up to 105,000 persons per year (7/1000) can have a serious complication

A person can even die from a colonoscopy. The reported death rate after colonoscopy is around 0.09%. That sounds like a tiny number, but when applied to 15,000,000 exams per year, up to 13,500 person per year can die as a result of a colonoscopy!

The complication and death rate numbers have remained remarkably stable over the years. In fact, a 2016 meta-analysis evaluated post-colonoscopy complications by querying PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane library for population-based studies that had complications that started within 30 days of the exam. scomplications that were found within 30 days of the exam. The quiry found 1,074 studies published between January 1, 2001 and December 1, 2015. Even though, perplexingly, only 21 studies met the inclusion criteria for their worldwide review, the results are very similar to those published in the 2006 study (discussed above).

Additional Complications

Most case reports are published to track serious complications, such as perforations or significant gastrointestinal bleeding occurring up to 4 weeks after the colonoscopy.

However, a 2010 study reviewed the risk of less serious complications. Researchers found that up to 33% of patients reported distressing gastrointestinal symptoms after the exam, including abdominal pain (10.5%), bloating (25%), self-limited gastrointestinal bleeding (3.8%), diarrhea (6.3%), and nausea (4.0%).

In a separate study, respiratory symptoms, including aspiration pneumonia, were found to rise approximately one week after colonoscopy. The study stated,

As the rates of using deep sedation with anesthesia during colonoscopy have increased markedly in recent years, there is concern that respiratory complications may be an increasingly common event.

Risks of Infection after Colonoscopy

Remember that each year in the United States, more than 15 million colonoscopies and 7 million upper-GI endoscopies are performed on generally healthy individuals. Both procedures are performed with an endoscope, a reusable optical instrument that can be cleaned but not sterilized. In 2018, a study evaluated the rates of infection after colonoscopy and upper GI exams done in ambulatory surgery centers across the US. What was discovered was that the rates of infection was far higher than previously believed, and varied widely from one ambulatory surgery center to another.

This study was the first to explore data on ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) and post-procedure infection. Previously, post-endoscopic infection rates were thought to be around one event per million. The actual rate of infection within 7 days was found to be 1.1 per 1000 screening colonoscopy procedures; 1.6 per 1000 non-screening colonoscopy procedures (has a biopsy) and 3.0 per 1000 EDG procedures. The rate of infections varied widely in different out-patient centers, ranged from 0 to 115 per 1000 procedures for screening colonoscopy; 0 to 132 for non-screening colonoscopy (polyp removed) and 0 to 62 for upper endoscopy. Patients whod been hospitalized before undergoing one of the procedures were at even greater risk of infection. Almost 45 in 1,000 patients whod been hospitalized within 30 days prior to a screening colonoscopy returned to hospital or had an ER visit with an infection within a month. 

When these numbers are put in perspective of the total number of exams done per year (15,000,000), they are quite shocking:

0 to 115 infections per thousand colonoscopies ranges from 0 to 1,725,000

0 to 132 infections per thousand colonoscopies that remove a polyp ranges from 0 to 1,980,000

0 to 62 infections per thousand upper endoscopies ranges from 0 to 930,000

If hospitalized within 30 days of one of these procedures, up to 675,000 person can have an adverse event

That puts things into a different perspective, doesnt it?

Colon Perforation

Perforations of the colon result in a leakage of stool into the abdominal cavity resulting in peritonitis, sepsis, and/or septic shock. In a 2019 study, 741 cases of colon perforation caused by colonoscopy were reviewed. Surgical interventions were employed in 75% of the patients, of these 15% were laparoscopic and 85% required laparotomy (opening the abdomen  a major surgery).

Management of colon perforations from a colonoscopy depends on the location of the puncture or tear, the severity of the infection (local pain vs systemic sepsis), and the general overall health of the patient. Some patients may be treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics and abdominal physical examinations every 36 hrs. The close watch is to monitor for increasing pain and fever, which would require emergency surgical clean out and repair. The overall complications from the surgery (operative morbidity) has been reported to be 2144% with a mortality rate of 725%. Those at highest risk of perforation include patients with a known, large lesion, unremitting colitis, or an obstructing lesion.

The Skill of the Examiner

A topic almost never discussed is how skilled is your doctor? Afterall, we are told to get a colonoscopy to remove polyps that just might become cancer. We assume that all doctors are adequately trained and experts in their field.

In 2010, an analysis of all colonoscopies performed between 1995 and 2008 were reviewed and compared against the experience of the endoscopist. This included a review of more than 25,000 procedures. This important study concluded:

The relative risk (RR) ratio was highest for endoscopists performing less than 591 procedures per year. Colonoscopy carried out by a low-volume endoscopist was independently associated with bleeding and perforation.

Colonoscopy is an invasive procedure, and a significant skill set is necessary to do it safely. A study from 2000 of colon perforations from reported,

Although trainee endoscopists were involved in only 20% of the colonoscopies performed, eight (40%) perforations occurred while the training fellow was involved in the case.

Recall that the primary reason doctors advocate for colonoscopies is to remove polyps. Patients assume they got it! when they are told a polyp has been removed.

Not so fast.

While the benefits of colonoscopy have long been promoted, its accuracy is rarely questioned.

In 2008, a study to assess the rate of missed adenomas was undertaken using a strict methodology to limit related to the technique used or to the expertise of the operator. A pooled miss rate for the first procedure was calculated as the total number of lesions missed by the first procedure divided by the total number of lesions found. A total of 286 patients completed both exams.

Among the 165 patients believed to be free of polyps after the first examination, 67 (41%) were found to have at least one polyp on the second examination whereas among the 191 patients believed to be free of adenomas on first colonoscopy, 27 (14%) were found to have at least one adenoma on the second procedure.

A similar study was done a few years later (2012) in Korea. Back-to-back colonoscopies by two different clinicians on the same day were performed on 149 patients. A total of 344 polyps (neoplastic and non-neoplastic polyps) were found, while 58 polyps (adenomatous and non-adenomatous) and 42 adenomatous polyps were missed, equating to a miss rate of 17%. The overall rate of missed polyps, pooled from several studies, can range from 6 to 27%.

Although colonoscopy as a tool will never be perfect, safety is critical and should be questioned. It is important to know the TRUE, evidence-based risks for colonoscopy complications before consenting to this as a screening procedure.

For example: be sure to ask the physician doing the colonoscopy is, How many of these procedures do you do per year? and tell them, I prefer to not have a resident (a doctor in training) do my test.

Coming next: Part 3  What other screenings are available?

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Epoch Health welcomes professional discussion and friendly debate. To submit an opinion piece, please follow these guidelines and submit through our form here.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) speaks during the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Policing Practices and Law Enforcement Accountability at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on June 10, 2020. (Michael Reynolds/Pool/Getty Images)

House Republicans Allege Weaponization of FBI, DOJ in 1,050-Page Whistleblower Report

Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee on Nov. 4 released a more than 1,000-page report that details whistleblower disclosures about the alleged politicization of federal law enforcement.

Specifically, the report focuses on the Department of Justice (DOJ) under Attorney General Merrick Garland and the FBI under Director Christopher Wray (pdf).

Garland, Republicans said, has been a willing participant of the Biden Administrations weaponization of law enforcement. The FBI too, Republicans assert, has abused its law-enforcement authorities for apparently political purposes.

Republicans proceeded to cite a list of incidents and whistleblower reports showing how deeply rooted they say the politicization of federal law enforcement has become.

Domestic Extremism Numbers Inflated

One of the most significant findings of the report showed that the FBI has been encouraging its agents to artificially inflate the number of domestic violent extremism (DVE) incidents.

For years, Democratsincluding President Joe Bidenhave claimed that DVE is one of the greatest threats to U.S. national security. Specifically, Democrats have blamed conservatives and white supremacists for most such incidents.

During the 116th Congress, Democrats even went so far as to propose legislation that would substantially bolster DOJ resources to combat DVE.

White supremacists and other far-right-wing extremists are the most significant domestic terrorism threat facing the United States, the bill states.

According to official FBI numbers, this could very well be taken to be the case. However, the Republicans report indicates that Americans may have some reason to pause before accepting the FBIs numbers on DVE events.

Whistleblowers, Republicans say, have described how FBI leadership is pressuring line agents to reclassify cases as domestic violent extremism even if the matter does not meet the criteria.

Thats no mistake, Republicans assert, but instead a targeted effort by federal law enforcement to bolster Democrats claims about the threat posed by DVE.

At a time when the Biden Administration maintains that DVE is the greatest threat facing the United States, the FBI appears to be complicit in artificially creating the Administrations political narrative, the lawmakers wrote.

Whistleblowers have reported an environment that pressures agents to rack up DVE case counts.

One whistleblower explained that because agents are not finding enough DVE cases, they are encouraged and incentivized to reclassify matters as DVE cases even though there is minimal, circumstantial evidence to support the reclassification, the report says.

Further, lawmakers say that the agency has fudged field office numbers to further increase DVE numbers.

Specifically, Republicans reported that the FBI is misrepresenting the scale of [DVE] by categorizing several investigations stemming from the Jan. 6 Capitol police as organic cases discovered by local field offices, rather than as a single investigation of a single incident.

In both ways, the FBI is fueling the Biden Administrations narrative that domestic violent extremism is the biggest threat to our country, Republicans wrote.

Incidents Manufactured

In at least one case of DVE, the attempted kidnapping of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the FBI played a much more active role. Ahead of the 2020 election, a plot was uncovered to kidnap Whitmer, whose COVID policies sparked intense national debates before the election.

The accused would-be kidnappers were right-wing, and reports had suggested that the plot had developed organically.

But during the trial for the men, it became obvious that this wasnt the case: defense attorneys argued that their clients were pushed into crime by the FBI. According to defense attorneys during the trial, at least 12 FBI informants and agents were involved in the plot.

Despite questions that were raised by defense attorneys, the three men were later convicted.

GOP efforts to get answers about the incident were met with silence, the report noted. Thus, the FBIs motives in assisting the plot remain unclear.

Targeting Conservatives

To bolster their claims of politicization by the FBI, Republicans cited several incidents that involved targeted use of federal resources against conservatives.

For instance, Republicans noted Garlands infamous school board memo as a case in point.

In a September 2021 letter to President Joe Biden, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) characterized disruptions at school board meetings across the nation as a form of domestic terrorism and hate crime.

Specifically, the NSBA was referencing an increasing number of parents across the United States attending school board meetings to voice their opposition to content being taught to their childrenincluding controversial, Marxism-inspired critical race theory, far-left-wing positions on sexuality and gender, and, in some cases, even explicit or pornographic sexual images.

The NSBA proceeded to ask for federal assistance in dealing with these frustrated, outspoken parentsassistance that Garland promptly provided.

Days after the NSBA letter, Garland issued a memo directing federal law enforcement to help address the alleged disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against teachers and school leaders. Garlands response immediately raised suspicions among some Republican members of Congress, who have sought to keep the issue alive and have responded with promises such as a parents bill of rights if they are elected to a majority in Congress.

In their report, Republicans called Garlands response unacceptable.

As the radical left continued to push a woke agenda on Americas children, parents across the country started to speak out at school board meetings against critical race theory, mask mandates, and controversial curricula, they wrote. As more parents spoke out, the [NSBA] and the Biden Administration colluded to create a justification, articulated in an October 4 memorandum from Attorney General Garland, to use federal law-enforcement tools to silence parents.

Committee Republicans have repeatedly called on Attorney General Garland to rescind his ill-conceived memorandum that brought the heavy hand of federal law enforcement down upon Americas parents.

These calls have gone unanswered.

It is unacceptable for the Biden Administration to use federal domestic terrorism resources to target American parents, the lawmakers said. The use of these resources chills protected First Amendment activity as parents rightfully fear that their passionate advocacy for their children could result in a visit from federal law enforcement.

Republicans have made clear that they arent finished with the issue: On Oct. 13, Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee, warned Garland to preserve all documents related to the memo in preparation for further GOP investigation.

Also mentioned in the report was the decision by the FBI to mount an unprecedented raid on former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.

The raid was allegedly seeking classified documents that Trump had brought with him from the White House.

However, Republicans insisted that such an unprecedented raid shouldnt have been undertaken lightly, and Republicans have pointed to the raid as another instance of political bias by federal law enforcement.

Suppressing Opposition Reports

Additionally, the report notes the FBIs role in suppressing the since-authenticated story about Hunter Bidens laptop, with Republicans saying that the presidents son has received preferential treatment from federal law enforcement.

The contents of the laptop included several photos of Hunter Biden in sexual situations, sometimes with people who appeared to be substantially younger than 18. Others showed the presidents son using drugs such as crack cocaine. Still, other sections of the laptops contents raised questions about the Bidens business dealings, with some emails and texts suggesting that Hunter Biden may have peddled his fathers prestige and influence for financial gain.

The story was discovered by the New York Post, a conservative-leaning media outlet that was founded by Alexander Hamilton. After posting the story to their Twitter page, the New York Post was suspended by the platform pending the removal of the story. Similar suppression followed with other media outlets that reported on the contents of the laptop.

According to the report, some of that may not have been organic behavior by social media platforms.

The Judiciary Republicans noted that, during an August appearance on Joe Rogans podcast, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that Facebook had suppressed the story at the FBIs urging.

At the same time, dozens of national security and federal law enforcement agents signed a letter at the time claiming that the story was Russian disinformationa claim that has since been shown to be patently untrue.

Around the same time, Republicans unveiled a report showing that the FBI had been aware of the allegations surrounding the younger Bidens business dealings with Chinese and Ukrainian interests for years, but hadnt taken action to look into the potential national security threat.

Republican efforts to get answers for this apparently significant oversight by the DOJ and FBI were met with silence. But GOP findings do provide some clues.

According to the report, a whistleblower allegation suggests that FBI leadership in Washington may be the reason why the FBI seems to have provided Hunter Biden with special treatment.

Specifically, a whistleblower told investigating Republicans that Assistant Agent in Charge Tim Thibault of the FBIs Washington Field Office ordered a halt to the investigation in July.

According to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the Senate Judiciary Committees ranking Republican who discovered the role played by Thibault, the agent didnt give a proper reason for closing the investigation under FBI rules of conduct. Thibaults motivation in closing the case remains unclear.

Prologue to Further Investigations

The report is likely a taste of the investigations that Americans can expect if Republicans retake control in at least the House in the midterm elections, as analysts have predicted will be the most likely outcome.

Beyond the FBI and DOJ, Republicans have indicated several topics they may look into once in the majority.

These promised probes range from issues such as allegations of a role by President Joe Biden in his sons business dealings with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma to House Speaker Nancy Pelosis (D-Calif.) role in leaving the U.S. Capitol unprepared in terms of security ahead of Jan. 6, 2021. Others have indicated probes into Garlands leadership and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his handling of national security along the southern border.

Because it is unlikely that Republicans will take enough seats in the Senate to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold, and because the White House will still be occupied by a Democrat, investigations by House lawmakers would be one of Republicans strongest political tools.
"I Voted" stickers are seen during early voting ahead of the US midterm elections in Los Angeles, on Nov. 1, 2022. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)

Hundreds of Vote Centers Open Saturday Across LA County

LOS ANGELESHundreds of vote centers open Nov. 5 across Los Angeles County, giving residents ample time to cast their ballots ahead of Nov. 8s election.

The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerks Office opened 118 vote centers last weekend, but on Saturday, a total of 640 centers will be available across the county.

The centers will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Monday. On election day Tuesday, the centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Residents can visit any vote center throughout the county through Election Day, regardless of their place of residence. Residents can locate the nearest vote center by searching online.

Vote-by-mail ballots were sent to every registered voter in the countyroughly 5.6 million people. Residents can still drop those ballots in the mail, or place them inside drop boxes around the county. The ballots can also be turned in at any vote center.
If GOP Retakes Congress, It Should Defund Pentagons Vaccine Mandate in Defense Spending Bill: Rep. Massie

A Republican lawmaker and nearly 100 colleagues are seeking to prohibit any requirement for service members to receive a vaccination against COVID-19. This measure would put an end to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austins August 2021 military vaccine mandate. Nearly two dozen Republican members of Congress have joined the effort in the past three months alone.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) introduced H.R.3860 in June 2021, over two months prior to Austins announcement of a mandate. He said it wasnt a premonition, but insider information from whistleblowers that could foresee what was to come.

Although Biden and his press secretary at the time were giving the impression that there would never be mandates, people in the military were telling me that paper was being pushed around to put the mandate in place, Massie told The Epoch Times.

Acting on this information, he introduced the bill to specifically protect members of the military. I never imagined that Biden would assert that he had the constitutional authority over anybody but the military, he added.

Massie said many have asked him why his legislation is needed if there are already laws in place, like the permanent injunction granted in 2004 that brought the mandatory anthrax vaccine program to an end. With regard to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for service members, he said, If I were a lawyer, Id be suing the Secretary of Defensebut Im a legislator.

He is gravely concerned about the false equivalency between Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) products and those approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA). Service members opposing the mandate point to its wording, and argue that it only applies to vaccines that have full approval from the FDA. Therefore, the Pentagon cannot force vaccines labeled as issued under EUA, they say.

Massie agrees with many service members, opposing the Department of Defense policy (pdf) that says the Cominarty and EUA Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are interchangeable. The Pentagon is fudging and its illegal, he said.

An Act of Congress

Massie said its not the executive or judicial branches of government, but Congress that has the sole authority to fund the government. And according to the text of his bill, No Federal funds may be used to require a member of the Armed Forces to receive a vaccination against COVID-19.

If the bill were to become law, Massie said, anybody who is in violation of the law when it passes would be violating the Antideficiency Act. It basically says its against the law against the law to spend money that Congress has not appropriated, he explained.

The bill would not only end the military vaccine mandate, but would prohibit retaliation, punishment, disparate treatment, mask requirements, and forced substandard housing conditions.

The lawmaker now hopes the bill to be included, in the form of an amendment, to the final version of the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual defense spending bill. The House version of the NDAA was approved in June, and the Senate is set to vote of its version in November after the midterms. Any differences between the two versions will then be reconciled in conference.

In addition, members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus are taking it a step further, calling on Republicans to delay passage of the annual defense bill until after the new year, anticipating a Republican majority in either the House or the Senate after the midterms. A new Congress would allow the majority to rework the legislation, the caucus said.

And Massie doesnt disagree. If Republicans can be united on this, he said, we could surely defund the vaccine mandate in the NDAA. According to the congressman, it would also end all the wasted time and effort of the lawsuits and the pain and suffering thats been brought on the military.

With a GOP majority comes subpoena power, Massie added. We can force the people who are harming our nations military to come and testify. And according to Massie, Its really malpractice on the part of the Democrats not to be doing oversight on this issue [of the military vaccine mandate].

Austin would be on his shortlist for questioning. He and others would be called to task to produce the scientific data to back the mandatebut we all know, that doesnt exist.

Its past time for the entire chain of command to follow the data, to follow the science, and use some common sense, Massie said. Service members have lost confidence in their leadership, and this must be rectified.

Massie said he is thankful for the secret force of service members behind his bill.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.
In the Catholic churchs monthly devotional calendar, as distinct from the yearly liturgical calendar, each month is set aside for a special devotion: January for the Holy Name of Jesus, February for the Holy Family, March for St. Joseph, April for the Holy Eucharist and the Holy Spirit, May for the Virgin Mary, June for the Sacred Heart, July for the Precious Blood of Jesus, August for the Blessed Sacrament and Adoration, September for the Seven Sorrows of Mary, October for the Holy Rosary, November for the Souls of the Faithful Departed, and December for the Coming of Christ, both at Christmas and at the end of time.

During the month of November, the Catholic church has a wonderful tradition of praying for the souls of the dead. We dont separate the rich from the poor, or black from white, or male from female; we dont leave out those who were criminals or were illiterate; we dont give special privilege to financial magnets, renowned scholars or even great church men and women. We pray for them all: that he/she may rest in peace (in Latin, requiescat in pace, or "RIP," which we see on tombstones).

Christianity clearly teaches the resurrection of the dead and an afterlife. When friends of God die, earthy life ends and a new life begins. In the preface of the Catholic funeral Mass, we pray for your faithful people, life is changed, not ended. In this changed life, our faithful departed pick up where they left off. They may still have some work to do, bringing to light and scrubbing away the effects of sinful choices.

Catholics call this a process of purification, or purgatory. Far from being an unfamiliar process, it builds on the prayers, inspirations and good works of earthly life. Far from being a lonely path, it is a process where we on earth and those who have died continue to be a mutual support and encouragement to each other. Purgatory is a wonderful example of Gods mercy, drawing us to himself even after death.

Thats why in our Catholic tradition, we continually remember and pray for the dead. That is why we have Masses celebrated for the repose of our departed loved ones. Whether in this world or the next, whether alive or dead, we are all united in Christ! That is what we mean in the Apostles Creed when we profess our belief in the Communion of Saints. Were all connected!

The connection between the living and the dead is further emphasized in the month of November with four particular feasts. Nov. 1 on this past Tuesday was the Solemnity of All Saints, commemorating that great multitude of holy ones who stand before the throne of God in heaven (see Revelation 7:9).

Nov. 2 on this past Wednesday was the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, traditionally known as All Souls Day (see 2 Maccabees 12:43-44). Catholics on this day pray for the souls in purgatory  those who die in Gods grace and are assured of their eternal salvation, but are still in need of purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven (see Revelation 21:27).

Nov. 9 on this coming Wednesday is the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, the cathedral church of the bishop of Rome (Pope Francis) and the mother church of all churches. Whenever we celebrate the dedication of a church, we are really celebrating the people who make up the church, those still living in this world.

Some have described the Communion of Saints as comprising the church triumphant  those in heaven, the church suffering, those in purgatory, and the church militant  those on their faith journey in this world. Presiding over the communion of saints is Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe, whose feast is celebrated on the last Sunday of the church year, which this year is Nov. 20.

Because the Communion of Saints unites all who are in Christ, we can pray for one another. Those on earth can pray to and with the saints in heaven and also can pray for the souls in purgatory. The souls in purgatory can pray for us. The saints in heaven can intercede for us. It must please God to have his children helping one another. Thats why we are commended in scripture to pray for one another (James 5:16).
Illegal Immigration Is One of Biggest Problems Facing New York City, Says Republican Candidate

Illegal immigration badly affects New York as it subsequently leads to other issues, according to Michael Zumbluskas, the Republican candidate who is running for New Yorks 12th Congressional District.

Zumbluskas will be squaring off against two opponents in this Novembers midterm elections, including longtime Democratic congressman Rep. Jerry Nadler and Mikhail Itkis, a member of the progressive lefts Working Families Party.

Border officials arrested a record high of more than 2 million illegal immigrants in the past 11 months at the southern border, according to figures released by Customs and Border Protection.

One of the biggest problems right now is illegal immigration, because thats affecting everything, Zumbluskas said in an interview with The Epoch Times on Nov 3.

Its increasing the crime because fentanyl is coming in, he said.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in its January 2020 report (pdf) laid out clearly that China was the primary source of fentanyl trafficked into the United States.

It is produced in China  [then] shipped to the cartels in Mexico.

Another issue stemming from illegal immigration is the rise of human trafficking, as cartel leaders turn the aliens into laborers and make them work for almost nothing, the Republican district leader in the 76th Assembly District in New York City pointed out.

The increasing number of illegal aliens also contributed to the citys surging population, triggering housing shortages.

And thats one of the reasons the prices are so high  one of the things that a lot of people dont get is the interconnectivity of all our problems, Zumbluskas noted.

The administration of former Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a push to rezone 15 neighborhoods in 2014 with the aim of enabling the construction of more developments for low-income earners. De Blasios plan was to give middle- and low-income families a chance to remain in their community amid a tide of gentrification.

Yet, in Zumbluskass opinion, the citys gentrification plan did not work as expected.

I actually dont believe that you should put low income housing in those luxury buildings because higher-income residents then sent the rents soaring, he said.

As the leases in the area went up, service providers also increased their prices, he noted.

Then, what happens is the neighborhood gets unaffordable for the people that used to be living there, he said.

He took his own situation as an example. Im living in an area where everything else has just risen, sometimes 100% more than what I was paying, he said.

So youre pushing out the low income people, which are the backbone of the city.

Infrastructure Falling Apart

The Congressional nominee further stressed the need to rebuild the citys infrastructure, which he said is falling apart.

We need to rebuild some of our manufacturing back in New York City. We need to build energy plants, power plants, he said.

New York City, right now, spends well over $300 million a year just for other states to take our garbage, he said.

The New York City Hall slashed the Department of Sanitations budget by $106 million last summer, which reduced trash pickups by 60 percent, CBS News reported.

Zumbluskas made note of Waste Management and General Electrictwo companies that are building waste to energy plants.

We can go to them and say, We wont charge you for our garbage for 15 years. So youll be getting the raw materials for free. You can come and build here, and well give you a couple of tax breaks, he said.

In his opinion, this approach could solve a couple of problems.

We save money on getting rid of our garbage  It also lowers our energy costs in New York City, he explained.

The candidate pointed to the report that New Yorks Indian Point nuclear power plant was closed in 2021 after 59 years of operation.

It was stupid to throw close the upstate power plant  because people are afraid. Nuclear energy is actually really safe. And its actually one of the cleanest energies, he said.

Nuclear reactors do not produce carbon emissions while operating.

The close partly undermined local energy security, Zumbluskas said.

During the summer, wein some areashave blackouts, and energy demand is just going to continue up.

Consequence of Ban on Fossil Fuels

As the Biden administration has cut off domestic production of fossil fuels, choosing instead to rely on imports from foreign countries, Zumbluskas noted that diesel fuel is still essential for America.

Most of farmerss tractors and farm equipment use diesel fuel, [while] very few use regular gas. Most of the trucks that transport our food and products across the country [to New York City] use diesel fuel, he said.

A lot of our fertilizer is produced [from] fossil fuels, the nitrates in the fertilizer, he noted.

As a result, the ban of fossil fuels, in his opinion, will lead to a drop in U.S. crop yields.

The U.S. imports approximately 96 percent of the nations potassium fertilizer from Russia, including one million short tons per year, according to Michigan Potash & Salt Company.

Since we embargo the stuff from Russia, were not getting the fertilizer, he said.

The cost is going up tremendously because fuel costs for the farmers to run their lights, to run their farm equipment to harvest has doubled. That hurts everything, Zumbluskas said.
The prideful fall of the rebel angels

John Milton began his tragic poem Paradise Lost by telling us of a great war in heaven. Wanting to rule heaven, Satan gathered a group of rebel angels to oppose God. Thus, Satans pride initiated a divine war. Of course, Satan and the angels who sided with him lost the war and were cast from heaven.

Milton describes the event as follows:

[W]hat time his pride

Had cast him out from Heavn, with all his host

Of rebel angels, by whose aid aspiring

To set himself in glory above his peers,

He trusted to have equalled the Most High,

If he opposed; and with ambitious aim

Against the throne and monarchy of

God raised impious war in Heavn and battle proud

With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power

Hurled headlong flaming from th ethereal sky

With hideous ruin and combustion down

To bottomless perdition, there to dwell

In adamantine chains and penal fire (Book 1, lines 36-48).

Paradise Lost

In his first illustration for Paradise Lost, Gustav Dore provided his vision for Miltons passage. The composition is divided into two sections. The top section depicts the angels who fight for God. They are shown with less contrast, and a brilliant light illuminates them from behind.

A detail of Dores engraving shows heavenly angels in battle with rebel angels. Him the Almighty Power/Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky (I. 44, 45), 1866, by Gustav Dore for John Miltons Paradise Lost. Engraving. (Public Domain)

Some of the angels even appear as if they are ephemeral: It is almost as if their bodies are made of the light that shines behind them. The central angel, however, flies forth with great energy and points his sword toward the falling rebel angels.

The light separates the clouds and bursts into the darkness of the compositions bottom section. Some of the light rays appear as lightning bolts, as if they are striking the falling rebel angels.

The rebel angels fall from heaven with their hands flailing and their backs arching as they writhe in pain. Some of them try to shield themselves from the light, but they become black silhouettes as they fall toward the bottom of the composition.

We can presume that the largest of the falling rebel angels, directly in the middle of the composition, is Satan himself. He holds a spear in one hand and puts his other hand up to his head in angst. The fact that Satan is the largest figure, has the most contrast, and is in the center of the composition lets us know that he is the focal point. Satan is not only the focal point of Dores composition, but he is also the focal point of Miltons tragedy.

A Cautionary Tale

Milton said that he wrote Paradise Lost to justify the ways of God to men (Book 1, line 26). In order to accomplish his goal, he took the unusual approach of making Satan his main character, and Dore followed suit in his illustrations. Why would they make Satan the focus if the goal is to justify the ways of God to men, unless Miltons tragedy is a cautionary tale.

If that is the case, then what are we cautioned against?

Wanting to rule heaven, Satan gathered a group of rebel angels to oppose God, as seen in Him the Almighty Power/Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky (I. 44, 45), 1866, by Gustav Dore for John Miltons Paradise Lost. Engraving. (Public Domain)

We can interpret from Miltons story that pride is the foundational affront against God. There is a clear contrast between Satans pride and Gods almighty righteousness, and the angels must choose which they will follow. God and his angels cast from heaven all of those who leave righteousness behind to follow pride. Does this suggest that pride, by its nature, exists separate from righteousness?

This great war is not only a war that happened in heaven but also one that happens inside of us every day. This everyday battlethe battle between light and dark, righteousness and prideis ingrained in the human experience.

Every day, we have to choose between what God wants from us and what we might do for the sake of our pride. Like those righteous angels in heaven having the light of God, we have to, within ourselves, cast into darkness those things that resist the divine.

Gustav Dore was a prolific illustrator in the 19th century. He created images for some of the greatest classical literature of the Western world, including the Bible, Paradise Lost, and The Divine Comedy. In this series, we will take a deep dive into the thoughts that inspired Dore and the imagery those thoughts provoked.
Jonathan Quick (32) of the Los Angeles Kings looses his helmet while making a save against the Chicago Blackhawks during the second period at United Center in Chicago, on Nov. 03, 2022. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Kings Outlast Panthers, Win on Gabriel Vilardis Goal

Gabriel Vilardi scored on a sharp-angle rebound with 3:18 left as the host Los Angeles Kings beat the Florida Panthers 54 on Saturday night, Nov 5.

Alexander Edler had the primary assist on the go-ahead goal.

Floridas Sam Reinhart missed off the left post with 6.1 seconds left.

The Kings also got goals from Rasmus Kupari, Trevor Moore, Viktor Arvidsson and Blake Lizotte. Moore and Arvidsson each added an assist, and Anze Kopitar had two.

Florida got two goals from Carter Verhaeghe and one each from Ryan Lomberg and Eetu Luostarinen.

Jonathan Quick made 34 saves for the Kings, and Sergei Bobrovsky also had 34 for the Panthers.

Florida opened the scoring on an unusual play 11 minutes into the first period. Kupari high-sticked Rudolfs Balcers, drawing blood. The double-minor penalty was called, but Lomberg scooped up the loose puck, skated in and scored on a high shot from the right circle.

Balcers did not return.

Kupari tied the score with 9:27 gone in the second. Kevin Fiala did a terrific job chasing the puck down in the corner before firing a blind pass to Kupari, whose high shot beat Bobrovsky.

Florida took a 21 lead just 18 seconds later as Verhaeghes shot deflected in off the right skate of Los Angeles defender Mikey Anderson.

Los Angeles tied the score 34 seconds later. Arvidssons shot from the point was tipped in by Trevor Moore. The puck went off Moores stick and bounced off the left skate of Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour before trickling in off of Bobrovskys pads.

The Panthers nearly took a 32 lead on a would-be Montour goal from the point. However, the goal was waved off for goalie interference as Floridas Matthew Tkachuk brushed up against Quicks head.

Florida appealed the call. The Panthers were then assessed a penalty when the call on the disallowed goal stood.

On the ensuing power play, Los Angeles scored to take a 32 lead with just 26 seconds left in the second. The goal by Arvidsson was a tap-in on the rush after a great pass from Kopitar. Moore got the secondary assist for his crucial pass ahead.

Florida tied the score 33 with 18:42 left in the third. Reinhart drew the defense before dishing to Luostarinen, who scored after being left alone inside the left circle.

Los Angeles regained the lead 82 seconds later as Lizotte got past Florida on a breakaway before scoring on his own rebound.

Florida tied the score 44 on Verhaeghes second goal. He took a pass from Tkachuk, fanned on his first attempt and then found the back of the net.
Protestors demonstrate as the Los Angeles City Council holds its first in-person meeting since voting in new president Paul Krekorian in the wake of a leaked audio recording in Los Angeles on Oct. 25, 2022. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

LA City Council Enforces Rule to Bar Protesters From Entering Chamber for Meeting

LOS ANGELESThree people were kept from entering the Los Angeles City Council chamber during the latest council meeting, according to the Los Angeles Police Department, as the council enforced a rule that allows it to exclude those who have been removed from multiple meetings within three days of the next meeting.

Council President Paul Krekorian also ejected at least a dozen protesters who began chanting and shouting as the Nov. 4 meeting began after several quick warnings.

He cited Council Rule 12, which states in part that no person in the audience at a Council or Committee meeting shall engage in conduct that disrupts the orderly conduct of any Council or Committee meeting. Krekorian, in his third week as council president, had not cited the rule by name during previous protests.

New Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian (2nd L) presides as the council holds its first in-person meeting since he became president in the wake of a leaked audio recording in Los Angeles on Oct. 25, 2022. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Protesters have regularly attempted to disrupt meetings since the City Hall racism scandal broke in early October, demanding that Councilmen Kevin de Leon and Gil Cedillo resign before the council resumes conducting city business. But the number of protesters dwindled this week from at least 20 last week to around a dozen.

We understand that there will be attempts to disrupt this council meeting from time to time, Krekorian said, after ejecting the last of the protesters from the chamber. Were going to deal with it as best we can, in a way that deescalates the situation.

Krekorian reiterated that these meetings of the City Council will not be shut down.

Items on Fridays agenda included several motions regarding adjustments to Los Angeles Animal Services, and consideration of measures to address an increase of charter flights at Van Nuys Airport.

While I can appreciate peoples right to protest, it shouldnt obstruct the work and the responsibility that we have to serve the 4 million people in the city, Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez said to City News Service ahead of Fridays meeting. So, we have work and business to continue to do.

Councilman Joe Buscaino, a former LAPD officer, thanked officers for showing a lot of patience and grace during these disruptions.

Los Angeles City Councilman and mayoral candidate Joe Buscaino speaks during the opening of the Terminal 1 expansion at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles on June 4, 2021. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

There has been a visible increase in the number of officers present at City Hall during meetings since protests began. A few weeks ago, as protesters attempted to enter City Hall while the council met virtually, one officer grabbed a protester on the back of the neck to keep him out of the building as another protester was trying to push him into the building.

Not all Angelenos appreciate cops in riot gear keeping us out of City Hall, one speaker told the council during public comment. The protesters are not the problem.

Under council rules amended in 2018, anyone removed twice within three business days from council meetings can be excluded from the next meeting, with subsequent exclusions if they return and are removed again.

Police officers guarded the chamber doors prior to Fridays meeting, checking whether those entering the chamber had been among the ejected protesters on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Jason Reedy, an organizer with the activist group Peoples City Council, tried talking to the council and Deputy City Attorney Stefran Faublewho advises the council at meetingsat the podium ahead of the meeting. Reedy claimed that the people being kept out didnt disrupt the meetings on both Tuesday and Wednesday and therefore shouldnt have been barred from the chamber.

Wheres your proof? Reedy asked Fauble.

Reedy was among those later ejected from the meeting.

Protestors demonstrate as the Los Angeles City Council holds its first in-person meeting since voting in new president Paul Krekorian in the wake of a leaked audio recording in Los Angeles on Oct. 25, 2022. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Krekorian said he would cut short public comment after about an hour, noting he would take only another 15 minutes because we did have almost a half an hour of disruptions at the beginning of the meeting, which unfortunately took up a lot of time that we couldve devoted otherwise to hearing from the public. The council routinely begins its meetings around 15 minutes after the scheduled start time of 10 a.m.

The council Nov. 4 was wrapping up its fourth week of meetings since the scandal broke, with de Leon and Cedillo showing no intentions of resigning and the council attempting to move forward with regular business.

Neither de Leon nor Cedillo has attended a meeting since Oct. 11.

De Leon and Cedillo have defied fierce and widespread calls to resign for taking part in a leaked 2021 conversation that involved racist comments and attempts to manipulate redistricting, though a notice of intent to recall de Leon was filed with the City Clerks Office on Thursday.

With neither showing any inclination to resign, councilors have stressed that certain city business needs to get done. The council cannot expel its own members.

De Leon has conducted a series of television and radio interviews reiterating his desire to regain the trust of the community and his colleagues. Cedillo, who lost his re-election bid, will be off the council in December regardless. His only public comments since an initial statement the day the recordings were released have come through a spokesman, who maintains that Cedillo is at a place of reflection.
Labour Board Hearing Continues After 16 Hours of Heated Debate

After more than 16 hours of arguments before the labour board on Nov. 5, the hearing continued the following day with both sides making their case about the ongoing strike of 55,000 Ontario education workers who walked off the job Nov. 4, closing multiple schools across the province for in-person learning.

Arguments before board chair Brian OByrne continued until 1:30 a.m. Nov. 6, with plans to resume a few hours later at 7 a.m. There was no word on when the Ontario Labour Board would release a decision, but OByrne said he anticipated the hearing would wrap up Nov. 6.

During the hearing, OByrne told the lawyer for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) that Ontario has the right to use the notwithstanding clause, even if it is politically risky.

Under our laws, governments can do this kind of thing legally. Even though some of us may find it distasteful or worse than that, they still have the right to do it, he said.

By law, when we have a collective agreement, then youre not supposed to strike. And the reality is theres a collective agreement, whether you like it or not.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce, on behalf of the province, went to the Ontario Labour Relations Board last week for a declaration the walkout by education support workers is illegal, arguing that CUPE has called or authorized an unlawful strike.

Leece told reporters that one million students who missed school across the province on Nov. 4 had a right to an education and the province would get kids back in classrooms using every tool available.

Strike Could go on Indefinitely

During the hearing, CUPE lawyer Steven Barrett said that allowing the Ontario government to deem the walkout illegal would nullify labour laws and collective bargaining rights. CUPE has said the strike could go on indefinitely.

Meanwhile, lawyer Ferina Murji, representing Ontario, said the provinces labour laws cannot be undermined and the walkout needs to be declared illegal. She alleged CUPE leadership knowingly advised workers to take part in an illegal strike.

Murji told the labour board that it must make it clear that unlawful strikes cannot continue. The Labour Relations Act, she said, prohibits walkouts while contracts are in place.

Strike or Protest?

Both sides argued over the definition of a strike before the board, with CUPE stating that the labour action was was not a strike, but rather a legitimate public protest.

Murji responded, This is a work stoppage  and therefore a strike, full stop.

Murji provided video to the labour board in which CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn said the union would provide the same benefits to workers that it does in any strike. She also played video of Laura Walton, president of CUPE Ontarios School Board Council of Unions, comparing the walkout to one that was planned in 2019.

The government passed a law pre-emptively on Nov. 3, which imposed a four-year contract on workers and gives the province the power to issue fines of up to $4,000 each per day per person on the picket line, plus $500,000 in fines per day for the union.

Talks between the province and CUPE broke down last week, with Ontario using the notwithstanding clause in back-to-work legislation intended to prevent a strike and protect the bill from legal challenges.

Leece stated it was a priority to keep kids in school after three years of disruption due to a 2019 teachers dispute and COVID-19 school closures that saw millions of children educated by Zoom.

A few schools were able to remain open for learning on Nov. 4. Support staff for the Waterloo Region District School Board are not part of the same union. Halton District School Board plans to alternate between remote learning and in-person classes next week if the strike continues.

Toronto District School Board is one of many that said they will be closed Nov. 7 if the walkout continues, because the striking staff provide critical services like lunchroom supervision, security on campus, and kindergarten support.

Isaac Teo and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
A woman holds a placard with a picture of Iranian Mahsa Amini as she attends a protest against her death in Berlin on Sept. 28, 2022. (Markus Schreiber/AP Photo)

Large Rally in Beverly Hills in Solidarity with Iranian Women

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.What police described as a large rally was underway Nov. 5 afternoon in Beverly Hills in solidarity with Iranians protesting the death of a woman who refused to wear a hijab and died in the custody of Irans morality police.

About 4 p.m., police reported the rally was expected to cause traffic delays in the area of Rodeo and Beverly drives. They reported about 4:30 p.m. that the rally was in the area of Crescent Drive and Santa Monica Boulevard and that the 400 block of Crescent was closed.

Participants were asked to wear white, according to a flier circulated online.

There have been protests all over the world since 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in the custody of Irans morality police. They also decry the deaths of Sarina Esmaeilzadeh, Nika Shakarami, and others, blaming the government enforcers.

On Oct. 11, the Beverly Hills City Council voted unanimously to adopt a resolution calling upon the United States government to increase sanctions against the current Iranian regime and cease negotiations, including negotiations related to oil exports, and to not release any assets frozen in the U.S. until there is a regime change.
A Surete du Quebec police car is seen in Montreal on July 22, 2020. (The Canadian Press/Paul Chiasson)

Man, 39, Dies After Hitting a Pole During Parachute Landing in Victoriaville, Que

A 39-year-old man is dead after a failed parachute landing in Victoriaville, Que., around 150 kilometres northeast of Montreal.

Provincial police spokeswoman Sgt. Catherine Bernard says police were called to the scene near the towns airport around noon Saturday.

She says it appears the man struck a pole as he was attempting to land.

Bernard says he was transported to hospital where he was declared dead.

She says a provincial police investigator and crime scene technicians are on the scene to determine what happened.

But she says its too early to say whether a crime was committed.
Michael Taube: When It Comes to the Notwithstanding Clause, Doug Ford Had No Other Option

Commentary

Ontario Premier Doug Ford passed Bill 28, or the Keeping Students in Class Act, on Nov. 3 to prevent roughly 55,000 education support workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees from going on strike. The provincial government also received royal assent to include Section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, or the notwithstanding clause, to ensure no court challenges could be filed.

This is the third time Ford has been forced to consider using the dreaded override lever as premier. Its also the first time in his political tenure that he truly had no other option but to enact it.

Section 33 reared its ugly head during the 2018 political battle to reduce the number of Toronto City Council wards from 47 to 25. That September, Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba declared that Bill 31, or the Efficient Local Government Act, was unconstitutional. Ford threatened to use the notwithstanding clause to get the bill passed, but it never materialized. The Ontario Court of Appeal granted a stay of the Superior Courts decision on Sept. 19, 2018, and defeated it by a 3-2 margin. The matter went to the Supreme Court of Canada on Mar. 16, 2021, and the ruling was upheld by a 5-4 margin the following October.

The Ontario government had to consider the notwithstanding clause again in 2021. Superior Court Judge Edward Morgan declared that Bill 254, or the Protecting Ontario Elections Act, which capped third-party political advertising at $600,000 for a year before an election campaign was launched, was unconstitutional. The Ford PCs immediately moved forward with Bill 307, or the Protecting Elections and Defending Democracy Act, to enact these changes along with the notwithstanding clause. This new bill received royal assent on June 14, 2021.

The notwithstanding clause has been primarily used in Canada during Quebec-based language law disputes and matters of free speech and religious freedom. Some wondered if a dispute over municipal seats in Toronto really should have been tied to a possible constitutional challenge. Others worried Section 33 would become a more regular feature in government bills defeated in the lower courts. Still others pointed to the Superior Courts repeated intervention in government matters as an example of judicial activism run amuck.

Fords decision to enact the notwithstanding clause with Bill 28 is the one instance where it made sense.

CUPEs demands during this labour dispute were completely unreasonable. They asked for an across-the-board 11.7 percent annual raise for education support workers, which includes early childhood educators, educational assistants, and custodians. This would have been a gigantic pay hike in not only political and economic terms, but also from a historical perspective. Union demands always start high in contract negotiations with the public and private sector, but this figure was in the stratosphere.

Ford and his education minister, Stephen Lecce, werent going to agree to CUPEs outrageous demand. Both sides had reportedly discussed this issue since the original contract ended in August. Last-minute talks between CUPEs Ontario School Board Council of Unions and government negotiators proved fruitless. There was too much distance between the union and government, and no way to reach a deal when the former was clearly acting irresponsibly and irrationally.

The PC government ultimately passed its own four-year deal with the union. Education support workers earning less than $43,000 per year received an annual raise of 2.5 percent, while everyone else received 1.5 percent. Striking would lead to fines of $4,000 per individual and $500,000 for CUPE, which happened on Nov. 4.

COVID-19 was obviously an enormous challenge in terms of balancing in-person learning and virtual learning. It hurt our childrens educational progress and affected their mental health. Keeping schools open was a high priority for the Ontario government, like other provincial governments, throughout the pandemic. Education support workers have dealt with the same rising costs in Ontario (and Canada) that directly affect individuals, families and businesses.

Yet theres no justification for this grandiose type of salary increase for any position, regardless of current and forthcoming economic concerns. If education support workers really believed our childrens learning and well-being came first, they wouldnt have gone along with their unions rigid approach and nonsensical salary demand. But they did.

Thats why the Ford governments decision to enact the notwithstanding clause in Bill 28 was correct. The premier, education minister, and other PC MPPs surely didnt want to bring it back to the bargaining table once more. But if youre the only party acting in good faith and thinking with clarity during a difficult negotiation process, you need to use every political tool available at your disposal. Even if it happens to be the rustiest and most controversial one in the toolbox.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Munich seamlessly blends both the urban flair of a vibrant metropolis and the traditional charm of an outlying town. Situated on the Isar river to the north of the Bavarian Alps, Munich is the capital of Bavaria and the third-largest city in Germany. What started out as a market town in the 12th century has now transformed into a modern-technology capital known for its high-tech cars, tall tankards andabove allbeer-filled Oktoberfest celebrations.

During our visit while touring the Alps, our family experienced Munichs engaging mix of modernity and tradition firsthand. And it didnt take us long to realize that Munichs allure extends far beyond its unique regional identity. Theres a whole world of architectural marvels, historical gems, and stunning scenery to uncover here.

We started our trip by purchasing a Munich Card and a Munich City Pass that allowed us to travel around Munich using public transportation and to enter main attractions. This simplified the process of navigating around the city and exploring sites. We stayed at the new Gambino Hotel, which boasts a prime location in the brand-new Werksviertel-Mitte neighborhood. As one of Germanys most exciting urban development projects, this neighborhood is a pop-up city composed of repurposed industrial buildings alongside futuristic new structures.

The brand-new Werksviertel-Mitte neighborhood in Munich, Germany, features repurposed industrial buildings next to futuristic architecture. (Courtesy of Margot Black)

The modern Werksviertel district demonstrates how beautifully Munich weaves the old and the new together. Werksviertel-Mitte was once a food-manufacturing site for potatoes and dumplings, but now its a trendy neighborhood exploding with a creative vision to cultivate a neighborhood district of the future. For our teenage son, staying in such a lively and futuristic area of the city meant we were staying in an area straight out of Ready Player One.'

The Gambino Hotel is central to Umadum Munchen, the biggest mobile Ferris wheel in the world. We grabbed some drinks and snacks from the nearby snack bar and rode the Umadum for free with our Munich City Pass. In the Bavarian dialect, umadum means all-round, which perfectly describes the panoramic views of Munichs stunning cityscape that we enjoyed from our pod.

Then it was time to visit the famous Hofbrau Wirtshaus beer hall. Dating back to 1589, this is the embodiment of original German hospitality with the quintessential Oktoberfest feel. Its where locals and visitors alike can kick back at family-style tables with a pretzel in one hand and a beer in the other, all while listening to daily live music. We laughed continuously as everyone kept offering our teenager a beer, which he continuously denied. The Hofbrauhaus has become so iconic of Bavarian beer culture that a visit to Munich truly isnt complete until you step inside.

The next day we did some sightseeing on the Munich Old Town Small-Group Walking Tour that I booked through TripAdvisor. This tour was less than $30 per person and worth every penny since we got to hit all the top sites in Old Town: the Marienplatz city center, the Viktualienmarkt market, St. Peters Church, the Alter Hof, Frauenkirche church, and the glockenspiel clock.

If youre short on time in any new cityespecially one as large as Municha walking tour is a good way to get the lay of the land, get your bearings, and hit top sites quickly. We walked all over Munich with one of the most sensational tour guides Ive ever had, Dani. Under her leadership, we experienced the city in a fun, healthy, and efficient way.

After walking all day, we were craving some Bavarian cuisine, so the dinner we had at Xavers really hit the spot. A trio of young siblings runs this stylish restaurant thats located in the heart of Munich. The decor is a nod to Wirtshaus culture and features details emblematic of a classic Bavarian inn. We dined outdoors, savoring every bite of our wienerschnitzel, salmon trout ceviche, and cheese spatzle.

The next day we went on a spectacular bus tour of Neuschwanstein and Linderhof Palace that I also booked on TripAdvisor. Booking organized tours in advance provides a stress-free, joyful, and streamlined way for families to explore popular landmarks, especially during high season.

Spending a day seeing royal castles in Europe was a bucket-list adventure that delivered the blissful fairytale feeling in spades. On our guided tour, we learned about how King Ludwig II of Bavaria ordered construction of Neuschwanstein Castle in 1868 but died before its completion. He wanted to create a better Romanesque reproduction of a medieval-style castle in line with his romanticized vision of monarchy. And seeing the storybook towers, turrets, and frescoes, its clear why Neuschwanstein Castle inspired Walt Disney to create the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland.

Neuschwanstein Castle near Munich, Germany, is one of the most recognizable landmarks in all of Europe. (Courtesy of Margot Black)

Before departing Neuschwanstein, we enjoyed lunch in the little town and walking around the Alpsee Lake that is situated at the foot of the castle. Then we hopped back on board our bus and visited Linderhof Palace, the smallest of the three palaces King Ludwig II commissioned.

From Munichs neighborhood of the future to its Old Town and beyond to the castles of King Ludwig, we couldnt have asked for a better way to experience the best of Bavaria.

If You Go

Gambino Hotel in Werksviertel: www.GambinoHotelWerksviertel.com

Hofbrauhaus Munchen: www.Hofbraeuhaus.de

Xavers Restaurant: www.Xaver-s.de
Vice President Kamala Harris (L), New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (C), and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) hold up their hands at the conclusion of a New York Women Get Out The Vote rally at Barnard College in New York on Nov. 3, 2022. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

NBC Affiliate Fact-Checks Kathy Hochul on Repeat Offenders Claim

A local NBC affiliate issued a rare fact-check of Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul as she campaigns for the gubernatorial seat against Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) on Tuesday.

Zeldin, who himself was assaulted during a campaign stop earlier this year, has made addressing New Yorks violent crime rate and tacking the states controversial bail-reform laws a priority. Zeldin said that if hes elected, hell declare an emergency over crime in the state.

Hochul, formerly the lieutenant governor who took the governors chair last year following former Gov. Andrew Cuomos resignation, has asserted that crime isnt a problem. She recently said during a CNN interview that cashless bail does not impact crime and added that if youre going to just change one part of the system, it shows a naivete that is not going to be a real solution.

In a separate interview with NBC4, Hochul appeared to take a different tone on cashless bail, saying shes changed rules around bail in the state.

Not that long ago in New York, in our city, crime was down, incarceration was down, stop and frisk was down. How is it okay that were now seeing people who commit a dozen burglaries face zero consequences? an NBC4 reporter asked Hochul. Thats not okay. Its not okay. Thats why I need the system to work with the laws we put in place. We changed the laws. Repeat offenders need to be held, the governor replied.

But her claim drew a fact-check from the local broadcaster, which later stated that despite Hochuls changes, repeat offenders are still being released because New Yorks new laws still require judges to use the least restrictive bail.

Meaning, even when bail is set, its set low, the New York City-based NBC station said.

New York Republican gubernatorial nominee Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) appear at a Get Out the Vote Rally in Thornwood, Westchester, N.Y., on Oct. 31, 2022. (Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times)

Several top current and former Democrats visited New York this weekend in a bid to boost Hochul. Recent polls have revealed an unexpectedly tight race between her and Zeldin in New York, which hasnt seen a Republican elected as governor in two decades.

Former President Bill Clinton made an appearance in Brooklyn to back Hochul on Saturday, coming two days after Vice President Kamala Harris and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared alongside the incumbent governor. President Joe Biden is slated to touch down in Westchester County for another rally ahead of the midterms on Tuesday.

Weve got a close election; there are close elections all around this country, New York Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs acknowledged to Politico. In the House of Representatives, the Senate, and, yes, right here in the state of New York.

Last week, Zeldin said his internal polling shows the race to be neck-and-neck. Weve just felt growing momentum every day since. Were going to win this race on Tuesday as long as we get our supporters out, he stated.

New Yorkers, he said, are greatly concerned about safety on our streets, on our subways. Republicans and Democrats and independents have decided that enough is enough.

They are tired of the pro-criminal laws that have been passed up in Albany, Zeldin asserted. You have weak district attorneys who are refusing to enforce the law, and they want to support our men and women in law enforcement.

The Epoch Times has contacted Hochuls campaign for comment.
Historic architecture can be significant for many reasons, such as its decorative detail, being the location of an important event, or being the home of an important person. What ties all these concepts together is the propertys expression of a moment in the human past. Sometimes the entire history of a community can be contained in a single structure, just as the history of Auburns business community is found in the building at 123 Genesee St., currently known as the Muldrow Building. The Muldrow Building has contributed to the life and vitality of the business community since the Civil War era. It is what the architectural historian would describe as a two-part commercial block," a type of building designed to maximize the use of floor space for income by providing a street-level storefront for steady foot traffic, and more private spaces for professional offices and residential rental units on the floors above.

Over the decades, the property functioned as a mixed-use building with both commercial and residential uses. Tenants included dentists, stockbrokers, sewing machine agents and lawyers. The first deed to the property appears in 1863, and the building is first visible in a photograph from 1865. A year later, a deed was sold by Charles Fitch to Henry Wells, president of the American Express Co. (then located at 121 Genesee St.), for the use of a shared stairwell connecting the neighboring buildings. The third floor retains the late 19th century studio and darkroom facilities of the Vogue, and later, Perdrix photography studios. The ground floor was the location for larger and more public-facing businesses, such as milliners, general stores and restaurants, among other uses.

The property also served as the office of longtime Congressman John Taber, from 1918 until 1964. Taber formed his own firm in 1918 on the second floor of 123 Genesee St., and began the first of 20 terms in the House of Representatives in 1923. In 1946, Taber became the House Appropriations Committee chairperson, and the first chairperson of the Joint Congressional Committee on the Budget, making him one of the most influential members of Congress. A highly partisan archconservative, Taber opposed nearly all forms of government intervention in peoples lives. This included school lunch subsidies, public housing, pro-labor bills and any form of price or wage control. Most notorious of all, Taber even voted against the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960 and against the abolition of poll taxes. Known ironically to his colleagues as generous John," and by the general public as the watchdog of the Treasury," Taber also labeled himself proudly as the worst Republican in Congress."

In this single piece of real estate we can follow the trajectory of Auburns post-Civil War commercial history. In the mid-19th century, the building was erected to provide space for the mundane but necessary businesses of the day. By the turn of the 20th century, Auburns place of relative prominence came with powerful national figures and longevity in business, and the building acquired an exuberant decorated cornice cap. By the third quarter of the 20th century, the space had emptied as commercial strips like Grant Avenue and office space elsewhere became more desirable. Around 1960, the ground floor altered to its present design, the cornice cap was gone, and the upper floors of the building were left frozen in time after Taber and the photography studio left. Across New York state, similar stories have played out in nearly every community, small and large.

In the last decade or so, however, an ingenious economic development tool has helped some communities revitalize their downtown districts: the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit. Born out of the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, the HRTC allows projects in certified historic structures in New York to capture up to 50% of their qualified costs in tax credits. Developers can syndicate these credits by selling them to brokers that specialize in the tax credit market, and thereby raise capital for their projects. In the end, historic buildings that would have otherwise remained vacant and deteriorating are given the extra financing help needed to bring them back to usefulness. In Auburn, the Logan Park Lofts and West Middle School projects were done using HRTCs, returning giant pieces of real estate back to the tax rolls.

To Auburns credit, there have been significant gains in the revitalization of downtown, despite not using the HRTC (and despite COVID-19s impact). Nevertheless, our downtown is primed for this type of revitalization. The state Historic Preservation Office has already determined that this stretch of Genesee Street is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district, the first step in the process. With significant buildings like 120 Genesee St. literally crumbling onto the street, this type of developmental tool could be transformative.
New Arizona Anti-Smuggling Law Quickly Lands 43 in Border County Jail

In the first three weeks of Arizonas new anti-smuggling law, law enforcement officers in Cochise County arrested 43 alleged smugglers.

One of them is an 18-year-old college student who used his parents vehicle, according to Cochise County Sheriffs Office spokeswoman Carol Capas.

He lives at home with his parents and he just wanted some extra money and he heard that this was a good way to do it, Capas told NTDs Melina Wisecup.

Now, hes sitting in our jail on a class 2 felony, and hes going to be there for a while.

Cochise County is mostly remote desert and ranchland. It sits on the border with Mexico and is a thoroughfare for illegal aliens who are evading law enforcement in order to disappear further into the United States.

These people cant turn themselves in, theyll get deported. These are the bad people. Were dealing with the worst of the worst, Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels told The Epoch Times in a previous interview.

Border Patrol agents in that border sector record at least 10,000 such aliensknown as gotawayseach month, the highest in the country.

Since the anti-smuggling law took effect on Sept. 24, the price for smuggling has also increased, Capas said. Previously, a driver could make up to around $1,500 per person to get from Cochise County to Tucson or Phoenix. Now, its up to about $3,000 per person, she said.

Drivers are recruited via social media sites such as Tik Tok, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Snapchat, Dannels said.

The cartels use social media to recruit the smuggler drivers to come here to Cochise County to smuggle out of here, he said. So [they] attract juveniles off social media, which is very sad. [They] attract repetitive criminals that see an easy dollar coming here, which is the majority of what we see.

Capas said a 65-year-old and his girlfriend are also now in jail.

[They] drove from Florida in a rental car two weeks ago. He and his girlfriend decided to come out and make some money. They failed to return the rental car and they got caught. So now hes in our jail and shes in our jail, she said.

Arizona hasnt had an anti-smuggling law at the state level since 2012 when the Supreme Court gutted its new state border security legislation.

In 2010, the state Legislature approved SB 1070 in an attempt to secure its own border after it said the federal government was failing in its duty. It included a section that made it illegal to transport, conceal, or harbor an illegal alien.

Until now, the Legislature had failed to create a standalone anti-smuggling law.

It had been a longstanding federal crime to smuggle illegal aliens, but thats up to the U.S. attorneys to prosecute at the federal level, and they werent taking up most cases, especially those involving juvenile drivers, according to Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre.

What appears to be a policy right now is [if you have] five or fewer aliens in your vehicle, then prosecution wont be accepted, he told The Epoch Times in a previous interview.

Dannelss office had to apply any other state charge to smugglers that would stick.

Anytime we can charge for pursuits, reckless driving, traffic violations, trespasswell charge them, he said.

Prior to the new law, one alleged smuggler was even charged with kidnapping as he tried to evade police by traveling at speeds of 100 miles per hour and driving erratically before the 17-year-old driver ultimately crashed the vehicle. The illegal alien passengers told police that they had repeatedly told him to stop. No one was seriously hurt.

Dannels said that since January, hes booked into jail 1,016 people for border-related crimes. Since March, his officers have been involved in 144 vehicle pursuits and opened more than 700 border-related smuggling investigations.

Thats unheard of here, Dannels said. Weve always seen smuggling, but not to the level were seeing now, to the aggression with the pursuits, the fights, whatever they do to get away from us.

He blames the Biden administrations policies that quickly dismantled many border security measures in January 2021.

Since Biden took office, border officials have encountered or reported more than 5 million illegal aliens, including about 1 million gotaways, according to Customs and Border Protection data.

Right now, the message is the borders open. And the only winners are the criminal cartels that are exploiting Americans every day, Dannels said.

Its so avoidable. Thats whats frustrating to me. This is Americas border, not my borderAmericas border.

Dannels recapped the first 15 minutes of radio traffic that morning after he checked in at 6:45 a.m.

We had 14 [illegal aliens] bail out of a car out here south of where were at right now. We had a suspicious vehicle [that] turned out to be a person there to pick up [illegal aliens].  And then we had suspicious activity up in our canyon. Thats just the first three calls that the first 15 minutes I was on this morning before I went to my first meeting, he said.

Find me a Border Patrol agent working on the front line that says this border is secure and Ill buy you a steak dinner, because Ive never heard it.
An initial request was sent to the San Francisco County Sheriffs Office, which operates the jail where DePape is being held. An officer replied, We do not own the rights to mugshots, noting that the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) does.

The SFPD public information officer, Nicole Pacchetti, told The Epoch Times, Under the current circumstances, we do not release mugshots of the suspect.

Although police across the United States routinely release mugshots of arrested suspects, San Francisco Police Chief William Scott announced in 2020 that he would no longer release mugshots except in circumstances where their release is necessary to warn the public of imminent danger or to enlist the publics assistance in locating individuals, including at-risk persons.

At the time, the chief cited research showing that widespread publication of mugshots fosters racial bias and vastly overstates the propensity of black and brown men to engage in criminal behavior. Scott also said refusing to release mugshots reinforces a cornerstone of American jurisprudence: innocent until proven guilty.

The Epoch Times and other news media have also been denied other commonly released records in the Pelosi-DePape case. San Franciscos top prosecutor confirmed on Nov. 3 that she was refusing to release a recording of Pelosis 911 call and officers body camera footage.

The Epoch Times is still waiting for responses to outstanding requests for a number of other records related to the incident.

DePape was arrested after police said they witnessed him hitting Pelosi, 82, with a hammer inside the Pelosi residence, fracturing his skull.

In court records, police said DePape admitted to them that he broke into the house by smashing through a glass door, and he had come there on a suicide mission, with the intent of questioning Nancy Pelosi about lies and political corruption in Washington.

After Paul Pelosi told DePape that his wife wasnt home, DePape announced: Im going to tie you up.

Paul Pelosi made an excuse to use the restroom, where he then dialed 911 but to diffuse the situation, told the dispatcher he didnt need emergency help.

The dispatcher decided to send officers anyhow for a well-being check, a move that authorities say may have saved Pelosis life.

When officers arrived, they found Pelosi and DePape inside the house, struggling over a hammer. DePape wrenched the hammer away from Mr. Pelosi, then hit him in the head at full force, a court record states. Pelosi was knocked unconscious. Officers tackled DePape and disarmed him, according to the document.
The Republican nominee for governor of Arizona, Kari Lake, speaks at Arizona First Rally in Phoenix, Arizona on Nov. 3, 2022. (NTD)

Police Respond to Arizona GOP Candidate Kari Lakes Headquarters After Suspicious Items Found

Officials in Phoenix said Sunday they found suspicious items found inside mail at Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lakes headquarters, while a Lake campaign staffer said that white powder was discovered.

When officers arrived, they learned there were suspicious items located inside the mail, Phoenix police Sgt. Phil Krynsky told Fox News, confirming earlier reports. Additional resources responded to collect the items and secure the area. There have been no reports of injury and the investigation remains active.

Lakes campaign has not issued a public comment about the incident. The Epoch Times has contacted her campaign for comment.

Krynsky did not elaborate on the items that were discovered in the mail.

The items were suspicious in nature and remains under investigation, he said. Our patrol units were there until approximately 5 a.m.

A campaign spokesperson told CNN that a staffer at her Phoenix office opened an envelope that contained white powder.

It was one of two envelopes that were confiscated by law enforcement and sent to professionals at Quantico for examination, and we are awaiting details, campaign spokesman Colton Duncan told the outlet. The staff member is currently under medical supervision.

Duncan said her campaign is taking the threat incredibly seriously and praised law enforcement for responding.

In the meantime, know that our resolve has never been higher, and we cannot be intimidated. We continue to push full speed ahead to win this election on Tuesday, the official said.

Phoenix Fire Departments hazardous materials team was sent to her office, according to Lakes campaign. The fire crew and other agencies were there starting at around 2 a.m. local time on Sunday morning, the campaign told AZFamily.

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat who is running for governor against Lake, condemned the incident.

The reported incident at Kari Lakes campaign office is incredibly concerning and I am thankful that she and her staff were not harmed, Hobbs campaign said in a statement to local media. Political violence, threats, or intimidation have no place in our democracy. I strongly condemn this threatening behavior directed at Lake and her staff.

The incident comes just two days before the Tuesday, Nov. 8 midterms will be held. Last week, authorities responded to an alleged break-in at Hobbs campaign headquarters in Phoenix, and Lake later said that a 36-year-old illegal immigrant was arrested in the case.

Hobbs and Democrats, without providing evidence, alleged that it was Lakes fault that the office was broken into.

Make no mistakethis is a direct result of Kari Lake, and fringe Republicans spreading lies and hate and inciting violenceand it is despicable, the Arizona Democratic Party said on Twitter. In response, Lake said that fake news media outlets did little to investigate Hobbss claims.
A person drops a ballot for the California gubernatorial recall election in Los Angeles on Aug. 31, 2021. (Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images)

San Diego County To Open 179 More Vote Centers Ahead of Election Day

SAN DIEGOThe San Diego County Registrar of Voters will open an additional 179 vote centers Nov. 5 for a total of 218 centers open for the four days leading up to and including Election Day.

Last Saturday, 39 vote centers opened for 11 days. Voters can cast their ballots at any one of the vote centers in the county.

The hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Nov. 7. All locations will be open again on Election Day, Nov. 8, when voting hours change to 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Voters can still mark their ballot from home. Be sure to sign and date the return envelope, seal your completed ballot inside, and return it to one of the registrars official ballot drop box locations or vote centers. Or return your ballot through the U.S. Postal Service as long as its postmarked by Election Day.

If you already returned your mail ballot, you can confirm when it was received by the registrars office or you can track it through the U.S. Postal Service by signing up for Wheres My Ballot?

You can find a voting location near you online.
The Christian Left, says Church and State host Lucas Miles, has abandoned the Holy Trinity for the trinity of diversity, acceptance, and social justice. (ErwinMeier/CC BY-SA 4.0)

Secularism or Statism? The Religion of the Political Left

Commentary

Todays culture is often considered secular, implying that America is primarily divided between the religious and the non-religious. However, in addition to the many religions that enjoy freedom in the United States, the ideology of the political left seems to be a religion of its own. The left prides itself on its detachment from God and country. Yet its adherents embrace the tenets of the state and the doctrines of their own political ideology with religious fervor, labeling any who oppose them as a heretic.

Liberals increasingly label conservatives Christian nationalists, or more commonly, Nazis and fascists. Ordained minister and best-selling author Lucas Miles, host of the EpochTV series Church and State, shows that the political left is a religion of its own. It is a religion, moreover, that resembles the statism of Nazi Germany much more than it resembles Christianity.

In an episode entitled The Holy Trinity of the Left, Miles defines Christian nationalism, explores how Christians should respond to this label, and takes a look at the German Church under Nazism.

What is Christian Nationalism?

Headlines referring to the Jan. 6 capitol protest labeled attendees as militant Christian nationalists. Miles calls the term a dog whistle to label the Christian right as one thing: Nazis.

The media and the left conspire to paint Christianity as hateful and oppressive.

Miles uses the example of the book Taking America Back for God, by Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry. The authors speak with disdain and fear about Christian nationalism. They describe Christian nationalists as people who believe America was or is a Christian nation, encourage Christian prayer before sporting events, voted for Donald Trump, participate in evangelism, support Israel, and await the second coming of Christ.

By these criteria, anyone who believes and lives out basic aspects of their Christian faith is labeled a Christian nationalist. According to the book, if youre a Christian, youre a Christian nationalist.

The term Christian nationalist is intended to make you think of one thing in particular, Miles says: Nazism. Youre a Nazi if you follow Jesus. Thats essentially whats being stated.

The left tries to paint devout Christians as Nazis and bigots who should be viewed as the number one danger to society. However, when you understand what happened in Nazi Germany, I believe the last thing that you would ever call a Christ-follower is a Christian nationalist, says Miles. If people understood what happened to many churches under the Third Reich, they would never identify Christian nationalism with Nazism.

The Nazified German Church

Although some Christians have embraced the term Christian nationalist, it is essential to understand what it means historically.

Hitler took power in Germany in 1933. The ruling Nazi party understood that it needed to draw other groups in Germany to its side to promote its agenda to the rest of the nation. Because of this, the Third Reich worked to align the German church with its political ideology.

The Nazi ideology successfully took root in liberal churches that were already aligned with volkish (folkish) religion with pantheistic, mystical viewpoints. In many ways, these churches had already stepped outside the Christian faith. Therefore, incorporating Nazi beliefs into their worldview wasnt that much of a stretch.

Miles explains that although the liberal German church had already embraced viewpoints that were outside the Christian faith, it continued using the vehicle of Christianity to promote its message. The Third Reich recognized this and used it for its own purposes. The Nazified German church continued to call itself Christian in order to promote the Nazi agenda. It taught that Jesus was not the Messiah but called him Jesus the Jew destroyer. It even adopted ideas from what was known as the quest for the historical Jesus and suggested that Jesus hadnt really died, but had someone else die in his place. Nazism stripped Christianity of the Jewish foundation it was built upon, giving up the tenets of the faith to bow down to the statist agenda of the Third Reich.

True Nationalism: Deifying the State

Miles explains that true nationalists are willing to bow down to the state at all costs.

Todays evangelical Christians certainly do not fit this category. Many Christians resisted state mandates for masks and vaccinations. Many have stood against the sexualization of children in public schools.

Authentic Christians should refuse to make anything else their deity besides the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

In his book The Christian Left, Miles describes Christian nationalists as people willing to set aside the basic tenets of Christianity to embrace the states view of these issues instead. They reject the Churchs role in society as a source of mercy and compassion for people and put that role on the state, because they have made the state their God. Miles argues this is the same thing the Nazified German church did when it broke from Christian orthodoxy to bow to the state instead.

The Religion of the Left

Who are actual nationalists? According to Miles, anyone who puts the state in the place of God is a nationalist. Todays leftist nationalists, Christian or otherwise, wholeheartedly embrace any rhetoric or agenda promoted by the state. If a person goes against any narrative of the state, that person is called a heretic. Unless people bow to the state, they are cancelled, censored, and demonized. No one is allowed to go against the lefts LGBTQ agenda, the alleged right to murder the unborn, or anti-white woke ideologies.

Churches flying rainbow or Black Lives Matter flags reveal a progressive Christianity willing to forego the tenets of the Christian faith and bow down to the states orthodoxy instead. Miles calls many leftist churches Christian in name only because they adhere to the doctrines of the left instead of Biblical teaching. They have exchanged the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for the trinity of diversity, acceptance, and social justice.

The political left promotes the anti-God and anti-Christ mentality that Marxists have been promoting for years. Where does this ideology lead? For society, the result is oppression and loss of human rights. For Christians, the result is a vilification campaign that labels Christians as dangerous to society. If allowed to continue, it will mean increased persecution and the ultimate loss of religious freedom.

Be Ready for Persecution

Miles notes that Christians should anticipate some form of persecution in their lifetimes. They must learn to navigate a time when their beliefs arent just mocked and ridiculed in Hollywood, but are instead treated as evil and dangerous. The more the left demonizes Christians, the more persecution will arise. Miles says Christians must prepare themselves and be ready so their faith doesnt fail.

This EpochTV episode admonishes Christians not to stand idly by and watch as evil continues to embed itself into our culture without the truth to counter it. Christians may be able to slide by in silence for a bit longer, but by doing so, they are allowing the left to perpetuate its evil agenda. Miles calls believers to be bold and stand up for the truth, their faith, and the Church.

Watch The Holy Trinity of the Left on Church and State here.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Republican nominee for Arizona governor Kari Lake speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas on . Aug. 6, 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Sen. Josh Hawley Makes Surprise Appearance at Kari Lakes Arizona Rally

GLENDALE, Ariz.Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) made a surprise appearance at a rally held by Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake on Nov. 4.

Abe Hamadeh, the Republican candidate for Arizona attorney general, announced Hawleys surprise appearance, prompting an enthusiastic response from the crowd.

Im standing up here really just for one reason, Hawley said. I know that on Nov. 8, Arizona is going to lead the way!

This is the state thats going to tip the balance. Youre going to send a message, I know, on Tuesday that we want our borders secure. That we want criminals behind bars. Not threatening our children, not in our homes. Were going to send a message to the Washington liberals that change is coming, and were not putting up with it anymore!

Sen. Josh Hawley made a surprise appearance at Republican gubernatorial Kari Lakes rally, on Nov. 4. (Katie Spence/The Epoch Times)

Ive got news for our Democrat friends. The American criminal justice system is not systemically anything. Its not systemically racist. Its not systemically unfair. Putting criminals behind bars is what we call justice! Hawley said, drawing cheers from the attendees.

Gary and Amanda Briolo, both in their 20s, and recent Arizona transplants from Washington state, said that the open border motivated them to come out and support Lake.

The border is open right now. Illegals are coming in, and crime is going up.  [Lake] was the first person we saw that sparked the fire, Gary Briolo told The Epoch Times.

He added that they like that Lake didnt compromise herself to appear mainstream and is an actual America first candidate.

The Briolos also said they were motivated to attend the rally, not just vote for Lake, but because they wanted to be around like-minded people.

Nancy and Dave, also rally attendants, echoed that sentiment.

Were very much MAGA patriots, Nancy told The Epoch Times.

When asked what that means to her, Nancy replied that being a MAGA patriot means you support and defend the Constitution and Christian values.

Dave added, Its America first.  When [Lake] talks, everything comes back to Americas norms. She makes sense. Shes clear. She doesnt waiver. Its what America stood for hundreds of years ago, and we need to stop the craziness.

Gary Briolo agreed.

We moved from Washington to get away from the bad leftist policies that are going on. We want to support people like Kari Lake with an America first movement, Briolo said. I dont want compromise. I want to stick to policy thats going to help this country.

Theres a lot happening, Nancy said when asked if she is experiencing a rise in crime. She said she couldnt go to the grocery store without feeling like you have to have your eyes in every direction.

As a woman, Nancy added, if you want to go to the grocery store on an evening alone, you have to be looking everywhere!

U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized approximately 47,000 rainbow-colored fentanyl pills, 186,000 blue fentanyl pills, and 6.5 pounds of meth hidden in a floor compartment of a vehicle at the Nogales port of entry on the southern border with Mexico on Sept. 3, 2022. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

She added that both she and Dave live in Northern Arizona in a gated community, but crime and drugs are showing up even in their area. For Northern Arizona, Dave stated, Weve seen a number of Walgreens close because of theft.  The whole culture is going down.

Dave added that if thats whats happening in his safe community, he cant imagine what its like closer to the Southern border. No city can absorb that number of people.

On stage, Hawleys message of increasing crime due to a massive influx of illegal border crossings resonated with the crowd of Arizonans. Lake, has continued to hammer home the same missive.

Speaking of her trip to the Southern border earlier in the day, Lake told the crowd, We just came from the border today, we were in Cochise County, and boy, they have it tough down there. The border is so complex here in Arizona.

Lake said that different counties have different border issues, but illegal crossings lead to crime and drugs in every county.

Weve got 5 million people, or more, I believe, whove come across since [President] Joe Biden took office, she stated. Lake added that during the first 10 minutes of Bidens administration, he stripped away many of the border policies that past-President Donald Trump put in place.

I mean, youd think hed want to settle into the White House, but no, he said weve got to make that border wide open and let everybody come across, Lake said.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The result is skyrocketing crime, especially in border towns, and unchecked fentanyl flowing into communities, Lake said.

Hobbs Border Stance

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs did not respond to a request for comment.

Regarding the Southern border and immigration, her campaign website states, Its time for Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform that addresses both our current crises and our future challenges. We need to secure our border, prevent criminals and traffickers from entering the country, and end the chaos and lawlessness weve watched for decades.

But lets also recognize the very real and devastating humanitarian crisis thats at our doorstep. And no comprehensive immigration reform plan is complete without legislation to give DREAMers the stability and certainty they deserve and a path to citizenship.

DREAMers is a reference to an Obama-era program which granted legal status to immigrant brought to the country illegally as children.

The Hobbs website says that Lakes solutions for the border arent viable and are instead empty rhetoric. Hobbs claims that Lake is using the border as a political attack.

Arizona Secretary of State and candidate for governor Katie Hobbs speaks to reporters in Tolleson, Ariz., on Aug. 2, 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Hobbs concludes, For too long, our leaders havent been willing to tell the truth and havent offered real solutions, which has forced Arizona to continue to bear the brunt of our immigration crisis. As governor, I will use the tools at my disposal to bring resources to our border communities and provide meaningful relief for Arizonans suffering the consequences of decades of federal inaction.
The Return of Bibi Netanyahu

Commentary

It turns out that, sometimes, the fifth time is a charm. With the final ballots now counted in Israels fifth national election in four years, the results are officially in: Benjamin Bibi Netanyahu, already the longest-serving prime minister in the 74-year history of the modern Jewish state, is set to return as premier. After four elections of decisively mixed results, where both the Rightwhich has been addled by its disgruntled Never Netanyahu campand the Left have consistently failed to secure a durable governing coalition, the Israeli people have finally spoken up loud and clear: Bring Bibi back.

Whats more, the final results are actually far clearer than many had expected. Some pre-election polls had Netanyahus Likud and its allied parties polling highly enough to secure a bare 61-seat coalition majorityIsraels Knesset, or national legislature, has 120 seatsbut others did not. In the final count, the Likud-centric rightist coalition will attain 64 seats. That may sound like a narrow winning margin, but compared to the previous four indecisive elections going back to 2019, that is a monumental victory, at least comparatively speaking.

Netanyahus 64-seat coalition, once formalized by President Isaac Herzog, will include 32 seats from Likud and 14 seats from Religious Zionism, a unity ticket headed by right-wingers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir (the controversial newest star of the Israeli political scene). Netanyahu had deliberately snubbed campaign appearances with Ben-Gvir, who is typically derided by his detractors and a supine press as a Kahanist, but Religious Zionism ended up securing the third-most votes of any Israeli political partybehind only Likud and outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapids center-left Yesh Atid. It is difficult to smear the third-highest-polling party in Israels frenzied multiparty parliamentary system as being replete with bigots or Kahanists. Indeed, all signs point toward Religious Zionism being a meaningful new player on the Israeli political scene; it is here to stay.

Remarkably, as Likud secured a durable majority and as Religious Zionism cruised to a third-place result, the Israeli Lefts now-decadeslong collapse was only further exacerbated. Labor, which dominated the first three decades of Israeli history, will have a minuscule four seats in the next Knesset. Far-left Meretz, moreover, did not even qualify for Knesset representation. The upshot is that this next governing coalition, and by extension the next Knesset, will likely be the most religious and the most right-wing in the history of the Jewish state.

The relevant question, then, is: Why did Israel finally vote so decisively this time around, and why did it elect such a right-wing coalition?

In Israel, just as in the United States, the Right typically tends to perform better when the public votes on issues pertaining to the economy and, above everything else, crime, public safety, and national security. Israel has generally been in a shakier place, from a public safety perspective, ever since the Jewish states last full-scale battle with Gaza-based Hamas in May 2021. There have been a number of terrorist attacks and shootings, not merely in Judea and Samaria but even in the liberal/secular heart of Israel, Tel Aviv, that have shocked the national conscience. Israeli-Arab violence, and even the occasional vandalism of synagogues, has at times escalated in mixed Jewish/Arab cities. The Israel Defense Forces has also been forced to step up its counterterrorism operations to thwart the now-ascendant jihad waged by the Lions Den militant group, which is based in Nablus.

At the same time, the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is still dealing with the domestic fallout of its state-sponsored murder of protester Mahsa Amini, inches ever closer to the bomb. Iran poses a significant threat to the West and to the United States, but it poses an existential threat to Israel. In fact, it is, at this time, Israels only true existential threat. And there is no one Israelis trust more to handle the Iran portfolio than Netanyahu, who gave a tremendous speech to the U.S. Congress in March 2015 excoriating the then-ongoing Iran nuclear deal negotiations, oversaw the daredevil Mossad operation to expose and airlift out Irans nuclear secrets a few years later, and who helped achieve the 2020 Abraham Accords peace with the U.A.E., Bahrain, and Morocco, which is best understood as an anti-Iran regional containment coalition.

Put simply, Israelis finally sobered up and (correctly) realized that Netanyahu is the best candidate to steward the Jewish state on issues pertaining to law and order, public safety, national security, and even Israels international diplomacy. Israelis should be applauded for this decision. The so-called international community will undoubtedly blanch at the inclusion of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir in Netanyahus governing coalition, but, frankly: Who the hell cares? The Israeli people, and only the Israeli people, can deem what is best for them and their country. The Biden administration, and other Western actors, should respect their judgment.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Dutch cows from the farm of Robbin Voorend, who would face 90 to 95 percent cuts to his livestock under the government's nitrogen emissions plan. (The Epoch Times).

The Struggle Isnt Over for Dutch Farmers

'Every cow is registered'

During the summer of 2022, protests erupted in the Netherlands over the governments plan to curtail nitrogen emissions from the countrys farmsin some cases, by up to 95 percent.

At the time, authorities acknowledged that their proposal would necessitate slashing livestock numbers across the country, especially near areas protected as part of the European Unions Natura 2000 network. The stated rationale was to limit emissions of ammonia and nitrogenous oxides, which are thought to be changing the composition of plant life in such zones.

Demonstrating farmers slowing traffic on a motorway near Venlo, Netherlands, on July 4, 2022. Dutch farmers angry at government plans to slash emissions used tractors and trucks to blockade supermarket distribution centers, the latest actions in a summer of discontent in the countrys lucrative agricultural sector. (Thibault Camus/AP Photo)

The Dutch government expects that a substantial number of farms will have to close, as detailed in a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In October, farming groups voiced displeasure with the latest plan issued by the governments mediator, politician Johan Remkes. Some on the farmers side pledged to continue protesting.

In September, The Epoch Times Roman Balmakov visited the Netherlands and spoke with a variety of farmers on the ground for an upcoming documentary, Eat the Bugs. They described the challenges their sector faces from the national government and the EU, as those and other powerful factions seek to change how the world produces and consumes food.

Not Every Farmer Can Go Organic: Dutch Organic Farmers

Dutch organic farmers Jan-Hein and Sandra Nikkels on Sept. 28, 2022. (The Epoch Times)

Jan-Hein and Sandra Nikkels are organic farmers. They dont use pesticides or fertilizer, and they try to employ a limited amount of manure.

Their operation includes thousands of egg-laying hens, as well as 200 milking cows. The animals they raise have more space than they would on many nonorganic farms. They can also go outside.

Its not so easy to farm [organic], but we like it, Jan-Hein told Balmakov in a Sept. 28 interview with the couple.

Sandra said, You have to work more with the weather.

In 2020, the EUs Farm to Fork strategy set ambitious organic farming targets for 2030a 50 percent reduction in pesticide use and 25 percent of farms becoming organic.

Jan-Hein and Sandra voiced skepticism about that sort of promotion of organic farming on a much larger scale.

Not [every] farmer can do that. Not everybody has enough land around their farm to send the chickens out or the cows out, Sandra said.

She believes that its more important for consumers to try to buy eggs produced locally, even if they arent organic. Organic food has to be one of many options, at least for now, she said.

A consumer has to decide, We want to buy organic, and then the market is ready, and then you can make the transition. But when I am in the supermarket, I want to choose, Sandra said. Organic is what we feel is good, but not everyone can pay for it.

Jan-Hein pointed out that organic farming isnt always ideal from an environmental perspective.

Even as organic farmers, they havent been spared the potential fate of making huge cuts to their livestock numbers. According to Sandra, almost half of their stock will be in the governments cross-hairs.

No one knows how the policy will be implemented, she said, speculating that authorities might hope many farmers make the changes by ceasing operations altogether.

Its all top down, and theres nothing bottom up, Sandra said.

The nitrogen-related cuts wouldnt be their operations first sacrifice. Jan-Hein and Sandra pointed out that theyve already reduced their chicken numbers by 90 percent over the past two decades.

The two dont believe that the governments nitrogen policy is motivated by a concern for nature. Like many others in the country, they believe that the state is seeking to acquire land to build more housing and related infrastructure.

[Farmers] take care of the environment and the landscape. By taking that away, you can build houses and highways, but thats not good for nature, I think, Sandra said.

As with many Dutch farms, the land has been in the Hein family for generations. Jans grandfather began working the land back in 1906.

The two farmers agreed that the pressure on their sector is discouraging the next generation.

Young farmers are quitting, Jan-Hein said.

It may prove hard to come back from those losses, even for newcomers who hope to continue the countrys proud tradition of efficient, innovative agriculture.

When you dont have a farm in your family, its almost impossible to start one, Sandra said.

The two farmers said they hope the government will give farmers a chance to come up with a solution, one that isnt simply dictated from on high.

Problems With Government at All Times: Dutch Dairy Farmer

As far as he knows, Robbin Voorend represents the sixth generation of farmers in his family. In 2017, he took over his parents operation.

Today, there are 58 cows on his farm. Over the course of a year, they yield more than 130,000 gallons of milk.

I usually milk twice a day, because we still milk in a traditional milking pit, he told Balmakov in a Sept. 30 interview.

Vooerend said that although he has problems with the government at all times, his current issues began in early 2017. That March, the government told him he had to get rid of 12 cows.

Every cow is registered in the systemso they know how [many] cows I have, he said.

The governments concern arose out of its plan to reduce phosphatea vision the U.S. Department of Agriculture described as an effort to set limits to Dutch dairy production. Voorend had exceeded a government target that was determined on the basis of numbers from a previous year.

That system soon became more and more onerous, he said. At one point, he was forced to buy phosphate rights from another farmer.

I spent a ton of money to keep the same cows I had back then, Voorend said.

The governments latest nitrogen emissions plan would force him to cut his livestock numbers by 90 to 95 percent.

Voorend said the government has shown little interest in technological solutions to nitrogen emissions tied to agriculture.

He said he feels discouraged from investing further in his operation, including in any emissions rights he might be able to purchase. Banks are also averse to the risks associated with agriculture as a result of the new, still-evolving nitrogen policy, he noted.

I understand that too. Thats not weird, Voorend said.

He doesnt know what he would do if the government forced him to reduce his herd to six cows. His farm, like many others, might have to close.

Against the drumbeat of agricultural progress, defined by many elite institutions in terms of radical cuts to animal farming, Voorend remains unpersuaded. The elimination of productive farmland to preserve nature could ultimately backfire, he said.

The population worldwide is only growing. So youre going to need [food].

Youll be able to hear other interviews with farmers in the Netherlands and across the world in The Epoch Times upcoming documentary, Eat the Bugs.
A sudden gust of wind knocked over the U.S. flags behind Senate candidate John Fetterman, as he was speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania on Nov. 5. (Screenshot via NTD)

US Flags Fall as Fetterman Kicks Off Campaign Speech

U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman, a Democrat, had an odd start for a Saturday rally in Pennsylvania when a sudden gust of wind blew down the row of American flags behind him during his opening remarks.

As soon as the lieutenant governor took to the stage in Pittsburgh on Saturday morning, he downplayed the appearance of his Republican opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, and former President Donald Trump, who would later rally with supporters in Latrobe the same day.

Today, Dr. Oz is gonna be standing with Donald Trump on the stage, and Im going to be proud to be standing with a president that is 100 percent sedition-free, said Fetterman, referring to his guest speaker, former President Barack Obama.

No sooner had he finished saying that, than a strong gust of wind toppled at least five U.S. flags lined up behind the stage. It is unclear if Fetterman noticed the oddly timed weather incident.

Staff soon restored the flags, but the video clip went viral on social media as responses varied by partisan divisions. Many took to Twitter to taunt him over the incident, while others deemed it an omen about Democrats fading prospects for Tuesdays elections.

The perfect metaphor for Fettermans campaign, Donald Trump, Jr. wrote via Twitter.

The perfect metaphor for Fettermans campaign https://t.co/02hts770od  Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) November 5, 2022

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel called it a perfect metaphor for Democrats control of Congress. A clip shared by the committee has been viewed more than 3 million times.

The attention on Pennsylvania underscores the stakes in 2022 and beyond for the tightly contested state. As both Oz and Fetterman are vying to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, the race could decide the Senate majority and with it whether the Biden administration can carry out its agenda and judicial appointments for the next two years.

Fetterman last summer held a double-digit lead over his rival in multiple polls, but the race has dramatically tightened in recent months, especially after the only scheduled debate between the candidates last month. Fetterman has struggled to speak in complete sentences, stumbled over his words, and delivered responses punctuated by prolonged pauses in interviews after suffering a stroke in May. During the debate, he had to use a teleprompter to read the words being said to him by his opponent and the moderators to aid his comprehension.

In a recent poll of likely voters conducted by The Hill and Emerson College Polling, Oz lead Fetterman, 48 percent to 46 percent. A New York Times/Sienna poll released on Nov. 1 showed Oz and Fetterman tied at 47 percent.

Of those who say they have heard, seen, or read a lot about the debate, Oz leads Fetterman 55 percent to 41 percent, Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College polling, told The Hill.

Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks at a campaign rally Bucks County, Pa. on Nov. 1, 2022. (William Huang/The Epoch Times)

Fetterman showed little trouble speaking on Saturday, and some praised his lack of response to the incident. Gale force winds wipe out flags, yet strong Democratic candidate doesnt even flinch, someone wrote on Twitter, praising the candidate as strength personified.

Fettermans campaign team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The key swing state saw a clash of titans on Saturday as the biggest stars of the left and right worked to energize voters in the last days of voting in the midterm elections.

Following the morning rally, Obama also teamed up with his former No. 2, President Joe Biden, in Philadelphia for a final stand before the Nov. 8 elections. The former president has been on a tour of key states to campaign for Democrat candidates in close races amid tough political headwinds for the party.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during a daily press briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, on Nov. 2, 2022. (Oliver Contreras/Getty Images)

Watchdog Group Files Hatch Act Complaint Against White House Press Secretary Over Mega MAGA Republican Comment

A government watchdog group announced that it filed a complaint against White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre alleging that she violated the Hatch Acta federal law that limits the political activities of federal employeesover remarks she made about mega MAGA Republican officials.

On Nov. 3, Protect the Publics Trust (PPT)a group that seeks to ensure government officials abide by the rules, including by informing the American public about the self-dealing and conflicts of interest, and the improper and illegal behavior of senior officials across the governmentfiled a complaint (pdf) with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) over Jean-Pierres remarks at a press conference on Nov. 2.

Unfortunately, we have seen mega MAGA Republican officials who dont believe in the rule of law, Jean-Pierre stated at the briefing. They refuse to accept the results of free and fair elections, and they fan the flames of political violence through what they praise and what they refuse to condemn.

Michael Chamberlain, director of the watchdog group, said the comments were disparaging President Bidens political opponents.

He told Henry Kerner, special counsel for the OSC and a Trump appointee, that Jean-Pierres statements were clearly made in her role as an employee of the White House and appear to be political in nature, seeking the defeat of her political opponents in the Republican party in the upcoming general election less than a week away on November 8.

The watchdog group asked the OSC to promptly investigate Ms. Jean-Pierres conduct as a potential Hatch Act violation based on her use of her official position to advocate for the defeat of a political party.

We request that you promptly investigate these potential violations and immediately intervene to ensure that the government officials do not abuse their official authority in an attempt to influence the results of the impending 2022 general election, it said.

Chamberlain issued a separate statement, saying: The comments appear to be clearly designed to influence voters in next weeks election. A quick and complete investigation into these statements would be a good first step in helping to restore the American publics trust in its government.

The group alleges that Jean-Pierres statement cannot be attributed to an insufficient knowledge of the restrictions of the Hatch Act, in part because White House chief of staff Ron Klain and Jean Pierres predecessor, Jen Psaki, have previously been found to have violated the same federal law. Furthermore, Jean-Pierre herself has on several occasions cited the Hatch Act as justification for avoiding responding to queries from the press corps, PPT noted.

Jean-Pierre did not respond to an emailed request seeking comment on the matter by press time.
Ever-blue New York has twice as many registered Democrats as Republicans and has turned less friendly for Republicans over the past decade, thanks in part to upstate population loss and a decrease in New Yorkers identifying as Republicans. Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election decisively in the state. Democrats control the governors office and enjoy supermajorities in both chambers of the state Legislature.

New Yorks top race this November features Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul running to become the states first elected female governor against Republican U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin of Long Island. Former lieutenant governor Hochul took office last year following the resignation of her predecessor former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned to avoid a likely impeachment trial. Hochuls lead in opinion polls has dwindled in recent weeks. Zeldin hopes his anti-crime messaging will help him further narrow the gap and oust her.

Hochul has stressed her support for abortion rights and acting on climate change. She has criticized Zeldin for supporting former President Donald Trump and for voting against certifying the 2020 election results. Zeldin has said he would favor appointing an anti-abortion state health commissioner and has criticized millions of dollars spent to help abortion providers amid an expected surge in out-of-state patients.

Republicans represent eight out of New Yorks 27 previous congressional districts going into the 2022 election, with New York set to lose one of those seats. Democrats tried to create new federal and legislative political maps that would have cemented solid liberal majorities statewide. An upstate judge ended up ordering new sets of maps drawn by an independent court master, whose maps gave Democrats a smaller edge.

Roughly a third of New Yorks House races are viewed as competitive, with Republicans in play in races on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley. In one of the most closely watched races, U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the five-term Democrat who was supposed to be leading his partys attempt to hold on to Congress, is fighting for survival in a district in the Hudson River Valley. One closely watched race in upstate New York is in the Syracuse area, where Republican Rep. John Katko is leaving after four terms. That race pits Republican and U.S. Navy veteran Brandon Williams against Democrat Francis Conole, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate and current U.S. Naval Reserve captain.

Democrats over the past decade have amassed supermajorities in the state House and state Senate, after years of Republican control of the state Senate.

Heres a look at what to expect on election night:

ELECTION NIGHT: Polls close at 9 p.m.

HOW NEW YORK VOTES: New York has expanded absentee voting amid the COVID-19 pandemic to allow voters to choose to vote by mail over fear of spreading the virus at the polls. A deluge of absentee ballots in 2020 led to some lengthy delays in vote-counting. Lawmakers passed a law requiring counties to start processing absentee ballots before Election Day in hopes of avoiding such delays. Republicans challenged the law in court, but a state appeals court ruled against them, saying it would would be extremely disruptive to abandon the new system with voting already underway.

New York voters defeated a ballot referendum in 2021 that would have changed the state constitution to allowed for no-excuse absentee voting. The state constitution requires absentee voters to be absent from their home county, ill, or physically disabled.

About 552,000 absentee ballots have been sent out with more than 188,000 returned so far, according to the state Board of Elections. Things happen quickly after the polls close. Because ballots have been flowing into country clerk offices for weeks  and are processed as they arrive  results from a huge chunk of the total vote are released within 90 minutes of polls closing.

DECISION NOTES: The AP will count votes and declare winners in 189 contested elections in New York, including four statewide races and 26 U.S. House races. In the 2020 general election, the AP first reported results at 9:28 p.m. and 90% of results at 12:28 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 4. The AP reported 100% of results Thursday, Nov. 12, nine days after Election Day.

New York has a mandatory recount provision that kicks in if the margin of victory is 20 votes or less, is less than 0.5% or, in a contest where over 1 million ballots are cast, is less than 5,000 votes. The AP may call a statewide or U.S. House race in which the margin between the top two candidates is 0.5% or less if we determine the lead is too large for a recount to change the outcome.

The AP will not call down-ballot races on election night if the margin between the top two candidates is less than 2%. AP will revisit those races later in the week to confirm there arent enough outstanding votes left to count that could change the outcome.

WHAT ELSE SHOULD I KNOW?

Q: WHATS CHANGED SINCE THE PANDEMIC ELECTION OF 2020?

A: A new law passed in 2021 allows the Board of Elections to begin processing mail ballots prior to Election Day, though it cannot begin tabulating results until an hour prior to the poll close on election day. Previously, absentee ballots could not be counted until seven days after election night. Mail ballots represented 21% of the 2020 vote in New York but will be a much smaller slice this year.

New York lost one U.S. house seat in congressional redistricting. The New York Assembly and Senate have also been the subject of redistricting. Population losses upstate and gains downstate may impact the balance of power in congressional district and state senate races. Further redistricting of the state assembly has been ordered for 2024.

Q: WHAT DO TURNOUT AND ADVANCE VOTE LOOK LIKE?

A: As of Feb. 21, 2022, there were 12,982,819 registered voters in New York, including 6.47 million registered Democrats and 2.85 million registered Republicans. In 2018, advance ballots made up only 249,000 (4%) of 6.2 million votes cast. 2020 saw a seismic shift towards early voting, with advance ballots making up 4.4 million (50%) of 8.69 million votes cast.

Requests for absentee ballots must have been made by Oct. 24. Mail ballots must be returned in person by Nov. 8; those being sent by mail must be postmarked by Nov. 8, and received by Nov. 15.

Q: HOW LONG DOES COUNTING USUALLY TAKE?

A: The first reports of voting results from New York City are expected to be received as early as 9:05 p.m. ET. We expect results from the rest of the state may start to trickle in about 20 minutes later. It is likely that these early vote totals will reflect advance and mail ballots. Returns will continue to come in over the next few hours.

Q: WHAT ARE THE PITFALLS WITH EARLY RETURNS?

A: The new election rules allowing quicker tabulation of mail ballots will have a major impact on early returns. The first votes will likely be a report of advance and mail ballots. As with other recent races, the use of mail ballots has shown a partisan divide, with Democrats far more likely to use mail ballots than Republicans. This means early results may be skewed to one party or the other depending on the types of votes reported.

Q: WHAT HAPPENS AFTER TUESDAY?

A: New York law provides for mandatory recounts if the margin of victory is 20 votes or less, is less than 0.5% or, in a contest where over 1 million ballots are cast, is less than 5,000 votes. This would occur after the states statutory recanvass.
Benefits make up more than 30 percent of the typical jobs compensation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But figuring out what your benefits are worth isnt always easy.

You may need to do a little digging to find how much your employer contributes toward health insurance, retirement plans and other perks. Some benefits also have nonmonetary value, and people can value the same benefits in different ways.

For example, people with health conditions are likely to appreciate guaranteed access to disability or life insurance that could be hard to get or prohibitively expensive otherwise. Someone with student loans may value a program to help with education debt far more than someone without student loan debt.

Now that open enrollment season is upon us again, its a great time to review your employers current offerings. Understanding what your benefits are worth could renew your commitment to your current jobor make you realize its time to seek out a better deal. If youre thinking of becoming self-employed, you can better understand how much more youll need to earn to replace your current benefits.

Here are some of the most common benefits, along with typical employer contribution amounts, according to Mercer, an employee benefits consultant.

Health Insurance: $5,000 to $20,000

Employer-provided health insurance plans range from bare bones to fairly extravagant. On average, though, employers paid 83 percent of the $7,739 premium last year for single coverage and 73 percent of the $22,221 premium for family coverage, according to KFF, a health insurance research organization.

You can find what both you and your employer paid for your health insurance last year on your 2021 W-2, says Paul Fronstin, director of health benefits research at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, or EBRI. The annual figure is often reported using a DD code.

Your employer also may break out its contribution on your pay stub. A pay stub is a document that provides the details of your gross and after-tax pay along with various deductions. You often can access your pay stub through your companys online payroll system; ask your human resources department for details.

Premiums are just one factor in evaluating your health care coverage, of course. Deductibles, co-pays and provider networks matter as well. Having access to different types of plans can make open enrollment more confusing, but it also can help you tailor your coverage to your situation.

Retirement Savings Plan: 3% to 10% of Salary

EBRI surveys have consistently found that the benefit employees value most after health insurance is access to a retirement plan, with all other benefits coming in at a distant third, Fronstin says.

People who have workplace retirement plans such as 401(k)s are far more likely to save for retirement than those who dont, according to AARP. These plans offer automatic paycheck deductions, and many sign people up automatically as well.

Most 401(k)s also come with company matchesfree money that can help employees build wealth faster. Among the most common matches are 50 percent of the first 6 percent of salary the worker contributes, or a dollar-for-dollar match of 3 percent to 6 percent of pay.

Employers can contribute an even greater percentage of pay to traditional pension plans, which promise a specified monthly benefit amount in retirement. Thats in contrast to 401(k)s and other defined contribution plans, where the amounts you get in retirement depend on how much is contributed and how your investments perform.

Pensions are still common among government agencies, colleges and health care nonprofits, although only about 15 percent of private sector workers have access to such plans, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Everything Else: Zero to Thousands

Employers that provide dental insurance usually pay $500 to $2,500 a year for the coverage, according to Sandra Sweeney, principal in Mercers career practice. Life insurance averages $100 to $300 per employee, while disability insurance usually costs $250 to $1,500.

Employers may offer access to other coverage, such as additional life insurance, long-term care insurance or pet insurance. Workers typically pay the full cost but may benefit from group rates for the policies, Fronstin says.

Help with education costs is increasingly popular, as well. About half of employers offer tuition assistance, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. And of the companies surveyed by EBRI last year, 17 percent offered some kind of student loan debt assistance while another 31 percent planned to do so.

Workers can also exclude up to $5,250 of tuition assistance from their incomes on their tax returns, according to the IRS. And through 2025, the limit includes student loan repayment help, as well.

Remember that your employer provides benefits to attract, retain and reward workers. If youre not sure what all your benefits are, or what theyre worth, your human resources department should be happy to fill you in, says Fronstin.

Ask your employer, Fronstin says. Its not a secret.

By Liz Weston of NerdWallet

The Epoch Times Copyright  2022 The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors. They are meant for general informational purposes only and should not be construed or interpreted as a recommendation or solicitation. The Epoch Times does not provide investment, tax, legal, financial planning, estate planning, or any other personal finance advice. The Epoch Times holds no liability for the accuracy or timeliness of the information provided.
Why Chinas Marriage Crisis Is an Existential Threat to the Country

Commentary

President Xi Jinping recently vowed to launch comprehensive initiatives to address Chinas rapidly declining birth rate. Behind the bombastic rhetoric, however, there lies a truly sobering fact: new policies probably wont be enough to arrest Chinas demographic decline. Heres why.

In China, a hyper-traditional society, having a child out of wedlock is still frowned upon. Childbearing and childrearing are synonymous with marriage. Last year, the communist nation saw marriage rates hit a 35-year low. The sharp drop in marital vows comes at the same time China faces an impending demographic crisis. 2021 saw 7.6 million marriage registrations, the fewest since 1986. With falling birth rates and a rapidly aging population, China faces problems that are very much existential in nature.

In truth, Chinas marriage crisis has been an issue for the best part of a decade. In the space of six years, between 2013 and 2019, the number of Chinese citizens getting married fell from 23.8 million to 13.9 million, a 41 percent drop. Of course, the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) ill-advised one-child policy, which was in place for 35 years (19802015), has resulted in far fewer people of marriageable age. The policy resulted in 400 million fewer babies being born.

Medical staff takes care of a newborn baby at a hospital in Fuyang in Chinas eastern Anhui province, on Jan. 19, 2019. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

China has also witnessed changing attitudes to marriage, especially among young women who are becoming more educated and financially independent, according to CNN. Due to widespread workplace discrimination and patriarchal traditions, an increasing number of women are saying no to marriage.

Some readers, Im sure, will roll their eyes at the patriarchal traditions bit. If you happen to be one of them, I dont blame you. I have been highly critical of the ways in which the p word has been weaponized and demonized by many individuals in the United States and beyond. However, patriarchal traditions look a little different in China than, say, the United States or the UK. The Chinese, were told, have a rather controversial saying: If you dont beat your wife every three days, shell start tearing up roof tiles. A quarter of Chinese women are victims of domestic violence. Every 7.4 seconds a wife is beaten by her husband. As is clear to see, Chinese women can be forgiven for having second thoughts about marriage, especially if they were raised in an abusive household.

Besides the violence, theres also another reason why fewer Chinese people are deciding to walk down the aisle. China is an incredibly expensive place to live. According to Mercers Cost of Living Index 2022, six of the biggest Chinese citiesBeijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Qingdao, and Nanjingare among the top 10 most expensive cities on the Asian continent. Meanwhile, Hong Kong, more or less controlled by Beijing, is the most expensive city in the world. Not surprisingly, more Hong Kongers are saying no to marriage and no to starting a family. If one is struggling to pay rent, having a child is probably the last thing on their mind.

So what, some will say, cities in the United States, UK, and Western Europe are also ridiculously expensive to live in. Yes, they are. But Chinas GDP per capita is less than $10,000. This places the country between the Balkan nation of Montenegro and Botswana, located in southern Africa. The United States, on the other hand, has a GDP per capita of $69,000.

A man walks in front of a housing complex by Chinese property developer Evergrande in Beijing on Oct. 21, 2021. (Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images)

For years, we have heard so much about Chinas impressive GDP growth. At the same time, however, we have heard very little about its less-than-impressive GDP per capita.

Whats my point?

There are at least 90 million people currently working in Chinese factories. In a year, they can expect to earn roughly 55,000 RMB (less than $8,000). Even those working in more prestigious positions struggle to make more than $16,000 per year. By 2035, Chinas GDP per capita is expected to be $28,700. Try getting married, paying rent, buying necessities, and starting a family on $28,700.

Moreover, its particularly difficult to start a family (or do anything of value) when you cant find a job. Right now, Chinas youth unemployment is close to 20 percent (8.1 percent in the United States (pdf)). Of course, Chinas marriage problem isnt exactly unique. Other countries around the world, including the United States, are also experiencing their own marriage-related issues. However, the size of the problem facing China and the CCP is, for lack of a better word, giganticespecially now that its economy appears to be going down the proverbial lavatory.

Analysts at The Lowy institute, a Sydney-based think tank, insist that, even with continued broad policy success, Chinas annual economic growth will slow to about 3% by 2030 and 2% by 2040. Chinas economy, were told, appears to be suffering from a crisis in confidence among consumers. Is it any surprise? The average Chinese citizen, be they 25 or 75, is struggling to survive.

In an effort to address the marriage crisis, theres always the chance that the CCP could use its cruel social credit system to punish adults who refuse to get married and start a family. The CCP might take inspiration from Russia, its close ally, where couples are currently being offered financial incentives to get married and have children. But, commonsense tells us that it will take a lot more than one-off payments and tax subsidies to solve Chinas marriage situation, a problem that is fast becoming existential in nature. Money is a necessity, but its no substitute for genuine desire. Today, for reasons already explained, very few Chinese have any desire to get married. As the country becomes older and less efficient, expect the flame of desire to become even more faint.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
An estimated 940 million people around the globe, like this family in the African nation of Botswana, dont have access to any electricity, and roughly 3 billion are without clean cooking fuel. But thats seemingly of scant concern to well-to-do climate change alarmists, many of whom will be attending an annual international summit on the subject starting Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022, in Egypt. (poco_bw/ iStock/Getty Images)

Why International Climate Summits Are Doomed to Fail, Part 2: Upward Mobility for Poor Depends on Energy

Commentary

Heres a reality-framing statement for the roughly 190 countries headed to the COP27 climate summit in Egypt that opens on Sunday: Global carbon dioxide emissions in 2022 appear to be higher than pre-pandemic levels, again, and yet, according to the U.N., greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced 43 percent (relative to 2019 levels) by 2030.

Why is the Conference of the Parties 27 in Egypt likely destined for failure as the summits before it were?

Two-thirds of carbon dioxide emissions growth is coming from developing countriesand for good reason. While many Western nations have enjoyed relatively uninhibited access to energy for more than a century, people in developing countries lack reliable and affordableor in some cases, anyaccess to heat, power, and transportation energy.

The demand for reliable, affordable energy is only increasing globally.

An estimated 940 million people around the globe do not have access to any electricity, and roughly 3 billion are without clean cooking fuel.

Lack of access to affordable electricity and fuel has various and wide-ranging consequences. For example, as the World Bank reported in 2013, more firms cited electricity as a major constraint to doing business than any other factor in nearly [4 out of every 10] client countries for the World Bank Group.

A provocativeand productiveessay by Vaclav Smil further demonstrates the challenge:

[I]n 2020, the average annual per capita energy supply of about [40%] of the worlds population  was no higher than the rate achieved in both Germany and France in 1860.

In order to approach the threshold of a dignified standard of living, those 3.1 billion people will need at least to doublebut preferably tripletheir per capita energy use, and in doing so multiply their electricity supply, boost their food production, and build essential infrastructures.

Conventional, carbon-intensive fuels meet 82 percent of global energy needs, 79 percent of Americans total energy needs, and more than 90 percent of Americans transportation fuel needs. Conventional energys share of total global energy consumption has remained roughly unchanged for decades, even as global energy consumption has increased and renewable energy technologies have entered energy markets.

Thousands of products are made with oil, coal, and natural gas as feedstocks, including pharmaceuticals, steel, fertilizers, concrete, and plastics.

Yet, these are the energy resources targeted by the COP summits and by net-zero policies for immediate reductions and ultimately near-elimination from production and use.

The myopic focus of COP summits on reducing greenhouse gas emissions hinders access to affordable energy, particularly for the poorest countriesenergy that may ultimately enable them to be more prosperous and, therefore, more resilient against natural disasters. And yet, this fixation has, for example, frustrated construction of a new coal plant in Kosovo to replace the worst single-point source of pollution in Europe, and choking off financing for natural gas projects in sub-Saharan Africa.

While those projects (and many others like them) would reduce air pollution, empower those countries to utilize their natural resources, and provide affordable energy, global-warming activists have fixated on emissions from countries that are too poor to even have emissions worth measuring.

Conference of the Parties summits have failed because they presume that the best and only way to understand environmental risk is through the lens of greenhouse gas emissions, and that the best and only way to address that risk is to eliminate use of conventional energy sources for power, heat, and transportation. Consequently, they have attempted to operate independent of physical realities and missed opportunities to improve peoples lives, whatever challenges the future holds.

Acknowledging failure is the first step toward finding a better way. Regardless of how one characterizes global warming as an issue for public policy, policy must be tethered to the realities of how and where people get energy for heat, power, and transportation and what those enable for human well-being.

As aptly stated by one climate scientist: We need to remind ourselves that addressing climate change isnt an end in itself, and that climate change is not the only problem that the world is facing. The objective should be to improve human well-being in the 21st century, while protecting the environment as much as we can.

Reprinted by permission from The Daily Signal, a publication of The Heritage Foundation.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Residents cast their ballots during in-person absentee voting at City Hall in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Nov. 4, 2022. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Wisconsin Veterans Group Sues to Sequester States Military Absentee Ballots Before Vote Counting Begins

Just days before the Nov. 8 midterm election, a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge was asked to sequester the states military absentee ballots until they are properly verified.

The lawsuit (pdf), called Concerned Veterans of Waukesha County (et al) v. the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC), was filed on Nov. 4 by a team of lawyers from the Thomas More Society.

The action arose after a major vulnerability in the states military absentee ballot verification process was brought to light by a whistleblower working within the City of Milwaukee Elections Commission.

To expose a major flaw in the military mail-in vote system, the high-ranking election official, who has since been fired, successfully applied online for three military absentee ballots under three different names and had them all delivered to the residence of State Assemblywoman Janel Brandtjen (R-Menomonee Falls).

Brandtjen, who is one of the plaintiffs in the case, told The Epoch Times that none of the three names on the envelopes reside or have ever resided at her address.

Wisconsin military elector absentee ballots erroneously sent to the residence of a state legislator on Oct. 27, 2022. (Courtesy of Rep. Janel Brandtjen)

She said she immediately thought the mysterious mail delivery may have been the work of a citizen concerned with election integrity who was trying to draw the attention of the legislature to a big flaw in the security of the system.

Brandtjen, who is chairperson of the state assemblys Committee on Campaigns and Elections, said, I did not request the ballots. I did not open the envelopes. I turned them over to the Waukesha County Sheriffs Office for investigation.

One of the plaintiffs attorneys, Army veteran Erick Kaardal, said in a prepared statement, This situation is particularly egregious as it demonstrates how easily the military absentee mail-in vote can be manipulated due to the commissions (WECs) lack of compliance with Wisconsin election law.

What a disgraceful way to dishonor our military service men and women, he said.

Plaintiffs allege that in its written guidance to local election officials, WEC completely ignored a statutory mandate that states that county and municipal clerks must have and maintain an up-to-date, complete, verified, current, accurate military elector list.

The local clerks are required by law to supply every polling precinct with at least one copy of the list.

The list is a safeguard put in place by the legislature to ensure that military elector absentee ballots are not sent to people who are not qualified to receive them.

The plaintiffs brief states in part: WECs  unauthorized guidance regarding the legally-required security check [of the military elector list] has demonstrably resulted in an absentee ballot process so deficient that it allows the unrestricted manufacture of fake ballots.

The plaintiffs want to ensure that any close election result is not determined by non-qualified people voting military elector ballots.

Special Counsel Erick G. Kaardal of the Thomas More Society. (Courtesy Erick G. Kaardal)

Once a non-qualified persons military elector ballot is counted, the action is complete and irrevocable, adding that The damage will already be done.

The purpose of the narrow temporary injunction is to get through the November 8, 2022 election without any counting of unlawfully cast military elector ballots, the motion said.

Senior Counsel for the Thomas More Society Michael Gableman alleged in a statement, By its refusal to implement the most basic level of security required by law, the Wisconsin Elections Commission has been permitting an election system which facilitates the procurement, manufacture, and distribution of fraudulent ballots.

This inexcusable failure must end.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission did not respond to a request for comment.
You only learn to ask questions by asking questions

At the beginning of the year, I had promised that for 12 months, In Shaa Allah, I will once a month X-ray the issues around the forthcoming General Elections in the worlds largest black population and sufacracy. This is number eleven, and one more to go.

So, I am writing this from Chemnitz, a city in Saxony, eastern Germany. I am inside the Technische Universitat Chemnitz in English, it is Chemnitz University of Technology. And I am reflecting, and saying to myself, stop comparing joor.

Chemnitz is a strong city, but one that has plenty of problems, it is home to loads of far-right extremists who always find footholds in any conflict to get into the middle of the society. However, they are wonderful hosts, people who have this serious demeanour. Every sentence was punctuated by the need to get me and my team a safe space. You heard that--Safe space.

Now, I help put it in perspective, for a city that is currently the European Capital of Culture for 2025,

Chemnitz is the Saxonian Manchester, my state Plateau, and city Jos, is supposed to be some kind of Chemnitz! Textiles were a central pillar of the local economy.

The city was a hub of invention  six times more patents were registered than the German average. Are you thinking what I am thinking like they say in local parlance?

It is the original home of Audi.

The luxury car maker is normally associated with the city of Ingolstadt. But it was actually founded in Chemnitz in the 1930s when four major car companies of the time were united under one brand  Auto-Union (hence the four rings joined together.)

The golden days for the city of Chemnitz came in the 19th century when it was one of the first German cities to embrace the revolutionary technology of steam power.

Do you remember when some legislator suggested that we change the name of Nigeria to United African Republic or United Alkebulan Republic as Nigeria's new name. In 1953, the communist leadership of the GDR renamed the city Karl Marx Stadt, saying that the city deserved the honour due to its history of active political engagement among its proletariat. There is still a huge granite bust of the 19th century economist in the city centre.

The city that was rebuilt would have been barely recognisable to someone who grew up in Chemnitz in the late 19th century. The opulent Grunderzeit architecture was replaced by endless rows of Plattenbau.

The name was changed back to Chemnitz almost immediately after reunification when three quarters of the population voted in favour of the original name.

The history of Chemnitz isn't just rocky in the metaphorical sense, it has quite literally been influenced by the rock of the Ore mountains. When we think of German cities with a mountain view the mind obviously springs to Munich. But Chemnitz is one of the few other Grostadte that sits at the foot of a mountain range.

In recent history, Chemnitz is best know for a neo-Nazi march which took place there in 2018 after a local man was stabbed to death by a refugee.

There was local unrest over several days and neo-Nazis descended on the city where they also attacked migrants and gave the Hitler salute. A mass concert in the aftermath with people coming from across the country to stand against right-wing extremism.

Despite the serene environment, Chemnitz, the fastest ageing city in Europe is the opposite of Nigeria, with one of the fastest growing productive youth populations in the world.

Now, here lies the real deal, @ChemistI mean in Nigeria, we currently have three musketeers all vying for the office of the president of the federal republic of Nigeria. Our nation, our Nigeria, one that defies meaning, a country known by its various myths as an identity in a strict form, known by her nationalities rather than a nationality. A people that her leaders have misdirected as a lack of direction.

And so, as the election approaches fast, we are not asking the question, the hard questions are being willfully avoided. Nationalities are not happy, and candidates are not addressing it in the real manner with purpose, Biafra and the Yoruba nation is a growing conversation as a result of different perspectives and understanding of marginalization.

Chemnitz has a very well-developed public transport system which enables you to move conveniently and rapidly within the city as well as in its surroundings. In the city of Chemnitz, buses also go at night. Trams, Busses and Chemnitz Bahn Networks define the efficiency at which transportation works in the city.

While transportation is not under the list of what a president should be thinking, but really it is what a president should be thinking about, it is what leadership should be thinking of, it is what a Babajide Sanwo-Olu should be thinking of solving for more than 15million Lagosians, and if he cannot solve it, neither the obidients, atikulated or night sighted bats can do any different for Nigeria.

And this is so, because when leadership does not have answers to the small issues, and citizens have not learned the act, and art of asking questions, 2023 will be no different, an election will hold, there will be pockets of violence, and more but nothing will change because we do not yet know, understand and desire nationhood beyond the rhetoric of the personaes that desire power rather than crave responsibility to leave a mark in the sands of time.

The country Nigeria will continue to be plagued by local chemists with fake, expired drugs and many losing their lives not directly as a result of their ineptitude but because our hospitals are not working, and in seven years the last man standing could not get the clinic in the villa working.

I will end with this story as told to me by my in-law who has by the way spent some three decades in Germany. He is into renewable energy, and at some point, years back under the dispensation of one of those governors who supposedly worked, he was hit by the spirit and decided that wanted to go back home and give back, contribute, do something differently for his home country, and home state.

Packed his bag, and went home, and after several attempts, he could not see the governor, could not see anyone that was receptive to his idea, those that were supposed to be advisors to the governor on matters of renewable energy asked him for bribes to be able to get the project the attention of the governor who was busy.

He went back to Germany, our loss, Germanys gain, as he continues to advise the German government on matters related to his expertise

In case you dont get my drift, we are not ready, it is not about a unifier, or some dude who has a sense of entitlement and has made people of some dude who carries his bag, or flies economy. It is about people, it is about really engaging, it is about asking scary questions and giving answers that are unconventional. It is about a leader that is willing to discuss a three-state or more states solution, a regional, a confederal, a loose federation, a strong purposeful benevolent dictatorship and more.

If not, whether na Emeka, Abdul of Aminu, the chemist shop is all concocting poison, these musketeers are not yet addressing the issues, we say in Yoruba proverb A ki i fi ete sile pa lapalapa. / Do not leave leprosy unattended while preoccupied with treating ringworm. As the election draws near, Nigerian if it does exists, must think perceptively and strategically: we are losing sight of the forest for the trees: there is a bigger picture; things are often more than they seemOnly time will tell
It is a known fact that most wealthy people in Nigeria do not subscribe for medical treatment in the country even if it is a mere headache. Most especially, state governors, National Assembly members, including the President of the Federation and his cabinet members do not, at any time, hesitate to fly abroad for their medical checkup, medical advisory or treatment. This is not because our doctors and other medical personnel are naive or incompetent, but because the Nigerian government and its most senior officials cherish to patronise foreign enterprises, products, to the detriment of the public. This has made our public healthcare system to be downplayed by the government who gives little or no attention to the health sector. By implication, Nigerian public health system continued to wallop on a flagrant obscurity. Many hospitals across in the federation are in abysmal state with lack of enough beds and other essential equipment.

According to Statista, Nigeria has a second highest density of medical doctors in Africa as at April 2022. However, with over 200 million population, the figures of medical personnel in the country are in the shortage and far below global standards. Unfortunately, despite the shortage of manpower, many Nigerian trained doctors are trooping out in their numbers to foreign countries in search of a greener pastures to better their lives and to adequately be able to cater for their family.

The reason for this ugly trend is not far-fetched, considering the negligence, nonchalance and levity with which government has taken our public healthcare sector. It is a public knowledge that the health sector suffers concrete attention from the government. And this could be seen through rampant deteriorating medical infrastructure, low government budget allocation, poor compensation including considerable hazard allowances for public healthcare workers. Lack of political will to implement life insurance policy for our medical personnel, among others.

Few days ago, I was prompted to go a hospital when it seemed that my severe health challenge has reached its climax. First, I went to the only Health Centre in my town of over a thousand population but I was rejected because there was no doctor in the facility. From my observation, only two nurses who were not even in official apparel were available in the hospital on that Wednesday afternoon. Aside from that, the place was bushy, unweeded and generally unkept. There was not more than ten beds in the whole facility. I was, however, told to go a nearest state hospital in Ota, Ogun State for my treatment. On getting to the State Hospital with my mother, everything seemed quick and fast until I got to emergency unit where I was harshly chased away with explanation that my ailment is infectious and contagious. The doctor, however, informed my mum that they did not have personnel on ground that can treat the kind of my sickness and maybe I should come the following day. Thankfully, a nurse came in and told us to wait while she phoned a specialist from another hospital who later came after over two hours. Truly, I was tested and drugs were recommended for my treatment.

The point of the ordeal I briefly narrated above is to picture the state of our current healthcare system and what average Nigerians encounter in most public health facilities. While it is understandable that many political elites who perhaps enjoy public treasury and taxpayers' money seek their medical tourism abroad because they are in government, it is crucial that government put the masses into consideration by prioritising public healthcare system through adequate and proper funding, consistent professional trainings for medical workers and strict monitoring of funds provided to the sector.

Evidently, thousands of Nigerians still die of malaria, measles and other cheap diseases and infections. This is to remind the government that Heath Is Wealth. Let Nigerians have access to good healthcare facility; certainly we will try to help ourselves with others.

2022. Damilare Adeleye, a freelance journalist, writes from Lagos.
Phuket Opinion: Money Road

PHUKET: Preechawude Prab Keesin and associates set the cat amongst the pigeons this week in calling for donations to complete a road up Patong Hill that crosses private land.

opinionpatongtourismtransportconstructioneconomics

By The Phuket News

Sunday 6 November 2022, 06:00AM

An aerial view of the road under construction from Chalong to Patong. Photo: Phuket Info Center

The road is already under construction, and according to reports will reach the Chao Pho Seua Shrine, also commonly called the Tiger Temple, at the top of the hill, today (Nov 6).

As of yesterday, the consortium was calling for every person in Phuket to donate just B30 to the project. The pocket change donated will be enough to pay for the road, Mr Prab said.

By inviting all 414,471 registered residents in Phuket to make a B30 donation, Mr Prab yesterday obliquely confirmed that the road is estimated to cost some B12.4 million (B12,434,130).

The call for donations followed Mr Prab on Wednesday (Nov 2) handing over a donation of B300,000 to an undisclosed agency to have the road built, with official reports not explaining exactly what the money is for considering Mr Prab at the handover event himself explained that the road is being paid for out of private funds.

It would be nice for the Phuket government to clarify exactly which person, organisation or government office received the B300,000  especially for a provincial government that was declared the least corrupt in the country in a national annual assessment of government agencies by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) only last December.

Further, not explained so far is how much of the B12.4mn price tag will go towards not just the clearing of the route, the compacting of the dirt and the laying of asphalt, but also towards any reinforcement of embankments beside the road and any drainage installed to ensure unsuspecting residents below dont suddenly find themselves victims of landslides or flooding during the rainy season next year.

The road under construction is being touted as offering an alternative route up Patong Hill from the Kathu side that will benefit everyone. Well, it will certainly benefit some more than others.

Mr Prab on Wednesday emphasized the point that many people, namely landowners, had made sacrifices in order to allow the road to be built across their land. Not mentioned by Mr Prab was how much land prices for those plots will escalate once the road has been built. Further, land prices for any adjoining plots that will have access to the new road will also skyrocket  think luxury hillside villa just 10 minutes drive to Patong and the prices that accompany such projects.

Yet what stands to be made by landowners and developers from this road pales in comparison to the money to be made from the road being carved over the hills from Chalong to Patong. As seen by the plethora of photos posted by government agencies highlighting the construction of the road, any plots near the top of the hills stand of have sea views of both Phukets east and west coasts. Now thats real money.

The Chalong-Patong road is being built by the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organisation (PPAO). The PPAO has done much good work for residents on the island since PPAO President Rewat Areerob took office in February last year. However, this project raises more than a few questions.

The Phuket News has yet to see a report confirming exactly how much is being spent on creating the road. Further, the initial announcement that the road was intended to be only temporary have been proved plainly false by the rate of progress made by the road-building crew. The road was initially announced to be open within two weeks. The public was told that the road was hoped to be opened to traffic roughly by tomorrow (Nov 7).

Mr Rewat announcing Monday last week (Oct 31) that the PPAO now intended the road to become permanent even at that time were plainly evident by the progress made in construction. The construction crew from the outset were obviously already moving ahead with plans to build much more than a temporary road. As far as this road is concerned, the fix was in before the public knew anything about it.

As with Mr Prab & Cos road up Patong Hill, the Chalong-Patong road is being heavily promoted as an alternative route to Patong to alleviate the suffering of people and tourists  yet the real winners will be landowners and property developers, who together stand to make a windfall by these so-called public benefit projects.

MONEY MAKERS

To put into perspective how much money stands to be made from the ensuing property development after these roads are built, the Muang Mai-Koh Kaew-Kathu Expressway project at last report in 2020 was budgeted to cost B30 billion, equating to roughly B1.339bn per kilometre for the-then reported 22.4km route. Thats more than US$35.9 million per kilometre for a road that is crossing what was  before the announcement of the project  likely amongst the cheapest land on the island.

Phuket Chamber of Commerce (PCC) President Thanusak Phungdet in 2020 revealed that B12bn is to be allocated for the actual construction costs and the remaining B18bn to be used to acquire the land for the project to be built.

In comparison, Cabinet has approved a budget of only B14.67 billion for the Patong Tunnel project, and at that price they still have to cut a hole through the hill.

The expressway is to travel down the centre of the island, across land that has no sea views and no immediate access to any popular attractions or beaches, and as we have seen this year, it is prone to flooding. There are no major developments along the route simply because even the most opportunistic developers have thought there was no point.

Where suspicions of profiteering from that project come into play is that in March 2017 Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, Transport Minister at the time, announced the construction costs for the project at about B13bn. That figure has not changed.

Yet Mr Arkhom noted that the project was ready to roll out. The road will be finished by 2018, he said. That never happened, with no explanations, other than the incredible cost of acquiring the land that has come into play since. It is very difficult to believe that is a coincidence.

Of note, Mr Arkhom, who has served as Thailands Finance Minister since 2020, detailed all the transport mega-projects being touted by officials today in his address to Phuket people in 2017.

Even at that time he described the need for the projects as critical, and presented the projects  light rail, Patong tunnel and the Muang Mai-Kathu expressway  as costing a total of B71bn.

When we compare this cost with the B300 to 400 billion that Phuket generates each year, it is worth it, he said.

Those figures represent the income actually realised through tourists spending, not the inflated figures given tourism officials who include the multiplier effect of the tourists spending circulating through the economy.

Perhaps Mr Arkhom did not realise that he was pointing out that at that time Phuket made enough money from tourism in one year to pay for all the mega-projects four times over. And still the central government failed to deliver. The projects were delayed, and now it seems obvious why.

In all this, Mr Prab and associates have one thing on their side: at least they are not asking the taxpayer to fund a project that will line the pockets of only a handful of individuals.
The Power of Collective Action

Living Waters Phuket Foundation (LWPF) is a charity which was set up to support the most vulnerable communities; and they certainly were put to the test with the recent and unprecedented levels of flooding in Phuket.

Community

By The Phuket News

Sunday 6 November 2022, 11:00AM

Phukets driving force of goodwill came together to provide much-needed help during the recent floods. Photo: Living Waters Phuket

In times of devastating crisis, the champions of collective action show themselves to be an incredibly powerful network. This is ultimately the notion of individuals and companies coming together in groups to support a unified major effort in times of need in order to improve the communities that they live in.

LWPF wants to offer heartfelt thanks to all those who pulled together to help with the recent flood relief efforts across Phuket. Many individuals, organisations, island hotels and donors offered support via numerous channels including financial donations, supply packing efforts, emergency assistance and vital provisions deliveries or coordination.

Coordinated efforts saw essential initiatives such as hot fresh meals being cooked, medical kits prepared, life bags packed (containing staple dried or canned foods and household hygiene items), clothing, bedding and lifesaving water supplies being delivered to flood-impacted communities.

Flood relief efforts took place at central distribution centres and packing centres where companies and volunteers were able to donate, pick up and deliver crucial supplies to those in dire need; many were stranded after having lost everything to the rising water levels, others had been unable to leave their houses for days.

During these catastrophic times, aiding people in desperate need of basic supplies and support is critical and therefore LWPF would like to thank each and every donor, individual, island hotel and organisation that kindly contributed to give essential assistance during the terrible impact of the sudden island flooding, offering some help to those communities most in need.

Although the list is too long to mention everyone, the Foundation offers thanks to everyone who helped in any way during this time, including just some of the local island hotels and businesses listed below.

The concept of collective action to assist one another is not new, but it does provide hope that even in the face of adversity, Phuket can pull together and help make a difference.

By Joanna Matlub

The Living Waters Phuket Foundation would like to thank:

The Phuket Hotels Association

Amanpuri

Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas

Andara Resort & Villas

Angsana Laguna Phuket

Avista Grande Phuket Karon - MGallery

Courtyard by Marriott Phuket Town

COMO Point Yamu, Phuket

DoubleTree by Hilton Phuket Banthai Resort

Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket

Grand Mercure Phuket Patong Resort & Villas

Holiday Inn Resort Phuket

Hyatt Regency Phuket Resort

InterContinental Phuket Resort

JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa

Kata Rocks

Keemala

Marriott Hotels

Melia Phuket Mai Khao

Narai Hotel

Phuket Marriott Resort & Spa, Merlin Beach

Novotel Phuket Kata Avista Resort and Spa

Novotel Phuket Kamala Beach

Paresa

Pullman Phuket Panwa Beach Resort

Radisson Resort & Suites Phuket

Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa

SAii Laguna Phuket

The Nai Harn Phuket

The Pavilions Phuket

The Surin Phuket

The Westin Sirey Bay, Phuket

Marriott Bonvoy hotels in Phuket

Anns Kitchen

Yaki

Phukets Expat Moms Group
Voters in New York state have a stark contrast in choices in the race for governor.

Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul is running for a full term after taking office following the August 2021 resignation of Andrew Cuomo. She is the first female governor in state history. She is running on the Democrat and Working Families party lines.

She served as Erie County Clerk before being elected to represent the state's 26th Congressional District and later served as lieutenant governor in the Cuomo administration.

Zeldin, who currently represents New York's 1st Congressional District, previously served four years in the state Senate. He is running on the Republican and Conservative party lines.

One issue we have with Zeldin's campaign is his complete lack of a plan to work with the state Legislature.

Some of his boldest claims about what he plans to do on "Day One" involve repealing established laws by executive order and removing an elected district attorney he has labeled as being soft on crime.

That's not how things work in a democracy, because the governorship was never intended to be a monarchy. If a district attorney  or any other public official  is failing their constituents, they can be voted out of office. That's not for the governor to decide.

"Vote like your life depends on it" Zeldin says in a campaign ad, thoroughly embracing the embarrassing tactic of trying to scare voters over the issue of crime.

Worse yet, he has proven to be completely out of touch with not only New Yorkers, but many members of his own party, with his close association with  and support of  disgraced former President Donald Trump.

As a staunch supporter of Trump's toxic brand of politics, he voted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election even after it had been made definitively clear that the results were valid. He later tried to stop the formation of the congressional committee looking into the facts of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

We find it unfortunate that Republicans failed to choose a better candidate when they had the chance. Westchester County businessman Harry Wilson, who worked as an advisor to President Barack Obama's administration, really stood out in a crowded Republican primary election field. Wilson ran on a much more moderate platform that included a pledge to work in a bipartisan manner if elected, but his party rejected that notion in backing Zeldin, one of the more divisive and radical candidates we have come across in years.

Hochul may have stepped into the role of governor somewhat unexpectedly, but she did so with the backing of a strong resume. As lieutenant governor, she traveled all over the state, listening to the varied concerns of people from diverse regions.

We appreciate that she's an upstate native who understands the concerns of people outside New York City. She has taken the time to visit Auburn and Cayuga County and has gotten to know our local leaders and the issues important to the people who live here.

As evidence of Hochul's willingness to put politics aside for the good of the people, she worked with Democratic leaders in Congress and Republican leaders in Onondaga County to help bring the Micron deal to fruition, an economic development victory that will positively impact central New York far into the future.

We were critical of Hochul's use of extended emergency powers to make unilateral decisions about state spending to address COVID-19 because those issues should have been more quickly put back in the hands of the Legislature after the pandemic was under control.

Her stated goal of working on a reuse plan for shuttered state prisons has lagged; she needs to work with lawmakers to iron out some problems with regard to bail reform, firearms restrictions and the safety and security of prison employees and incarcerated individuals; and, if elected, we urge her to involve Republican lawmakers while putting together the next state budget.

All things considered, while Hochul may not be perfect, she is far and away the better choice to lead the state for the next four years.

The Citizen endorses Kathy Hochul for governor.

The Citizen Editorial board includes president and director of local sales and marketing Michelle Bowers, executive editor Jeremy Boyer and managing editor Mike Dowd.
MADI ALLARD, Stonington, Field Hockey, Senior; Allard made four saves in a penalty shootout, helping Stonington defeat Canton in the Class S semifinals. Most of the game was played in a steady snow. Stonington later lost in the title game to North Branford.

DREW DENONCOUR, Chariho, Boys Soccer, Senior; DeNoncour made a save in the final 30 seconds to preserve a 2-1 win for the Chargers in the Division II championship game. DeNoncour was named the games MVP as Chariho won the D-II title for the second straight year.

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Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.

Ms N.L. writes: Visiting Kilve Beach in Somerset, we found the car park run by Premier Park Limited was monitored by number plate cameras. We tried to pay but neither of the two machines would accept coins.

A sign said payment could be made by phone but this is rural Somerset, and we could get no signal. Not everyone can pay by phone anyway. We were concerned about not paying, so we left.

Two weeks later we received a 60 penalty notice. We found we are not the only victims of Premier Park, whose tactics are disgraceful. I won't visit this area again.

Idyll: But drivers are furious at Kilve Beach's parking issue

Tony Hetherington replies: Anyone thinking of visiting Kilve Beach would do well to look at online complaints to avoid being caught out.

One driver summed it up: 'Went to parking area to find no machine, drove back to machine, paid for ticket, then drove back to the car park with my ticket  a few days later, fined for no ticket.'

Another wrote: 'This ruined our day out  will tell everyone we know not to bother returning.'

This is because when you first arrive, there is a small car park with machines and cameras, but the car park leads on to a lane down to a second parking area at the beach.

This is where drivers find they have to return to the first car park to pay or to leave. And the time taken up by all this can mean that you are treated by the cameras as having arrived, parked, failed to pay and then left.

Kilve Parish Council has described a 'horrendous groundswell of ill feeling' this has caused. Councillor Bruce Eyley told me: 'It is 285 metres from the parking area closest to the beach, to the ticket machines.' He wants the cameras and machines relocated, with payment facilities at both parking areas.

The car park fees are supposed to finance rubbish collections, site maintenance and public toilets. But Councillor Eyley described the toilets as 'really awful  one would have to be desperate to use them'.

The parking areas belong to the East Quantoxhead Estate, behind which is the local landowning Luttrell family. I invited Hugh Luttrell to comment on the way the car park is run by his agent, Premier Park, but he stayed silent.

Premier Park also refused to comment on the record, but did claim that other drivers did pay on the day you were at Kilve Beach.

The company explained that the location for the machines and cameras was chosen by their client, and the only power supply is at the first entry point, with no supply at the beach parking area.

Motorists have ten minutes to arrive, read the signs and prices, drive down the lane to the beach, discover there are no machines there, decide to leave, drive back up the narrow lane, and exit past the cameras.

Linger longer and you get a penalty demand. There are no signs at the entrance which warn of the lack of machines down the lane.

Kilve Beach is a prime example of what the Government described as the inherent unfairness of private firms using misleading and confusing signage along with unreasonable fees designed to extort money from motorists.

These were the Government's own words last February when the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities launched its Private Parking Code of Practice.

Just four months later, it suspended the whole scheme 'temporarily'. A few days ago, I asked the department to tell me the state of play. What's going on? How long is a temporary suspension supposed to last? It failed to answer or to offer any comment whatsoever.

AXA travel policy that doesn't add up

E.J. writes: I am a member of the National Association of Retired Police Officers, through which I have been paying premiums for travel policies with Axa for more than 20 years.

The main reason for renewing cover every year has been Axa's promise that its cover would continue, whatever age I reached.

However, Axa reneged on its promise and would not renew the policy after June 30 this year.

Change of heart: Axa reneged on its promise and would not renew E.J.'s policy after June 30 this year

Tony Hetherington replies: You have told me that you are 88, and your wife is 80, and you cannot travel any longer because of the cost of insurance. Your Axa policy cost about 800 a year, but you are now receiving quotes of up to 10,500 a year.

The wording of the Axa policy is interesting. It says: 'You can join the travel policy up to your 85th birthday and can remain on the travel policy as long as you continue to pay your premium and there is no break in cover.' But it does not say that Axa has to provide a policy for you join.

In effect, Axa induced you to pay premiums for more than 20 years by implying that the policy would still be there, but it was never legally obliged to keep the policy on the market.

A spokeswoman told me that she understood how disappointed you feel, but she added that the policy was 'a one-year travel plan', with no obligation for you or Axa to continue it indefinitely. As a consolation prize, Axa has sent you 100 in Marks & Spencer shopping vouchers.

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.
Target: SRT's surveillance kit helps crack down on piracy at sea

Around 90 per cent of the world's trade is carried out at sea. That means a lot of boats  around eight million according to the latest estimates  from giant tankers to tiny tugboats.

While large vessels are equipped with sophisticated tracking equipment, the vast majority of smaller ships are unmonitored, especially in emerging markets.

Small craft carrying a few tons of cargo, fishing boats, criminal gangs smuggling goods or even people  these vessels go where they want, when they want and nobody really knows their movements.

This maritime free-for-all stands in stark contrast with the policing of our skies, where more than 8billion a year is spent on air traffic control and regulators know the identity and movement of virtually every plane in action.

Times are beginning to change however. As the world becomes less stable and national security becomes a very real concern, many governments are recognising that they need to take control of their territorial waters. SRT Marine Systems is ideally place to benefit.

Based in Midsomer Norton, a small town on the edge of the Mendip Hills, SRT is a market leader in maritime surveillance, working with countries in the Middle East and Asia in particular so they know who is doing what around their coastlines.

Founded in 1987 and floated on the stock market in 2005, SRT has spent years developing its technology. There have been knocks along the way, including the pandemic, when business dried up and the shares tumbled from 55p to 29p.

Today, however, the outlook is bright. The company is working on contracts valued at more than 70million, there is a confirmed pipeline worth 600million and talks are under way that should take that figure considerably higher.

The shares are 37p and are expected to more than double over the next 12 months and beyond.

SRT initially focused on black boxes  known as transceivers  fitted on to ships so that coastguards could monitor where they were and prevent collisions at sea.

Today, the transceivers have become much more sophisticated and they are complemented by high-tech onshore systems that reveal a ship's precise identity and location and show coastal authorities if any kind of illegal or illicit activities are under way.

The systems have multiple uses. In the fishing industry, careful monitoring can make sure that boats are staying within their given quotas and procuring their catch in a sustainable fashion.

This can make a big difference in countries where fishing is big business. There are 300,000 fishermen in the Philippines, for example, and their territorial waters stretch to more than 700,000 square miles  eight times the size of the UK.

The country exports vast quantities of fish, including mackerel, sardines and tuna. If traders can prove their produce is line-caught and governments can show that their national waters are not overfished, fishermen can charge more for their catch, bettering their own lives and enhancing the local economy more broadly.

That is one of the reasons the Philippine government is a big fan of SRT's kit  spending millions installing a state-of-the-art system, including 100 long-range coastal stations and 17 offices packed with computers and IT specialists, tracking vessels not just locally but across the South China Sea and the Western Pacific.

The Philippine contract was signed earlier this year and Malaysia is also on board. Chief executive Simon Tucker is in talks with several other countries in the region, with more deals expected in the near future.

Fishermen in the Philippines: The country's government uses SRT's kit to make sure that boats are staying within their given quotas and procuring their catch in a sustainable fashion

Keeping a watchful eye on fishermen makes sound commercial sense. But maritime monitoring stretches far beyond the fishing industry.

Many nations in politically volatile regions, such as the Gulf and parts of Asia, are also keen to beef up control of their waters so they can cut down on ugly activities, including kidnapping at sea, piracy, smuggling and the seizure of valuable assets, such as offshore oil rigs.

Bahrain was the first Middle Eastern country to sign up to SRT's systems, but others are following suit and Tucker is in talks with African nations too.

SRT's revenues plunged during the pandemic and the group slid into loss. Now, the company is bouncing back. Sales are expected to soar from 8.2million to nearly 57million in the year to next March, with profits of 11million, compared with a 3million loss last year.

Continued gains are forecast for the next financial year and beyond.

Midas verdict: As a penniless graduate, Tucker sold chocolate mousse to delicatessens to make ends meet. A grafter by nature, he has been at the helm of SRT since 2008, steering the business through good times and bad. Now, SRT has a team of 100 people, including highly skilled British engineers who have developed a world-beating system of surveillance at sea. The shares, at 37p, are a buy, especially for the more adventurous investor.

Traded on: AIM Ticker: SRT Contact: srt-marine.com or 01761 409 500
Investment trust Pantheon International invests in private companies in the hope of delivering stellar returns for shareholders.

Over the past five years, it has produced a respectable return for investors of 32 per cent, better than the profits someone would have got from investing in the FTSE All-Share Index (13 per cent).

Since its launch in 1987, it has produced an annual return of 12.4 per cent, compared with 7.4 per cent for the FTSE All-Share.

Although private equity doesn't have a good reputation in many people's eyes (essentially, because of its ruthless focus on profits), the manager of this FTSE 250-listed trust staunchly defends its work.

'What we do is help fund fast-growing businesses,' says Helen Steers. 'It's about funding business growth and expansion. We invest for the long term, typically for between five and seven years.'

The trust's approach is all based around diversification. It invests in companies across all business sectors, although the portfolio is skewed towards technology and healthcare stocks.

'Our technology exposure is what I would call boring tech,' says Steers. 'For example, it is in firms striving to improve cybersecurity. It's not racy.'

Overall, it has holdings in more than 1,000 companies, with no one position representing more than one per cent of the fund. Its biggest stake is in US healthcare provider Lifepoint.

The bar has got higher. We have to ensure that companies we buy will get through these turbulent times Helen Steers, manager, Pantheon International

In addition, it invests in private companies through a variety of means. Its main route is via private equity funds set up by specialists such as Insight Venture Partners, Index Ventures and Providence Equity Partners.

These funds invest in a portfolio of unlisted companies and Pantheon International then gets a slice of the profits as holdings are sold  typically to a rival business or occasionally via a stock market listing.

'These funds we invest in,' says Steers, 'are by invitation only. We invest alongside other institutional investors and endowment foundations. They're difficult for retail investors to get into because of the high commitment levels.'

It will also invest directly in a private company  but only alongside a private equity fund it is already a stakeholder in. And sometimes it will buy a stake in a fund from an institution that wants to sell.

A recent success story for the trust was the sale of a holding in UK pharmaceutical company EUSA Pharma, based in Hertfordshire.

It was bought by Italian pharma business Recordati, generating a return equivalent to five times the capital it originally invested back in 2015.

More recently, it has invested in UK company Access Group, a provider of business management software for small businesses. It has also invested in US orthodontics specialist Smile Doctors.

The challenging economic backdrop means Steers and her team are 'extremely selective' about which companies they are prepared to invest in. 'The bar has got higher,' she says. 'We have to ensure that companies we buy will get through these turbulent times.'

The difficult economic backdrop is one reason why the trust's share price (2.50) sits at a significant discount (49 per cent) to the value of its assets.

'The share price has not kept up with the growth in asset values,' says Steers. Over the past year, assets have grown by 24 per cent.

Pantheon International is a good asset diversifier. But it should only represent a small slice of any overall investment portfolio.

Its total annual charges of 3.9 per cent are also at the expensive end of the spectrum. The stock market ID code is BP37WF1 and the ticker is PIN.
An attempt by disgruntled minority shareholders to overthrow the board of oil and gas investment outfit Reabold Resources was dealt a blow after an influential advisory firm sided with the company.

Pershing Nominees, a group of investors holding nearly 7 per cent of shares, has requisitioned a meeting on November 17 in a bid to boot out the entire board, including co-chief executives Sachin Oza and Stephen Williams.

Trouble: Pershing Nominees, a group of investors holding nearly 7 per cent of shares, has requisitioned a meeting on November 17 in a bid to boot out the entire board

Pershing, which has board replacements lined up, claims there have been historic management failings and it insists that the company 'must realise greater value from its projects'  especially the huge West Newton oil and gas discovery in the Humber.

But proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services reckons Pershing's proposals lack detail.

ISS further claims that the upstart group's full business plan was disclosed too close to the meeting date.

ABF faces test with results imminent

Associated British Foods' commitment to keeping Primark clothes at bargain prices will face a fresh test when it releases annual results on Tuesday.

ABF  which also owns Twinings and British Sugar  said in September that business in 2022 was on track, but steered analysts to lower forecasts in its next financial year.

Sales are expected to have risen 20 per cent to 16.7billion.

But will ABF's promise not to raise Primark prices any further still be realistic as the cost-of-living crisis bites?

Judicial review over Harland & Wolff move pushed back

Frustration is evident at Belfast shipyard and gas storage group Harland & Wolff after a judicial review was pushed back to early 2023.

Eco-organisations No Gas Caverns and Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland are battling Stormont over its decision to let Harland & Wolff create a huge undersea gas storage facility near a popular Game Of Thrones filming location.

It would have a far bigger capacity than Centrica's Rough site in the North Sea. The review was due to be held in winter 2022 but any hope of a pre-Christmas decision has now been dashed.

The activists say the project, near Islandmagee, would create a wildlife dead zone near a nature reserve.

The firm says this is temporary and the energy crisis shows more storage is vital for the UK.

ScS customers spending less

Sofas and carpets retailer ScS and its peers have all noted that we are now spending less on big-ticket buys like furniture and white goods.

ScS's finance boss may also be feeling the squeeze after his pay plunged by a third.

Chris Muir received just over 700,000 in the last financial year, following a 1.2million package in 2021 which included a bumper long-term bonus.

But that could still buy him more than 100 of ScS's most expensive corner sofas, which cost 6,399.

Chief executive Steve Carson took home 711,000  more than the 580,000 the year earlier, although he joined part way through that year.

Contributor: Calum Muirhead
100 years ago

1922: Armistice Day, Saturday, and Flagstaff was observed fittingly by our youngest patriotic organization, which, by common agreement, was given the day to do with just what they liked. The business places were closed all afternoon. A parade was staged by La Society 40 Hommes et 8 Chevaux early in the afternoon preliminary to the initiation of a lot of new members. The real ceremonies took place behind closed door of the hall over the green Louis drugstore, and while nonmembers do not know what happened, they can surmise it was plenty judging from the startled yelps, deep groans and bursts of laughter that frequently penetrated to the outside. The ceremonies were designed to remind the novitiates of a time a few years ago when they embarked for France, the disembarkation at Brest, and what happened after that. But as far as the real ocean voyage was concerned, it is reported that the initiation last Saturday was far more thrilling and fear inspiring. The society now has 25 members meet every Monday night in Flagstaff. That society is that part of the American Legion that is divided to share fun, good fellowship, and nonsense, and judging from the enthusiasm, members, it must be fully living up to its code.

75 years ago

1947: During the first four days of the deer hunting season, careless hunters caused nearly 30 fires on Coconino and Kaibab national forests. It was reported today by U.S. Forest Service fire chiefs on the two great timbered areas. A hunter caused a fire in the Dead Man's Flat area about 16 miles south and a little east of Flagstaff on the north side of the San Francisco peaks. The fire blazed out of control Wednesday but was contained late that day following a light coating of snow. The forest is still dangerously dry, and those going into the woods are warned to be extremely cautious with fire. The Dead Man's fire burned about 200 acres so far. More than 20 men were kept on it through Wednesday night and into Thursday. On Kaibab, more than 20 acres of good timber was destroyed Wednesday, just south of Kendrick Mountain about 15 miles from Flagstaff. According to Fire Chief S. Sewell, another hunter caused a blaze in that same area Saturday, burning more than 50 acres of also very good timber. It was reported that the fire at Dead Man's Flat would be completely under control today if threatening high winds don't scatter the blaze to a new area. Both chiefs asked media outlets to repeat their warning: Hunters! Be careful with fire.

50 years ago

1972: Harry Metzger straightened his cowboy hat and glanced off in the distance. They should be coming anytime now, he said. The veteran cowboy began to reflect back on other eras. His 82 years have seen many changes. He had been at this same site many times before. But Saturday afternoon, it was to be different. It was the last time he would see this bit of western lore. The sound of trucks could be heard coming over the overpass that leads to meteor crater. Puffs of dust could be seen churning in the air as the trucks veered into the other direction. They were headed for Sunshine, a railhead for shipping of cattle and sheep. Thousands of livestock had passed through the weathered pens that now wore a graying coat. Prodded, the cattle began heading into the pens as the sun began to set in the distance. Harry talked about the old days when he left his home in Ohio and headed West as a young man. He rode his horse from Montana to Flagstaff in 1911 as a cow puncher. In those days, things were different he said. He talked of riding on the back of the train or sneaking into the smoker car on the return trip from the cattle delivery. This story has become rarer and rarer in recent years. Nowadays, cattle are transported by truck. The railroads just don't want to mess with them. It hadn't always been like this. Heck, in the old days, thousands and thousands of cattle and thousands of Indian sheep had used the same railroad for shipment to distant points. The last of the shipments from the area was the story that was written during the weekend. There haven't been many cattle here for years. There are fewer and fewer of these along the rail line now. I'm here for the first and last time, all in the same day, said one of the ranch hands as he began to lead the cattle toward the loading platform so that all would be in readiness when the train-switcher arrived. A short distance away, nine empty cattle cars sat motionless.

25 years ago

1997: From the public record on this day in 1997:

 A 26-year-old man died after falling from Yaki Point on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park on Thursday. National Park Service rangers responded to reports of the fall near the South Kaibab Trail at about 5:30 p.m. Rangers located the victim about 400 feet below the rim, where he was pronounced dead at the scene. The body was expected to be taken to the Coconino County Medical Examiners Office in Flagstaff.

 A Mount Ellen Middle School student who was angry with a school counselor allegedly wrote two threatening notes to the woman. The counselor told police she saw the girl writing the notes while two friends stood beside her, then saw the notes drop into her office through an open door. The notes said the counselor was going to die, called her an obscene name and accused the counselor of brainwashing another student to make her go away to Yuma. The counselor did not want to press charges against the girls.

 A Flagstaff medical office that loaned equipment to an employee had to call police to get it returned. Officers gave the borrowed electrolysis machine back to plastic surgeons of northern Arizona on Thursday after contacting the woman who had it.

 An 18-year-old Flagstaff man was booked into Coconino County jail for felony theft after allegedly stealing cash and a tie from his employer. Steven Lee Humphrey was arrested after a Sears manager reported the store had discovered the theft. According to Flagstaff police, Humphrey admitted taking $1,400 in cash and an $11 black tie between late August and mid-September.

 Bicyclists riding in the area of the Interstate 40 and I-17 intersection should use the Flagstaff Urban Trail System rather than Highway 89, according to the Arizona Department of transportation.

 A judge on Thursday dropped one of the charges against a woman being tried for murder in the death of her son. Prosecutors did not prove that Judy Booty conspired with her husband to commit child abuse against 3-year-old Tyler Booty. The father still faces charges of first-degree murder and child abuse in connection to the death.

 Three prescribed burns may make smoke visible in the Flagstaff area this week, according to the Coconino National Forest.
Court action: Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour

An investment giant backed by Sheikh Mansour  the owner of Manchester City  has lined up with a group of powerful funds to sue FTSE100 group Glencore following a damning bribery case.

Mubadala Investment Company, an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund whose board includes the Sheikh, is pursuing the crisis-hit Anglo-Swiss multi-national commodity trading and mining company in a joint action alongside dozens of other major firms, including HSBC and Standard Life.

Glencore was last week ordered to pay 281million by a London court. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said group subsidiary Glencore Energy UK facilitated the payment of millions of dollars in bribes to officials in five African countries.

Prosecutors said Glencore's employees and agents used private jets to transfer cash to pay the bribes.

Hopes of drawing a line under the scandal have been dashed after documents seen by The Mail on Sunday revealed a wave of incoming legal claims against Glencore, which experts believe could add up to billions of pounds.

It is feared that the litigation could run for years against Glencore and may entangle board members past and present, including former chief executive Ivan Glasenberg and current non-executive director Peter Coates.

The bribery case relates to about $26million (23million) that was paid to officials of crude oil firms in Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea and South Sudan from 2011 to 2016.

A judge said the case demonstrated 'not only significant criminality but sophisticated devices to disguise it', adding that corruption was 'endemic' among Glencore's traders.

Claimants include Mubadala  where Mansour is deputy chairman  the British Airways pension fund, investment giant Abrdn and Wirral Council. Other sovereign wealth funds involved include the Kuwait Investment Authority and Norway's Norges Bank.

The allegations are believed to relate to losses suffered by shareholders in the wake of the bribery and corruption probes. The claimants are expected to argue that news of the investigations resulted in billions of pounds being wiped off Glencore's value.

Southwark Crown Court recently imposed a fine of about 183million on Glencore  which was cut from 274million after the company submitted a guilty plea.

A 93.5million confiscation order was also made and it had to pay 4.6million for the SFO's costs. Earlier this year, Glencore reached a 957million settlement with the US Department of Justice.

Iskander Fernandez, a white-collar crime lawyer in the City, said the new civil case may cast a 'huge cloud' over the business.

He said: 'It would have been great for the company to say it had been sentenced and moved on with a root and branch change in the organisation, but it will now be pushed back into the limelight.'

The litigation could lead to Glencore having to hand over historic evidence and it is possible that senior Glencore executives will be cross-examined.

Current chairman Kalidas Madhavpeddi recently described the bribery as 'inexcusable' and stressed that the firm is 'committed to operating transparently'.

Giuseppe Bivona  an activist investor at Bluebell Capital  said the situation at Glencore has become 'untenable'. He added that there is a 'significant culture problem at the company'.

Chief executive Gary Nagle defended the firm in a recent statement, saying 'this type of behaviour has no place at the group'.

Glencore is currently worth more than 65billion. Its stock value has not fallen since the claims were filed.

Ben Lewis, a mining expert at Liberum Capital, said: 'The challenges for Glencore are more in their rear-view mirror rather than worrying about what's ahead.'

Glencore and the claimants' legal representatives declined to comment.
The near-collapse of the pensions market that prompted a Bank of England bailout has already cost company retirement schemes as much as 75billion, according to a report by a US investment bank.

The huge loss in value reflects the exposure many private sector pension funds have to liability-driven investment strategies.

They use LDIs to ensure they can afford future payouts to ten million members of final salary schemes, which pay guaranteed pensions based on workers' pay at retirement.

Fire sale: Many funds came unstuck after former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's disastrous mini-Budget in September sparked an unprecedented sell-off

LDIs deploy leverage  or borrowing  to boost returns from Government bonds, known as gilts.

But many funds came unstuck after former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's disastrous mini-Budget in September sparked an unprecedented sell-off.

JPMorgan reckons the fire sale of assets has cost pension funds between 65 billion and 75billion since August alone. That compares with total assets of 1.7trillion at the start of this year.

The estimates are based on the bank's forecast of figures due this week from the Pension Protection Fund, the safety net for the interests of around 5,200 final salary funds.

But the final cost is likely to be much higher. 'We reckon about 25 per cent of assets have been lost,' said Iain Clacher, professor of pensions at Leeds University.

Supermarket group Sainsbury's last week revealed it made a 500million loan available to its fund to prevent a fire sale of assets. Its pension fund had already fallen 30 per cent to 8.2billion in the year before the LDI market blew up.

The BT pension fund, which has increased its LDI use in recent years, says it lost 11billion in the turmoil. The telecom giant's fund has slumped by more than 21billion since June 2021 as a result of its LDI strategies.

BT this weekend defended its use of LDIs. 'Throughout this period, the liability hedging assets performed as intended. They have fallen in value in step with a fall in the present value of our future obligation to pay pensions,' it said.

'As a result, there was no worsening of the funding position.'
It was less than a decade ago that Ofgem vowed to fix Britain's broken energy market. The regulator said it would revitalise competition and get a better deal for households  watering down the power of the 'Big Six' corporate giants that once dominated the sector.

But years of wasted effort and one costly market meltdown later, the UK has come full circle and just six firms are now in control once again.

Analysis by The Mail on Sunday has found that almost 90 per cent of Britain's domestic energy is supplied by British Gas, EDF, Eon, Octopus, Ovo and Scottish Power.

Fortune: Billionaire Stephen Fitzpatrick owns Ovo, while Octopus, run by Greg Jackson, has bought Bulb

But there is a major difference this time round. Two of the firms  Ovo and Octopus  are controlled by entrepreneurs rather than by giant corporations with a history of generating and supplying energy. The two firms argue they are well funded and offer customers a far better service than legacy rivals.

The expansion of Ovo and Octopus  run by billionaire Stephen Fitzpatrick and Greg Jackson respectively  has been rapid.

Their rise has also, at least in part, been thanks to the market's failure. The pair are now responsible for nearly ten million customers, an incredible one third of all households after dozens of suppliers collapsed.

So weak were the firms that were launched over the past decade that waves of them failed in the space of a year as energy prices rocketed.

This has led to a drastic shift in the number of firms selling us the gas and electricity to power and heat our homes. The number has fallen to its lowest level since 2014, down to 24 from a high of 70 in 2018. But the remaining firms outside the new Big Six are minnows by comparison.

Tony Jordan, senior partner at energy consultancy Auxilione, said Ofgem's experiment with competition had failed and had not achieved 'the good it was hoped for or was intended'.

The arrival of the new Big Six was ushered in last month when Jackson's Octopus bought Bulb out of Government-controlled special administration. The taxpayer has already lost billions on the collapse a year ago. But that could increase.

Consolidation: Octopus bought failed supplier Bulb out of Government-controlled special administration last month, gaining an extra 1.5million customers in the process

The Mail on Sunday last weekend revealed that the Government has agreed to cover Bulb's energy costs over winter, when prices could soar once again, which means the cost could rise by another 2.5billion.

The deal has crystalised the power base of the remaining suppliers  not least that of Jackson, who has added Bulb's 1.5million customers to his own. Jackson is founder of Octopus Energy and his stake in the company has been estimated to be 260million.

But fast-growing firms run by entrepreneurs are also rarely as financially transparent as publicly traded corporations. Imagination Industries, owner of Ovo Group, has just two directors.

One is Fitzpatrick, a Belfast-born former City trader, and the other is chief financial officer Vincent Casey. The Mail on Sunday revealed last week that Ovo's parent company paid out 27million in loans to its directors last year.

We also revealed that Ovo, which has 4.5 million customers, had losses totalling almost 300million over three years. But the scale of losses has so far not held the company back.

Supplier failures over the last two years have caused complete chaos for customers. We need reassurance that this will never happen again Gillian Cooper, head of energy policy for Citizens Advice

The charity Citizens Advice has complained of a 'catalogue of errors' by Ofgem that 'failed to act against unfit energy suppliers for nearly a decade'.

It said that the regulator did not use its enforcement powers against wayward suppliers and that it missed opportunities to reform the market.

'Long before this year's crisis, there was evidence of financial weakness, with a number of suppliers reliant on customer credit balances for working capital,' it said earlier this year.

Gillian Cooper, head of energy policy for Citizens Advice, called for Ofgem to 'put consumers at the heart of any future plans for the energy market'.

She said: 'Competition in the energy market can drive down prices, but it's vital that companies have responsible business models.

'Supplier failures over the last two years have caused complete chaos for customers and landed us all with a multi-billion pound bill. We need reassurance that this will never happen again.'

Jess Ralston, senior analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said 'competition has essentially exited the building' under current market conditions.

Soaring wholesale gas prices have forced a Government intervention to protect household budgets. But it is not yet clear what reduced competition will mean for bills in the future  or what Ofgem can do about the situation.

It is also likely that suppliers will continue to be rocked by Russia's war in Ukraine and the ongoing gas shortage.

Tony Jordan added that competition had become largely irrelevant in the current market as the era of cheap energy has been put on hold.

Ofgem said it has been stress-testing all suppliers  and raised the bar for new ones entering the market.
Growth plans: Interim boss Mark FitzPatrick sees a bright future for the Pru

Industry experts have slammed Prudential over its controversial break-up  triggering a fierce rebuttal from its chief executive.

Analysts and insurance insiders claimed the company had made a hash of its plan to slim down and focus on Asia, which began in earnest in 2019.

But Prudential's interim boss Mark FitzPatrick hit back, arguing that the business had quietly been bolstering its balance sheet so it had the 'firepower to take advantage' of new opportunities.

Once a proud British life insurer, whose 'Man from the Pru' agents became commonplace across towns and cities in the last century, the Pru now barely has a presence in the UK.

The 174-year-old firm hived off its UK business into savings and wealth firm M&G in 2019, before separating from its US business Jackson last year.

What remains of Pru  which is still listed on the London Stock Exchange  is now entirely focused on Asia, where it hopes the ballooning middle-class will fuel its growth.

The premise behind the split was that the value of Pru's constituent parts would be worth more than their sum. But so far those hopes have been dashed.

Prudential was worth about 50billion before the M&G separation in 2019. Now it is worth just 23billion. Jackson is trading at 2.8billion and M&G at 4.1billion.

'It's been a total disaster,' said an analyst at one investment bank, who asked to remain anonymous.

'I think it would have been  and can still be  a great plan. But [Prudential's management] screwed up the execution.'

Farooq Hanif, an analyst at JPMorgan, said: 'The vision was great. Some investors had been on at Pru for a while to be Asia focused, because that's where the growth was.'

But he agreed that the way the break-up had been handled left much to be desired.

Hanif noted that Prudential repeatedly said its capital position  how much money it has available to meet its requirements  was strong.

But the returns to investors are unimpressive, he said  especially compared with rival AIA Group.

'They need to give a clearer steer on capital  how much surplus they think they have and what they intend to do with it,' Hanif said.

FitzPatrick, who took the reins at Prudential after former boss Mike Wells stepped down in the spring, brushed off criticism that the company has not been transparent enough. 'We've got huge long-term growth opportunities to pursue,' he told The Mail on Sunday.

'We've spent the last four years preparing ourselves for the situation where we are now  a pure Asia-Africa-focused group.'

He added that Prudential had been building its balance sheet 'so that as those opportunities present themselves, we can go in and we have the firepower to be able to take advantage'.

But it has undoubtedly been a year of upheaval for the Pru. One City source suggested there had been tensions between Wells and chair Baroness Shriti Vadera.

Claims of bullying levelled at Vadera by an employee caused another headache, though an independent inquiry cleared her of any misconduct.

FitzPatrick, formerly the company's finance boss, stepped in to fill the breach left by Wells in March, but he was keen to emphasise that he did not want the role permanently.

Anil Wadhwani, a top executive at Canadian insurer Manulife, is due to take over in February.

Hanif said: 'The lack of CEO has been a problem for investors. You can see that in the share price.' Prudential is down more than 40 per cent on a year ago.

FitzPatrick rebutted critics' suggestions that he has merely been a caretaker boss.

'That's so not who I am,' he said. 'The business is too exciting, the opportunities in front of us are too real to tread water.

'I've been driving the business forward. We've been able to bring in new blood. I've cleared the runway so Anil can move at pace.'

A spokesman for Prudential said: 'We did an investor audit at the end of last year.

'They all understand the great structural opportunity.'
Mamas & Papas has bucked a high street trend by posting a bumper set of results.

Sales at the nursery store chain  which designs and sells prams, pushchairs and baby clothing  jumped by more than a third to 126million in the year to March 2022.

Pre-tax profits leapt to 6.8million from 1.2million in the same period.

Turnaround: Sales soared to 126million

The positive trend continued in the half year to September, with sales up 17 per cent.

Mamas & Papas is currently completing a protracted turnaround.

The buoyant trading is likely to revive speculation that private equity owner Bluegem Capital may soon look to sell.

The company has opened concessions with clothing retailer Next. More are planned with Marks & Spencer.

Chief executive Mark Saunders said 'there are undoubtedly challenges from the continuing cost-of-living crisis and emerging economic downturn'.

But he said the nursery products market had 'proven its resilience'. Rival Mothercare's decision to close all its UK stores in 2020 also helped trading, he added.
Flagstaff will make the choice on Tuesday during voting to re-elect Mayor Paul Deasy or change leadership with Becky Daggett. Elsewhere in Coconino County, a handful of cities have already elected their mayoral leadership in the Aug. 2 primary, while others are still watching to see which mayoral campaign will emerge victorious in the general election.

To help readers better acquaint themselves with the mayoral candidates of Coconino County, the Arizona Daily Sun has reached out to candidates and mayor-elects from Sedona, Williams, Tusayan and Page. Heres a look some of the Coconino County mayors beginning (or hoping to begin) new terms.

Sedona

Scott Jablow

In Sedona, the Aug. 2 primary election whittled the mayoral race to two candidates: Jablow and Samaire Armstrong.

Jablow came to Sedona in 2010 after a 31-year career in law enforcement at the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. He only expected to retire in town and never get involved with politics.

But within the first year, I knew that there was some issues going on, Jablow said. Its obvious that the state puts a lot of restrictions on cities and towns throughout the state.

Jablow got involved with the fire district and was soon elected to the governing board of the Sedona Fire District.

While I was there, I was also a city planning and zoning commissioner, he said. I really immersed myself in the city government.

In 2014, Jablow successfully campaigned for a seat on the Sedona City Council and was re-elected for another term in 2018. With that term coming to an end, he decided to run for mayor, with an eye on leading through regional collaboration.

The mayor has a lot more opportunity to do more outreach with other city governments throughout the Verde Valley and the region, Jablow said.

Among the immediate issues that Jablow would like to focus on, should he be elected, is Sedonas housing crisis. Like many other cities in Arizona, Sedona has suffered a decline in workforce and affordable housing due to state prohibitions on the regulation vacation rentals  which Jablow reports constitute 16% of all housing in Sedona.

I represented our city and testified numerous times down at our state capitol to share our concerns of losing workforce housing, Jablow said.

At the same time that housing supply is diminishing, Sedona remains landlocked by national forest and unable to expand its borders. Building has additional housing has been a huge challenge for the city, one the Jablow has helped address on city council and would like to continue to tackle as mayor.

We have three pieces of property where we are building workforce housing in the city limits, he said. These arent pie in the sky ideas, these are actual things that were doing.

Aside from housing, Jablow has also been vocal about the impacts that rampant off-highway-vehicle (OHV) use has had on his community. While some of his concerns have to do with the ripping up of U.S. Forest Service land outside of his jurisdiction, Jablow also reports that OHV on state highways within city limits  Arizona is one of eight states that allows this  contributes to excess noise pollution and more severe traffic accidents.

Many [OHVs] dont have directional signals, many that are missing a lot of normal safety devices, Jablow said. But the states still give them a license plate.

Jablow has successfully worked the League of Arizona Cities and Towns to create a state-level committee to examine the reformation of legislation surrounding OHV use.

Were moving forward with that, he said.

When asked what he brings to the table against his opponent Samaire Armstrong, Jablow said experience.

I have all these relationships, he said. Ive been doing this for eight years.

Samaire Armstrong

Sedona is ready for a new way of doing things, contends Armstrong, who has lived in Sedona during her high school years, but recently returned in 2021 after spending the last couple decades as an actor in Hollywood.

When I got back, the members of my community were rather upset with how things were being run for the last decade, Armstrong said.

As she began looking for answers to what she called the dysfunction, discord and mismanagement of Sedona, Armstrong became focused on city initiatives and regulations that didnt quite make sense or fit into the ethos of Sedona.

She said she went out looking for candidates to run for the city council and mayoral seats open in the 2022 election cycle, but finding none willing, decided to make a run herself.

It was a big pill to swallow, Armstrong said.

Should she be elected, Armstrong wants to address the gamut of issues she sees facing Sedona  from housing to city management and its approach to sustainability.

Specifically, she called out sustainability-minded building codes such as those that require new construction to be wired to allow the addition of solar panels and electric vehicle charging.

This doesnt allow for a free market, Armstrong said.

She would also like to pump the brakes on Sedonas approach to transportation issues, specifically those that are creating more sidewalks, more parking lots, more roads, more shuttle systems.

Theyre creating a robust transit system in a small little city, Armstrong critiqued. Right now they cant actually determine whether or not their new transit system has been effective.

As it stands, Sedonas current Climate Action Plan appears as greenwashing to Armstrong.

Were going to spend a lot of money to make things go electric, she said. And yet we dont even know if any of these will be a solution to protecting our environment whatsoever.

She added: I want to look at more realistic regenerative approaches to maintaining the dignity of our community.

Among these approaches, Armstrong includes the construction of tiny home communities to address to housing crisis, gray water reuse, and a push for food sovereignty to defend Sedona against the risk of supply chain malfunction.

When asked what distinguishes her from her opponent, Armstrong said her position as a political outsider allowed her to think outside the box.

I also am very good at collaborating with people, she said, adding that she would like to see the community of Sedona organize around mutual pursuit of solutions.

Id like to avoid outside influences and really come up with organic solutions from the ground up versus outside in before we keep spending money, throwing out finances and seeing what perhaps might stick.

Williams

Don Dent

The City of Williams elected their new mayor, Dent, during the Aug. 2 primary. Dent, who ran unopposed for the seat, is a lifelong resident of Williams. He has served on the Williams City Council since 1991, most recently in the role of vice mayor to John Moore.

John and I served together for a long time, Dent said. When he said he was going to go, then I thought, OK, its time for me to step up for a few years and see if I can fill that position.

Dent said we would not have been surprised if someone else had campaigned against him for the seat, but no one did.

I think maybe thats a sign that people were happy with the job that I do, Dent said. Maybe they felt like I was ready to step up and take the job.

Over his coming two-year term as mayor, Dent has his eyes on infrastructure. He currently focused on a major waterline project related to the city water supply for Dogtown Lake and wells near the southeast of Williams.

That is hopefully going to be completed before I take office, Dent said.

He also noted that Williams is in the process of improving its electrical grid system by converting from a 4-kilo-volt system to a 12-kilo-volt system.

Thats going to be an ongoing project that will probably take several more years to finish, he said.

The wastewater system is also in need of updating to keep up with population growth.

We are going to be maxed-out here  if were not already  very shortly with the growth weve had in William, Dent said. Were going to have to look at doing an expansion there at some point.

Balancing workforce housing supply with vacation rentals is also a priority for Dent, as Williams struggles with the same housing issues as many other cities across the state. The city is in the research and planning stages of addressing their particular housing problem.

Weve got a coalition, not just of the city, but a number of entities and groups in Williams, starting to try and come up with some solutions, Dent said. We decided in our first meeting that its going to be necessary for us to do an actual housing survey.

Dent also intends to keep an eye on the Bill Williams Restoration project, which is designed to help prevent catastrophic fire and flood impacts in the city by conducting thinning on Bill Williams Mountain.

Well continue to support that, Dent said.

Page

Bill Diak

Re-elected in the August primary against Rick Yanke, Diak is back to serve another term as mayor of Page. Originally elected in 2009, Diak held office for 10 years before losing re-election, taking a one-term break, then re-winning the seat in 2020.

Perhaps not surprising, Diak has a long history with the City of Page, stretching back to 1958 when his father led him with a Scout troop to the area. Page has been Diaks permanent residence since 1988.

In the earliest days of his career in Page, Diak worked for the Salt River Project Navajo Generating Station and served as a volunteer firefighter/paramedic.

Ive always been very active in the community, Diak said.

He got into politics at the request of another active member on city council. Diak ran for Page City Council and won, but soon set his sights higher.

It didnt take me very long to realize that if you werent the main horse pulling the cart, you can never make the direction change, sometimes, he said.

As mayor, Diak said, his goal has always been fiscal responsibility. When he first entered the office in 2009, he said the city was in a large amount of debt. That has since changed.

Weve been doing extremely well and got all of our debt paid, Diak said.

Hes also looking to make sure that Page continues to meet its infrastructural needs.

Most of our roads and longer waterpipes are all new, he said. But were dealing with an aging infrastructure of water delivered from the [Glen Canyon] dam.

For this particular project, Diak hopes to take advantage of federal infrastructure funds through relationship with state and federal legislators.

There is some infrastructure money out there, he said. Were hoping to get some of that so we can get that project started  which will be a several-year project.

Page is also facing some economic instability, Diak said. Between the pandemic, water levels falling in Lake Powell  a large driver of water sport tourism  and the recent shuttering of the Navajo Generating Station and the 2,300 jobs it provided, Page has work to do to stay viable financially.

Were still off about 25% to 30% pre-COVID, Diak said of Pages tourism rates.

He added: Were looking forward to continuing to bolster our tourism and our tour operations away from the lake. And then also lobbying to make sure that people understand that theres still a lot of lake there. Its down considerably, about 170 feet from full pool, but right now, that means theres about 400 feet behind the dam  far from being a mud hole, as some news medias putting out there.

Instead of 210 miles long right now, its probably only about 165 to 170 miles long, Diak said. Instead of 1,900 miles of coastline, theres approximately 1,700 miles of coastline. Its still a pretty big place to explore. And its different. So for those people that are then here and explore this lake when it was so full, this is an opportunity to see places that you were never able to see before.

Tusayan

Clarinda Vail

A third-generation Grand Canyon resident, Vail was elected in the Aug. 2 primary election against Brady Harris to serve her second term as Tusayans mayor.

Prior to her first campaign in 2020, Vail served for eight years as school board president in the Grand Canyon Unified School District.

I have a great love and care for our area, Vail said. My kids are the fourth generation of my family growing up here.

Over her years of public service, Vail recalled feeling frustrated at the slow rate of change for her community  which ultimately led her to run for the office of mayor.

Im honored to have been elected again, she said.

One of Vails focuses will be continuing to refine Tusayans approach to flood control and their relationship with the Coconino County Flood Control District.

Before I took office, the town was in a pretty big mess, Vail said, expounding upon a scenario in which Tusayan had over-extended its ability and authority and wound up in a lawsuit with the county.

During my time as mayor, I worked hard to get us out of that lawsuit, she said. Now it has been settled and it is done. That now opens that door to continue to move forward.

Vail mentioned that Tusayan was in need of a re-evaluation of its building standards in relationship to stormwater management.

We have went back to using Coconino County for our building permits as well, she said. They are handling that stuff for the town, and Im just thrilled for that relationship. I hope that it can continue to grow.

Bolstering intergovernmental collaboration is priority for Vail, including those between Tusayan and Flagstaff, whereby the City of Flagstaff helps provide library services to the town.

Theres a lot of important relationships, Vail added. Relationship with Grand Canyon National Park is especially important. Were always respecting the beautiful wonder we live by, and Im really appreciative of all the relationships I feel have been improved upon during my term.

Unsurprisingly, Tusayan is also facing shortages of housing supply, and this will be another of Vails focuses in the coming term.

She said the towns previous city council had begun brainstorming solutions.

We have new councilmembers coming in, she said. So were in a bit of a holding pattern to wait and see what alternatives we come up with as a whole council.
Thousands of people took to the streets across Peru on Saturday to demand the resignation of embattled President Pedro Castillo, a leftist whose government is under investigation for corruption.

Carrying the Andean nations vertically striped red-white-red flag and signs with anti-government slogans, protesters marched towards the opposition-dominated Congress in the capital Lima.

Castillo has called those who oppose his government reactionaries and the enemies of people.

Police with helmets and plastic shields launched several tear gas canisters in an attempt to disperse the crowds. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Castillo, who took office in July last year, has already survived two impeachment attempts. Opposition legislators are seeking a fresh trial against the president even though Congress recognized it would not gather sufficient votes.

We see a government involved in corruption and Congress doesnt react, said Lucas Ghersi, a conservative lawyer who is one of the organizers of the march, called Peru Reacts.

In October, Perus attorney general filed a constitutional complaint against Castillo with Congress that the right-wing opposition hopes will end in his removal from office.

Discontent has been rising in Peru. I come for my children, for my grandchildren, because this government is becoming hell, said Maria del Pilar Blancas.

They want us to become one more Venezuela, she said, referring to the South American neighbor that went into an economic freefall.

Similar protests were held in other cities across the country, including Arequipa, Chiclayo, Cusco and Trujillo, according to reports and images broadcast by local television channel Canal N.

SOURCE: REUTERS
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has said she will speak to all parties about forming a government after the next general election.

Mrs McDonald said the party will go out to win every single seat, but once the votes are counted the Dublin TD said she will speak to everyone.

But she went on to say that the best option for the country would be a government that does not include Fianna Fail or Fine Gael.

It comes as a Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks opinion poll revealed that support for the party remains ahead of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.

However, the poll also found that support for Sinn Fein dropped three points to 34%, but the party retains a 13-point lead ahead of Fine Gael at 21%, while Fianna Fail sits at 17%. Support for both parties remains unchanged.

The poll was carried out among 1,002 people.

Support for Sinn Fein has been growing in recent years, with the party taking 22.3% of first preferences in the 2020 general election.

The party has been polling well since then, with the vast majority of its support base coming from young people.

However, Mrs McDonald said there are no foregone conclusions in elections.

We will keep working very, very hard, she told RTEs The Week In Politics.

I hear a lot of commentary around that things are foregone conclusions or sometimes assertions that I or we think that things  theres no foregone conclusions in political life and there are certainly no foregone conclusions in elections.

We will go out to win every single seat, every single vote, the confidence of every single voter that we can.

Meanwhile, Mrs McDonald repeated her calls for a joint authority between Dublin and London if an executive in Northern Ireland is not restored.

The Sinn Fein leader said that if the DUP continues to boycott the Northern Ireland Assembly, then the British and Irish governments should form a partnership.

She said that there should not be direct rule if an executive cannot be formed.

Mrs McDonald said: The reason I made the point as regards direct rule is, we have to be absolutely clear on one thing and its this. It is not a choice between powersharing on the one hand or direct rule from London on the other.

The best scenario is that the executive is up and running. So the British government, having said now that we wont have an election this side of Christmas, needs to very speedily this week set out the plan of engagement with Brussels, to sort out the outstanding implementations of the protocol to get the executive up and running.

If at that stage the DUP still are on boycott mode, then it is partnership between Dublin and London.

Id use the term joint authority, partnership, whatever language you use, it has to be a co-equal situation and it has to reflect not just the building blocks of the Good Friday Agreement, it also needs to take account that the politics in the North has very much changed.

There is no longer a unionist electoral majority, that you now have for the first time a nationalist, a republican, Michelle ONeill, as first minister designate.
An Alabama school district is switching to virtual classes for the next week because of rising flu cases among students and teachers
[November 06, 2022] University of Phoenix Leaders Presenting at PACRAO Annual Meeting Event Focused on Advancing Knowledge of Professionals Engaged in Enrollment and Academic Services

Leaders with University of Phoenix join the proceedings of the Pacific Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (PACRAO) Annual Conference, taking place November 6-9, 2022, in San Diego, CA, and will be contributing to sessions on a range of topics including student support practices, digital credentialing, risk and quality management, veterans, and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB). "University of Phoenix is a leader in providing empathetic student support and sharing best practices in higher education," states Audra McQuarie, vice president, registrar. "We have cross-functional departments collaborating to identify meaningful ways to best support our students. We look forward to sharing more about the policies and methods we've implemented as a result of this collaboration and focus on student support, including discussing our policy that eliminated transcript holds." Leadership from the University of Phoenix Academic Operations will present on numerous topics at the PACRAO Annual Conference, including the following: Jonathan Graff , MBA, associate registrar, and Joe Tate , director, program and policy implementation, will lead the session, "Empathy in Praxis: Supporting Students through Policy and Digital Recognition," sharing some of the changes the University implemented such as the removal of transcript holds, academic policy updates geared towards supporting students' busy lives and growing digital recognition opportunities.

, MBA, associate registrar, and , director, program and policy implementation, will lead the session, "Empathy in Praxis: Supporting Students through Policy and Digital Recognition," sharing some of the changes the University implemented such as the removal of transcript holds, academic policy updates geared towards supporting students' busy lives and growing digital recognition opportunities. Chelse Thoms , MAED/AET, manager, University Program Lifecycle Evaluation Improvement, and Nick Williams , Ed.D., director of Assessment, will present in the session, "A 'slow but fast' approach to Digital Credentials," providing an interactive badge-building experience and a behind-the-scenes look at University of Phoenix's digital credentials initiative.

, MAED/AET, manager, University Program Lifecycle Evaluation Improvement, and , Ed.D., director of Assessment, will present in the session, "A 'slow but fast' approach to Digital Credentials," providing an interactive badge-building experience and a behind-the-scenes look at University of Phoenix's digital credentials initiative. Laura Schonberger , Strategic Integration manager, will present at the DDC Book Club, "Tell Me Who You Are: Sharing Our Stories of Race, Culture, & Identity" in a session where participants will learn to seek out and listen to the stories of others with more intentionality surrounding race and other perceived differences.

, Strategic Integration manager, will present at the DDC Book Club, "Tell Me Who You Are: Sharing Our Stories of Race, Culture, & Identity" in a session where participants will learn to seek out and listen to the stories of others with more intentionality surrounding race and other perceived differences. Andrea Siegrist , director, Veterans Affairs operations, will present in the session, "Managing Process Change for VA Enrollment Certification," providing different strategies and best practices to support process change related to highly regulated processes, using the example of the submission of Enrollment Certifications for student veterans to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

, director, Veterans Affairs operations, will present in the session, "Managing Process Change for VA Enrollment Certification," providing different strategies and best practices to support process change related to highly regulated processes, using the example of the submission of Enrollment Certifications for student veterans to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Tate will also present in the session, "Simplified Risk & Quality Management for Admissions & Registrar Functions."



The event is intended for higher education professionals from a variety of disciplines, and offers presentations, workshops, and panels featuring presenters from across the Pacific region including Arizona. PACRAO is a non-profit, voluntary, professional association representing more than 350 regionally accredited 2-year, 4-year, and graduate schools with an individual membership of 1,500 professional admissions officers and registrars.

Learn more here about the Annual Conference of PACRAO. About University of Phoenix University of Phoenix is continually innovating to help working adults enhance their careers in a rapidly changing world. Flexible schedules, relevant courses, interactive learning, and Career Services for Life help students more effectively pursue career and personal aspirations while balancing their busy lives. For more information, visit phoenix.edu. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221106005038/en/

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Long gone are the days of Valley Girl . . . Wherein white women charged fortunes at the mall and throughout suburbia.



Nowadays . . . American cut out the middle-man and send that cash directly to China.

In the meantime . . .

Crafty local merchants who can't afford rent have found an ingenious box store solution . . .



DOING BIZ IN EMPTY SUBURBAN BOX STORE PARKING LOTS IS THE NEW HOTNESS THROUGHOUT THE KANSAS CITY METRO!!!



As always, we advise caution whenever exchanging money in the real world.

However . . .

Special thanks to the BEST & BRIGHTEST TKC READERS . . .

We thought this bit of local commerce was clever, possibly cuts costs and, again, clearly demonstrates that corporate crony capitalism has FAILED most of us.

Check-it:



TKC Fun Fact . . . E-mail, Internets Google Dox sharing or just posting publicly to ur stupid twitter saves even more cartridge ink & money.

Developing . . .


Yes, Friends is important to Matthew Perry, but he wants to be remembered for his sobriety and helping other people
Update: 06-11-2022 | 15:32:55

Thailand aims to earn 200 billion THB (over 5 billion USD) from the export of fruit in 2023, according to the countrys Department of Agriculture.

Fruits at a commercial centre in the capital of Bangkok. (Photo: VNA)

Bangkok (VNA)  Thailand aims to earn 200 billion THB (over 5 billion USD) from the export of fruit in 2023, according to the countrys Department of Agriculture.



The departments director-general, Raphiphat Chantarasriwong, said China remains the biggest export market, purchasing 84.75% of the total fruit export of Thailand. Other major markets are Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Republic of Korea and the US.



He expected China will import 2.39 million tonnes of Thai fruit worth 159 billion THB next year.



He said Thailand plans to apply to export more types of fruits to several countries after negotiating with foreign markets.



We plan to apply for exports of date palm, passion fruit and salak to China; coconut husk to Saudi Arabia; lychee, longan, rambutan, dragon fruit and pomelo to the US; mango, mangosteen and pomelo to Japan, and lychee, longan and pineapple to Australia, he was quoted by local newspaper as saying.

Thailand held the Asia Fruit Logistica fair from November 2 to 4 at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre in Bangkok. The annual event has been organised for the past 15 years with participation from Thai and international agricultural authorities, fruit importers/exporters, and companies across the fruit supply chain to carry out fruit-trade negotiations. The event also helps local firms to explore new market opportunities in the Asian region./.

VNA
Russia has already lost about 75,930 troops in Ukraine (+490 over the past day).

The relevant statement was made by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Between February 24, 2022 and November 6, 2022, the enemys total combat losses included also 2,765 tanks (+7 over the past day), 5,611 armored fighting vehicles (+10), 1,781 artillery systems (+5), 391 multiple launch rocket systems, 202 anti-aircraft warfare systems, 277 aircraft, 260 helicopters, 4,184 motor vehicles and fuel tanks (+7), 16 warships/boats, 1,465 unmanned aerial vehicles (+3), 155 special equipment units. A total of 399 enemy cruise missiles were shot down.

The data are yet to be updated.

A reminder that, over the past day, the Ukrainian military have repelled enemy attacks near 14 settlements in four regions.

mk
The Russian military leadership has set a task to break the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Luhansk region. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian military are gradually advancing.

The relevant statement was made by Luhansk Regional Military Administration Head Serhii Haidai during a nationwide telethon, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The Russian military leadership has set a task to break the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Hence, fierce battles, shelling continue every day. But, this will not stop our military: they are moving forward every day, towards the liberation of the Luhansk region, although the progress is not as rapid as we would like it to be, Haidai told.

In his words, the Ukrainian military are highly motivated, and it is better for them to go on the offensive than to sit in trenches.

According to Haidai, near the Svatove districts Makiivka, Russians lost about 500 troops. Rashists do not take the bodies of their fallen soldiers from the battlefield, otherwise they would have to pay compensation to their relatives.

Russian troops continue attempts to re-capture Bilohorivka. If they get pushed farther away from this settlement, the Ukrainian Army will liberate Lysychansk next, and rashists clearly understand this, Haidai noted.

mk
Among the recently drafted Russian military servicemen deployed in Belarus, an outbreak of diseases is reported due to non-compliance with sanitary conditions.

Thats according to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraines Defense Ministry, Ukrinform reports.

According to Ukrainian intelligence, units of the Russian armed forces, which mainly consist of so-called "partially mobilized" citizens, continue to cross into Belarus. Their main task is the preparation of the material base and deployment sites for Russian troops. "Meanwhile, the draftees are forced to live in unsuitable conditions  mostly in field tents without proper sanitary conditions, the agency noted.

"Among these servicemen, there is a large-scale outbreak of various diseases. Most of them are diseases of the respiratory tract (bronchitis, sore throat, pneumonia, and asthma) and gastrointestinal infections. The scale of the diseases is such that Belarusian medics are unable to cope, therefore military and mobilized doctors are being urgently sent in from the Russian Federation to Belarus," the statement reads.

In the near future, the next batch of medics is expected to arrive at the 230 combined military training ground of the Western Operational Command of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus (Obuz-Lisnovsky). The outbreak of diseases there is also associated with non-compliance with basic requirements for military camps to ensure hygiene, quality food, and medical care.

Tensions between the militaries of the two states are also growing in Belarus. Multiple conflict situations are connected with precedents of contemptuous attitude of the Russian military towards Belarusians. The military police of the Republic of Belarus are unable to restrain the Russians. In particular, the reports submitted by Belarus senior officers based on the complaints of their rank-and-file servicemen indicate disparaging expressions and behavior of Russians towards Belarusians, in particular, involving ethnic-related insults. The number of incidents is growing rapidly, which leads to uncontrolled escalation of tensions.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the deputy chief of the Main Operational Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Brigadier General Oleksii Hromov, said that strike groups that could threaten Ukraine could be formed in in Belarus in two to three months.
There will be no such thing in the modern world that any of the terrorists or their accomplices will remain unpunished.

The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his video address, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The full text of the speech is provided below:

Dear Ukrainians, I wish you health!

I held another meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Staff today  it was quite long, three hours. We analyzed the situation on the front line in great detail  in all directions, on the energy front, the situation on the borders. The Commander-in-Chief, commanders, head of intelligence, Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, head of border guards delivered reports. We know what the enemy is preparing for. We will respond and continue to liberate our land.

Everything related to the defense forces supply support was also analyzed thoroughly. These are equipment, ammunition, communication, winter uniforms.

Countermeasures against missile and drone terror were considered separately  there are already quite significant results in this, the percentage of shooting down has become higher, but there is still work to be done. We must ensure full protection of the Ukrainian sky and will continue to do everything possible and impossible for this.

In the coming weeks, we expect good news regarding air defense and anti-missile defense for Ukraine.

By the way, today there were messages from Iran, from official representatives. There they decided to admit that they did supply drones for Russian terror. But even in this confession they lied.

We shoot down at least ten Iranian drones every day, and the Iranian regime claims that it allegedly gave little and even before the start of the full-scale invasion. Only during one day yesterday, 11 Shahed drones were destroyed. We know for sure that Iranian instructors taught Russian terrorists how to use drones, and Tehran is generally silent about it.

And if Iran continues lying about the obvious, it means that the world will make even more efforts to investigate the terrorist cooperation between the Russian and Iranian regimes and what Russia is paying Iran for such cooperation. There will be no such thing in the modern world that any of the terrorists or their accomplices will remain unpunished.

The situation on the front line did not undergo significant changes during the day. The greatest brutality of the occupiers, as before, is focused in Donetsk region. But constant fighting continues in other parts of the front as well  this is more than one thousand kilometers of the line of combat clashes.

Today, I would like to pay particular attention to the National Guardsmen who defend our state in Luhansk region as part of the defense forces. In particular, the soldiers of the 27th Pechersk Brigade of the National Guard, who, together with units of the Ground Forces, very effectively erase enemy equipment and the occupiers. Thank you guys!

We are doing everything so that you and all other soldiers have even more opportunities to chase the enemy. And the next weeks will be very important from this point of view  we are working extremely closely with our partners to get more tanks, more "armor," more artillery for Ukraine.

I would also like to mention our border guards  those who continue strengthening the borders in Sumy region, Chernihiv region and Kharkiv region despite constant Russian shelling and provocations. In some border areas of our country, terrorists use mortar fire and there is a constant threat of rocket attacks almost every day. Thank you, guys, for your persistence and endurance!

This week it was possible to ensure the continuation of the operation of the grain corridor in the Black Sea. According to the results of seven days, 28 vessels carrying more than 800,000 tonnes of foodstuffs left the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdenny. The destinations are Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Algeria, Oman, Turkey, China and Ethiopia. Moreover, the ship to Ethiopia with 30,000 tonnes of wheat on board was chartered by the UN Food Program. And this is a typical list of countries that consume most of our agricultural exports.

It was the example of the grain export initiative by which we showed that the world is capable of guaranteeing stability despite any threats posed by Russia. The world did not succumb to Russian blackmail, key actors acted decisively, and as a result, the aggravation of the food crisis was avoided. This is one of the most significant international results of the entire autumn. When the world is united, terrorists stand no chance.

Another proof of the power of real world unity is the work of our charity platform UNITED24. Today is exactly six months after its launch.

Nearly $220 million received in donations from millions of people of more than hundred countries. Drones, helicopters, demining machines are being bought for Ukraine, in particular the very effective Armtra machines, dozens of ambulance vehicles that are already used in the frontline areas. Star ambassadors joined the project: Andriy Shevchenko, Elina Svitolina, Oleksandr Usyk, Demna, Liev Schreiber, Mark Hamill, Imagine Dragons, Barbra Streisand, Scott Kelly and Timothy Snyder.

I thank every UNITED24 donor and ambassador, the project team and everyone who helps us defend ourselves against Russian terror!

And, by the way, next week we will launch another fundraising direction  we will raise funds for a fleet of marine drones. I think absolutely everyone understands what this is and what it is needed for, and I am sure that millions of people will support this direction in our defense. Everyone has already seen how it works. And this is only for the protection of our marine water area, we claim nothing that does not belong to us.

Glory to all who fight and work for Ukraine!

Glory to every our hero!

Glory to Ukraine!
The Cabinet of Ministers will direct almost 90% of all taxes and fees paid by citizens and businesses next year to the Army and security needs. The budget deficit is planned to be closed thanks to the support of international partners.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced this on Facebook, summarizing the Government's work for the past week, Ukrinform reports.

"Almost 90% of all taxes and fees paid by citizens and businesses next year will be directed by the Government to our Army and national security. These are the realities of the 2023 budget, which was passed this week," Shmyhal said.

In particular, UAH 1.1 trillion is set to be allocated to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and security next year, almost UAH 450 billion will be allocated to social programs and pensions. UAH 176 billion is set to cover health care and UAH 156 billion  education.

"These are the four main items of expenditure. The state's own revenues will amount to UAH 1.3 trillion, while expenditures will stand at UAH 2.6 trillion. We plan to cover the deficit of more than 20% of GDP thanks to the support of international partners, with whom we are constantly negotiating new financing programs," added PM.

The head of government also reported that half of the objects in Ukraine are already being heated. There are 14.5 billion cubic meters of gas in gas storages, which is enough to get through the winter.

Energy teams continue repairs 24/7 to restore stable power supplies. Ukraine has already received 700 generators from donors, while another 900 will be delivered in the near future.

According to Shmyhal, 12 countries deliver necessary equipment for repairs. "We are doing everything to ensure that every Ukrainian has light and heat in the winter," said Shmyhal.

Thanks to Government grants under the e-Robota (w-Work) program, more than 650 new businesses have already been created. According to the head of the Government, these are thousands of jobs and millions of hryvnias in taxes for the Army and the rest of the country.

"In the 2023 state budget, it was assumed that the e-Robota program would help create even more new enterprises and jobs. Likewise, next year, the 5-7-9 program of affordable loans will continue, thanks to which businesses have received UAH 60 billion since the beginning of the full-scale war," Shmyhal said.

The authorities continue to help internally displaced persons. Thus, in Ukraine, preferential mortgage opportunities for IDPs have been expanded. In particular, this concerns an increase in terms and the area for which soft loans are granted.

UAH 34 million was additionally allocated to compensation for state and communal institutions for free accommodation of displaced persons. Currently, there are 150,000 people staying such institutions. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the government has compensated institutions a total of over UAH 459 million to pay utility bills.

Shmyhal noted that the grain initiative has been working for four months. More than 10 million tonnes of Ukrainian agricultural products were sent to 43 countries around the world. The initiative contributes to overcoming the global food crisis and improves the situation for Ukrainian farmers and the economy in general. Ukraine is interested in its continuation and is working to this end with the UN, Turkey, and other partners.

As reported by Ukrinform, on November 4, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that half of the state budget for next year will be financed from own resources, while international partners will help with the rest of the financing.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has held phone talks with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, agreeing to strengthen support for Ukraine and keep sanctions against Russia.

That's according to Japan Today, Ukrinform reports.

Both leaders agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation amid concerns over Russia's war on Ukraine and increasing military activities by China and North Korea, Japan's Foreign Ministry said.

According to the ministry, Sunak and Kishida confirmed that Japan and Britain will accelerate talks for early conclusion of an agreement that would enhance interoperability and collaboration between their armed forces, as well as of a deal to jointly develop a fighter jet.

The UK on November 2 sanctioned four oligarchs who have enabled Russian President Vladimir Putin to mobilize Russian industries to support his military effort.
Minister of Internal Affairs of Moldova, Ana Revenco, said that the Russian Federation was behind the anti-government protests ongoing in the country.

Thats according to NewsMaker, Ukrinform reports.

"These are fugitive criminals who are trying to escape from justice. Of course, they act along with certain parties. Moscow is also behind them, as we can see," Revenco said, answering the question of who could stand behind the anti-government protests in the country.

The minister said that protests in Moldova intend to destabilize the situation in the country.

"The bet is on destabilizing Moldova, making the country, society, and government vulnerable through propaganda, fake news, blocking businesses, discrediting the authorities and leaders, including law enforcement agencies. All is in order to weaken the country and use it as a bargaining chip in the European space," she said.

According to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Moldovan authorities are working jointly with international partners to intervene if necessary.

"Any subversive action, any subversive activity against the state will be prosecuted accordingly," she added.

As reported, the Shor party has held multiple protest actions in Moldova over the recent months. The force demands the presidents resignation, the parliaments dissolution, and the holding of snap elections. Recently, the party We Build Europe at Home (PACE), led by Gheorghe Cavcaliuc, who is on the countrys wanted list, also joined the protests.

President Maia Sandu, commenting on the rallies in Chisinau, said that the organizers pursue the goal of destabilizing the country.

Sandu welcomed the move by the United States to impose sanctions on several Moldovan and Russian nationals over systemic corruption and their attempts to meddle in Moldovas elections.

Photo: Newsmaker
The top Russian leadership must face a tribunal for their crimes, and the Czech Republic supports the idea of creating such a tribunal.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said this on Twitter, Ukrinform reports.

"The Czech Republic is among the countries that want a special criminal tribunal to be established to try the highest Russian political leadership for crimes in Ukraine. Any political leadership of a country must be held accountable when it starts a war," Lipavsky wrote.

He said he was satisfied that the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Czech Republic's parliament, had recognized the current Russian regime as terrorist. "Russian actions are acts of terror... Russia wants to cause fear," the politician said, adding that one must call things by their names.

He also indirectly criticized those who call on Kyiv to start peace talks with the terrorist country. He said that now is not the time to talk about peace, because Russia only understands force. "A tough attitude is needed. If we want security, the rules must apply, which we must enforce at the international level," Lipavsky wrote.
Large-scale rallies in support of Ukraine are scheduled for Saturday in Rome and Milan.

This is reported by Ukrinform with reference to Wanted in Rome.

In Rome, a march under the slogan "Europe for Peace" with calls for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and the start of international peace talks started at noon.

"We condemn the aggressor, we respect the Ukrainian resistance, we pledge to do all we can to help and support the Ukrainian people... This war must end now. No more suffering! Italy, EU member states, and the UN must take responsibility for negotiations to stop the escalation and achieve an immediate ceasefire," the organizers said in a statement.

Read also: Italy preparing sixth military aid package for Ukraine

The rally is said to be non-political, but left-wing parties will be heavily represented, including the center-left Democratic Party (PD) and the populist 5-Star Movement (M5S), whose leaders Enrico Letta and Giuseppe Conte, respectively, participate in the event.

In total, around 50,000 people are expected to take part in the march, including more than 500 groups, a wide range of trade unions, civil and religious associations, the Italian Disarmament Network, the Community of Saint Egidio, Emergency, Greenpeace, Fridays for Future, Sardines, as well as the Association of Italian Partisans ANPI.

The action in Milan is expected to start at 16:00 local time. The demonstration is organized by Carlo Calenda, leader of the social liberal party Azione. His ally Matteo Renzi of the centrist party IV (Italia Viva) will also attend the event, as well as Bergamo Mayor Giorgio Gori and former Milan Mayor Letizia Moratti.

It is also planned that the Mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadovy will make a direct video appearance during the event.

As reported by Ukrinform, on October 18, Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov stated that Italy had provided Ukraine with a new package of military aid.

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto has said that the new government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni intends to approve a sixth military aid package for Ukraine.
In today's news: Oklahoma and Texas residents recover after tornadoes tore through the region; North Korea continues to make a show, firing off more missiles; and former President Barack Obama urges Democrats to keep focus as he stumps before Election Day Tuesday.
The Russian invaders continue the forced deportation of Ukrainian children from Kherson region: 34 more children were removed to Russias Anapa.

Yaroslav Yanushevych, the head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, wrote this on Telegram, Ukrinform reports.

"The occupiers kidnapped 34 children from the village of Preobrazhenka in the Myrne district. They were removed to the Russian city of Anapa. This was reported by the head of the Myrne settlement military administration, Valentyna Holovata. The parents were promised that their children would be returned by the end of the week, but then the time of stay (allegedly recreation  ed.) was extended again for another week," the governor wrote.

As reported by Ukrinform, the Russian invaders deported 12 pupils of the Oleshky boarding school located in the captured territory of Kherson region to Russian-occupied Crimea.

In total, as of October, since the beginning of the full-scale war, 8,732 Ukrainian children are considered deported to the Russian Federation, and 238 more are considered missing.

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A total of 906 people left the temporarily occupied four regions of Ukraine for Zaporizhzhia city over the past week.

"Every day, the residents of the occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Luhansk, and Donetsk regions try to leave for the government-controlled territory. In a week, the ruscists let a total of 906 people from the occupied areas of four regions go to Zaporizhzhia. Thousands more are waiting for their turn," Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov posted on Telegram.

According to him, the occupying power forces residents to get passes at the commandant's offices of the occupied settlements to be allowed to go to Zaporizhzhia.

Due to the large number of people wishing to evacuate, the waiting period for a pass takes up to a month. In Melitopol, the list of applications is filled until the middle of December.

Fedorov noted that there were two alternative evacuation routes: to Georgia and European countries via Berdiansk-Mariupol-Novoazovsk route or via the temporarily occupied Crimea.

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Pope Francis reiterated his call on the faithful not to forget Ukraine in their prayers and to pray for the end of the war in this long-suffering country.

As reported by Ukrinform with reference to Vatican News, the pontiff said this at the end of his first visit to Bahrain during a meeting with bishops and clergy.

I also do not want to forget to pray, and to tell you to pray for, tormented Ukraine, that this war may end.

He also noted that believers have been praying a lot for peace in recent months.

In this context, the agreement that has been signed concerning the situation in Ethiopia is a hope, the pontiff said.

I encourage everyone to support this endeavour for lasting peace, so that, with God's help, the paths of dialogue may continue and the people may soon find a peaceful and dignified life again, said Pope Francis.

As this was the last public event in Bahrain, the Pope used the opportunity to thank all those who contributed to the organization of the trip, sending special words of thanks to the King and the authorities of Bahrain.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Pope Francis, speaking at the Bahrain interfaith summit, devoted a large part of his speech to the situation with wars around the world. The Pope, in particular, noted that in a world ruled by narrow interests and wars, religious leaders must set a good example and undertake to encourage and help our wounded and war-stricken human family.

Photo: vaticannews
A man with a previous felony conviction admitted to supplying the guns used by two women in a Billings casino robbery earlier this year.

Darwin Dalton Sutherland, 29, pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court to illegally possessing a firearm, admitting to having 12 firearms burglarized from a Billings home. The firearms used by the two women during the casino robbery were recovered on the property of an elementary school.

On March 20, two woman later identified as Makayla Fetter and Taliah Ramirez stole several bottles of alcohol from the Magic Diamond Casino on Main Street. They held the clerk at gunpoint during the robbery, both of them carrying handguns. They drove a sedan away from the casino, and crashed the car into the chain link fence surrounding Ponderosa Elementary School.

Investigators found a handgun on the school playground later that same day. On March 21, a student found the second loaded handgun on the school grounds and brought it to a teacher. Both women eventually pleaded guilty to robbery and firearms crimes in federal court. They told police, according to court documents, Sutherland gave them the handguns.

The handguns used in the robbery were two of 12 firearms reported stolen from a Billings home March 17. Sutherland told FBI investigators, court documents said, he possessed the 12 firearms knowing they were stolen and admitted to giving Fetter and Ramirez the guns they used in the robbery. He denied burglarizing the home to get the firearms, according to court documents.

Sutherland in currently scheduled to be sentenced March 16, and faces up to 10 years in prison. Prior to the federal charge, he was convicted of felony burglary in Cascade County, according to a statement Friday from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Montana.
CANBERRA, Nov. 6 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Nov, 2022 ) :The Australian government has announced it will bid to co-host the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference in 2026 with Pacific nations.

Chris Bowen, minister for Climate Change and Energy, recently said the government has decided against bidding to host the 29th session of the Conference of Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2024, and will instead focus on 2026.

"Our delegation at COP27 and our COP31 bid will go a long way to help drive Australia's economic transformation to a net-zero economy, and strengthen green trade partnerships and secure jobs for Australian workers," he said in a media release on Saturday.

He said the upcoming COP27, slated for Nov. 6-18 in Egypt, is an opportunity to showcase Australia's renewed climate leadership, "as we demonstrate our potential as a renewable energy superpower." The announcement has been welcomed by environmentalists.

Dermot O'Gorman from the World Wide Fund For Nature said hosting COP31 would "revive" Australia's reputation on climate issues.

"This is an Olympic moment -- a huge opportunity to host a nation-building global event," he told the Australian Associated Press.

At the COP27 in Egypt, Australia's delegation will demonstrate the government's commitment to action on climate change, according to Bowen.
(@FahadShabbir)

BEIJING, Nov. 6 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Nov, 2022 ) :China registered robust growth in exports of knowledge-intensive services in the first nine months of 2022, official data showed.

The country's exports of knowledge-intensive services totaled over 1.04 trillion Yuan (about 143.3 billion U.S. Dollars) during the Jan.-Sept.

period, up 14.9 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Imports in this field rose 4.8 percent compared with a year ago to reach about 821.9 billion yuan. Among them, insurance services imports surged 56.2 percent year on year.

China's knowledge-intensive services expanded 10.2 percent year on year during this period.
(@FahadShabbir)

ISLAMABAD, Nov 6 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Nov, 2022 ) :Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday will leave for Egypt to participate in the "Sharm El-Sheikh Climate Implementation Summit" being held on November 7-8.

The prime minister will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, cabinet members and other senior officials.

This summit is taking place as part of the 27th UN Climate Change Conference (COP-27).

At the invitation of the Egyptian Presidency of COP-27, the prime minister would also co-chair, along with his Norwegian counterpart, a high-level roundtable discussion on "Climate Change and the sustainability of vulnerable communities" on 8th November, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.

The prime minister will also participate in other high-level events as a speaker, including the UN Secretary General's roundtable to launch the 'Early Warning Systems for Executive Action Plan', and the 'middle East Green Initiative Summit' on November 7, being hosted by the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman.

The prime minister is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with several world leaders on the margins of the summit.

COP-27 is taking place at a time when millions of people in Pakistan, and millions more in other parts of the world, are facing severe adverse impacts of climate change, the Foreign Office Spokesperson said in a related press release.

As a developing country most affected by this phenomenon, Pakistan would make a robust call, inter alia, for urgency of climate solidarity and climate justice, based on the established principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.

"In its capacity as the incumbent Chair of the Group of 77 & China, which is the largest negotiating bloc of developing countries within the UN system, Pakistan would also lead the Group in the climate change negotiations; including in thematic areas such as climate finance, adaptation, mitigation, and capacity building," it was added.

The COP is the supreme decision-making body under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which meets on annual basis to review and advance collective efforts to address climate change.

As a main stakeholder, Pakistan would continue to, proactively, make positive contributions to the global climate change debate, negotiations and collective action, the spokesperson added.
By Trend





Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and UN Secretary Generals Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen discussed the situation in Syria and the work of the Constitutional Committee, the Russian foreign ministry said on Friday after their meeting on the sidelines of a peace and security forum in Abu Dhabi, Trend reports citing TASS.

"The sides discussed the current situation in and around Syria with a focus on the tasks of a comprehensive settlement of the Syrian crisis on the basis of United Nations Security Council resolution 2254. Special attention was paid to the problems of the work of the intra-Syrian Constitutional Committee," it said.

Lavrov and Pedersen also stressed the importance of invigorating international efforts to implement projects for the early restoration of Syrias basic infrastructure facilities in conformity with UN Security Council resolution 2642.
The Hardin High School Crow Language class hosted its first Indigenous fashion show on Friday. Local Crow designers used students to model their clothing with the goal of promoting a positive lifestyle and building self-esteem and confidence in Native culture.

Hardin High sits on the northern edge of the Crow reservation, which takes up the majority of Bighorn County. The school's student body is 75% Native.

Yolanda GoodVoice one of the four designers brought in for the event drew on emotions to create her pieces. One of her collections the students wore is called gratitude, aimed at teaching the students how to give thanks for being Native American and for the life they have.

This collection consisted of everyday wear such as leggings or jackets that incorporate Crow design patterns and rely on primary colors and symbols seen in Crow Culture. The other is called live and teaches the students about living in the moment and being present.

When someone looks good, they feel good and that is the goal of using students as models, organizers said.

Crow Language teacher, Mr. Jonathan Stands, said he focused on Crow designers to not only build confidence in his students, but also to introduce them to different areas of Crow culture.

This idea came from the students in my Crow Language class, Stands said. I was shocked at how excited the students were to do this. We want to continue this, it is amazing the joy this has brought.

At the show students walked on stage in their designer clothes that displayed their culture. But what was more important was each student radiated confidence and pride.

Indigenous fashion has recently been enjoying a well-earned vogue around the world.

Angela Howe-Parrish, who is a descendant of the Crow and Blackfeet tribes and daughter of a home-economics teacher, returned recently from France where she participated in Paris Indigenous Fashion Week. Howe-Parrish created 16 looks for the show in a collection called, Honoring My Mothers and Grandmothers.

Howe-Parrish has launched Choke Cherry Creek, a company featuring her contemporary Apsaalooke, or Crow, designs. In April, her designer friend Cora Chandler helped organize the first Big Sky Indigenous Women in Fashion and Art Gala.

In 2016, Bethany Yellowtail, who is Crow and Northern Cheyenne, had one of her gowns worn during the Oscars ceremony. Two years later, Red Berry Woman, a fashion designer in Mandaree on the Fort Berthold Reservation in western North Dakota, became the first contemporary Native American fashion designer to have a gown worn on stage at the Oscars.

This show shows that native designs and the way we live still exist, Hardin student and model Andrea Espinoza said. And we are not going anywhere.
(@FahadShabbir)

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th November, 2022) Belgium has already accepted about 60,000 Ukrainian refugees since the start of the current crisis and is now facing a shortage of housing for asylum seekers, a spokesperson of Fedasil, a Belgian organization responsible for the reception of asylum seekers, told Sputnik.

According to Fedasil, refugees are mainly placed for temporary residence in Belgium's Flanders region (about 48%) and Wallonia (about 33%). Brussels has received only about 3% of the arrivals.

A Fedasil spokesperson told Sputnik on Friday that most of the asylum seekers are housed by Belgian families since the government cannot provide enough housing. However, families are not equipped for housing Ukrainian refugees for a long time.

In October, Refugees at Home, one of the British charities that had been helping with housing for Ukrainian refugees, said it was scaling back its work since it would be unable to assist Ukrainians in rematching them with UK hosts.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

The Russian military destroyed five Greek BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles immediately after they were handed over to Ukraine, Greek media reported on Saturday

ATHENS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th November, 2022) The Russian military destroyed five Greek BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles immediately after they were handed over to Ukraine, Greek media reported on Saturday.

The vehicles were destroyed on October 28, when the Russian army repelled an offensive of Ukrainian troops in Berestove in Kharkiv region, the iskra.gr news portal said. In addition to five BMPs, 150 Ukrainian soldiers were killed, while one tank, four armored personnel carriers, and nine pickup trucks were destroyed, according to the report.

Two of the Greek multiple rocket launcher systems RM-70, operating mainly in the Kherson region, were also destroyed, the news portal said.

The pronews.gr news portal added that one of the BMPs was still bearing the emblem of the Greek armed forces.

A retired military official told the portal that the military had struggled to secure supplies of spare parts until the decision to hand BMPs over to Ukraine was made.

"We made superhuman efforts to keep them in perfect working condition so that they (government) could give them to (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy for free. We did not have car batteries, but we did everything to keep them in working conditions, but before the BMPs were taken from the troops and sent to Ukraine, two vehicles with batteries magically appeared and all the old batteries were replaced," the military source was quoted as saying by pronews.gr.

In May, the Greek Defense Ministry said that Athens would supply Russian-made BMP-1s to Ukraine in exchange for German Marders. Initially, the deal reportedly included about 122 units of BMP-1s. However, in June, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that Athens would deliver a "relatively small" number of armored military equipment.

On September 16, the Greek Defense Ministry said that Greece would send 40 BMP-1s to Ukraine, receiving in return the same number of German armored vehicles.
(@FahadShabbir)

BELGRADE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th November, 2022) Serbia has rejected a peaceful settlement plan on Kosovo and Metohija proposed by France and Germany as it implies that the breakaway province will become a UN member without a formal recognition by Belgrade, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Sunday.

"Its starting point is that the independence of Kosovo is already a done deal, but we do not accept that," Dacic told the Vecernje novosti newspaper.

The initiative suggested that Belgrade would get a fast-track to EU membership in exchange for Kosovo's accession to the UN, the report said.

"The conclusion of National Security Council is that this proposal is unacceptable for us and we all voted 'yes' for this conclusion... And while recognizing it or not in a formal sense, agreeing that Kosovo is a member of the UN is very difficult for us," the foreign minister said.

Tensions between Belgrade and Pristine flared up in August. The Kosovar authorities have required that local Serbs re-register their car plates, demanding that they feature the EU-standard letter code of RKS (Republic of Kosovo) instead of KM, the Serbian identifier for the disputed region of Kosovska Mitrovica on the border. The deadline for the re-registration was pushed to October 31.

On Saturday, representatives of the Kosovo Serbs decided to pull out of all structures of the self-proclaimed republic  including the parliament, government, courts and police  due to Pristina's decision to remove the Serbian police chief for refusing to issue written warnings to local Serbs regarding car plates. Later, Kosovo Serbs scheduled a demonstration on November 6 in the North Kosovska Mitrovica municipality.
Italy allowed a humanitarian rescue ship carrying 179 migrants to enter a Sicilian port and begin disembarking minors early Sunday, while refusing to respond to requests for safe harbor from three other ships carrying 900 more people in nearby waters.

Italy's new far-right-led government has closed its ports to rescue ships run by non-governmental groups and insists that the countries whose flag the ships fly must take in the migrants. It granted the Humanity 1 access to port to land minors and people needing medical attention.

Officials at the German-run charity that operates the Humanity 1 challenged Italy's move to distinguish vulnerable migrants, saying all were rescued at sea and that alone qualifies them for a safe port under international law.

Italy's only Black lawmaker in the lower chamber, Abourbakar Soumahoro, met the Humanity 1 at the port in Catania and decried the government's closure of ports to NGO ships as a shame.

"Right now, in the port of Catania there is a selective disembarkation under way," Soumahoro said on Twitter. "Worn bodies of castaways already exhausted by cold, fatigue, trauma and torture are considered objects by the government of Giorgia Meloni."

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said Friday that the Humanity 1 would be allowed in Italian waters only long enough to disembark minors and people in need of urgent medical care.

The measure was approved after Germany and France each called on Italy to grant a safe port to the migrants and indicated they would receive some of the migrants so Italy wouldn't bear the burden alone.

No such provisions have been offered to the other three ships. The Norway-flagged Geo Barents, carrying 572 migrants, and the German-run Rise Above with 93 entered Italian waters east of Sicily this weekend to seek protection from storm-swollen seas, but without receiving consent from Italy or a response to repeated requests for a safe port.

The Ocean Viking, operated by the European charity SOS Mediteranee, with 234 migrants on board, remained in international waters, south of the Strait of Messina. Its requests for a port also unanswered.

"We have been waiting for 10 days for a safe place to disembark the 572 survivors," said Juan Mattias Gil, head of mission for the Geo Barents, which is operated by Doctors without Borders. Operation chief Riccardo Gatti said that besides suffering from skin and respiratory infections, many on board were stressed by the prolonged period at sea.

SOS Humanity, which operates Humanity 1, said it had made 19 requests for a safe port, all unanswered. The boat was carrying 100 unaccompanied minors as well as infants as young as 7 months, it said.

Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini, known for his anti-migrant stance, cheered the new directive that he signed along with Italy's defense and interior ministers.

"We stop being hostage to these foreign and private NGOs that organize the routes, the traffic, the transport and the migratory policies," Salvini said in a Facebook video, repeating his allegation that the ships' presence encourages smugglers.

Nongovernmental organizations reject that interpretation and say that they are obligated by the law of the sea to rescue people in distress and that coastal nations are obligated to provide a safe port as soon as feasible.

"The Italian minister of interior's decree is undoubtedly illegal," said Mirka Schaefer, advocacy officer at SOS Humanity. "Pushing back refugees at the Italian border violates the Geneva Refugee Convention and international law."

Most have traveled via Libya, where they set off in unseaworthy boats seeking a better life in Europe, often facing abuses by human traffickers along the way.

While the humanitarian-run boats are being denied a safe port, thousands of migrants have reached Italian shores over the last week, either on their own in fishing boats or rescued at sea by Italian authorities. On Saturday, 147 arrived in Augusta, including 59 on the oil ship Zagara that also carried two bodies.

The situation on the Rise Above, operated by the German NGO Mission Lifeline, was said to be particularly desperate, with 93 people packed aboard a relatively small 25-meter boat.

Spokesperson Hermine Poschmann described a "very critical situation that ... led to very great tensions" on board, because passengers saw land and didn't understand why they weren't docking.

The head of mission on the vessel, Clemens Ledwa, demanded a port of safety immediately, citing bad weather and the limited capacity of the small ship.
Iraqi lawmakers were due to examine on Sunday a bill seeking to reestablish military conscription in the country, nearly 20 years after its abolition.

Service in the armed forces was mandatory in Iraq from 1935 up until 2003, when a U.S.-led invasion toppled former dictator Saddam Hussein.

The bill would pave the way for the conscription of young men aged 18 to 35, for terms between three and 18 months depending on their education level, MP Yasser Iskander Watout told AFP.

They would receive allowances ranging from 600,000 to 700,000 Iraqi dinars (more than $400), added Watout, who serves on the legislature's defense committee.

It would take two years after the passing of the law to fully restore conscription, Watout said, adding that only-sons and breadwinners would be exempted.

Since Saddam's overthrow Iraq has suffered sectarian conflict and the Islamic State group's takeover of large swathes of territory, before the jihadists' defeat in late 2017 by Iraqi forces backed by a US-led military coalition.

That anti-IS coalition continued a combat role in Iraq until last December, but roughly 2,500 American soldiers remain in Iraq to offer training, advice and assistance to national forces.

The bill was initially submitted by the Defense Ministry in August 2021, under the government of then-prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi.

Iraq later that year elected a new parliament, which only last month swore in a government led by Mohammed Shia al-Sudani after a year of political paralysis.

Despite the declared victory over IS, members of the group continue to stage intermittent attacks on government forces and the former paramilitary Hashed al-Shaabi, now integrated into the regular forces.

This persistent "terrorist threat" prompted MP Sikfan Sindi to call, in a recent interview with state news agency INA, for the reinstatement of military service.

Though it is unclear whether the bill would receive much backing in parliament, it has already drawn a backlash within the legislature and beyond.

"The militarization of society will not create patriotism," lawmaker Saeb Khidr of the minority Yazidi community, which was brutalized by IS, told AFP.

In a country where nearly four out of 10 young people are unemployed, former electricity minister Louai al-Khatib suggested it was more important to "create centers for professional training" rather than reinstate conscription.
Crouching in his hidden lookout on the edge of a forest, a Ukrainian border guard scans the horizon to the border with Russia and Belarus just a few kilometers to the north.

With the rain pouring down and the clouds low, there will be no Russian drones overflying his remote outpost in northern Ukraine, the last one before the frontier.

Clutching a monocular and wearing a balaclava that only shows his eyes, the guard proudly shows off his NLAW anti-tank missile launcher.

"Our main objective is to prevent a (new) invasion. But if that happens again here, we'll be ready to stop the enemy at the border and prevent them from coming in," said the 33-year-old who did not give his name.

The Senkivka border crossing is very close. A three-way crossing shaped like a Y, it points northwest into Belarus and northeast into Russia with Ukraine to the south.

This is where Russia's 90th armored division swept in when the war started on February 24, cutting through Ukrainian territory like a knife through butter.

From there, the Russian army reached the gates of Chernigiv, capital of the eponymous region, about 90 kilometers to the south.

But they were never able to take the city, repelled by fierce Ukrainian resistance even though it was regularly bombed.

In early April, the Russians pulled back from the north only to refocus on the campaign in eastern and southern Ukraine.

'Growing threat'

Since then, Ukraine has been watching Senkivka like a hawk as well as its nearly 900 kilometers of border with Belarus, whose territory served as a rear base for Moscow's forces.

On October 20, Ukraine's military said the threat of a renewed offensive from the north was growing, pointing to intensified "aggressive rhetoric" from its northern neighbors who are close allies.

Several days earlier, Minsk said up to 9,000 Russian soldiers and about 170 tanks would be deployed to Belarus as part of a joint task force to secure its borders.

"If you want peace, you need to prepare for war," Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on October 10, accusing Ukraine of "planning strikes" on his country.

Minsk has not yet joined the fighting in Ukraine.

Inside the well-fortified dugout that was set up after the Russian pullback in April, a border guard in his 30s who goes by the nickname "Lynx" says he thinks there's a "50-50 chance" of a new Russian offensive.

"The likelihood of an attack will always be high here near the border, with a neighbor like that," he says, a machine gun slung over his shoulder.

"You hear the constant sound of (Russian) artillery fire here ... sometimes it's calm, but since autumn began, the enemy has become more active," he said.

But now "there are more (Ukrainian) positions and more fortifications, everything is more serious now ... We have thought through all the possible options to avoid a repeat of what happened before," he said.

'Friendly nations'

About 30 kilometers to the south lies Gorodnia, the first town occupied by the Russians on the first morning of the invasion.

Mayor Andriy Bogdan told AFP he is hoping the events of February 24 "won't be repeated" even if such a threat does exist, pointing to the Russian troops in Belarus.

But now, the situation "is completely different" from what it was back then, when his town, which had 21,000 residents before the war, was "almost completely unprotected."

"We are relying on our border guards and all our defense forces. Today they are here and ready to fight," Bogdan said.

When the Russians turned up, the residents made a peaceful show of resistance, he said, proudly showing a video of locals with Ukrainian flags standing in front of the armored vehicles to stop them advancing.

In the end, the Russians remained outside the town when they occupied the area.

Grocery shop owner Svetlana, a woman in her 50s, dismisses the idea "that Belarus could attack us."

"We live by the border, we are friendly nations. I have a brother in Belarus and a sister in Moscow," she told AFP.

"At the start, even my sister couldn't believe it had happened. But they understand and they support us," she said. "I want it to be over as soon as possible."
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across Peru on Saturday to demand the resignation of leftist President Pedro Castillo.

Castillos government is under investigation following several corruption charges.

In Lima, the capital, protesters marched toward Congress, but their procession was halted when dozens of riot police released tear gas. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

While Castillo has been in office for a little more than a year, he has already faced two impeachment attempts.

Lawmakers want him to face a third trial, even though it is widely recognized that there are likely insufficient votes for his removal.

Lucas Ghersi, a conservative lawyer who was one of the organizers of Saturdays march told Reuters, We see a government involved in corruption and Congress doesn't react.

Saturday, before the marches, Castillo denied the allegations that he and his family were corrupt: "Today, they are trying to break us with disinformation, false accusations and unimaginable slander so that we give up our will for change, which the country needs, and accept the power of those who do not want the humble. They do not want to see the poor, the citizens who face tremendous inequalities in Peru."

Perus attorney general has filed a constitutional complaint against the president with Congress. Opposition lawmakers are hoping the complaint will end with Castillos removal from office.

Some information in this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
Police in Somalia say at least two people have been killed and five others wounded by a roadside explosion that hit a vehicle carrying students in the Dayniile district of Mogadishu.

"Those wounded include people traveling with the students, and others were passersby," said police spokesperson Sadiq Doodishe, who said the students killed were returning home from school Thursday. "This incident and several others show that al-Shabab targets people indiscriminately."

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast yet. The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab often carries out attacks in Somalia's capital.

The extremist group claimed responsibility for two vehicle bombs that exploded last weekend and killed more than 100 people at a busy junction in the capital. Al-Shabab said it targeted the education ministry.
In Sudan, armed groups and supporters of the military's coup last year have formed a new political coalition to appeal to marginalized groups. Calling itself the "Forces for Freedom and Change  Democratic Bloc (FFC-DB)," the pro-coup group wants to replace the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) group, which has opposed military rule.

The political grouping includes several of Sudans pro-military groups, including Freedom and Change - National Consensus, the Democratic Unionist Party, and the Beja High Council.

The group calls itself the "Forces for Freedom and ChangeDemocratic Bloc (FFC-DB), a name similar to the Forces for Freedom and Change, which led demonstrations that helped oust former president Omar al-Bashir in 2019 and more recently has led protests against military rule.

The alliance, announced Thursday, says it favors a civilian-led transitional government but opposes renegotiation of the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement.

That agreement aims to bring Sudanese armed groups that signed it into the transitional government. But critics note some groups were left out of the deal, which does not require disarming until after elections.

Jibril Ibrahim is Sudans finance minister and leader of the Justice and Equality Movement, one of the armed groups that signed the Juba Peace Agreement and that joined the new coalition.

Speaking to reporters Thursday in Khartoum, he said no party should dominate the democratic process in Sudan.

He says we are not claiming perfection and dont claim that this coalition is coming from heaven. "However, we are ready to present our vision to others and to listen to other opinions. At the same time, we will not accept any party to use its agenda as a veto right against any Sudanese political component," he said.

Sudans military coup in October 2021 was widely condemned internationally and inside Sudan, where near weekly protests since have called for democracy.

Security forces have responded with tear gas and live bullets that Sudanese doctors say have killed about 120 protesters.

The militarys leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in July said the army would not take part in talks to break the political stalemate. He called on civilian political groups to agree the way forward, which he said the military would support.

Nuraddeen Salahuddeen, a member of the Forces for Freedom and Change, dismissed the pro-coup alliance as adding nothing to Sudans political stalemate.

He says every political party has a right to form any coalition that will meet their interests. "But what is most important to us, is what is the stance of these coalitions on the Sudanese revolution and civilian democratic transition?" he added.

While blocs supporting the protesters are wary of the new coalitions pro-military stance, some analysts say it could provide a middle ground in a very polarized Sudan.

Sudanese writer Mekki El Mograbi says the so-called Forces for Freedom and Change Democratic Bloc could win over some marginalized groups.

He says if they come up with a proper political agenda, groups in the war-torn regions of Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile, and eastern Sudan might rally behind them.

The new bloc has real political weight in the marginalized areas in Sudan and the Forces of Freedom and Change, the central council, they failed to represent the marginalized areas properly, he said.

Inter-communal conflicts have been on the rise in Darfur, Kordufan, Blue Nile and eastern Sudan, leaving hundreds of people dead and thousands of families displaced.

Meanwhile in the capital, that stand-off continues as pro-democracy protesters demand an end to military rule and political parties wrangle for a deal to form a civilian-led transitional government.
Travelers passing through the Billings airport has steadily grown over the last two months and November is anticipated to be no different when compared to last year.
Police in the Eastern U.S. city of Philadelphia say nine people were shot there Saturday night, with at least two of the victims in critical condition.

The shooting victim tally was first reported to be 10, instead of nine, and The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Saturday would have marked the 60th day this year the city had experienced the shooting of 10 or more people.

The newspaper reported that as of Thursday, there have been more than 2,000 shootings with 417 fatalities in Philadelphia, known as the City of Brotherly Love.

The Inquirer said, While homicides are 4% below last years pace, shootings remain ahead."

In Saturdays incident three or four people are said to have gotten out of a car and opened fire on a group of people standing along the street. Police are uncertain of the motive for the shootings.
The Somali government Sunday said its elite soldiers have killed 21 al-Shabab militants and wounding 10 others in an operation in the countrys lower Shabelle region.

In a statement Sunday, the Ministry of Information said its elite soldiers from the National Intelligence and Security Agency, or NISA, conducted a fresh operation against the al-Qaida-affiliated militant group al-Shabab.

The operation took place after intelligence forces received a tip saying al-Shabab was planning to carry out attacks to harm the Somali people, according to the statement.

The planned operation took place in the village of Galka Salimow in the lower Shabelle region.

The government didnt say if the operation was an airstrike or a ground operation.

The operation was executed as planned and destroyed all militants who were there plotting against the people of Somalia, said the statement issued by the information ministry.

In the statement, the government said that 200 al-Shabab militants were killed in four days. VOA couldnt independently verify the claim.

The new operation comes a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up near a military training facility in the capital, Mogadishu, killing several people. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility, saying it killed 105 soldiers.

Military sources told VOA Sunday that 15 new recruits were killed in the attack.

Meanwhile, Somalias religious affairs ministry issued a statement banning religious scholars from having dealings with the group and said that al-Shabab should be called a deviant sect.

Somalia has been grappling with security threats for years, with al-Shabab Islamists being one of the main threats in the country.

The militants have increased their attacks since President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud took office in May and vowed an "all-out war" against al-Shabab.

The group has been fighting in the Horn of Africa nation, targeting Somali government officials and African Union peacekeepers since 2007.

Late last month, twin car bombings by al-Shabab in the capital took the lives of more than 100 people and wounded more than 300 others.
Britains Defense Ministry said Sunday in its daily intelligence report about Ukraine that there has been a series of dismissals of senior Russian military commanders since the onset of the invasion in February 2022."

The report said, These dismissals represent a pattern of blame against senior Russian military commanders for failures to achieve Russian objectives on the battlefield. This is in part likely an attempt to insulate and deflect blame from Russian senior leadership at home.

Heavy fighting and explosions were reported Saturday by authorities in Ukraines southern Kherson region.

Over the previous 24 hours Ukrainian forces attacked nine locations, including an ammunition depot in the Kherson region, using Russian military equipment that they had seized.

"[Ukrainian forces] prepare for another stage of an offensive on the Kherson Region. Artillery brigade groups, mortar batteries, tactical aviation planes and army aviation helicopters inflict massive fire within their preparation for an assault," the Moscow-installed Deputy Governor Kirill Stremousov said on his Telegram channel Saturday.

Russia continues to target the countrys energy and water infrastructure, reportedly destroying 30% to 40% of its energy system, leading to increased rolling blackouts meant to protect the countys power grid from failing.

Meanwhile, external power lines have been repaired and reconnected to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant two days after it was taken off the power grid when Russian shelling damaged high voltage lines, the International Atomic Energy agency said Saturday.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi again called for a nuclear safety and security protection zone to be set up around the plant to prevent a nuclear accident.

"We can't afford to lose any more time. We must act before it is too late," he said.

Russia is increasing its evacuation of residents from the conflict zone and acknowledging the deteriorating situation in the Kherson region. At least 70,000 civilians have been moved from Kherson, the only regional capital captured by Moscow since February.

Pro-Kremlin media members have reported that Russian troops have moved their headquarters 80 kilometers to the southeast, destroying infrastructure and looting the city as they leave, residents and Ukrainian officials said, according to The New York Times.

While a bloody battle for the city is predicted, the situation in Kherson is clear as mud, Michael Kofman, the director of Russian studies at CNA, a research institute in Arlington, Virgina, wrote in an analysis this week, the Times reported. Russian forces seemed to withdraw from some parts, evacuated and drew down, but also reinforced with mobilized personnel.

Residents of the city report abandoned checkpoints and no more Russian patrols, but Ukrainian officials are cautious, believing Moscow is setting a trap.

In its intelligence update Saturday, however, the British defense ministry said that Russia is probably struggling to provide military training for its current mobilization drive and its annual autumn conscription intake. The Russian Armed Forces were already stretched providing training for the approximate 300,000 troops required for its partial mobilization, announced in September.

These issues, the ministry said, will be compounded by the additional regular autumn annual conscription cycle that begins in November for about 120,000 conscripts.

Russia has resorted to training troops in Belarus, the ministry said, due to a shortage of training staff, munitions and facilities in Russia. The intelligence update said that deploying forces with little or no training provides little additional offensive combat capability.

Iranian drones

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian admitted for the first time Saturday that Iran sent drones to Russia, but he said that was before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where Russia has been using drones to target power stations and civilian infrastructure.

However, in a video address, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Irans admission of providing only a limited number of drones to Russia before the war on Ukraine. He said Ukrainian forces are downing at least 10 or the unmanned aerial vehicles daily.

The U.S. and its Western allies on the U.N. Security Council have called on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to investigate whether Russia has used Iranian drones to attack civilians in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is providing about $400 million in additional security assistance to Ukraine as the fight against Russias invasion enters its ninth month.

The U.S. military assistance includes refurbishing HAWK air defense missiles, funding for 45 refurbished T-72B tanks with advanced optics, communications, and armor packages, 1,100 Phoenix Ghost tactical unmanned aerial systems, 40 armored riverine command boats, funding to refurbish 250 M1117 armored security vehicles, as well as tactical secure communications systems and surveillance systems, along with funding for training, maintenance, and sustainment.

In his nightly address Friday, Zelenskyy thanked the United States for its latest military assistance and said it is the armored vehicles in particular that we very much need to move forward at the front.

I am grateful to President Biden, the U.S. Congress and the entire American people for the continued and vital assistance," he said.

The Associated Press and Reuters provided information for this report.
U.N. rights chief Volker Turk on Saturday urged Twitter's new owner, Elon Musk, to make respect for human rights central to the social network after he sacked around half the company's employees.

Reports of Musk laying off the platform's entire human rights team were "not, from my perspective, an encouraging start," Turk said in an open letter.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said he was writing with "concern and apprehension about our digital public square and Twitter's role in it.

He warned against propagating hate speech and misinformation and highlighted the need to protect user privacy.

Musk, the richest person in the world, took control of the platform a week ago in a contentious deal.

After completing his mammoth $44 billion acquisition, Musk quickly set about dissolving Twitter's board and sacking its chief executive and top managers.

Twitter on Friday fired roughly half of its 7,500-strong workforce.

"Like all companies, Twitter needs to understand the harms associated with its platform and take steps to address them," wrote Turk.

"Respect for our shared human rights should set the guardrails for the platform's use and evolution. In short, I urge you to ensure human rights are central to the management of Twitter under your leadership."

Turk posted the open letter on Twitter, where he has more than 25,000 followers.

Turk, an Austrian longtime U.N. official who took up his post as the U.N. rights chief on Oct. 17, spelt out some fundamental human rights principles, urging Musk to put them at the heart of Twitter's management going forward.

'Horrific' consequences

Turk urged Twitter to stand up for the rights to privacy and free expression to the fullest extent possible, under relevant laws, and to transparently report on government pressures that would infringe those rights.

But he said free speech "is not a free pass," saying that the viral spread of harmful disinformation, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in real-world harm.

"Twitter has a responsibility to avoid amplifying content that results in harms to people's rights," Turk said.

"There is no place for hatred that incites discrimination, hostility or violence on Twitter.

"Hate speech has spread like wildfire on social media... with horrific, life-threatening consequences."

Twitter should therefore continue to bar such hatred on the platform, while every effort should be made to remove such content promptly, said Turk.

He also said free speech depended on the effective protection of privacy.

"It is vital that Twitter refrain from invasive user tracking and amassing related data and that it resist, to the fullest extent possible under applicable laws, unjustified requests from governments for user data," Turk said.

He said research was essential to understand the impact of social media on societies, and therefore urged Musk to maintain access to Twitter's data through its open application programming interfaces.

Finally, he stressed that Twitter should have content moderation capacity in all languages and contexts, not just in the United States or in English-language content.
The head of the Organization of American States is facing growing calls, including from the Biden administration, for an external probe into possible misconduct tied to his intimate relationship with a subordinate.

The Washington-based group's own inspector general in a memo this week said it is in the organization's best interest to hire an outside firm to investigate allegations that Secretary-General Luis Almagro may have violated the ethics code.

The inspector general's recommendation was based on a report by The Associated Press finding that Almagro carried on a relationship with a Mexican-born staffer described online, including on the organization's own website, as the head adviser to the secretary general.

The inspector general said the AP report followed a loosely detailed, anonymous whistleblower complaint forwarded to his office by Almagro himself on June 3.

The peace- and democracy-building organization's ethics code prohibits managers from supervising or participating in decisions that benefit individuals with whom they are romantically involved.

The proposal to hire an outside firm to look into Almagro's behavior is scheduled to be discussed Wednesday at the next meeting of the 34-member organization's permanent council.

The U.S., which has contributed about half of the organization's $100 million in funding this year, has expressed support for an external probe ahead of the meeting.

"We take these allegations seriously," a State Department spokesperson told the AP in an email, adding that any ethics violation "should be investigated in a fair and impartial manner by an appropriate external investigative entity."

But at least four members  Almagro's native Uruguay, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize and St. Lucia  have publicly backed draft resolutions that raise concerns about the cost of an external investigation at a time when the 600-employee body is under pressure to cut spending.

Their benchmark is a recent investigation into similar misconduct allegations against the president of the Inter-American Development Bank, Mauricio Claver-Carone, who was accused of having a long-running relationship with his chief of staff. The months-long probe by American law firm Davis Polk paved the way for the president's removal.

Repeated requests for Almagro's comment on the possibility of an external investigation sent to the secretary general's press office went unanswered.

But unlike Claver-Carone, who denied he ever had a relationship with his aide, Almagro has said only that he never supervised the staffer or participated in any employment-related decisions like authorizing a pay increase. He previously has vowed to cooperate fully with any investigation by the organization's top oversight authority.

Almagro faces criticism on other administrative matters as well.

Mexico this week slammed Almagro for renewing a contract for the OAS' ombudswoman, Neida Perez, days before a long-discussed plan to implement an open and competitive process for the leadership post was approved at the organization's annual meeting.

Almagro in September unilaterally extended Perez's contract by four years, and Mexico complained it was an attempt to preempt those new procedures.

"Unfortunately this isn't an isolated act," Mexico's delegation said in a written statement at a Tuesday meeting on administrative matters. "It fits into a pattern of conduct in which the will of the states is disregarded and the OAS' institutions are violated."

Perez, whose contract was set to expire Oct. 21, two weeks after the new procedures were adopted, was recently reprimanded by the OAS' top review panel for neglecting her duty to serve as an impartial arbiter of workplace disputes.

That rebuke was in response to Perez's role in facilitating Almagro's 2020 removal of the head of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an independently run body. The commissions executive secretary was himself facing workplace complaints but nonetheless enjoyed the unanimous support of the watchdog's seven commissioners.

Almagro, 59, was elected as head of the OAS in 2015 with near unanimous support after having served as foreign minister in Uruguay's leftist government.

But once installed in Washington, he made common cause with the U.S. in opposing leftist leaders in Cuba and Venezuela, once even echoing President Donald Trump's line that he wouldn't rule out using military force to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Almagro was reelected in 2020 with the support of 23 of 34 member states. More recently, as the left has regained power across Latin America, calls for his removal have been growing.

Last month, members of the Puebla Group  an organization of former presidents and political leaders from 16 countries  issued a statement calling for Almagro's removal, criticizing his "amoral" firing of the rights watchdog and his intervention following messy elections in Bolivia that led to President Evo Morales' resignation and replacement by a U.S.-backed conservative government.
Editor's note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com.

Analysts Don't Expect Significant Changes in Immigration Policy After the Midterms

Despite the record influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border and a shortage of workers in the United States, experts believe immigration policy will remain unchanged after the midterm elections. Some experts say that if Republicans take control of Congress, President Joe Biden likely will turn to the administrative process to accomplish any immigration changes. Story by VOAs immigration reporter Aline Barros.

US Migrant Busing Highlights Immigration Policies Ahead of Midterms

Republican governors of Florida and Texas have been trying to highlight the record number of migrants arriving at the southern U.S. border by sending thousands of people seeking political asylum to Washington, New York and other places run by Democrats. Aron Ranen reports from New York City on the bused-in arrivals and their possible political impact ahead of Novembers midterm elections.

Climate Migration: Alaska Village Resists Despite Threats

Search online for the little town of Shishmaref, and youll see homes perilously close to the ocean and headlines that warn this Native community in western Alaska is on the verge of disappearing. Climate change is partially to blame for the rising seas, flooding, erosion and loss of protective ice and land that are threatening this Inupiat village of about 600 people just a few miles from the Arctic Circle. But the dire situation is only part of the story. Report by the Associated Press.

Texas: What International Migration Means for Its Politics

Since 2010, the population of the U.S. state of Texas has grown rapidly, including in the Houston metro area, which has seen an influx of migrants from Latin America and Asia. VOAs Elizabeth Lee has more on what draws people to the state and how the newcomers are shaping Texas politics.

Migration Around the World

Australia Repatriates 17 Citizens From Syrian Camps

Four women and 13 children were repatriated to Australia on Saturday, having languished for years in squalid Syrian detention camps after the downfall of the Islamic State. It was the first in a series of planned missions to bring back about 20 Australian women and 40 children  the wives, sons and daughters of vanquished IS fighters  from the notorious al-Hol and Roj camps. Reported by Agence France-Presse.

Malaysia Mulls Closing UN Refugee Agency Office, Sparking Refoulement Fears

Malaysia says it is considering plans to shutter the local office of the United Nations refugee agency, amid accusations the government is forcibly returning Burmese asylum-seekers who have fled Myanmar for their lives. Reported by Zsombor Peter.

Ukrainian Refugees Find Work, Shelter in Bulgarian Film Studio

After fleeing Ukraine following Russias invasion, two women found themselves in an unlikely shelter: Nu Boyana Film Studios in Sofia, Bulgaria. Tatiana Vorozhko has the story. VOA footage by Svitlana Koval. Video editing - Kostiantyn Golubchyk.

News in Brief

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced limited implementation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) under the new final rule. Since its inception in 2012, DACA has allowed over 800,000 young people to remain with their families in the only country many of them have ever known and continue to contribute to their communities in the United States.
For most of 2022, senior intelligence analyst Brian Liston noted it was quiet on the fake U.S. social media accounts believed to be from Russia.

That changed in August as the U.S. midterm elections approached.

We saw these accounts beginning to spin up, talking about election fraud or that the election was going to be fraudulent, with ballot stuffing and things like that, or Democrats are going to try to steal the election, said Liston, who works for Recorded Future, a cybersecurity firm.

Liston is among a network of researchers, cybersecurity experts, government agencies and others that comb through social media, websites, state media and law enforcement announcements to track coordinated disinformation campaigns stemming from U.S. adversaries such as Russia, China and Iran.

Fake news sites by organizations associated with these governments promote divisive stories about America that are then promoted by fake social media personas pretending to be Americans.

Russian operatives sow division that the U.S. voting system cant be trusted, Liston said. Chinese operatives highlight the volume of online anxiety about the integrity of the vote as evidence that American democracy is not working.

As much as they talk about election denial and voter fraud, I remain concerned that maybe these accounts come Election Day would attempt to provoke some sort of violence or harassment of poll workers at polling stations and things like that, he said. Recorded Future analysts will be monitoring chatter if the online discussions start to shift, he said.

Twitter took down China-based operations on its site that were trying to influence the U.S. midterms, The Washington Post reported. A representative for the Chinese embassy in Washington denied that the country was behind the accounts, the Post reported.

Twitter also took down three networks associated with Iran, the report said.

In Tempe, Arizona, Dylan Murphy was in town for work. A mathematician from Tucson, Murphy said he worries about the real-world consequences of online misinformation.

My concern is that foreign actors can spread disinformation and conspiracy theories through social media and kind of pit Americans against each other in a way they wouldn't be, left to their own devices, he said.

While online disinformation particularly from foreign actors is not new, he said, what is new is people taking action.

We're seeing more in-person direct action resulting from these conspiracy theories, such as people showing up to ballot drop boxes here in Arizona, armed, he said.



A Falstaff, Arizona, man who gave his name as Fred was having lunch with his parents in Tempe last week. He said he mostly worries about the influence of money on elections. But he does wonder about the voting system, he said.

I would say I have concerns about the system, he said. Who's to say that they count all the votes properly?

Arizona was a big part of electoral challenges to the presidential election two years ago, with a Republican recount of results in Maricopa County ultimately confirming a Joe Biden win. Many Donald Trump supporters continue to say that election was stolen, among them Arizona Republican candidate for governor, Kari Lake.

Maricopa County elections officials say ballot tabulation machines are not connected to the internet. They livestream voters delivering ballots to drop boxes and ballots being counted.

In addition to physical security, we also have security over the ballots and over the process, said Megan Gilbertson, a representative for the Maricopa County Elections Department.

She cited bipartisan boards, political party observers and checks throughout the process to make sure that each ballot is accounted for, and only valid ballots are counted.

In Arizona, where early voting is under way, voter Miriam Mitchell put her ballot in a ballot drop box at the Maricopa County Elections office in downtown Phoenix.

Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, sometimes we don't win, and we felt that they should have won, but we still follow the democratic process. We hand over the torch like were supposed to, she said. That's the only thing that's great about America is our democratic process. And we need to hold on to that.
Heavy fighting and explosions were reported Saturday by authorities in Ukraines southern Kherson region.

Over the last 24 hours Ukrainian forces attacked nine locations with Russian military equipment that they apprehended, as well as an ammunition depot in the Kherson region.

"[Ukrainian forces] prepare for another stage of an offensive on the Kherson Region. Artillery brigade groups, mortar batteries, tactical aviation planes and army aviation helicopters inflict massive fire within their preparation for an assault," the Moscow-installed Deputy Governor Kirill Stremousov said on his Telegram channel Saturday.

Russia continues to target the countrys energy and water infrastructure, reportedly destroying 30%-40% of its energy system, leading to increased rolling blackouts meant to protect the countys power grid from failing.

Meanwhile, external power lines have been repaired and reconnected to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant two days after it was taken off the power grid when Russian shelling damaged high voltage lines, the International Atomic Energy agency (IAEA) said Saturday.

AEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi again called for a nuclear safety and security protection zone to be set up around the plant to prevent a nuclear accident.

"We can't afford to lose any more time. We must act before it is too late," he said.

SEE ALSO:

Russia is increasing its evacuation of residents from the conflict zone and acknowledging the deteriorating situation in the Kherson region. At least 70,000 civilians have been moved from Kherson, the only regional capital captured by Moscow since February.



Pro-Kremlin media members have reported that Russian troops have moved their headquarters 50 miles to the southeast, destroying infrastructure and looting the city as they leave, residents and Ukrainian officials said, according to The New York Times.

While a bloody battle for the city is predicted, the situation in Kherson is clear as mud, Michael Kofman, the director of Russian studies at C.N.A., a research institute in Arlington, Virginia, wrote in an analysis this week, the Times reported. Russian forces seemed to withdraw from some parts, evacuated and drew down, but also reinforced with mobilized personnel.

Residents of the city report abandoned checkpoints and no more Russian patrols, but Ukrainian officials are cautious, believing Moscow is setting a trap.

In its intelligence update Saturday, however, the British Defense Ministry said that Russia is probably struggling to provide military training for its current mobilization drive and its annual autumn conscription intake. The Russian Armed Forces were already stretched providing training for the approximate 300,000 troops required for its partial mobilization, announced in September.

These issues, the ministry said, will be compounded by the additional regular autumn annual conscription cycle that begins in November for about 120,000 conscripts.

Russia has resorted to training troops in Belarus, the ministry said, due to a shortage of training staff, munitions and facilities in Russia. The intelligence update said that deploying forces with little or no training provides little additional offensive combat capability.

Iranian drones

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian admitted for the first time Saturday that Iran sent drones to Russia, but he said that was before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where Russia has been using drones to target power stations and civilian infrastructure.

SEE ALSO:

However, in a video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Irans admission of providing only a limited number of drones to Russia before the war on Ukraine. He said Ukrainian forces are downing at least 10 of the unmanned aerial vehicles daily.



The U.S. and its Western allies on the U.N. Security Council have called on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to investigate whether Russia has used Iranian drones to attack civilians in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is providing about $400 million in additional security assistance to Ukraine as the fight against Russias invasion enters its ninth month.

The U.S. military assistance includes refurbishing HAWK air defense missiles, funding for 45 refurbished T-72B tanks with advanced optics, communications, and armor packages, 1,100 Phoenix Ghost tactical unmanned aerial systems, 40 armored riverine command boats, funding to refurbish 250 M1117 armored security vehicles, as well as tactical secure communications systems and surveillance systems, along with funding for training, maintenance, and sustainment.

In his nightly address Friday, Zelenskyy thanked the United States for its latest military assistance and said it is the armored vehicles in particular that we very much need to move forward at the front.

I am grateful to President Biden, the U.S. Congress and the entire American people for the continued and vital assistance," he said.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
LINCOLN  Bently Spangs new artwork feels less like a single piece than a gathering  30 tipi tripods fan out in a large V-formation. With no coverings, they blend into their environment but dont overpower it.

The Northern Cheyenne artist calls his piece, We Have Always Been Here and Were Still Here. Its one of the newest additions to Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild, the 26-acre outdoor park.

He loves the architectural form of the tipi and finds it beautiful. The piece does what Indigenous artwork has always done, he said, looking forward and backward in time.

It has honored the past, it has honored our people, it has talked about what theyre doing with the moment, and the materials all reflected that, he said. Weve adapted and adapted and adapted again."

Spang, the first Indigenous artist to participate at the park, has exhibited his work around the U.S. In 2017, he won a Montana Arts Council Artists Innovation Award. He exhibited works from his Modern Warrior Series: War Shirts at the Missoula Art Museum in 2018. The sculptures take the form of a war shirt, with arms extended outward, but his materials vary from stacks of video screens to photographs.

At the outdoor park, he likes how his sculpture kind of fades into the trees. The fact that the tipis are not covered makes all the difference to a viewer. You can walk in and around them, and the forms create abstract line drawings that shift and change with your vantage point. One photo of them is unlikely to resemble others.

Spang said he likes the feeling of complexity it conveys, like its the same chaos that runs this natural world. We call it chaos, but its just the natural world.

He didnt want them to appear like an encampment. Instead theyre bound together, leg by leg, as though they grew like a fractal.

A growing park

Spangs installation is located near the parking loop, large enough that it's visible from the highway, and you cant help but see it as you pull in to find a space.

The tally of permanent sculptures in the 8-year-old park now stands at 21.

The park is a nonprofit partnership started between the Lincoln community and Kevin ODwyer, an Irish artist who started a similar, locally minded venture in his home country. The artists come from all over the world, but the materials (wood and metal) and forms typically relate to the landscape and history of the Blackfoot River drainage and its prior industries, such as logging.

Its a unique model that has drawn support from the town. Volunteers and students can come by during the construction and help out, building a sense of ownership and collaboration rather than art thats foisted upon them.

Spang and some volunteers spent several weeks constructing the new artwork. First, they got a permit to go cut the wood. Then they had to strip it. Once the poles are ready, they start with a tripod, laid flat on the ground. Then lift it up, and spread out the legs. Some of the rope-ends are left hanging down, as though they were braids. He dedicated to leave the tips natural, jutting out at uneven lengths.

As they built it in September, passers-by would come up to chat, and hed invite them to help, which he thought was a cool little jolt of energy.

Hed tell them, youre in the piece forever now, and its really true. Their energy and their action is in there.

Public embrace of contemporary sculpture is not a given. At the further end of the spectrum, consider the case of Richard Serra. He was commissioned to produce an installation for a federal plaza in New York City. The resulting Tilted Arc, a minimalist wall of unadorned steel some 12 feet tall and 120 feet long, bisected the plaza and got no small amount of scorn from workers. They successfully led an protest to have it removed.

Sculpture in the Wild, meanwhile, draws more visitors every year. During 2020, more than 50,000 people came to the park, a number aided by the pre-vaccine behavior. So far this year, theyve had 44,000, according to Becky Garland, the board president.

Building art outdoors

Spang said outdoor sculpture is tricky. With sketches and mockups, an idea can seem monumental until youre on site, when the natural surroundings can dwarf what would appear monolithic indoors.

Nor did he want to overpower the site, or act in competition with it. The tipis stand among pines with bushes of chokecherries, rose hips and other subsistence foods at their feet.

I have to respect the space and negotiate with it, he said. "It has to have a say in what's going to happen here."

He also wondered about the notion of permanent art in the case of an Indigenous creator, even if in his case, the wood wont last forever. There are no pyramids in Montana, he said. Petroglyphs, tipi circles and rock rings are the only point of comparison.

What kind of footprint have we left on the land? he wondered. We dont have monuments.

To him, the tipi seemed like the most monumental, one that by its nature seems in harmony with the site. Its also one of the strongest architectural forms out there, he said. Properly constructed, they can withstand strong windstorms.

One of the main structures in the park is a wood-scrap burner from the Delaney Sawmill, commonly referred to as a tipi burner. Its a utilitarian word for a utilitarian piece of equipment, he said, but as an Indian it struck him as a triggering phrase. As the first Native artist in the park, he saw an opportunity to create a dialogue.

An image of tipis has a diverse range of associations. Its a staple of Western art, typically looking to the past and often rendered by white hands, which raised questions for him.

That's been the other challenge  grappling with a form that we still use, you know, he said. "We still have tipis. We don't live in them every day, but we still have them, and we love them, and we maintain them."

That familiarity, while filtered through popular culture, could act as an entry point, too.

I had to be conscious that this is a very romantic form, he said. "So it's almost an opportunity to sort of draw people in dialogue with them because of this form. (Tipis) are just beautiful forms. I can't deny that, we all know that.

Spang once took a class on a tour of land art around the U.S., including Walter De Marias Lightning Fields in Marfa, Texas. He likes sculpture parks sensitivity to the space, and the encouragement to use materials sourced from the area itself. Considering the number of sculptures and artists, the palette is remarkably uniform in its earth tones. The brightest colors are stained wood or mirrored metal; the loudest tones are found in a sculpture by Alison Stigora: charred-black wood.

He decided not to use any text on his works, leaving the wood exposed.

If you look to the side, he placed three poles leaning against a tree, a tipi yet to be assembled, perhaps ready for a journey into the mountains.

That set represents the future," Spang said, "a tripod that is ready to be set up by future generations.
Mike Pences comments were also one of the clearest instances of the former vice president trying to set himself apart from Donald Trump, amid the expectation that Pence will challenge Trump for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.

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Are Montana Republicans fascists? Goodness no! But the story is more complicated.

Conservative columnist Gary Abernathy wrote recently that Liz Cheney (WY), Adam Kinzinger (Il), and other Republicans willing to chastise Trump and their party in general should leave the party. It is not their party anymore, or Ronald Reagans, or Dwight Eisenhowers, according to Abernathy, and they need to understand this and, well, get out.

So, whose party is it and what does this new party stand for? Republican abuse of democratic norms is the primary reason given for the steady six-year decline in Americas rating as a democracy by the V-Dem Institute in Sweden and Freedom House based in the US, two of the most respected institutions that track democracy worldwide.

But what do undemocratic  or neo-fascist, semi-fascist, authoritarian, totalitarian, far-right, nationalist, or populist  parties or governments do to undermine functioning democracies like the United States? In How Democracies Die, authors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt point out that democracies die in two basic ways. The first is a violent overthrow of the government. Republicans have tried that. Luckily it did not work.

The second is to undermine democratic institutions from within. This is what Republicans have been doing for some time with practices that are characteristic of dictatorships, authoritarian regimes, and, yes, fascism. They include:

Exert political control over the nations courts. Republicans have turned the U.S. Supreme Court into an extension of the Republican party that is establishing extremist policy in the guise of legal opinions. It is arguably no longer a legitimate democratic constitutional court.

Control the nations electoral system. Along with a majority of Republicans refusing to accept the results of a legitimate presidential election, last year Republicans passed 34 laws restricting voting in seventeen states, performed extreme gerrymandering for both state and Congressional offices to disadvantage Democrat voters, and are working to put partisan election deniers in key positions to exert Republican control over future elections. This is at the top of the autocrats playbook.

Control the media and what is truth and fact. A Republican ex-President who continues to lie to the public, buttressed by conspiracy theorists, fearmongering, the Internet, international actors seeking to destabilize the U.S., and media like Fox New that peddle misinformation and propaganda  all unchallenged by Republicans  is creating a large, angry, poorly informed political base  essential to autocracy.

Identify scapegoats, usually minority groups, upon which to focus hate as a unifying cause. Donald Trump started with Mexican rapists, Muslim immigrant terrorists, and blacks from sh**hole countries. Republicans have expanded political hate to include liberal groomers, Jews, the LGBTQ community, history teachers, promoters of life-saving vaccines, immigrants, Democrats, and a long list of others. Hate is at the heart of the MAGA party, as it is with most autocracies.

Promotion of violence as a legitimate political tool. Republicans and their supporters continue to threaten violence. Election officials, school board members, librarians, medical staff and others continue to receive death threats. Polls vary, but according to a recent University of Chicago poll forty-five percent of strong Republicans, and a third of all Republicans, approve of violence against the government to achieve political goals.

Scholars cite additional characteristics of authoritarianism, also indicative of the MAGA Republican Party, including the intertwining of government and religion, corruption and cronyism, disdain for intellectuals and science, disrespect for the rule of law, and sexism. The 14 Characteristics of Fascism, by Professor Lawrence Britt (Free Inquiry Magazine, 2003), is one such respected reference.

In Montana, Republican officials and legislators have supported actions to politicize the Montana judiciary, ignored the Montana Constitution, ignored the separation of religion and government, passed election laws that disfavor Democrats, and threatened to change the Constitution when it stands in their way. This is in keeping with the overall Republican attack on democracy nationwide.

If regular Montana Republicans actively support such a non-democratic party  by whatever name you prefer  or do so with their silence, they are supporting a form of authoritarianism. If not, they should speak out loudly and let us know. Some, thankfully, are doing that.
Rita Wilson is a musician and actor best known for being the producer of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The 65-year-old opens up about being mentored by Bruce Springsteen, why its never too late to create, and her marriage with Tom Hanks.

My dad, Allan, escaped communism in Bulgaria in 1949 for a better life in the US. Dad had seen the [1927] movie Chicago, and in that he saw America  he told me thats what inspired him to want to move here. Every morning, he would wake up and say, God Bless America. I totally understood what that meant from his point of view.

No one decides that your time to create is up, or that you should have done it in your 20s.

Dad met my mum, Dorothy, at a Greek/Bulgarian dance in New York. He worked in a bar back in the early days of his arrival, then made his way up to bartender at the King Cole bar in the St Regis Hotel on Fifth Avenue. Then my parents moved to California, where Dad also worked in bars and at race tracks. Their marriage lasted 59 years until he died in 2009.

My brother, Chris, is two years younger than me and a very independent and funny guy. He is a musician and has a great ability to make friends. I still look up to him and he still plays in bands. He composed the music for My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Chronic pain advocates have criticised proposals to impose further restrictions on the sale of paracetamol, saying the move would disadvantage millions of Australians.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration will meet next week to consider limiting supermarket purchases of the painkillers to two packs per person and restricting sales to over-18s, following recommendations of an independent expert report on rising rates of intentional paracetamol overdose.

There were 3575 cases of intentional paracetamol poisoning reported last year to the NSW Poisons Information Centre, which handles half of the nations poisoning calls. Victorias service recorded 3403 overdoses, 1417 of them deliberate.

The proposed restrictions are designed to prevent stockpiling of paracetamol in homes  research shows most intentional overdoses did not involve a recent purchase  as well as limit access to stronger formulations.
A family tradition spanning five generations continued when seven cousins saw the Myer Melbourne Christmas windows together on Sunday.

Sue Giansiracusa said taking her grandchildren, aged between two and eight, to the Bourke Street Mall  along with two of their mums and an aunt  was a bit stressful, but worth it to see the excitement on the kids faces.

Exciting day out: Charlie and Sue Giansiracusa and their grandchildren visited the Myer Christmas windows. Credit:Paul Jeffers

Giansiracusa, 66, said that as a girl in the 1960s, it was a treat when her grandmother drove her from Robinvale, in Victorias north-west, to see characters in the windows inspired by fairy tales and movies.

Giansiracusa and husband Charlie, 72, visited their four childrens families, who all live in Melbourne, from their home in Balranald, 440 kilometres away in southern NSW.
A global human trafficking syndicate has exploited flaws in Australian border security and the immigration system. See all 15 stories .

Home Affairs Minister Clare ONeil has declared Australias migration system is broken and is being exploited by overseas criminals, and has flagged an independent inquiry to examine revelations of widespread visa rorting linked to sex trafficking, foreign worker exploitation and drug crime.

In her strongest comments yet about the failings in the system, ONeil blamed her predecessor, Liberal Peter Dutton, and revealed she had received expert advice that tens of thousands of people might be unlawfully in Australia, including many who are exploited foreign workers.

Weve ended up with a system where theres massive visa queues and where the people who actually legitimately want to use the system cant properly use it. And yet criminals who want to bring people into the country as slaves are able to somehow do it, ONeil said.

Weve got to change the way that this system operates.
Australia is lagging behind other Western nations in protecting press freedom and the Albanese government should consider going further than the recommendations of a parliamentary inquiry in overhauling federal search warrant laws, legal experts say.

A parliamentary committee recommended a series of reforms in 2020 to safeguard press freedom when federal law enforcement agencies and the domestic spy agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, are seeking court orders in secret to raid newsrooms or journalists homes.

Federal police raided the ABC's Sydney headquarters in June, 2019, over The Afghan Files investigation. Credit:Nine

The Morrison government did not act on those proposals. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said last month that improved protections for press freedom are needed and the government intended to enact reforms as a priority, including by responding to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security report.

The report followed highly publicised Australian Federal Police raids in 2019 on the home of journalist Annika Smethurst, now at The Age, and the ABCs Sydney headquarters over separate reports based on leaked government documents. The search warrants were granted by an ACT magistrate and a NSW Local Court registrar respectively.
London: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is standing by a government minister who has been accused of bullying a colleague, cabinet office minister Oliver Dowden said, saying the phone messages in question were sent in the heat of the moment.

The allegations, reported by The Sunday Times newspaper, have surfaced only days following criticism of Sunak for reappointing Suella Braverman as interior minister after she was fired by his predecessor for breaching email security rules.

Under fire: Gavin Williamson is a Minister of State at the Cabinet Office. Credit:AP

The Sunday Times published text messages sent by Gavin Williamson, a minister in the cabinet office, to the former chief whip, or Conservative Party enforcer, Wendy Morton, in which he criticised her and used expletive-ridden language.

The newspaper said he was angry about not being invited to Queen Elizabeths funeral and that Morton had made an official complaint to the governing party.
When grizzly populations expand, they run up against more armed people. This has resulted in unsustainable mortality for bears, especially where livestock graze on public land. Many more grizzlies are ending up dead in recent years. Same for confrontations in elk hunting camps in the backcountry. Bears learn gunfire means dinner and they smell and approach gut piles where theyre frequently killed. Is this the future or is there a solution? Grizzly bears are protected under the Endangered Species Act, but their mortality rate is exploding mainly from human conflicts. Bears are expanding their range, largely due to food shortages in places like the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Grizzlies are confronted by armed people at cattle ranches and locations of unsecured foods and garbage.

Range expansion by bear populations is important for their long-term survival for two main reasons. One is a change in their food base due to climate warming. As plants and animals adapt, often by moving north, individual bears must explore new areas to survive. When they appear, people often respond with fear and alarm. If we hope to have them avoid extinction, changes in our daily routines are needed. This includes securing attractions, in some cases by erecting inexpensive electric fences. The latter have been demonstrated as effective since the early 1970s. For example, this has been demonstrated around commercial bee yards in Alberta where I did field studies aimed at protecting honey producers from black bears. A second reason range expansion is important for current grizzly populations is to reduce inbreeding by connecting small, isolated populations (like those in the Yaak of northwest Montana). There is sufficient wild habitat left in Montana if grizzlies can get to it.

Bears that show a predilection to investigate new habitat have been labeled explorers. The terms explorer or innovator may be seen as a cultural trait, a learned ability; we must advocate for protection of these individual bears that are most at risk from people. In this way we can save our small bear populations. Some concerned ranchers, like those in Tom Miner basin north of Yellowstone National Park, have supported bear protection. Special protection of explorer types is crucial because they innovate in finding new grizzly habitat and foods when climate warming causes plant and animal declines. These bears are the harbingers of adaptive types or cultures. We all need to protect these bears if we are going to have grizzly bears.

In his publications, Valerius Geist stressed the importance of innovators as an adaptive phenotype promoting population survival and expansion. Explorers have personality traits that involve boldness, aggressiveness, activity, exploratory tendency, and sociability. Cultural differences in grizzly and black bears are explained in my recent book One of Us: A Biologists Walk Among Bears. These traits can lead to better relationships between humans and grizzlies because bears can habituate to human presence if we stop harassing and killing them. We see this cultural change in bears on salmon streams like Brooks River in Alaska, where people and bears have occupied the same area for at least 40 years without any serious injuries.

This appeal may seem paradoxical, coming from a guy who was almost killed in Yellowstone by a grizzly. I surprised and approached one far too close. But not long after recovering I returned to bear behavior studies, mostly on salmon streams in Alaska and coastal British Columbia. We have the knowledge and tools to stop the decimation of grizzly bears. Now we need the will to act.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- The Bethlehem Area School District school board president tells 69 News the district is investigating an "alleged incident" involving the superintendent and a district employee.

WFMZ reached out to district officials after receiving information that Superintendent Joseph Roy was involved in an alleged altercation with an employee.

Sunday afternoon, a statement from school board president Michael Faccinetto confirmed to us that "the board is aware of the alleged incident and is investigating."

The board president said there's "no further comment at this time."

Superintendent Joseph Roy made the following statement:

"Im aware of a specific unfounded allegation that has churned through the rumor mill for a few weeks. Im working with the district solicitor to address this unfounded allegation, while keeping the board president informed.

"As with the allegation, rumors of me resigning are unfounded as well. The first rumor was I was resigning this past Thursday. The second rumor was I was resigning Friday. And apparently the third rumor is I resigned today. All completely false. The source of these rumors is unknown, but obviously someone with ill intent is spreading them."
ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- The Allentown School District has a new leader, but some people still want to know why the school board parted ways with the last superintendent.

Members of the Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton branches of the NAACP were protesting in Allentown again Saturday over the recent departure of John Stanford.

The school board voted him out last month, after less than a year on the job.

District officials said the decision was "mutual," prompting a protest by Stanford's supporters soon after his exit.

They're continuing to demand transparency from them.

"That forensic audit that the board member has been asking for, where is it and why aren't you not giving it?" asked Esther Lee, President, Bethlehem NAACP.

The district's new interim superintendent, Carol Birks, took over the job this week, working part-time.

She'll take on the role full-time, starting December 16th.
Can people's individual actions make a difference in how much carbon dioxide is emitted on an international scale? International organizations like the United Nations have called on individuals to limit their carbon footprint and live more sustainably, along with governments and corporations.

Some argue it would be more effective to focus on changing government and corporate policy to limit emissions from the energy and agriculture sectors than asking individuals to limit their carbon footprint, but experts say that while that's true, every bit of emissions reduction helps.

EDITORS NOTE: This story is part of an ongoing series answering some of the most fundamental questions around climate change, the science behind it, the effects of a warming planet and how the world is addressing it.

We should all be the most responsible citizens we can be in every sense of the word and contribute to a sustainable existence on this planet," said University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann. He said that means, in part, minimizing our carbon footprints as individuals.

And that can take a lot of different forms.

The United Nations Act Now campaign for individual climate action suggests people can minimize their personal carbon footprint directly by changing their energy and transportation use and food consumption. Other, less direct methods for reducing carbon emissions include divesting from fossil fuel companies in retirement plans, protesting to support climate action and lobbying government officials to pass environmentally sustainable policies.

Kim Cobb, a Brown University climate scientist, said there are consequences to individuals having outsized carbon footprints. And still there are people who engage in the environmental movement who don't consider their personal carbon footprint.

I think were living in an anti-gravity moment where people are able to say, Im not concerned about my first, personal carbon footprint. Collective action matters the most, she said. In the future, though, there will be a moral and social cost to bear by those individuals.

Still, there are some climate impacts that people aren't individually responsible for and can't change on their own. Over 70% of all greenhouse gas emissions produced between 1988 and 2015 came from 100 fossil fuel companies, according a 2017 report by CDP, formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project.

And despite the United Nations' warnings to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions, countries are planning on extracting double the amount of fossil fuels than what would be consistent with keeping the global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), even as they pledge to make ambitious cuts.

So, although there are things individuals can do to minimize their personal carbon footprints, Mann said, we must not allow ... polluters to reframe the discussion so that it falls entirely upon individuals, which takes the pressure off of them.

We cant pass legislation ourselves that incentivizes renewable energy or that blocks new fossil fuel infrastructure. We cant impose regulations on industry. We cant negotiate directly with international partners. We need our policymakers to do that," Mann said. Those things can only be enacted at the systematic level, and thats why we have to keep the pressure on policymakers and on corporations and those who are in a position to make the changes that we cant make ourselves."

Follow Drew Costley on Twitter: @drewcostley.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
These are not easy times. People are rightly fearful about the future and distrustful of their leaders. The Left and Right point fingers at each other, but Ill put it plainly: leaders on both sides deserve some blame for our nations current hard times. The national debt for example has exploded under the watch of both Republicans and Democrats in Congress for years, fueling the imminent fiscal and monetary crises we see today.

The fundamental issue at hand is clearly not who is in charge. The issue is that too many of our nations leaders lack a principled view about the role of government in a free society.

I recently had the privilege of attending an inspiring lecture in Billings given by Lawrence W. Reed  a renowned author, economist, lecturer, and president emeritus of the Foundation for Economic Education. Lawrence put forward seven principles of sound public policy for our leaders in government to embrace what I believe are worth repeating for readers of this column, especially as we near election day:

1. Free people are not equal, and equal people are not free.

When people are free to be themselves, to be masters of their own destinies, to apply themselves in an effort to improve their well-being and that of their families, the result in the marketplace will not be an equality of outcomes.

2. What belongs to you, you tend to take care of; what belongs to no one or everyone tends to fall into disrepair.

If you want to take the scarce resources of society and trash them, all you have to do is take them away from the people who created or earned them and hand them over to some central authority to manage. In one fell swoop, you can ruin everything.

3. Sound policy requires that we consider long-run effects and all people, not simply short-run effects and a few people.

If we want to be responsible adults, we cant behave like infants whose concern is overwhelmingly focused on self and on the here-and-now.

4. If you encourage something, you get more of it; if you discourage something, you get less of it.

We respond to incentives and disincentives. Our behavior is affected by them, sometimes very powerfully. Policymakers who forget this will do dumb things like jack up taxes on some activity and expect that people will do just as much of it as before, as if taxpayers are sheep lining up to be sheared.

5. Nobody spends somebody elses money as carefully as he spends his own.

When you spend other peoples money to buy something for someone else, the connection between the earner, the spender and the recipient is the most remote  and the potential for mischief and waste is the greatest.

6. Government has nothing to give anybody except what it first takes from somebody, and a government thats big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything youve got.

A free and independent people do not look to government for their sustenance. They see government not as a fountain of free goodies, but rather as a protector of their liberties, confined to certain minimal functions that revolve around keeping the peace, maximizing everyones opportunities and otherwise leaving us alone.

7. Liberty makes all the difference in the world.

Public policy that dismisses liberty or doesnt preserve or strengthen it should be immediately suspect in the minds of a vigilant people.

If youd like to read a full transcript of this lecture, go to: www.frontierinstitute.org/sevenprinciples.
Calling 911 is no longer the only option for people facing an emergency. In some areas of the country, they now can send a text.

While its not the best method of getting help due to the limitations of texting in general, the option is now available in all of Minnesota. Additionally, across the Mississippi River in Wisconsin, texting 911 is available in some counties, the nearest to Winona being La Crosse County. Wisconsin does not yet have a texting option statewide.

This can cause some issues for people in Winona near the river trying to text 911. Because the option isnt available across the bridge in Buffalo County, if a phone service carrier picks up a text on towers on the Wisconsin side, the caller will be notified that a texting option is not available in their location. But, when 911 texting is available, it can help save lives in situations where calls are not a safe option  like in domestic violence, break-ins and more.

Additionally, if someone has a disability that makes it challenging to call 911, texting can also be a helpful option.

Dana Wahlberg, director of the Emergency Communication Networks Division at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, said that Minnesota made texting 911 a statewide option in December of 2017, after three years of preparations.

One of the things that was really important to us is that we had a single solution for text to 911, so that regardless of what dispatch center someone worked in, they were doing the same process in receiving and processing a text request, Wahlberg said. And we wanted to also ensure that we had a full statewide deployment. We didnt want individual dispatch centers to go live independently, one at a time here and there, because thats very confusing for the residents and visitors in Minnesota.

Wahlberg said the texting option doesnt require dispatch centers to add any extra resources that would increase costs.

Jennifer LaValla, Winona Countys dispatch supervisor, said that the texts pop up on dispatchs computers just like a call would.

Instead of having a verbal conversation, though, the dispatchers send text responses using their keyboards and computers. As a result, dispatch workers cannot hear tone of voice or sounds in the background, and it can be more difficult to get immediate responses.

Texting allows dispatch to track peoples locations, but the location data is not as specific as it is with calls.

Because of all these factors, it is often best to make a call in the case of an emergency, even if there is just silence on the callers side of the call.

LaValla said that very few people use the texting option each year.

David Steinberg, administrator for La Crosse County Public Safety Communications, shared that La Crosse County has also had very few texts sent to their 911 dispatch center.

La Crosse Countys 911 dispatch center is getting an upgrade soon, thanks to Wisconsins next generation project, which will allow the county to start receiving images via text from individuals too.

Steinberg said this could be beneficial because it would allow someone texting 911 to send a photo of their location.

With the upcoming changes, a push is coming in Wisconsin for texting to be a more widespread option, Steinberg said. La Crosse County got ahead of this shift by making texting an option in the summer of 2021.

LaValla stressed that, in general, anyone looking to use 911 services should always stay on the phone when they call, even if the number was dialed by accident or if it seems like the call has not gone through.

LaValla shared that it saves valuable time of the dispatchers, because they are required to contact the caller if they receive a call.

It is also important not to abuse the option to call or text 911, as that will also take up time that the dispatcher could use to help others.
According to recent reports, college students nationwide are experiencing increasing challenges on their path to a degree. A 2018 survey conducted by the Wisconsin HOPE Lab revealed that over a third of college students struggle with food insecurity and finding stable housing.

At Winona State University, we understand that many of our Warriors experience challenges outside the classroom, which can impact progress toward academic goals, said Karen Stoltz, academic advisor and student leadership coordinator in the TRIO Student Support Services Office at Winona State. These challenges can include mental health concerns, housing and food insecurity, grief and loss, child and family care, transportation and access to technology.

These deficits in meeting basic needs are owed in part to changing demographics in college student populations. As more students from low-income families pursue two- and four-year degrees, the percentage of college students that have at least one basic need insecurity continues to increase. This, coupled with decreases in public funding for higher education and subsequent increases in student tuition bills, has led to a surge in basic needs insecurity among college students across the U.S.

In response, Winona State has doubled down on its commitment to supporting students throughout their educational journeys and to helping students meet their basic needs.

The university, along with all colleges and universities in the Minnesota State system, recently announced a partnership with United Way 211 to establish a statewide basic needs resource. The United Way 2-1-1 service is free, confidential and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, via text message or phone call. The service connects students with local resources as well as resources across Minnesota, both on college campuses and in communities.

On campus, WSU offers a number of services designed to assist students in meeting basic needs and being successful in their studies:

The Warrior Cupboard is an on-campus food shelf that helps ensure students have access to quality food on a regular basis through supplemental nutrition assistance when they need it. Food insecurity can lead to lower grades and poor physical and mental health, so the Warrior Cupboard provides discrete, convenient access to healthy food options for students.

For housing support, Winona State has a variety of residence halls available to students, including options for summer housing. Students often find roommates through their WSU Class of Facebook groups and off-campus apartments in the Wazoos List Facebook group. University employees can also help connect students as needed to local housing assistance and help them to learn about available housing options in the City of Winona.

WSU students have many options to consider when it comes to taking care of their mental health, from one-on-one counseling to interacting with therapy dogs, which can help relieve stress and homesickness for student missing their pets.

For student parents, the WSUs Children Center is located right on campus and offers discounted childcare and priority registration for enrolled students.

According to Stoltz, these are just a few ways Winona State is helping students meet their basic needs.

Our students are people first, and their lives are complex, Stoltz added. We know students who access basic needs support and resources are more likely to experience academic success and persist to graduation. We want to support students as they navigate their academic journey, while overcoming some of these challenges and obstacles to achieve personal and academic success.
It's Saturday, Nov. 5. Get caught up what's going on around the nation and world today.

Residents in northeastern Texas and southeastern Oklahoma began assessing damage and working to recover Saturday after tornadoes tore through the region.

Authorities in Oklahoma say at least one person died when a twister hit McCurtain County Friday. Gov. Kevin Stitt toured the town of Idabel Saturday morning. The National Weather Service in Fort Worth on Saturday confirmed at least three tornadoes in northeast Texas while the damage in Oklahoma was being assessed by the weather service's Shreveport, Louisiana, office.

Barack Obama has warned anxious Democrats that abortion rights, Social Security and even democracy itself is at risk should Republicans seize congressional majorities next week. The former president was in Pittsburgh on Saturday and he said, Sulking and moping is not an option." He is scheduled to stump among politics biggest stars in an effort to energize voters in the weekend of campaigning before Election Day on Tuesday.

North Korea has added to its recent barrage of weapons demonstrations by launching four ballistic missiles into the sea while the United States sent two supersonic bombers over South Korea in a dueling display of military might. North Korea has test-fired more than 30 missiles this week, including an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday that triggered evacuation alerts in northern Japan.

Check out more of the latest news from around the world:
This photo taken on Nov. 5, 2022 shows the Intelligent Industry and Information Technology exhibition area of the fifth China International Import Expo (CIIE) at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) in east China's Shanghai. [Xinhua/Jin Liwang]

BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua)  Inside an exhibit booth of about 20 square meters, people stopped at handmade Afghan carpets and rugs, admiring the unique design, softness and natural dyes that had made the crafts among the finest in the world for centuries.

"One large carpet usually takes a family six to nine months to weave and these beautiful and durable carpets show the heritage of craftsmanship passed down through generations of families in Afghanistan," said Ali Faiz, a 28-year-old merchant who participated in the China International Import Expo (CIIE) for the third time.

Carpets used to be among Afghanistan's most important trade and export goods. But the industry is declining due to decades of conflicts and Western sanctions. When Faiz brought the carpets to the Chinese market, he also took with him the hope of people in the war-torn country.

Since it was launched in 2018, the CIIE has been carrying the hopes of people, both in China and the other countries, to advance shared prosperity and progress through international trade and business cooperation.

And this global fair has turned Faiz's dream for a better life into reality.

A Market for the World

Through the CIIE, Faiz has received orders for over 2,000 carpets, which he said have brought a year's worth of income to more than 2,000 Afghan families. Thirty-eight-year-old Boston Barati's family is one of them.

Growing up in a slum on the outskirts of the Afghan capital Kabul, Barati learned carpet weaving when he was a child and never thought he could own a workshop before his carpets were sold to China.

Walking through a courtyard in Kabul packed with wool threads, several weavers were busy knotting yarn around the warp which made the base of a carpet before they used dyed yarn as a pile to create the carpet's design. Barati was sitting next to them, drawing carpet patterns with a computer.

"My life was changed after I started exporting the products to China," Barati said. "I built this house and bought a new car thanks to our successful business in China."

Faiz and Barati were not the only ones to seize the moment for a changed future. Since the debut of the CIIE, China has been encouraging and assisting companies from the least developed countries to join the expo to seize opportunities presented by China's development.

At the ongoing exhibition, from Afghan handicrafts to Rwandan coffee, from the cutting-edge medical instruments designed in Silicon Valley to giant mining equipment in Brazil, enterprises across the globe are exploring the opportunities in China, the second largest economy in the world, to grow their international businesses.

The CIIE has become a showcase of China's new development paradigm, a platform for high-standard opening-up, and a public good for the whole world, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday when addressing the opening ceremony of the fifth CIIE via video.

"The most important thing about the Chinese economy is that it's predictable," said Khairy Tourk, a professor of economics at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. "It is enjoying a steady and positive growth, a stable currency, and a financially strong foundation. That's why China is a very attractive country to invest in."

Visitors experience rowing machines at the Consumer Goods exhibition area of the fifth China International Import Expo (CIIE) at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) in east China's Shanghai, Nov. 5, 2022. [Xinhua/Zhang Jiansong]

A Market Shared by All

Since its first edition, the CIIE has demonstrated China's commitment to high-level opening-up and widening market access to the rest of the world, contributing to global growth with the country's high-quality development.

"The CIIE is bringing the best of innovation from the world to China, but also showcasing the best of innovation of China to the world," said Fabrice Megarbane, L'Oreal North Asia Zone president and chief executive officer of L'Oreal China.

Five years on, China has been forging ahead towards shared growth with all partners having the same vision. Eyeing China's huge and more open market, comprehensive industrial system, and ever-improving business environment, many foreign-funded businesses are doubling down on their investments in the country.

Conducting business in China for 65 years, ZEISS, the world's leading enterprise of optical and optoelectronics technology, has a strong and firm mission for the future in China, the company's largest single market.

Last month it launched a 25-million-U.S.-dollar project in Suzhou city, a manufacturing hub in southeastern China, aiming to provide localized research and development and manufacturing services for all business segments of ZEISS. The company said the new project would empower it to offer better solutions and innovations to its global market.

The global crisis, trade problems and the COVID-19 pandemic haven't softened the company's business in China, said Maximilian Foerst, president and CEO of ZEISS Greater China.

The Chinese market is "becoming larger and larger every single year, which means that (the market in) China is growing faster than the rest of ZEISS," Foerst added.

Many transnational corporations share similar views on the prospects of China's development. According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, foreign direct investment in the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 18.9 percent year on year to 155.3 billion dollars in the first three quarters of 2022.

By amplifying the interplay between domestic and international markets and resources, China will work with all countries and parties to share the opportunities in its vast market on its journey toward realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.

"We will step up efforts to cultivate a robust domestic market, upgrade trade in goods, develop new mechanisms for trade in services, and import more quality products," Xi said.

Cyclists take photos by the Suzhou Creek in east China's Shanghai, Nov. 4, 2022. The fifth China International Import Expo (CIIE) is held in Shanghai from Nov. 5 to 10. [Photo by Fan Yeqin/Xinhua]

A Market Accessible to All

For ZEISS, the rapidly growing industry of new energy vehicles in China has become the company's new source of growth in the future. It has been building up teams to focus on x-ray technologies for new energy vehicles, particularly batteries.

"Why are we doing it in China? Because I'm pretty sure China is the largest single market of new energy vehicles," Foerst said, adding that "the products we develop here will go into the factories the Chinese companies are building up in Europe, the U.S., and the rest of the world."

For years, China has been striving to create a more favorable environment and easier access for foreign companies to tap the potential of the Chinese market. As a result, more transnational companies such as Volkswagen have decided to expand their business in China.

This year, a total of 145 nations, regions and international organizations, and enterprises from 127 nations and regions will participate in the week-long CIIE that kicked off on Saturday.

"I think there are no other ones in the world which are able to bring so many industries, so many country representatives and have this dialogue that allows us really to look at opportunities," Megarbane said.

After 25 years of development, L'Oreal has made China its second biggest market in the world. "We still see a lot of potential and opportunities," Megarbane added. "That's the sense of our investment."

Among the participants at the CIIE, Japanese companies are expecting to increase their exports to China as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership that took effect on Jan. 1 has substantially reduced taxes.

Meanwhile, the world's largest free trade agreement also encouraged more companies from Singapore, New Zealand and other regional countries to explore the Chinese market. And close connectivity, such as the China-Laos railway, has put trade on a fast track.

In September, the first freight train carrying containers from Kashgar city in China's Xinjiang arrived in the border town of Hairatan in Afghanistan.

"It is a milestone and a positive step towards boosting trade and economic relations between Afghanistan and the neighboring countries," said the local governor, Qudratullah Abu Hamza.

"Opening up is going to benefit China a lot, and it is also important in terms of South-South cooperation, where African countries, Latin American countries and Southeast Asian countries can have more access to China," said Costantinos Bt. Costantinos, a professor of public policy at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia.

After the operation of the freight train service, Faiz would not have to ship his carpets all the way to Shanghai via Istanbul in the future. Moreover, his dream and the dreams of the people in Afghanistan will be more closely connected with the aspirations of the Chinese people.

As Xi has said, "the Chinese Dream is after all a dream of the people." It can be fulfilled only when it is linked with the people's yearning for a better life.

(Source: Xinhua)
Weather Alert

...Gusty South Winds Today And Tonight... Winds will increase from the south this morning to between 15 and 25 mph. Wind gusts in the 30 to 40 mph range are likely from midday today through tonight. Locally higher gusts are possible in thunderstorms this evening. Drive with caution today and tonight. Handling of high profile vehicles could become more difficult. Loose objects such as trash cans and holiday ornaments may be blown into roadways.
Local apprentice amongst north Wales trio up for prestigious awards

A local apprentice has been shortlisted or this years prestigious Apprenticeship Awards Cymru 2022.

The awards highlight the outstanding achievements, during unprecedented times, of employers, apprentices and work-based learning practitioners.

Twenty-three finalists will contest nine award categories, with the winners being announced at a virtual ceremony on November 10.

Highlight of the year for apprentices, employers and work-based learning providers and practitioners, the awards are organised by the Welsh Government and supported by the National Training Federation for Wales (NTfW) and headline sponsor Openreach.

Albert Brennan whose career as a stress engineer with Airbus in Broughton has taken off with the skills and knowledge gained during a Degree Apprenticeship.

Albert,from Cefn-y-Bedd, works at the companys global centre of excellence for manufacturing wings for Airbus aeroplanes.

He completed a Degree Apprenticeship (Level 6) in Aeronautical Engineering through Swansea University, achieving a Bachelors Degree in Aeronautical & Manufacturing Engineering and an NVQ Level 4 in Engineering Manufacture.

Albert is now undertaking a Masters Degree in Lightweight Structures and Impact Engineering, having been offered a full scholarship by the National Structural Integrity Research Centre.

An Incorporated Engineer and Associate Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society, he won the Top Student Award from Swansea University.

His work has now seen him shortlisted for Higher Apprentice of the Year.

Two of the North Wales finalists  Malgorzata Bienko from Llandudno and Boglarka-Tunde Incze from Llanrug, Caernarfon  compete for the Foundation Apprentice of the Year Award.

Polish apprentice Malgorzata has overcome language and hearing disability barriers to make herself a valuable member of the team at School Lane Preschool in Llandudno.

Malgorzata has completed a Foundation Apprenticeship in Childrens Care, Play, Learning and Development, delivered by Arfon Dwyfor Training Limited.

Having previously been employed in the social care sector, she has quickly adapted to working with young children and loves her job at the pre-school setting where she is encouraged to share Polish culture and traditions.

Having achieved a Foundation Degree in Art and Design at Grwp Llandrillo Menai and a BA Degree in Illustration from Glyndwr University, Malgorzata combines all her skills when working with children on arts and crafts projects.

Apprenticeships are helping domiciliary care team leader Boglarka-Tunde to make a difference to the lives of people she cares for and works with.

Boglarka initially used a Bachelor of Computer Sciences Degree, which she achieved in Romania, to work for international companies.

She took on an extra role as a part-time carer, supporting people in their homes and enjoyed the work so much that she changed career during the pandemic.

Having completed Levels 2 and 3 Apprenticeships in Health and Social Care with Itec Skills and Employment, she would like to qualify as an assessor.

Welsh learner Boglarka works part-time for Gofal Bro Cyf and is a Marie Curie palliative healthcare assistant.

The Apprenticeship Programme is funded by the Welsh Government with support from the European Social Fund. For more information about recruiting an apprentice, visit: https://gov.wales/apprenticeships-genius-decision or call 03000 603000.
Local tile and bathroom business gives undertaking to councils public protection service

A Wrexham-based tile and bathroom business has given an undertaking to Councils Public Protection Service

Dominic White, director of West Bank Tiles and Bathrooms Limited signed a written undertaking at the request of Trading Standards.

Trading Standards Officers approached Mr White following complaints to the Citizens Advice consumer help line.

The complaints were about extended delays in completing work, failure to complete work and concerns regarding the quality of work undertaken, the payment of substantial deposits followed by extensive delay in commencing work, work unfinished, work of poor quality, failure to respond to customers concerns, failure to honour promises given as part of contractual obligations and failure to provide business details to the customer or to provide legally required information to the customer before entering into a contract.

At a meeting with Trading Standards Officers from the Councils Public Protection Service Mr White signed a written undertaking in which he committed to complying with relevant consumer protection laws for all new work undertaken and to resolving all outstanding issues with existing customers within an agreed time.

Trading Standards will continue to monitor trading activity.

Wrexham Council says that any evidence received that the business is in breach of the undertaking is likely to lead to legal action in the County Court to secure a court order against the business.

Trading Standards and Licensing Lead, Roger Mapleson said: This action is about protecting consumers and achieving a level playing field for businesses so that all are meeting their legal obligations to customers.

If any consumer has cause for complaint about this or any other business they may contact Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133 where they will be offered advice and details of the complaint will be passed to Trading Standards.
Marchwiel church celebrated at national awards ceremony

A Marchwiel church has been been named as the Welsh winner of the 2022 Nayler Award for Excellence in Church Maintenance.

St Deniol & St Macella received 2,5000 at the National Church Awards hosted by comedian and actor Hugh Dennis and Rev Canon Ann Easter, a former chaplain to Queen Elizabeth, at a ceremony held at the Mercers Company Livery Hall in the City of London.

The National Church Awards, run by The National Churches Trust, celebrate churches and the people who use and look after them.

The 18th century Marchwiel church works on the basis that a stich in time saves nine, with a maintenance team of volunteers working to keep on top of maintenance issues to prevent major damage occurring, thereby minimising costly repairs.

Besides looking after the building, maintenance work extends to the churchyard which requires substantial work.

Judges highlighted the fact that the church carried out regular maintenance of the building, was pro-active in spotting potential problems and that the volunteers involved were willing to learn from other churches dealing with similar issues.

The church also received an aluminium National Church Awards plaque to display.

Hugh Dennis said: Packed with history and heritage, centres for vital community support and places for worship and reflection, churches are a beating heart of the nation.

A huge congratulation to everyone at St Deniol & St Macella, Marchiel who love and care for their building.

The National Church Awards will inspire others with new ideas to make their churches welcoming, long lasting and thriving, at the service of all.

Claire Walker, CEO of the National Churches Trust said: The Nayler Award for Excellence in Church Maintenance shines a light on the people who look after local churches and help ensure a future for their place of worship.

Maintenance is traditionally seen as a routine task and is an activity that is celebrated or rewarded.

But throughout the year, it is thanks to volunteers that church buildings are kept in good condition and serious problems kept at bay.

The National Church Awards had winners in four categories; Architecture, Community & Volunteers, Maintenance, and Tourism. Judges chose winners from over 180 nominations made by churches throughout the UK.

As well as one overall winner in each of the four categories, winners were also chosen in each category for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.  The call went out from leaders in the medical marijuana industry: Money was needed for a Missouri ballot initiative to legalize recreational cannabis for adults. Their colleagues responded.

Marijuana farms, manufacturers and retailers provided millions of dollars that footed a petition drive to put the proposal on the November ballot and promote it to voters. The deep-pocketed outpouring highlighted the depth of the emerging industry's roots in the traditionally conservative state, as well as its tremendous potential for growth.

All told, marijuana legalization campaigns have raised about $23 million in five states  Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota. The vast majority of that has been in Arkansas and Missouri, where more than 85% of contributions have come from donors associated with companies holding medical marijuana licenses, according to an Associated Press analysis of the most recent campaign finance reports.

The biggest donor is Good Day Farm, which describes itself as the largest licensed medical cannabis producer in the South with facilities in Arkansas, Missouri and Louisiana. It gave a combined $3.5 million to legalization campaigns in Arkansas and Missouri. And when the Missouri campaign needed help gathering petition signatures, Good Day Farm paid an additional $1 million directly to the firm circulating the petitions.

Its kind of the cost of doing business, I guess," said Alex Gray, chief strategy officer at Good Day Farm. "This is something that is a positive for the industry, but its also a positive for the state.

Licensed medical marijuana businesses affiliated with Greenlight have given a total of about $1 million to legalization campaigns in Arkansas, Missouri and South Dakota, according to the APs analysis.

If the ballot measures pass, Greenlight CEO John Mueller said he expects to easily double a workforce of about 370 people at Greenlight-affiliated cultivation farms and dispensaries in Arkansas, Missouri, South Dakota and West Virginia.

Obviously, your consumer base goes up when you go to adult use, said Mueller, a self-described activist who encouraged industry colleagues to contribute to the legalization campaigns.

Provisions in the proposed constitutional amendments in Arkansas and Missouri would give established medical marijuana licensees a leg up in the new recreational marketplace. But Mueller said the measures dont merely enrich the industry.

Its more jobs, more tax revenue  get it off the black market, he said.

Marijuana legalization efforts elsewhere have not eliminated illegal dealers. California voters approved recreational marijuana use in 2016 following a $36 million campaign for it, and the first retail stores opened in 2018. Yet a vast illegal market remains  more than double the legal sales, by some estimates.

Medical marijuana was authorized by voters in 2016 in Arkansas and North Dakota, in 2018 in Missouri and in 2020 in South Dakota. Like elsewhere, it took a while to get the programs up and running. But in less than two years since Missouris stores opened, medical marijuana dispensaries have reported about $500 million in sales.

The Arkansas campaign to legalize recreational marijuana for adults has raised over $13 million, including more than $8 million in October alone, while the Missouri effort has raised more than $7 million. Campaigns in other states have raised less than $1 million each. Maryland's initiative has been particularly low-profile, raising a little over $300,000 amid presumed broad public support.

In Arkansas and Missouri, resistance has come from an unusual alliance of public safety groups, social conservatives opposed to legalization and some marijuana advocates who believe the ballot initiatives are still too restrictive.

The Arkansas opposition is the best funded among the states. Uline CEO Richard Uihlein and Mountaire Corp. CEO Ronald Cameron each contributed $1 million to the Safe and Secure Communities campaign committee. Its ads have asserted that legalizing marijuana for adults will cause a spike in traffic fatalities and illegal use by youths, among other things.

Other critics contend the Arkansas measure is structured to benefit only a limited number of dispensaries, noting it lacks provisions allowing adults to grow marijuana at home or expunging past convictions.

This amendment is not a start, said Melissa Fults, executive director of Arkansans for Cannabis Reform. It is a brick wall.

Missouri's legalization measure  which does expunge many past marijuana arrests and convictions  has drawn opposition from Pro-Choice Missouri. The abortion rights group said it backs cannabis legalization and expungement as an issue of reproductive justice but believes the measure doesn't do enough to address the historic harms from the racist criminalization of cannabis.

A total of 19 states have legalized recreational marijuana for adults since voters in Colorado and Washington state first approved ballot measures in 2012. Those early efforts were heavily funded by wealthy individuals, such as former Progressive Insurance CEO Peter Lewis. Tech billionaire Sean Parker, the first president of Facebook, ranked among the top donors to California's legalization campaign.

But philanthropic funding for legalization campaigns has fallen as the marijuana industry has risen.

The philanthropists who really got this movement off the ground are either "ready to move on to other issues or they dont think its their place to support this movement, given that the industry is now mature and many of these businesses are making a lot of money, said Matthew Schweich, deputy director of the Marijuana Policy Project, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.

Schweich moved to South Dakota to run this year's legalization campaign. The Marijuana Policy Project also is providing staff support for the North Dakota campaign. But it isn't as deeply involved Arkansas and Missouri, where there are greater industry resources.

New Approach, another D.C.-based drug policy group, has directed more money to psychedelic mushrooms than to marijuana this year. It's poured $4.2 million into a campaign to make Colorado the second state, after Oregon, to allow adults 21 and older to use hallucinogenic chemicals found in some mushrooms.

Meanwhile, New Approach has contributed a total of around $700,000 to marijuana legalization campaigns in Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota. As the medical marijuana industry has grown, the organization has refined its targets.

Our focus in recent years has been on initiatives in traditionally red states, in part because that is what we see as the most effective way to continue to move toward broader acceptance of cannabis policy reform, said New Approach Chief of Staff Taylor West.

Learn more about the issues and factors at play in the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/explaining-the-elections. And follow the APs election coverage of the 2022 elections at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections.
Waterloo Region, Ontario  The Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) is proud to announce the implementation of a new Crisis Call Diversion Program (CCD).

In partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington (CMHA WW), the program will aim to connect community members experiencing a mental health crisis with appropriate resources and support.

The CCD Program will see a mental health professional (an Integrated Mobile Police and Crisis Team (IMPACT) member) physically embedded into the WRPS Communications Centre with the goal of diverting appropriate mental health related calls away from a traditional dispatched police response.

Once assigned a call, an IMPACT professional will assist individuals experiencing a mental health crisis by providing tools, resources, and referrals to community agencies, or by assisting them with navigating the mental health care system.

We are very excited for the launch of the Crisis Call Diversion Program and see this as an enhancement to the way we respond to people in crisis in our community. People who are experiencing a mental health crisis often require a clinical intervention that does not involve police. Diverting calls (when appropriate) from the police, similar to diverting calls from local emergency rooms, is a step in the right direction. This exemplifies the collective commitment in our system, to ensure people get the care they need, when they need it, as well as optimal service delivery, said Jeffrey Stanlick, Director of Services for the Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington.

On average, WRPS officers respond to nearly 2,400 mental health related calls each year.

We are proud to further build our partnership with our colleagues at the Canadian Mental Health Association. Having mental health professionals available to respond to callers in crisis not only ensures they get the most appropriate care when they need it, it also helps prioritize policing resources for the most serious and emergent situations, said Acting Chief John Goodman of the Waterloo Regional Police Service.

The CCD program is funded by the Community Safety and Policing Grant and has launched as a three-year pilot program.

For more information about the CMHA and IMPACT, please visit www.cmhaww.ca.

Media Inquiries:

Waterloo Regional Police Service

Public Information Unit

519-570-9777 (WRPS) ext. 8188

publicinfo@wrps.on.ca

To receive our Media Releases, subscribe here: https://www.wrps.on.ca/subscribe.

For updated information and crime prevention tips, visit our Website or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.
Wolfram Elsner: Why has China found a way to peaceful rise, without repeating the previous hegemonic conflicts?

Ecns.cn | Updated: 2022-08-08 08:59

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202208/08/WS62f0600da310fd2b29e70ce9.html

Prof. Dr. Wolfram Elsner

https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/search?q=Wolfram+Elsner

E-Mail: iisouni-bremen.de, welsneruni-bremen.de

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100012128771294

Wolfram Elsner, born in 1950, is professor of economics at University of Bremen, Germany. Prior to that he worked in regional economic development in Germany at the state level. He was also president of the European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy (EAEPE), 2012-2014 and 2014-2016. He has served on the editorial boards of a number of international academic journals, on many committees of heterodox academic associations in the USA and Europe, edited books and book series, published many articles in numerous journals on institutional and evolutionary issues.

Prof. Wolfram Elsner was born in 1950. He is professor of economics at University of Bremen, Germany. He is a preeminent economist and was president of the European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy (EAEPE), 2012-2014 and 2014-2016.

In recent exclusive interview with China News Service's W.E.Talk, Prof. Elsner said that China has worked out a way to achieve its peaceful rise, without repeating the previous hegemonic conflicts. As for the Belt and Road Initiative, he believes that even though there would be problems, the trend is unstoppable.

Here's the excerpt of the dialogue.

CNS : It seems that many Western peopledo notjudge China's development in an objective and fair way. Would you agree? What in your opinion are the main causes?

Prof. Elsner: The mental conditionality in the "West" still is characterized by the colonial heritage. The historical consciousness of most Europeans and US citizens is crude and tacit only, and it reaches back only for 500 years, at most. Their stereotypes are the "discovery" of "America", their mental reach only covers the "Columbian Epoch" (D. Losurdo), and there is only reluctant and regretful acknowledgement that the world is larger than the USA and Europe together with their ex-colonial and imperial systems.

And the dynamics of world history is taking place in South East Asia today. But the ruling forces of the "West" and their dominant media are keeping the average US and European citizens shackled under a media "cheese dome", with highly selected and usual hostile information, namely towards China and Russia and the entire Eurasian renaissance. I have always realized that the average Chinese citizen knows much more about Germany than the other way round. And the dominating narratives in the "western" media has been based on "imperial way of thinking", a hardly-disguised neo-colonial and neo-imperial, hegemonic way of "western" supremacy, making other peoples happy with "our values". They ignore, and are not even aware of thousands of years of highly-civilized historyof China. And the once progressive Greens and some of the Lefts are caught in this mental world view, too. A tragedy that entails the danger that the "West" will disconnect itself from modern world history ...

CNS: In recent years, on the one hand,there has been a scepticism voice against every aspect of China in the western media, whether the growth rate, population census or even the pandemic infection and death statistics. They argue that China is faking everything and is going to collapse soon. However, on the other hand, the western media always portrays China as the biggest threat to the West, China's investment in Europe being framed as "buying out European companies and technologies". How do you interpret these two polarized and contradictory arguments?

Prof. Elsner: This is just one of many inconsistencies in the mental set that the "western" media cultivate. Note that the "western" countries are experiencing a new way of "social divide": between those managers, SME-entrepreneurs, engineers, technicians, scientists and many others, who have visited China and worked there, and the "rest", the great majority regrettably, including the political caste that refuses to accept the invitations of the Chinese government to visit China (and namely Xinjiang).

Also note that the old narrative that a "western democracy" always and quasi-"naturally" will outmatch a planned and regulated socio-economic system has considerably lost ground and will no longer convince most people. And so the new definition of China as not only the "competitive partner" but also the "systemic rival" has come to the fore. I personally consider this a step forward to realism: What else should a nation on its way into a sustainable future for humankind and into socialism be other than a systemic rival to the increasingly rotten neoliberal financialized plutocracy that capitalism has developed into? So there is a flashlight of insight in the "West", a helpful clarity. The point, thus, is not that there are rivaling systems, but what they make out of this insight. Here, the "West" is still caught in its mental cage of ex-hegemony, imperial dominance, "values" supremacy, inability of letting go, and military threatening to the rest of the world, China in this case.They will learn that their Cold War 2.0 will lead into nowhere, if not into war with China and Russia.

CNS: In one of your speeches, you mentioned that China has created a new model of the relationship between the state and the market, and that we should not continue to look at China's primary stage of socialism through a Europe-centric way. You also mentioned that it will be terrible if China totally copies the capitalist model. Can I conclude your opinion as follows, that the rest of the world should not focus on whether China is "socialist" or "capitalist", but rather observer its own development objectively?

Prof. Elsner: The capitalist world system commanded much more resources than this first socialist attempt. However, also, the soviet system had the "birth defect" of not generating any financial surplus that would have given it more room to maneuver. Today, for China, therefore, the global conditions not only are better, and China has acted to considerably improve these conditions for its own development and the development of the entire developing world. But also, China has learned to avoid the mistakes of the more crude early European socialist model, which had remained in a largely real-economic planning, with no financial capital surplus generation. Here, China has made a huge step forward through its opening and reform: generating and making use of the dynamics of (properly regulated) decentralized structures and processes ("markets"), which has hugely mobilized the productive forces, with SMEs and millions of young entrepreneurs, but also mobilizing workers and people in general.

Of course, the "West" was hugely disappointed after 2001, when China had entered the WTO but turned out not to follow the neoliberal capitalist way. Many leftists keep saying, China is "capitalism", "turbo-capitalism" etc. This all have been crucial misunderstandings on both the political right and left. I keep saying that China "has" capitalism and "has" a market economy, but as a system is neither capitalism nor a "market economy" (what ever that should be). I also disagree to characterize China as a "socialist market economy", which is a flawed conception in my view. It is, after all scientific sincerity, in an early phase of socialism  a socialism, though, that we have not known so far, that takes steps, well-grounded through knowledge, experience, and scientific analysis, into new areas, and paves ways for humankind.

CNS: At the very beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak last January, China has introduced a lot of measures such as lockdown, wearing masks, quarantine... The European media criticized those measures as "violating freedom". However, today those measures have been adopted by most countries in Europe, even though it seems to still have a long way to go before EU countries could be back to normalcy. Do you think Europe could have been less arrogant when they looked at China's practice of fighting against COVID-19?

Prof. Elsner: Absolutely. At some point at the beginning of this year, we had a dozen of dramatic reports and newspaper articles from the East-Asia correspondents of all major media in the "West", telling us what most countries there have applied successfully and asking to learn from that in the "West": Masks, tracking, and local quarantining in a proper combination in order to break the virus chains and avoid wave after wave, lockdown after lockdown, as is reality in the "West". (Note that these reports opportunistically focused on South Korea rather than China.) Not that it was not heard, but the "West" has become so much run down, after four decades of neoliberal austerity, redistribution to the top 1%, and plutocratic rule, that it is now lacking state capacity, public and collective action capability, science-following, social homogeneity, and rational political debate. This cannot be remedied in the foreseeable future.

So, there will be openings in spite of fourth or fifth waves, taking into account further hundreds of thousands of deaths, that basically were avoidable. While China reconfigures the global value chains for a more resilient and sustainable future, the "West" is in danger of a complete resignation of the state in terms of health policies, or required economic transformations.

CNS: Financial Times said that the withdrawal of US troops from Afganistan provides further evidence that the post-American world is upon us. Do you think that China has worked out a way to achieve its peaceful rise, without repeating the previous hegemonic conflicts?

Prof. Elsner: Definitely. China has proved over decades, and in fact since the establishment of the PR, that it interacts with other countries in qualitatively different ways than the hegemonic capitalist system, see the South-South-cooperation or the UN-majority policies in many UN-organizations and -agencies as examples.

The BRI for the first time in history seriously industrializes Africa, providing "patient capital", an alternative to intervening, restrictive and prescriptive IMF and World Bank. This is all appreciated even by a number of US-universities and their development research centers. There will, of course, always be problems, given the huge amount of capital invested and number and size of projects. Also, the hegemon still seems to be successful sometimes to intervene, e.g., breaking some traditionally anti-communist countries of the European east off from the BRI-engagement. But the caravan will push along 

CNS: Can you predict that when the 14th five-year plan is finished, what will China be like at that time?

Prof. Elsner: The 14th Five-Year Plan is a most impressive document. Things forecasted there, will, according to all my experience with China's performance, be attained before 2025 rather than later. It is well thought-through in terms of mobilizing grand ideas, such as pushing "Made in China 2025" further, the Dual Circulation conception, which makes China both more independent from malevolent countries and further opens up to benevolent partners, further pushing what I call "Reform and Opening 2.0", with most important pushes in ecology, namely energy mix improvements and CO2-emissions reduction, up to reforms in primary and secondary school education, supporting child raising, better integrating aged and retired people up to improving the relation of doctors to population, increasing life expectancy above the US-Level etc.  I have often presented slides on the 14th Five-Year Plan to bankers, who were interested in green-funds' investments, and they were stunned, as I was before, about the comprehensive approach, and about what is possible in a country and system that truly pushes humankind forward. Note those bankers have been frustrated already about the non-motion in Germany and the EU, concerning the pandemic, technology, IT, schooling, ecology, let alone broader social progress.

After this 14th Five-Year Plan (2025), China will be further ahead of the "West" in terms of climate policies and will be an overall technological, economic, ecological and social laboratory, the world will look upon China with great interest.

CNS: Is the West ready to cooperate with China to revive the globalization?

Prof. Elsner: Basically, there are many experienced and prudent people in corporations, managers, entrepreneurs, engineers, working people in general, who have an existential interest in and would be ready to peaceful and constructive win-win-cooperation. But the question is whether this system is "ready", i.e., capable of comprehensive cooperation. While China opens for "western" investments, including financial investment, the EU and Germany have made a move towards a restrictive "industrial policy", designed to impede Chinese investment in the EU and Germany (although these are at a low level still, and have declined already for several years in a row).

Top-corporate managers have warned against such destructive strategy of an overheated political caste being far away from the people: "China will do without us, but we cannot do without China" (Joe Kaeser, former Siemens CEO). China seems to me to be prepared with its Dual Circulation strategy to cooperate with those who want to and to let behind those who do not. Hopefully the big corporations, making a large part of their profits in China, will clearly and decisively put their feet down vis-a-vis the new German government after October.
The 1,200 inhabitants of the island of Gardi Sugdub are relocating to mainland Panama in 2023 as their land is being overtaken by the rising Caribbean Sea.

Climate change is forcing the indigenous Guna people to become the first residents of Latin America to be moved because their home for 100 years faces being submerged as the worlds sea levels rise.

The Wall Street Journal reports that they will be moved to modern homes in the new community of La Barriada late next year. The move has been planned for a decade.

Gardi Sugdub is one of the 365 islands that make up the Blas archipelago. Most are uninhabited, but 39 were settled more than a century and a half ago by 30,000 Guna, who came from the Colombian and Panamanian mainland.

The other islands also face serious problems and it is expected that many will be underwater by the middle of the century.

Based on current sea-level rise predictions, it is almost certain that within the next 20 years the Guna will have to start leaving these islands, and by the end of the century, most will probably have to be abandoned, Steven Paton, the director of the physical monitoring program at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, told the Journal.

Conditions on Gardi Sugdub have been worsening for a while as the island is only 400m long and 150m wide.

The population of Gardi Sugdub will relocate to mainland Panama in 2023 due to rising sea levels (Google Earth)

When the tide goes up, the water enters some houses and the people have to move their belongings to higher ground, said local grade school computer science teacher Pragnaben Mohan.

He added that teachers and students have to wear rubber boots to wader through water to reach their classrooms.

Lasting sea level rise has been set in motion and will be irreversible for hundreds to thousands of years, according to the bluntest and most comprehensive report to date on the climate crisis.

The first chapter of the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) from the UNs Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the worlds leading body for assessing climate science, was published in August 2021.

Story continues

In a summary of the findings, scientists noted that the climate crisis is widespread, rapid and intensifying  and no region on Earth will escape the changes that are taking place across whole climate systems.

The report warns that sea levels will remain elevated for thousands of years as a result of ocean warming and melting ice sheets.

Sea level rise is being driven by the melting of ice sheets in the Arctic and Antarctic and mountain glaciers which add water to the ocean. Secondly, water expands as it heats up. Scientists have determined that the ocean absorbs more than 90 per cent of the excess heat from greenhouse gases.

Sea levels have risen increasingly rapidly since about 1970 and in the past 100 years, sea level has risen more than in any century over at least the last three millennia. Global average sea level has risen at a rate of about four millimeters (0.16inches) per year over the last decade.

With nearly half of the global population living within 60 miles of the coast, the rise in sea levels is already impacting people in many parts of the world. The frequency of coastal flooding has near doubled since the 1960s, and it will remain an escalating hazard.
The metaverse means many things to many people, whether that be Meta's virtual reality "office," Fortnite's combination of gameplay and social space, or Decentraland's NFT-powered virtual world.

But to Robby Yung, CEO of metaverse investment firm and game publisher Animoca Brands, one fact is inescapable.

"There is no metaverse without Web3, because you need to have that transaction layer so that you have interoperability between content and you can bring it from place to place," he said in a panel discussion at Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal.

"We as an industry are working on setting standards for that," he added. "We've set up some various consortiums to try to address those issues."

Open Metaverse Alliance Says It Wont Let Meta Define the Future of the Internet

Animoca Brands is one of the founding members of the Open Metaverse Alliance, an industry group launched this month that is pushing for interoperability standards in the metaverse. Those standards would enable NFT content purchased on one metaverse platform to seamlessly integrate with another, so that an NFT bought on Decentraland could be used in The Sandbox, for example.

But one key player in the Web3 space has yet to commit to joining the Open Metaverse Alliance: Bored Ape Yacht Club owners Yuga Labs, which this week revealed that it's hard at work on its own open metaverse NFT standards.

BAYC Owner Yuga Labs: Metaverse NFT Open Standards Coming Very Soon

Yung acknowledged that there's a long road ahead for investors in the metaverse. "We have to be realistic that it's a long term plan," he said. "I mean, we're building the 3D internet, this is going to take 10 years or more, probably."

VR a 'big distraction'

Yung, like Animoca founder and executive chairman Yat Siu, is dismissive of Meta's metaverse approachparticularly its effort to create a metaverse centered around virtual reality. "My personal view is I think VR is a big distraction," he said, adding that VR is "just one platform" by which the metaverse can be accessed.

Story continues

Meta, he said, has focused on defining the metaverse as "akin to VR," something that Yung described as "a mistake."

Facebook, Tencent a Threat to Open Metaverse: Animocas Yat Siu

Certainly, Meta's all-in foray into virtual reality has been a costly one so far; last month its metaverse division reported a $3.67 billion quarterly loss.

Main image by Web Summit licensed under CC BY 2.0
President Biden on Saturday rallied with Democrats in Philadelphia and compared Senate candidate John Fetterman (D) to Senate candidate Mehmet Oz (R) on top issues like abortion rights, gun control and health care benefits.

I know Pennsylvania well and John Fetterman is Pennsylvania, he is Pennsylvania. And Oz and Pennsylvania? Look, I lived in Pennsylvania longer than Oz has lived in Pennsylvania and I moved away when I was 10 years old, Biden said in remarks Temple University in Philadelphia.

Biden took the stage at Temple University with former President Obama, Fetterman and gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro (D). The president was born in Scranton, Pa., and considers the Keystone State a second home.

The president said that Republicans want to have a national ban on abortion, mentioning Sen. Lindsey Grahams (R-S.C.) legislation that would ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Biden said he would veto a ban, but that electing Fetterman and a Democratic control of Congress would mean they could codify Roe v. Wade.

But, if we elect John Fetterman to the Senate and keep control of the House, we can restore the right to choose in this country by codifying Roe v. Wade and make it the law of the land. With Josh Shapiro as governor, theyll be no ban in Pennsylvania, the president said.

While addressing crime, Biden said Fetterman will help him reinstate an assault weapons ban, which is something the president has consistently called for as the next step after the signed the bipartisan gun control legislation in June.

Public safety is why John got into public service in the first place. Oz wont do a thing about guns, Biden said. But with your votes, John Fetterman will be in the Senate and be able to help me add one more thing  what I got done when I was a senator  ban assault weapons. Ban them  they have no place in America.

Additionally, he mentioned a proposal released in February by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) that included a proposal to sunset government programs every five years, meaning lawmakers would need to vote to extend Medicare and Social Security.

Story continues

Hes the guy pushing Oz, he says of Scott, who is the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Elect John Fetterman to the Senate, please. Hell protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare and guarantee that veterans are always cared for, always, always, always, Biden said.

Biden earlier on Saturday in Illinois also warned that millions of Americans would lose health care coverage, benefits and protections under congressional Republicans plans.

Biden argued in his remarks in Philadelphia that the 2022 midterm election will shape the country for decades and that the power to shape that outcome is your hands.

Two years ago, you used that power to make Donald Trump not only a former president, but you made him a defeated president, he added to cheers from the crowd. This year, you have the power to make John Fetterman your next United States Senator and Josh Shapiro your next governor.

Biden secured the presidency in 2020 by winning the Pennsylvanias 20 electoral votes, which Trump had won in the 2016 election.

Your vote elected Barack Obama president, your vote elected a son from Scranton president, your vote elected Kamala Harris  the first Black woman  vice president, and with your vote, you can elect Josh Shapiro as your next governor and you can elect John Fetterman as your next Untied States senator, Biden said.

Biden gave a nod to the Philadelphia Phillies, who are in the World Series against the Houston Astros. They play in Game Six in Houston later on Saturday.

Folks, Im Jill Bidens husband, a Philly girl. Shes ready for Game Six, like all of you, he said to cheers from the crowd.

The Fetterman-Oz race is a narrowing, following a rocky debate performance last month from Fetterman as a result of his ongoing recovery from a stroke he suffered in May. Oz was leading Fetterman 48 percent to 46 percent among very likely voters, well within the surveys 3-point margin of error in a recent poll.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
NEW YORK  Max Rose is on an island.

Democrats are clinging to control of the House, but the party has barely lifted a finger to help the Staten Island moderate reclaim his old seat from New York Citys lone Republican member of Congress.

Not that he wants to be associated with the Democratic committee, as he courts the citys most fortified conservative bastion. But like fellow Democrats nationwide, his campaign keyed on abortion in the wake of Roe v. Wades fall  its just not resonating with voters as strongly as Republican messaging on crime.

That leaves Rose in a familiar place: Trailing Nicole Malliotakis, who unseated him in 2020. Rose, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, has prevailed as an underdog before. He was in a similar bind when he defeated Republican incumbent Dan Donovan and flipped the seat in 2018, only to lose it two years later.

This race is neck and neck, and it will be neck and neck until the very end, Rose said in an interview.

Staten Island is the citys least-populous borough and its great conservative redoubt  a home to blue-collar municipal workers that skews significantly whiter than the citywide average. Richmond County, which covers the island, is named for King Charles IIs illegitimate son, and the borough has long seen itself as an afterthought among New York Citys larger boroughs.

That self-perception has engendered an independent streak on Staten Island  one that led to a successful referendum to secede from the city in 1993 (the state quashed it) and has made the borough  which went to Barack Obama in 2012 and Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020  a perennial political battleground in an otherwise blue city. The district, where Democrats still outnumber Republicans, also includes a relatively conservative slice of Brooklyn.

People are desperate for a balance in Washington. Theyre not happy with the one-party Democratic rule at the city, state or federal level. And its quite frankly been a disaster, Malliotakis said in an interview. Particularly in my district, in Staten Island and southern Brooklyn, its more conservative than the rest of the city. Theyre desperate for balance and I provide that.

Story continues

Bucking the party

Rose has been quick to distance himself from the national Democratic party, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom he opposed in a leadership vote during his sole term in Congress. He was one of the last Democrats to come out in support of impeaching Donald Trump and says President Joe Biden shouldnt run for reelection. Rose and Malliotakis both recently opposed moderate Democratic Mayor Eric Adams plan to house asylum seekers in a cruise ship berthed in a Staten Island port.

He ran an ad two years ago denouncing Democrat Bill de Blasio as the worst mayor in the history of New York City, though he is friendlier with Adams, who recently said he plans to endorse Rose.

The DCCC identified the contest as a race to target, along with five other New York seats. But they reckon Roses chances are slimmer than other competitive New York districts and are not directing as many resources there, according to a person involved in the effort. The DCCC did not immediately comment.

No outside groups have paid for TV ads in the race this year, according to data from AdImpact, a media tracking firm. By contrast, in 2020 political action committees and other groups funded $17.8 million in TV ads, with big spending by both the Democratic and Republican Congressional Campaign Committees, PACs affiliated with both parties and advocacy groups including End Citizens United and the center-right American Action Network.

Its been a muted affair this time around  after a bruising ad war between Rose and Malliotakis two years ago when the race drew millions in outside spending from national groups who viewed the district as a prime battleground.

Rose has spent $1.3 million on TV ads in the general election, while Malliotakis has spent $1.6 million, according to AdImpact. In all, Malliotakis has raised $4.5 million for the race and has $873,430 cash on hand, while Rose has raised $3.7 million and has $651,991 cash on hand.

Rose may be flying solo, but Malliotakis is quick to tie him to the left wing of his party  especially on crime, a key issue in her campaign. She has the endorsements of several NYPD unions as well as unions for firefighters and correction officers, valuable currency on Staten Island.

People are afraid to take the subway. People are always looking over their backs. Theyre afraid theyre going to get car jacked in a parking lot, Malliotakis said.

Rose has also condemned Malliotakis vote against certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election, and she has Trumps endorsement in the race.

I shed blood in Afghanistan after I swore an oath to protect and defend the constitution, Rose said. Her loyalty is to Donald Trump. Its not to the constitution. Thats horrible.

But Trump remains popular on Staten Island, where Reagan Democrats have morphed into Trump Democrats, according to Richard Flanagan, author of Staten Island: Conservative Bastion in a Liberal City.

The nationalization of congressional campaigns [means] Malliotakis has an edge  In a midterm election with a Democrat in the White House, Rose is the underdog for sure, Flanagan, a professor at the College of Staten Island, said. But, he added, its not a safe Republican seat by any stretch.

A familiar strategy

After the Supreme Court overruled Roe this summer, Rose pounced on the issue like so many other Democrats. An emphasis on abortion rights worked for Democrat Pat Ryan, who won an August special election in another New York swing district that was viewed as a bellwether on the issue.

Rose has been hammering Malliotakis over her anti-abortion views  including one stark ad tying her to the deaths of pregnant women that briefly earned an age restriction on Twitter.

This is perhaps the only issue on which Nicole Malliotakis has been consistent over the course of her entire time in public life, Rose said. She voted against reproductive rights when she was in the New York legislature. She voted against protecting reproductive rights post-Dobbs decision as a member of Congress.

When the Malliotakis declined to take a stance on a 15-week abortion ban introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), saying she hadnt seen it, Rose showed up at her office with a copy of the bill.

Malliotakis says she supports exceptions to abortion bans for rape, incest and the life of the mother, buts she believes the issue should be decided at the state level.

She calls it largely irrelevant to voters in New York, where abortion rights are codified in state law and in the process of being protected in the state constitution, though she said she is very opposed to New Yorks law allowing abortions up through 24 weeks of pregnancy.

It doesnt affect any woman in this district, because in New York, you have the least restrictive access to abortion. And so, thats not what women talk to me about, Malliotakis said. As for the Graham bill, she told POLITICO she would probably vote against it.

And she may be right. Voters in the district consistently ranked abortion below the economy and crime, according to the most recent polling.

The Spectrum News/Siena College poll, released last month, found 41 percent of voters ranked the economy as their top concern, followed by 21 percent for crime. The economy and crime were also respondents' top second choices, another question found. Abortion was the main issue for just 8 percent of voters, according to the poll.

Rose and Malliotakis have both called for rollbacks to a controversial New York law banning cash bail that was passed in 2019 and has taken dubious blame for a rise in crime. Rose opposed the law, but Malliotakis still faults him for supporting any kind of bail reform.

Malliotakis debuted two new crime-focused ads in the elections waning days. One featured the widow of a slain NYPD officer condemning Roses participation in a Black Lives Matter protest. Another ad has Malliotakis herself accusing Rose of supporting a pro-crime agenda.

Rose is running his own ad slamming Malliotakiss stance on guns, featuring footage of a mass shooting on a Brooklyn subway car and other high-profile gun attacks. Nicole Malliotakis could have stopped shootings like this. Instead, she voted against an assault weapons ban and background checks, the ad says.

The Siena poll showed Malliotakis holding a 6-point lead, with 49 percent of voters choosing her compared to 43 percent for Rose. Independents liked her more than twice as much as Rose, at 62 percent to 25 percent.

Longtime New York political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said Roses strategy could work  but predicted it was more likely voters in the district, especially those on the conservative south shore of Staten Island, would turn out over concerns about rising crime.

Is it crime, or is it a womans right to choose? he said. You have to give the edge significantly to Malliotakis.

Redistricting falls through

A redistricting plan passed by the Democratic state legislature and signed by Democratic Gov. Katy Hochul might have eliminated Democrats Staten Island problem  part of a map that could have allowed Democrats to pick up three seats in New York.

The maps, which a court shot down as gerrymandered, grafted Brooklyns famously liberal Park Slope neighborhood onto the district, as well as the nearby immigrant enclave of Sunset Park. The result was a district that voted for President Joe Biden over Trump by a 55 to 45 percent margin, replacing one that voted for Trump by a similar 10-point margin just two years before.

A Republican judge tapped a special master to draw new lines, which ended up looking similar to the old district, encompassing Staten Island and a piece of southern Brooklyn that is more conservative than the rest of the borough. The final district voted for Trump by a 54 to 46 percent margin.

Rose said he was undeterred by the reversal.

When I ran and won this district, it was the old district. So, lines are going to come and go, just like polls are going to come and go, he said. I have no concern or regard for whatever the lines may be. Were running the same race.

But for Republicans, the 11th District serves as a prime example of how Democrats redistricting overreach backfired. The party is now defending seats across the state.

Democrats tried to redraw the lines to tilt the scale to give the guy who was fired an advantage, to come back to shove him down the throats of the people in this district. And that was wrong, Malliotakis said. Im glad the courts saw it as suchIts a fair map now. Its still a competitive district, but its a fair map.

Anna Gronewold and Zach Montellaro contributed to this report.
Q. How common is violence against members of Congress?

A. Violence used against members of Congress, their staffs and their families is not commonplace but it is not unheard of. With the assault on the U.S. Capitol, and the recent attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, people are concerned about increasing levels of violence in the U.S. political system.

Recent measure of public opinion would seem to suggest that fear is well-grounded. Earlier this year, the COVID States Project asked 23,000 people in the United States if it is "ever justifiable to engage in violent protest against the government?" They found nearly 1 in 4 thought it was justifiable. While the majority reject violence, there is a sizable number who do not.

Kevin Wagner

Americas political history has its share of violence. In 1791, after Congress passed the Whiskey Act, a mob of angry people attacked tax officers, broke into homes, and burned down the home of a person who was hiding a federal marshal. Thousands marched through Pittsburgh for succession. It took a force of 13,000 troops to quell the Whisky Rebellion. Interestingly, President George Washington pardoned two members of the rebellion who were convicted of treason.

Members of Congress have been the target of violence, and from time-to-time Congress has enacted laws and rules to limit violence and protect members. Congress banned dueling in the 19th century after Jonathan Cilley of Maine was killed in a duel with U.S. Rep. William J. Graves of Kentucky. After the 1968 assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, lawmakers made it a federal offense to assassinate, kidnap, or assault a member of Congress. In 2001, Congress started screening mail, after anthrax was found in letters sent to the offices of Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota.

Thousands of people have served in Congress since 1789, and there have been at least 20 instances of attacks targeted against members that can be documented, though the actual number could be much higher. Nine members of Congress have been wounded and five have been killed. Its difficult to be precise about violence against members of Congress, since the members can be at events and rallies where violence breaks out or where violence is near and related. In addition, members of Congress, like each of us, can be the victim or random violence or participate in violence unrelated to their status as an elected official.

Story continues

Violence directed at members of Congress can result in the death or injury to others, including staffers and law enforcement. When a gunman was able to enter the Capitol in 1998, two members of the United States Capitol Police, Pvt. 1st Class Jacob Chestnut, and Detective John Gibson, responded to the incident and were killed. In 2011, U.S. Rep. Gabbi Giffords was gravely wounded by a gunman at a Congress On Your Corner constituent event in Tucson, Arizona. Congressional staff member, Gabriel Matthew Zimmerman and five other people were killed in the incident and another 12 were injured.

Many probably remember the shooting in the summer of 2017 at the baseball field at Eugene Simpson Park in Alexandria, Virginia. A gunman opened fire on members of Congress who were practicing for the annual Congressional Baseball Game for Charity. House GOP Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana and four others were wounded. The game went on as planned and raised nearly $1 million for charity.

Kevin Wagner is a noted constitutional scholar and political science professor at Florida Atlantic University. The answers provided do not necessarily represent the views of the university. If you have a question about how American government and politics work, email him at kwagne15@fau.edu or reach him on Twitter @kevinwagnerphd. You can read past columns here: https://www.palmbeachpost.com/search/?q=kevin+wagner

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: The Civics Project explainer: How common is political violence?
Georgia voters have broken midterm records for early voting, with more than 2.5 million in-person and absentee ballots cast as of Friday, Georgias secretary of state announced Saturday.

The state saw record first-day midterm turnout when early voting opened last month, nearly twice the turnout on the first day of early voting in the 2018 midterms, and registered an unprecedented number of ballots ahead of Election Day.

On Friday alone, 231,063 Georgia voters cast their ballots in-person, a total 6 percent higher than the final day of early voting in the 2020 presidential election, according to a release from the office of Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R).

Nearly 2.3 million have now voted in-person during the early voting period this year, and another 216,067 have voted absentee.

Georgia voters came out in near Presidential-level numbers. County election directors handled that demand with the utmost professionalism. They navigated a whole host of challenges and executed seamlessly, Raffensperger said.

In the 2018 midterms, 1.8 million Georgia voters cast their ballots during early voting  and 2.6 million voted early in the 2020 presidential election.

Nationally, more than 39 million Americans have already cast their ballots ahead of Tuesdays midterm elections, according to data from 45 reporting states and Washington, D.C., collected by the United States Elections Project.

A recent Gallup poll found that more Americans plan to vote early or have already cast their ballots in this years election, compared to previous midterms.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Support Amore for state auditor

To the editor:

Im writing to you in support of Anthony Amore for state auditor. As a business owner, town moderator and former chair of Naticks Finance Committee, I know firsthand how hard it is to run a large organization, and I understand the value of the state auditor. Practice and know-how are essential to effectively carrying out their obligations, and failing to do so means waste, corruption and mismanagement for the people of Massachusetts.

Thats why Im supporting Anthony. He has decades of experience doing audits and inspections, and he knows how to run a large organization. His opponent, Diana DiZoglio, has never even done an audit. That seems like an important prerequisite for a state auditor.

As a moderate Republican, Anthony is the only candidate who can effectively carry out the responsibilities of the auditor without being reliant on the Beacon Hill establishment. Massachusetts needs someone like him to be an independent voice now that Gov. Baker is stepping down. I urge your readers to get out and vote for Anthony Amore.

Frank W. Foss

Natick

Police should have body-worn cameras

To the editor:

In the latest example of excessive force by a police officer during a traffic stop, body-worn camera recordings show exactly what happened before, during and after a police officer in San Antonio opened the car door of a young man eating a hamburger and opened fire as the teenager drove away.

The importance of body camera and dash camera recordings of interactions between cops and the general public cannot be understated. Body and dash cams will improve public safety, strengthen community-police relations and enhance the values of transparency.

Many cities have taken advantage of Gov. Bakers grant program to purchase the equipment. In January, Malden and 64 other communities received grants for body-worn cameras. Even the tiny town of East Bridgewater received grants.

But not here in Framingham. The past administration passed on applying for them, and so far, so has the new one. Its clear the Police Department is dragging its feet, and the mayor who said yes to body-worn cameras for police during a candidates forum last year seems to be ignoring the issue now.

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There are no legitimate reasons why the Framingham Police Department is not required to implement the body-worn camera program, especially with grant money being available. Residents deserve a police force that is compliant with state and national requirements for transparency and accountability, and body and dash cams will ensure that.

If residents feel the Framingham Police Department should be equipped with body-worn cameras, email mayor@framinghamma.gov. He has the power to make this happen.

Jim Pillsbury

Framingham

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: MetroWest Milford Daily News Letters to the editor for Sunday, Nov. 6
Spains J.A. Bayona, director of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, is developing an adaptation of Manuel Chaves Nogales short story collection A sangre y fuego, now considered by some in Spain as the best portrayal by a Spaniard of its ghastly Spanish Civil War.

Bayona is working with writer-director Agustin Diaz Yanes (Alatriste, Gold, Dont Tempt Me) to develop a script, based on the book by Chaves Nogales who died in exile in London in 1944.

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Talking on stage at the Seville European Film Festival, which opened on Friday, Bayona said he had been developing the project for several years and is especially interested in the humanist vision that Chaves Nogales showed in the fiction book.

Written over 1936-37 by Chaves Nogales in reaction to what he called the stupidity and cruelty which lorded over Spain during the Spanish Civil War, practiced by both extreme right and extreme left, A sangre y fuego takes in nine different stories.

They range from an account of Republican executions in a Madrid bombarded by Francos forces and his fascist allies to an Andalusian marquess who sets out to hunt communists with his personal death squad to a militia woman who saves the life of a right-wing lawyer out of compassion.

Though fiction, all the stories are based on true events, Chaves Nogales wrote in a preface.

Bayona said in Seville that he has been in contact with the writers family for some time, and that he got to know the writers daughter, Pilar, who died in 2021 at the age of 101. She gave the director her important testimony and other information for the project.

The director spoke in conversation at the festival with Spanish journalist Gerardo Sanchez, director of the La 2 program Dias de Cine and Charo Ramos, a journalist and coordinator of the cycle.

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Turning his attention to his directing career, Bayona said: When I was very young, there were TV series about Hitchcock or Truffaut or Kurosawa or Spielberg. And I enjoyed them all the same, they were auteur films, and they were accessible films, a description which could be applied to his own films.

He added: Watching began to make me realize that I was much less interested in reality than in cinema, and around it I articulated my reality, I found a refuge. I dont remember a moment when I decided to become a film director. It was always there, it was a total vocation.

Bayona began his career in music videos. It was a school for me. I have always been fascinated by Spielberg and Polanski, directors who practically tackle a different genre in every film they make. So I saw in music videos an opportunity to make my own little films.

Bayona is currently working on post-production of the feature film Society of the Snow, based on the book of the same name by Pablo Vierci. The film, shot in Spanish, tells the story of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which crashed into a glacier in the Andes in 1972. The book tells the story of the 16 survivors on board.

The film marks Bayonas return to Spanish-language filmmaking for the first time in 16 years since his 2006 feature debut, The Orphanage, a major hit at that years Cannes Festival.

John Hopewell contributed to this article.

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Across America, faith leaders have squeezed in some final messages about the midterm elections during their worship services this weekend. Some passionately took stands on divisive issues such as immigration and abortion; others pleaded for an easing of the political polarization fracturing their communities and their nation.

God has no team, Rabbi David Wolpe told the politically diverse congregation at his Los Angeles synagogue, Sinai Temple.

The notion that one party or faction is repository of all virtue is fatuous and dangerous, Wolpe added. God is greater than parties. If we catch some of that spirit, perhaps we can begin to heal the deep divisions that beset our nation and our world.

Less than 50 miles away, at the Calvary Chapel Chino Hills megachurch, Pastor Jack Hibbs was eager to take sides in what he calls a cultural war. In addition to collecting ballots during Sunday worship, he urged his evangelical congregation to oppose a ballot measure that would enshrine abortion rights in Californias Constitution, calling it the death cult proposition. He told them to be wary of local candidates who back it or receive support from groups like Planned Parenthood.

The measure -- Proposition 1 -- is a response to the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in June eliminating the longstanding constitutional right to abortion nationwide. While that ruling didn't affect access to abortion in California, Democratic politicians nonetheless sought the extra protection of a constitutional amendment.

Hibbs said that whether or not California continues to receive Gods grace hangs on the fate of this measure: We must open our mouth to defend the defenseless.

Opposition to abortion also has been an election-season priority for Mike Breininger, pastor of an evangelical church in Richland Center in Wisconsin. Breininger doesnt shy from discussing political issues with his theologically conservative congregation at New House Richland, urging support for candidates who agree the governments responsibility is to protect life and religious freedom.

I dont believe that all political candidates are the same -- some are biblically more righteous than others, said Breininger, who often votes Republican.

Clergy didnt confine their election messages to within the church walls. On Saturday, the Rev. Alyn Waller, senior pastor at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church in Philadelphia, hosted a Black Bikers Vote rally. Motorcyclists gathered outside the church before riding through the city urging residents to vote.

We think that categorically, if youre a good citizen, a good faith person, a good Christian, you vote, said Waller.

In a left-of-center Catholic parish in Hoboken, New Jersey, the Rev. Alex Santora exhorted his parishioners to be engaged on issues such as immigration, abortion and gun control.

"As Catholics we should always focus on the common good and what is best for the majority of people, he said in his homily at the Church of Our Lady of Grace & St. Joseph.

Living in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, I reject all attempts to demonize migrants and immigrants, who have built up our country, Santora added. We should be magnanimous, not restrictive and unchristian.

A few miles from Hoboken, at the Community Church of New York, the Rev. Peggy Clarke, a Unitarian minister, denounced statements by some Republicans, including Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano.

As a minister with a degree in Peace Studies, Clarke has often asked people to reject impulses toward division. But there are many times in life and in history when one side is wrong and the harm being done has to stop, she said.

Using propaganda to convince the public that an election was stolen is wrong, she added. Stopping teachers from educating students on uncomfortable truths about race in this country is wrong.

In Tuesdays election, democracy itself is on the ballot, she said.

Another New York City pastor, the Rev. Jacqui Lewis of Middle Collegiate Church, similarly stressed the urgency of the election, saying matters of life and death are before of us.

Jesus was political. The church has always been political, she said. The question is what were the politics of Jesus, and what are ours?"

Lewis assailed Christian nationalism, saying its adherents posed a threat to LGBTQ people, to people of color, and to women's right to have a safe abortion.

They believe a fake Jesus is coming back to earth to save them, with an assault rifle over one shoulder, his long blond hair held back by a camo head band, his blue eyes lit with hatred for the marginalized, including his own Jewish people, Lewis said.

The Rev. Ingrid Rasmussen, pastor at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, also evoked Christian nationalism and partisan divisions in her sermon Sunday.

We need the communion of saints to fill in the spaces of our disbelief and doubt... to weave a fragmented people together and help us to see Gods new way, she preached.

In Texas, prominent megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress embraced confrontation, telling his First Baptist Dallas congregation he favored the imposition of Christian values in America.

Without specifying his partisan allegiance, Jeffress urged the audience to go out and vote against the godless values -- the pro-abortion, pro-transgender values -- of the godless left.

The Rev. Dumas A. Harshaw Jr., pastor of First Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, told his mostly Black congregation there was a crucial need to vote.

It is our righteous privilege to engage in the process of creating a better society for us all," he said.

A similar message was shared with predominantly African American worshippers at Masjidullah, an Islamic community center in Philadelphia.

As Muslims, we are to be positive change agents in the world, the resident imam, Idris Abdul-Zahir, told The Associated Press. Voting for and working with public servants who have that interest in mind is tantamount to faith.

Voting is a priority, but so is unity at Allison Park Church in Pittsburgh, said the lead pastor, Jeff Leake, who encouraged his congregation to head to the polls: We have the freedom to be a part of the process and to vote. Can I get an amen from somebody?

He advised worshippers to weigh candidates' character  as well as their abilities  when deciding how to vote.

No matter what happens on Tuesday, we believe that God is in control, Leake said

Dan Trippie, a Southern Baptist pastor at Restoration Church in Buffalo, New York, has been urging his youthful, ethnically diverse congregation to support candidates who might seek middle ground on some important issues.

No candidate or policy will ever achieve perfection in this world, he said. We cannot allow our idealized visions of society to prevent us from seeking workable solutions that care for the flourishing of all people.

Members of The Associated Press' Global Religion Team  Jessie Wardarski, Deepa Bharath, Mariam Fam, Luis Andres Henao and Giovanna Dell'Orto  contributed to this report.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Martha O'Brien, 2022 candidate for Barstow City Council District 1.

Two of the five seats on Barstows City Council are up for election on the Nov. 8 ballot, with early voting having already begun. The race for District 1 pits Barstow Community College trustee Carmen Hernandez, a former councilwoman whos spent decades in local government and activism, against Martha OBrien, a licensed marriage and family therapist who runs a local private practice called Barstow Psychotherapy.

Both candidates are vying for the seat held by Councilman Tim Silva, who plans to end his stint as an elected Barstow official at 16 years. Hernandez and OBrien also ran on the 2020 ballot in a tight three-way race for District 4 that saw current Councilwoman Marilyn Dyer-Kruse win her first term with 37% of the vote, edging out then-incumbent Hernandez at 36% and OBrien at 27%.

Hernandez is running on a pitch of transparency, accountability, and wisdom built by decades in which she and her husband, Mike Hernandez, have become known as the locals who never miss a City Council meeting.

OBrien has focused largely on a pitch to meet demands for higher pay from the Barstow Fire union, which has endorsed her, and describes herself in Facebook posts as a pro-business candidate and fiscal conservative, recently featuring in a California Tax Reduction Committee Newsletter with Republican U.S. Rep. Jay Obernolte and State Assemblyman Smitty Smith.

The Daily Press asked each candidate for their perspective on a few points of interest to local parents, students and residents more broadly. The Daily Press previously published the responses of Hernandez, which can be read here. Below are OBriens responses.

Daily Press: Please explain your philosophy on the job of a Barstow City Council member and the relationship that should exist between the Council, city staff and the general public. Why are you the best candidate to fulfill this role?

OBrien: As a businesswoman, I recognize the need to expand businesses in our region to bring higher-paying jobs and better wages.

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As a licensed counselor and psychotherapist, I have dedicated my life and profession to Barstow families and our military to find solutions to problems we face. The families I counsel struggle financially, and Im making a commitment to help our city grow and help our families improve their quality of life.

My late husband passed away in 2011. I raised four daughters as a single mother, and as a candidate for the 1st District, I will use the same level of commitment in using my professional skills to bring solutions to our citys issues by working with my fellow Council members, our public safety units and members of our community.

DP: Explain how you feel the citys approach to legalizing commercial cannabis and vetting cannabis permit applications has and/or hasn't been fair for business owners and positive for Barstow as a whole.

OBrien: If indeed the Federal Government after many decades of debating cannabis fully legalizes it at the Federal level, then I feel confident that we as Councilmembers, our City Manager, staff and input from our community, will forge ahead to make certain that the vetting process will be fair to those involved in this ever-changing industry.

As a Councilwoman, I will advocate for the additional tax dollars generated from cannabis to be directed towards expansion of our public safety units to help enforce the regulatory process.

DP: Explain what your priorities for the Council would be in relation to BNSFs Barstow International Gateway Project. With years of construction, land deals and economic change tied to the project, how should Barstow balance growth with the interests of its current residents?

OBrien: Expanding economic development through attracting new businesses to our community means expanding our tax base for infrastructure improvements, increasing community programs, and meeting the needs of our residents.

As a Councilwoman, I pledge my support in working with my fellow Council members, city manager, public safety units and our wonderful city staff to help push our city forward. We must be in constant communication with our business community who are the lifeline to sustaining public services for our residents through tax dollars and job growth.

We must be known as a city that welcomes new economic investment such as the BNSF Barstow International Gateway Project; we must be pro-business and pro-growth, all done sensibly to ensure Barstows regional presence on the stage of an ever-changing economy.

DP: Explain your stance on the citys use of Measure Q funds in recent years and the degree to which it has and/or hasnt been transparent about those uses, specifically about recent criticisms by some Barstow Fire personnel.

OBrien: For too long, past Councils have ignored the deep-rooted issue in our fire department. When city leadership decided in 2010 that it wanted to maintain the identity of its own fire department, it was up to the elected officials and City managers of this past decade to help find the financial mechanism to ensure the legacy of the Barstow Fire Protection District ... the challenge was presented, and PAST LEADERSHIP FAILED.

HOW CAN PAST POLITICIANS WHO EITHER HELPED TO CREATE OR IGNORED THE ISSUES WE ARE CURRENTLY FACING, TELL US TODAY THAT THEY ARE RUNNING TO HELP CLEAN UP THE MESS AT CITY HALL, WHEN THEY WERE PART OF THE PROBLEM TO BEGIN WITH?

Past leadership told the community and us voters that Measure Q was the solution to an ongoing crisis. Past Measure Q budgets have shown a variety of expenditures that were not related to public safety, and in my opinion, represents a mis-prioritization of spending.

DP: Some residents have accused city officials in the past two years of being opaque or even deceptive on issues such as hefty legal fees, the $2.4 million Marriott subsidy, and the mandatory rental inspections ordinance. Explain where you agree and/or disagree with these critiques.

OBrien: The Marriott project credit is no different than subsidies or tax credits that past Council members have extended to prior development throughout the city to spur economic development. Past councils have extended credits in various forms, and this is just another one of those options that can be exercised.

If we are to compete in a micro-economy where we are truly in direct competition with other cities throughout the region, then we need to have a better understanding of what a city can and should be able to do to attract job growth to our region and the effects of those individual decisions.

The Marriott group most certainly had to pay their development impact fees and any other ancillary fees pertaining to this project; in the end, the city stands to make millions in TOT over the lifespan of this hotel, employing hundreds and providing a destination spot and a staple name for our city.

OBrien: As Councilwoman, working with our County representatives at the Mojave Air Quality Management District is key; some residents have already joined the lawsuit in respect to this issue, so it will be vital for our elected officials to maintain ongoing communication with the various local agencies involved. In the end, we cannot afford to be asleep at the wheel regarding any issues that affect our residents and community.

Charlie McGee covers Californias High Desert for the Daily Press, focusing on the city of Barstow and its surrounding communities. He is also a Report for America corps member with The GroundTruth Project, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization dedicated to supporting the next generation of journalists in the U.S. and worldwide. McGee may be reached at 760-955-5341 or cmcgee@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @bycharliemcgee.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Meet the candidates: Barstow City Council District 1, Martha OBrien
Courtesy of Anita Green

In 2019 Anita Green, a transgender woman, sued Miss United States of America LLC for discrimination.

Green argued the pageant's rule of only "natural-born female" contestants violated Oregon state law.

On Wednesday, a federal court ruled in favor of the pageant, citing its First Amendment rights.

A federal court has granted a US beauty pageant the right to prevent transgender women from competing in its pageants.

On Wednesday, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth District affirmed a previous ruling in favor of Miss United States of America LLC in a 2019 lawsuit from Anita Green, a resident of Oregon who is transgender.

According to the ruling, the pageant's right to deny Green is protected under the First Amendment.

Green began messaging Tanice Smith, the national director of the pageant, about competing for Miss Oregon in 2018, the New York Post reports.

"You know I'm transgender, right," Green wrote in a message to Smith, according to the 106-page opinion. "Your rules seem to discriminate against transgender women."

After Smith responded offering to help Green find a pageant she "would qualify for," Green hinted at taking legal action against the organization.

"I'll talk to my attorney about this then because discrimination is unacceptable," she wrote, the court said.

In her lawsuit, Green alleged she was denied entry to the Miss Oregon pageant based on the organization's "natural-born female" rule, which she says is a violation of the Oregon Public Accommodations Act.

According to the OPAA, "all Oregonians have the right to full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities and privileges of any place of public accommodation, without any distinction, discrimination or restriction on account of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, marital status or age (above 18)."

Lawyers for Miss United States argued that including Green in its pageant would "compel it to express a message with which it disagrees," and infringe upon its First Amendment right, according to court documents.

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"The pageant would not be able to communicate 'the celebration of biological women' if it were forced to allow Green to participate," the opinion reads. "The Pageant expresses its message in part through whom it chooses as its contestants, and the First Amendment affords it the right to do so."

Miss United States is not the same as the Miss USA Organization, which is the televised beauty-pageant arm of the Miss Universe Organization.

Isabella Ilacqua founded the United States National Pageants organization in 1986. The pageant features eight divisions  Little Miss, Pre-Teen, Junior Teen, Teen, Miss, Ms., Ms. Woman, and Mrs.  according to its official site.

United States National Pageants didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, and Green declined to comment at this time.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty

Ukrainian forces are working to force Russia to retreat from Kherson, a key region Russia seized in the early days of the war this year. But behind the scenes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskys administration is plotting next steps for a takeover of Crimea, which Russia has been occupying since 2014 when Vladimir Putin illegally annexed the peninsula.

Tamila Tasheva, the official responsible for the plan to take back Crimea and kick Russia out, told The Daily Beast she is looking to the battlefield and an underground network of informants in Crimea to help.

Tasheva has long believed the main mechanism for kicking Russia out will depend on political factors and diplomacy with allies. But as the invasion has raged into its ninth month and Ukraine has begun to gain momentum in counteroffensives, the military component of the Crimea takeover is upon the Ukrainian government.

The main mechanism of deoccupation is the political and diplomatic way, Tasheva told The Daily Beast in an exclusive interview this week. But of course we also in this strategy of deoccupation, we also [talk] about another mechanism of deoccupation including, of course, military components of deoccupation.

Ukraines intelligence services have told her they believe Ukraine will be able to seize Crimea by the spring or summer of 2023, Tasheva said. But she thinks it might happen sooner.

General Budanov also mentioned that we could deoccupy the territory of Crimea at the end of spring 2023 and maybe in summer, Tasheva said, referring to Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraines top military intelligence official. Its really my belief that we return Crimea back to Ukraine in a shorter period of time.

Ukraine Claims Responsibility for Massive Blasts at Russian Base in Crimea Despite Kremlins Story

The Zelensky administrations optimism about liberating Crimea underlines the dramatic shift in momentum in the war over recent months. Global leaders who fretted that Kyiv would fall to Russia in a matter of days after Russias invasion are now watching Ukrainians make stunning gains on the battlefield. The strategy has now shifted from talk of clawing back territory Russia has taken this year to taking back territory Russia took in 2014, including Crimea.

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We understand that the situation dramatically changed after the full scale invasion, Tasheva said, noting that victory for Ukraine lies in pushing Russia out with its 2022 and 2014 gains in mind. We have had a war in Ukraine for more than eight years, and it has not started on Feb. 24 this year, but eight years ago with the occupation of Crimea.

The timeline for Ukraine to try to retake Crimea is unclear, Tasheva pointed out. But with the Ukrainian military forcing Russia to retreat from multiple pockets of Ukraine, the prospect is closer than ever before.

I dont know at this moment and maybe nobody [has] really concrete data when we deoccupy Crimea, Tasheva said. But its a shorter period than we expected one year ago.

1201973872 Deputy Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Tamila Tasheva Inna Borodaieva / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images

The retaking of Crimea by Ukraine would be a major blow to Moscow. For Putin, losing Crimea would be personal, and could threaten his political legitimacy in Russia, especially considering his popularity ratings surged when he seized Crimea in 2014, according to Angela Stent, a former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council.

This is one of his claims to legitimacy, Stent told The Daily Beast. One of the major claims is that he restored Crimea to its rightful place. If Crimea were now to be taken by the Ukrainians, then that would be a huge blow to his own legitimacy.

The concern would be what the next kind of escalation might be from Russia, Stent said.

Already, following numerous attacks on Russian military entities in Crimea, Russia has intensified assaults on Ukrainian infrastructure, knocking out Kyivs water and power supplies. These attacks show Putin is likely raging about incursions into Crimea, according to Stent.

Putin sensesand the people around himthe reality that their army really is doing very badly therefore, you have this intensification of the strikes on infrastructure, Stent said.

If Ukraine tries to kick Russia out of Crimea, it could run the risk of giving Putin a way to galvanize support domestically for the war, warned John Herbst, the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine.

1429122648 Ukrainian soldiers carry a wounded comrade across a heavily damaged bridge over the Oskil River on Sept. 30, 2022 in Kupiansk, Ukraine. Scott Peterson/Getty Images

A little bit of caution is in order, Herbst told The Daily Beast. A serious Ukrainian offensive in Crimea might enable Putin to rally support at home for his misbegotten war.

Tashevas confidence about planning a Crimea takeover comes as signs emerge that Russia could be preparing to retreat from Kherson, which would be a necessary precursor to going after Crimea, she said.

Russian forces seized Kherson in the early days of the war. It sits just north of Crimea and represents a key component of Putins dreams to create a land bridge from Russia to Crimea, which has been crucial to supplying troops and pushing northwards into Ukraine.

And although Russian forces were able to take Khersonin part by using Crimea as a launchpadits now Moscows only major stronghold on the western side of the Dnieper River.

Tasheva acknowledged that booting Russia from Kherson should come before going after Crimea.

Ukraines Push to Take Back This City Could Make or Break the War

We understand its really connecteddeoccupation of Crimeaconnected to the situation in the battlefield, in the southern part of Ukraine, especially deoccupation of Kherson, Tasheva said.

Some of Russias foothold is starting to crumble, according to U.S. officials and reports from the ground. A Russian-installed administrator for the region said Thursday that Russia may abandon the region soon.

Most likely, our troops will leave for the left-bank part of the Kherson region, Kirill Stremousov, the Russian-installed deputy chief for the region, told Solovyov-Live.

Videos have emerged from Ukraine showing Russian flags had been taken down from the regional administration building in Kherson, according to Russian war correspondent Sasha Kots.

For Ben Hodges, the former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, Russias fate is all but sealed, given Russias poor logistics and Ukraines methodical approach.

As long as we continue to provide them with what they need, to me this is irreversible. The Russians cannot stop it, Hodges said. The only thing that theyre able to do right now is murder innocent people.

But although theres promise in Kherson, roadblocks remain. Rains in recent days have made the approach muddy and slow for Ukrainians, The Washington Post reported. Ukraines military said last week that Russia had moved up to 1,000 troops into the region.

Despite reports of a potential Russian retreat, Ukrainian progress on the battlefield has been slight, The White House said Friday.

The lines have been pretty well static over the last few days, not much movement, White House National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby said on a call in response to a question from The Daily Beast. We continue to see that the Ukrainians are making some incremental progress in the south.

The White House declined to comment on Ukraines prospects of taking back Crimea.

And although the timing is up in the air on when Kyiv will make the move, one thing is clear: Kyivs plan includes cutting the peninsula off completely from Russia once Zelenskys forces kick Russia out, according to Ukrainian military intelligence. Budanov indicated in an interview that a key bridge that connects Crimea to Russia, the Kerch bridge, will be taken out once Crimea is deoccupied.

1243813094 People look at thick black smoke rising from a fire on the Kerch bridge that links Crimea to Russia, after a truck exploded, near Kerch, on Oct. 8, 2022. Roman Dmitryev/AFP via Getty Images

The Crimean bridge is the symbol that will be destroyed. When Crimea returns, this bridge will cease to exist, Budanov said.

Concerns remain that Russia might interpret an attempt to retake Crimea as an invasion of Russian territory, particularly as Moscow has been hinting it might use nuclear weapons if its territory is threatened.

Tasheva doesnt buy it.

Russia is nuclear blackmailing, Tasheva said, adding that she thinks kicking Russia out of territory it illegally annexed is not cause for escalation.

European leaders in particular have expressed concerns to Tasheva about Russia escalating over Crimea attacks. But for those who are worried, Tasheva stressed its not just about taking back territory from Russia. Its about saving civilians, Crimean Tatars, and Ukrainians from Russias brutality.

To deoccupy Crimea, its not an escalation. Its our way for a liberation, Tasheva told The Daily Beast. When I speak with some of my friends or colleagues in European Union, for example, and when they asked me about escalation and about nuclear blackmailing and what we must do with it, and maybe Ukraine must do some compromises we always say no. No compromise.

1243909846 A man rides a scooter with a child in front of an image of a stamp showing explosions on the Kerch Bridge, a key supply route Russia built after it illegally annexed Crimea, on Oct. 12, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Because its not only about territory, because Russians during the years of occupation persecute people, she added.

Tasheva and her team have their work cut out for them. In preparation for liberating Crimea and then reintegration, they have begun working with an underground network of human rights activists, non-governmental organizations, and dedicated civilians in Crimea who can help when the time comes, Tasheva said.

We really work with people undergroundwith activists, with lawyers with ordinary Crimeanswho now live in Crimea, Tasheva said.

The work of sharing information outside of Crimea has been difficult since 2014. But it has grown incredibly sensitive and dangerous in recent months, according to those working with locals to share information with advocacy organizations about human rights abuses, political prisoners, Russian detention centers, and torture.

The situation has obviously become extremely difficult since February in terms of access to the peninsula, as far as reaching out to and speaking with activists and others who are in Crimea, Dave Elseroad, the Head of Advocacy for Human Rights House Foundation, which works to advance freedom of expression, assembly, and association in Crimea and across Eastern Europe, the Western Balkans, and the Caucasus, told The Daily Beast. Its certainly risky for them.

Its a gamble for those who choose to share information about the Russian occupation, so most of it must be done secretly so its obscured from Moscow, since Russia has systematically quashed freedom of expression and assembly in Crimea, and particularly discriminates against the Crimean Tatar community, according to Elseroad.

Four organizations that the Human Rights House Foundation works with have informal networks and are still operating across the peninsula, Elseroad said.

The list of tasks and horrors that Ukraine has to confront in Crimea is seemingly endless. There have been reports of enforced disappearances, torture, extrajudicial punishment, and forced conscription with Russia. There are also reports of Russian authorities placing Crimean dissidents in psychiatric institutions.

Crimean Tatars, a group Ukraine recognized last year as an indigenous people, have been one of the most vocal groups opposed to Russias occupation. Russias crackdown against them has been relentless, activists say.

And as Russias occupation continues, the list of human rights abuses is only growing.

Were seeing a significant increase in number of individuals who are being disappeared, Elseroad told The Daily Beast. The situation got progressively worse over the years since 2022, its gone from bad to worse.

As the fog of war grips Ukrainian forces, for Crimeans, kicking Russia out is existential.

We fight for our people its not only territory, Tasheva said. Its also about values, values of freedom, values of human rights.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Certain places top the list of must-see destinations thanks to their famous landmarks, renowned cuisine, and often-shared Instagram photo ops. But heading to a spot that's off the beaten path and less widely recognized can be equally exhilaratingespecially if you don't have to wait in long lines or compete for a spot on the beach. There are certain small towns in the U.S. travel experts consider to be "underrated" that you should add to your bucket list. Read on to find out which six spots don't get enough credit.

READ THIS NEXT: The 6 Cutest Small Towns on the East Coast.

The Most Underrated Small Towns in the U.S.

1. Thermopolis, Wyoming

Hot Springs State Park,Thermopolis, Wyoming, USA.

Head out west and you'll find an undervalued small town nestled in the center of Wyoming.

The town is named for the largest mineral hot spring in the world, Big Spring, Lindsay Harvey, owner of the Called To Wander travel blog, tells Best Life. It's part of Hot Springs State Park, and the town sits along the magnificent Wind River Canyon and Bighorn Rivera great fly fishing destination.

"With lots of history (including the actual bar where Butch Cassidy was known to frequent) and a world-class dinosaur museum, the town also features one of the best state parks that is always hosting events in addition to featuring a small bison herd and incredible views of the surrounding area," Harvey says.

The quaint and cool spot is sometimes overlooked as it's near both Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park, she says, adding that "most travelers breeze right past and spend time in places like Jackson or Cody instead."

However, Thermopolis is well worth a visit and Harvey asserts that you'll probably need more than one day to see all that the town has to offer.

2. Lambertville, New Jersey

Another spot that doesn't get its due is the picturesque town of Lambertville, New Jersey.

"Although less than 4,000 people reside in Lambertville, the historic town packs a punch," Madelyn Driver, travel blogger behind That Getaway Girl, explains. "Their downtown area is extremely walkable, and features quaint family-owned coffee shops, a mix of artsy and historic dining options, and a variety of shops."

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For those with an outdoorsy side, Driver says to check out the town's extensive bike trails and float or kayak down the Delaware River. It's also a quick walk over a bridge to New Hope, Pennsylvania, where you can explore another sweet town known for its Victorian architecture and artsy vibe.

"Whether you're a foodie, a history buff, or just looking for a fun weekend getaway, Lambertville has something for everyone," Driver says.

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3. Manzanita, Oregon

You may not have heard of this small town on the west coast of Oregon with a population of just 617 people, but Manzanita certainly has a lot to offer, including exploring and hiking at nearby Oswald West State Park or relaxing on the beach at Nehalem Bay State Park.

"Manzanita is usually overshadowed by its more popular neighbors, like Cannon Beach or Pacific City," Jessica Schmit, of the travel blog Uprooted Traveler, tells Best Life. "But this quiet small town has a lot to offer, with an expansive beach, lined with towering pine trees, and a charming downtown, stuffed with yoga studios, an organic grocery market, and coffee shops."

A visit to the Manzanita Winery Wine Bar is another must. "You can grab a glass of Oregon's famed wine and cuddle up around their firepits to warm you against the cool ocean breeze," says Schmit.

4. Winthrop, Washington

Schmit also recommends a trip to Winthrop, yet another hidden gem often overlooked by travelers tucked away in the Northern Cascades of Washington.

"While Winthrop's surroundings are nothing short of jaw-dropping, Winthrop itself is worth a visit, with antique wooden boardwalks and buildings with Wild Western facades lining the streets of its teeny downtown," says Schmit.

She recommends taking a hike at North Cascades National Park as well, then exploring the town's streets. "Check out some of its charming businesses, like the Old Schoolhouse Brewery, an aptly-named teeny brewery, located along the river in an old schoolhouse."

Winthrop is particularly well known for its annual Hot Air Balloon Roundup in March, a festival where dozens of hot air balloons are launched over a three-day stint, creating a gorgeous display with the North Cascades backdrop.

5. Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin

With a population under 1,000 people, Elkhart Lake is a small town in its truest form.

"Elkhart Lake is well known for its crystal clear waters and sand bottom lakes, which make it a popular destination for swimming, boating, and fishing," says Nicky Omohundro, owner and chief content creator of Little Family Adventure. "Hiking in the area is fantastic, with the Ice Age National Scenic Trail running very close to town."

The town is in the "heart of Wisconsin's scenic Kettle Moraine region," according to Omohundro, but it offers even more than natural wonders.

It's home to Road America, a premier road racing course that was dubbed the "National Park of Speed," by Carroll Shelby, a former racer. Any racing enthusiast will be thrilled to take in the atmosphere, and after your visit, you can indulge in a delicious meal at one of Elkhart Lake's many restaurants.

"In a town this small, one would not expect to find such a variety of dining options, but Elkhart Lake truly has something for everyone," Omohundro explains. "From upscale bistros to down-home taverns, there is a restaurant to suit every taste. It's honestly some of the best food I've had on my travels."

READ THIS NEXT: The 10 Quirkiest Small Towns in the U.S.

6. Holbrook, Arizona

If you enjoy kitschy Americana, Schmit also recommends checking out Holbrook, Arizona, in the northeastern part of the state.

"Historic Route 66 runs through this town, and it's conveniently located along some classic stops on a Route 66 road trip, like Petrified Forest National Park or the Barringer Crater," she says.

The town is "steeped in Native American culture, Hispanic roots, and pioneers from all walks of life," according to the city's website. And, even though it's not a well-known vacation destination, it's not one to miss.

"Given its history, the town has an eclectic vibe, with several diners and other businesses with 1950s facades and other callbacks to Route 66 heyday," Schmit says, adding that you might recognize the dinosaur statues situated on every corner.
Asian Americans are widely stereotyped as studious, smart and hardworking. As minorities who have managed to overcome racial obstacles to success. As evidence that affirmative action is no longer necessary  or, even, that it hurts the very types of students it's meant to protect.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in two cases Monday challenging race-conscious admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in part on the grounds that they discriminate against Asian applicants. The plaintiffs, Students for Fair Admissions, argue that admissions officers at Harvard in particular, by subscribing to this model minority stereotype, hold Asian applicants to a higher standard and discriminate against such students in subjective portions of the application process.

Admitted students of Asian descent have higher standardized test scores than their peers, and a 2018 analysis of Harvards admissions data conducted on behalf of the plaintiffs concluded Asian applicants are effectively penalized in subjective ratings of their personalities. Some students have said the perception of these biases compelled them to downplay their Asian identities on applications to Harvard and other elite schools.

But that doesn't necessarily mean affirmative action is to blame. There's a lot more to the issue than that. It's also important to remember that the lead architect of these cases  a man named Ed Blum who is neither a recent student nor Asian American  and other affirmative action critics tend to invoke those same stereotypes in condemning race-conscious admissions.

The argument that affirmative action categorically hurts Asian Americans rests on generalizations about the diverse racial group  that they tend to be high-achieving and well-off.

Asian Americans are not your model minority, we are not a monolith in terms of our communities needs, and can't be used against other communities of color  we can't allow that to happen, said Sally Chen, a recent Harvard grad who testified on behalf of the university in the cases 2018 trial in a U.S. district court, in a recent call with reporters.

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Chen, now a program manager at the San Francisco-based Chinese for Affirmative Action, was a first-generation college student, her parents immigrants from China who worked menial jobs, spoke limited English and raised the family of six in a one-bedroom apartment. Those circumstances fostered Chens resilience, leadership skills and compassion for others  qualities that, records show, bolstered her application to the Ivy League institution.

Having this context made me a much stronger applicant to college, maybe more than just numbers on a page, Chen said. Asian Americans need affirmative action as well.

Affirmative action case: Supreme Court signals skepticism of race-conscious college admissions

Asian American diversity

Among the approximately 23 million Americans of Asian descent, the largest ethnic groups are Chinese and Indian, with populations of roughly 5 million each, followed by Filipino (4.2 million), Vietnamese (2.2 million), Korean (1.9 million) and Japanese (1.5 million).

But the population is far more diverse. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders comprise more than 50 different ethnic groups with varying languages, immigration histories and educational experiences.

Asian American students typically score higher than their peers of other races on standardized tests such as the SAT. Among 2020 high school graduates, for example, Asian students who took the SAT scored an average of 632 on the math section, compared with 547 for white students; the average math score overall was 523 (out of 800). Asian students also graduate from high school at higher rates, and with higher average GPAs.

Given these outcomes, its perhaps unsurprising that Asian Americans attend the countrys most selective colleges at higher rates than people of other races.

Especially in the past few years amid renewed attention on affirmative action, according to research published in May by the right-leaning Manhattan Institute, their share of the student populations at most of the Ivies has steadily grown  most notably at Princeton, Yale and the University of Pennsylvania. At Harvard, they account for more than a quarter of undergraduate students, compared with 5% of the U.S. public school population.

An anti-hate-crime law aims to prevent attacks on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, which have jumped amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the picture is more complicated. Elite colleges are a small subset of the U.S. higher education landscape, just as the Asian students who attend them are a small subset of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in U.S. higher education.

The majority of Asian Americans going to college are not going to these uber selective colleges, said Natasha Warikoo, a sociology professor who studies racial inequities in education and has written several relevant books, most recently "Is Affirmative Action Fair? The Myth of Equity in College." This is true of all racial groups because so few students go to these colleges in general.  This idea that all Asian Americans are trying to get into Harvard just isnt true.

An analysis published in 2020 found that roughly half of Asian American undergraduates attend community colleges or for-profit colleges. In California, home to the countrys largest AAPI population and a 26-year ban on affirmative action, the vast majority of Asian Americans  90%  begin college in one of Californias public community colleges or four-year universities.

Stop AAPI hate: How Asian American teachers are responding to the violence

An analysis of the 23-campus California State University System further illustrates the nuances. In 2016, the four-year completion rate for the university systems roughly 78,000 AAPI students was 3% below that for all students. Only a few ethnic subgroups  Japanese and Asian Indians  had four-year completion rates that exceeded the average, and all subgroups were less likely than whites to complete their degrees in four years.

Meanwhile, a 2022 study of the nine-campus University of California found, for example, that Filipino, Thai, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and Laotian students are admitted at below-average rates and that many AAPI groups, including Samoans and Chamorros, are underrepresented in the system.

Indeed, college attainment varies significantly within the AAPI community. While more than half of Japanese and Korean Americans  and nearly three in four Asian Indian Americans  age 24 or older had a bachelors degree or higher in 2019, the same was true for fewer than one in five their Laotian, Hmong and Cambodian counterparts.

Similar disparities exist when it comes to income levels. An analysis of data from the Common App, a college admissions application used by more than 900 institutions, found that certain AAPI students are far more likely to have the application cost waived for income reasons. (Submitting the Common App costs $55 per college on average.)

Roughly 60% of applicants identifying their background as "Other South Asia"  Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi and Nepali, for example  received a Common App waiver, according to the analysis. The same was true for just 9% of those identifying as Japanese.

SCOTUS revisits affirmative action: But most college admissions won't be affected

Is it harder for Asian students to get into college?

Most U.S. higher education institutions give little or no consideration to applicants race. But at institutions that do consider race as a factor, theres an argument to be made that Asian applicants are held to higher standards.

Some data has suggested admitted students of Asian descent have higher test scores and lower acceptance rates. The number of Asian students applying to elite schools has grown significantly in recent decades.

Supporters, however, say affirmative action benefits many Asian Americans, particularly those who belong to underrepresented ethnic groups or those whove experienced hardship as people of color.

Thang Diep is Vietnamese immigrant and now Harvard alumnus who testified on behalf of the university in 2018. Age 19 at the time, Diep explained that he faced discrimination growing up in Los Angeles, raised by parents who didnt attend college themselves.

Diep argued he got into Harvard thanks to affirmative action, releasing part of his application ahead of the October 2018 trial. His SAT scores were on the lower end" of the Harvard average, but he had perfect grades, the admissions officers noted, and perhaps most importantly a warm energy, a deep interest in the arts and social impact and a truly unusual openness to new ideas and new people.

Its also worth noting that, compared with white students, relatively few Asian students at elite colleges are legacy admits or athletes.

Why do the affirmative action lawsuits focus on Asian American students?

More than two in three Asian Americans  69%  support affirmative action, and thats been the case for nearly a decade. Within that demographic, support is highest among Korean Americans and Asian Indian Americans (at least 80%) and lowest among Chinese Americans, 59% of whom say they favor such policies.

Despite that polling data and widespread Asian American activism in support of affirmative action, Students for Fair Admissions  whose conservative donors have engaged in a larger crusade targeting issues including voting rights  have sought to paint a different picture. They are, critics say, using Asian Americans as a wedge to incite infighting among communities of color.

Edward Blum, founder of Students for Fair Admissions, leaves the U.S. Supreme Court after oral arguments in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina on Oct. 31.

According to Tufts Warikoo, the cases against Harvard and UNC rest in part on this crazy false equivalence.

If youre worried about the personal rating, ending the consideration of race for these other groups isnt going to change those biases, Warikoo said, referring to the qualitative portion of Harvards admissions process. Even if there is discrimination happening, how is removing affirmative action going to solve it?

Affirmative action has been banned in nine states, whose most selective public colleges have seen drops in their numbers of Black, Hispanic and Native American students. Research has even shown such bans are correlated with sizable reductions in the number of underrepresented minorities in medical schools.

Contact Alia Wong at (202) 507-2256 or awong@usatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter at @aliaemily.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Supreme Court examines admissions: Does affirmative action hurt Asians?
Getty Images; Insider

Amendment 1 gives citizens the right in the state's constitution to bear arms.

Proponents say that it will help protect citizens' right to carry and own firearms in the state.

Opponents say that it will prevent lawmakers from passing gun safety laws.

Iowans voted "yes" for Amendment 1 to change the state's constitution to give citizens a right to keep and bear arms.

Ballot measure details

Amendment 1 added the following text to the state's constitution: "The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. The sovereign state of Iowa affirms and recognizes this right to be a fundamental individual right. Any and all restrictions of this right shall be subject to strict scrutiny."

Strict scrutiny is the most restrictive form of judicial review. It requires proposed laws must have a compelling and specific government interest in order to violate an amendment. This would mean that many laws that could restrict the right to bear arms in Iowa would be struck down in court.

Iowa was one of six states that did not have the right to bear arms in its constitution.

Support and opposition

Support for Amendment 1 included the Iowa Firearms Coalition and Republican state lawmakers.

Supporters argued this will allow Iowans to keep their guns with strong protections, due to the strict scrutiny requirements.

Iowans for Responsible Gun Laws, which was against the amendment, included gun safety advocates and religious groups.

Opponents said the measure's strict scrutiny language would prevent lawmakers in the state from passing gun safety laws.

The money race

According to Ballotpedia, $30,798 was raised in opposition of the measure. So far, no supporting committee was identified.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The former president partnered up with popular TikTok creators to discuss the importance of voting.

Barack Obama came to a surprising place to urge more people to vote in the upcoming midterm elections on Tuesday, Nov. 8, and that's TikTok.

The former president of the United States took to the popular streaming platform with a series of videos in which he and familiar TikTok creators talk about why people should go out and vote, tagged with #CreatorsForGood.

A few of the TikTokers he teamed up with include Mona Swain, @monaswain, Harry Sisson, @typical_democrat, Dr. Jennifer Lincoln, @drjenniferlincoln, Indiana Massara, @indiana, and V Spehar, @underthedesknews.

In a few of the videos, Obama joins TikTok trends while trying to give advice and impart knowledge to whoever tunes in.

In Swain's TikTok, she uses the popular audio of the song "Them Changes" by Thundercat, with an overlay of text on the screen that reads, "If I can't convince you to vote..."

View the original article to see embedded media.

Then Obama appears in the clip, and the video states, "...maybe he can! GO VOTE!"

Massara did a similar video with the 44th president of the United States, before also posting a more relaxed conversation between herself and Obama about voting.

View the original article to see embedded media.

View the original article to see embedded media.

In a video with Lincoln, who is an obstetrician-gynecologist and posts a lot of informative, factual videos about sexual and reproductive health and the ongoing political fight for reproductive rights, Obama talks about all of the young adults who will be able to vote for the first time in the midterm elections.

View the original article to see embedded media.

He says to Lincoln, "There are eight million young people who are going to be newly eligible to vote in this election. We can reinstitute Roe v. Wade as law of the land, despite what the Supreme Court did."

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In Sisson's video, Obama pops in to urge people to vote, and you can see how nervous the young man is to be interacting with the former president.

View the original article to see embedded media.

Obama teamed up with IWillVote.com for this series of TikTok videos. The website provides all the information you need to know about voting, including your state's registration rules, your polling place, and who and what will be on the ballot.

More News:
And it opens on Nov. 11.

Courtesy of Vail Resorts

The apres-ski scene is getting an upgrade at Vail Mountain this winter.



A representative for the famed Colorado ski resort told Travel + Leisure the mountain is bringing back a vintage favorite in honor of the ski area's 60th anniversary. The team, the rep shared, plans to build not one but two on-mountain bars made of ice and snow this winter season. And, like any other apres spot, you'll find a fully stocked bar, plenty of seating, and that lively, post-ski vibe  but here, your drink comes with 360-degree views that you can enjoy on any of Vail's more than 300 bluebird days a year.

The vintage ice bars will be erected at Wildwood, at an elevation of 10,981 feet, and Eagle's Nest, at 10,350 feet. The former is only accessible to skiers and snowboarders, while pedestrians can reach the bar at Eagle's Nest via the Eagle Bahn Gondola, which picks up guests at Lionshead Vail Square and whisks them up the mountain in eight scenic minutes.



The ice bars are a throwback to Vail Mountain's early days. And while their exact origin is up for debate, everyone seems to agree that local ski pioneer Bill Whiteford built the original Vail ice bar in 1965 during the mountain's third ski season. Back then, skiers could drop by the on-mountain bar mid-ski, put up their ski-boot-clad feet, and enjoy a drink under the sunny skies.



Courtesy of Vail Resorts

Almost 60 years later, not much has changed. Bartenders will dole out drinks, and there will be a small food menu on hand  although we're betting the offerings are a step up from what was on tap in the '60s. The ice bar will also be stocked with two limited-edition bourbons created specifically for Vail Mountain's anniversary by the local distillery, 10th Mountain Whiskey.



In addition to food, signature drinks, and views, there will be music and plenty of on-the-snow seating, providing the perfect place to rest midday or meet friends for a post-ski drink. Those looking for a bit more privacy can reserve one of Vail Mountains' four snow bungalows, which will be located near the Eagle's Nest ice bar in the Igloo Village.



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Vail's ice bars and snow bungalows will open during the winter ski season, which is expected to run from November 11, 2022, to April 24, 2023. Just make sure to get in your runs across Vail's 5,300 acres of terrain, including the resort's seven iconic Back Bowls, before visiting the bar.



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Read the original article on Travel & Leisure.
The hand of a climate activist is glued to a revolving door at one of the entrances to Schiphol Airport, near Amsterdam, Netherlands, Friday, Dec. 18, 2020. Dozens of activists from the Extinction Rebellion environmental group demonstrated Friday morning at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, waving banners and in some cases gluing their hands to revolving doors leading to the main terminal building. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Hundreds of climate activists blocked on Saturday private jets from leaving an airport in Amsterdam.

The demonstration was organized by the climate activist group Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion.

The protest was held on the eve of the COP27 U.N climate meeting in Egypt.

Hundreds of climate activists blocked private jets from leaving Schipol Airport in Amsterdam on Saturday  the latest in a series of demonstrations aiming to force global leaders to address the issue.

Demonstrators from Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion sat around the private jets to prevent them from leaving the airport, and also rode bicycles around the planes, according to The Associated Press.

A spokesperson for The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, the military police guarding the airport, told CNN there were more than 300 activists at the demonstration.

"As the climate crisis continues to spiral out of control and climate policies are affecting everyone, aviation and Schiphol Airport are profiting from exemptions and benefits," Tessel Hofstede from Extinction Rebellion said in a statement.

In the same statement, Dewi Zloch from Greenpeace said they "want fewer flights, more trains, and a ban on unnecessary short-haul flights and private jets."

In anticipation of the protest Schiphol Airport CEO Ruud Sondag addressed the climate activist on Friday in a separate statement saying, "be welcome, but keep it tidy."

According to Sondag's statement, he shares the activist's sense of urgency and is committed to working towards a sustainable Netherlands for 25 years.

This demonstration was held on the eve of the COP27 UN climate meeting in Egypt, according to The Associated Press.

Biden is slated to make an appearance at the conference on Friday. He is expected to spotlight some of the success the US has made towards reducing emissions and clean energy, per The AP.

Story continues

This demonstration follows a recent trend of climate protests.

In October, environmental activists from two separate groups called attention to the climate catastrophe by defacing famous paintings.

Two activists from "Just Stop Oil," an anti-oil activist group, went viral after they threw tomato soup over a Van Gogh painting at the UK's National Gallery.

Following the Van Gogh protest, climate activists from the "Last Generation" threw mashed potatoes at the $110 million Claude Monet painting at the Museum Barberi in Postdam, Germany.

Read the original article on Insider
Dubai will bring together more than 5,000 experts, thought leaders and decision-makers to discuss how they can shape a new wave of innovation and enterprise for the international financial industry.

Dubai FinTech Summit, scheduled to take place on May 8 and 9 at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, was announced by HH Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, and President of DIFC, said a Wam news agncy report.

Sheikh Maktoum said: The Dubai FinTech Summit reflects the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to turn the emirate into a global innovation hub and a leader in driving the future of finance. With FinTech emerging as a positive disruptor for transforming the financial landscape, the UAE is leveraging the opportunities brought by FinTech to reinvent the financial services sector.

DIFCs ability to create value for companies in the sector by providing them a highly productive ecosystem to accelerate growth has led to leading innovators and entrepreneurs in the sector gravitating to the emirate. The Dubai FinTech Summit will help open new horizons of opportunity and transformation for both the global FinTech sector and the worldwide financial industry," he said.

The summit, to be organised by the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), will see some of the worlds biggest personalities in the industry delivering keynote presentations, sharing their perspectives on industry challenges and identifying opportunities to maximise the impact of FinTech for people, businesses and economies.

Home to the regions largest cluster of FinTech and Innovation businesses, DIFC is one of the brightest growth spots in the global FinTech market valued at more than $135.9 billion in 2021. The global market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.9 percent between 2022-2027 to reach a value of over $266.9 billion by 2027.

Essa Kazim, Governor of DIFC, said: The Dubai FinTech Summit will bring together ideas, knowledge and perspectives that can help unlock a new phase of exponential growth for the global financial sector and FinTech in the Global Economy. DIFC will leverage the platform offered by the Summit to bring together banks, FinTechs and regulators from across the world to further stimulate the digital advancement of the financial sector.

We already have over 600 FinTech and innovation firms in DIFC who are changing the face of the industry and contributing to the economic growth of our country. The 23 percent expansion that DIFCs FinTech community saw in the first half of this year is a testament to the dynamic growth-friendly platform that we offer financial companies from across the world. We remain focused on bringing more exciting players in the sector to Dubai and helping them to access opportunities here and across the region," he added.

The summit is focused on generating tangible outcomes, including reports, strategies and action plans that can help chart the way forward for the financial services industry.

The events programme will feature in-depth discussions across key tracks including the future of FinTech, embedded and Open Finance, sustainability, Web 3.0 and digital assets. The summit will also provide an opportunity for more than 100 FinTechs and Future of Finance players to display their latest technology and innovations.

The Dubai FinTech Summit marks the first time the UAE and Dubai will host a global FinTech event of this scale and size. The event builds on the success of DIFC FinTech Week hosted in June 2022, which saw more than 1,500 FinTech innovators, investment firms, banks, policymakers and service providers in the region, discuss drivers of growth in financial services.
Carrie Pencek woke up Oct. 19 to find shattered glass in the driveway of her dad's house in West Seneca  and her 2014 Kia Forte gone. Police believe it was stolen in a coordinated effort, after someone rigged another stolen Kia's gas pedal and sent it crashing into a fire hall as a diversion.

Danielle Smith's 2020 Kia Sportage was stolen Oct. 13 from outside her home in South Buffalo. That afternoon, after posting about her missing vehicle on Facebook, she learned about a crash of a matching Kia at Suffolk and Easton streets. She went to the scene and found her Kia totaled, having struck two other vehicles. Buffalo police say two people were in the car. They were 11 and 12.

A TikTok challenge went viral. This week in Buffalo, the consequences turned fatal A viral challenge that exploded on TikTok over the summer may now be fueling illegal activity in Buffalo  and revealing a deadly side that has local law enforcement on high alert.

Kareemah Perry's 2018 Kia Optima was stolen July 28 from outside her home in Buffalo. It was recovered with a broken back window and heavy damage to the ignition and steering column. It took a month to repair. The night after she got it back, it was stolen again.

"This whole entire situation has been a nightmare," Perry said.

The Oct. 24 crash on the Kensington Expressway involving a stolen Kia Sportage in which four teens were killed, a fifth hospitalized and the alleged 16-year-old driver facing criminal charges was shocking because of the number of deaths, but the events that led to it are familiar. Law enforcement officials say it was just a matter of time before the dangerous trend of stealing Kias and Hyundais popularized on TikTok, YouTube and other social media outlets resulted in tragedy in Buffalo.

In most cases, the culprits are juveniles, usually between the ages of 14 and 17. They target Kias made between 2010 and 2021 and Hyundais made between 2015 and 2021 because they don't have engine immobilizers. In most cases, the car thieves break a back window and start the car with just a screwdriver and a USB cable. They usually abandon the cars in a few hours or days. Some of the thieves post videos of themselves driving around in the stolen vehicles.

Kia owners in Western New York who have had their vehicles stolen over the last few months are frustrated and angry. They are stunned at how easy it was for their cars to be taken. Kia America points out that the cars are being stolen "solely for the purpose of operating in a reckless and dangerous manner" and that the vehicles being targeted meet federal safety standards. They also say Kia is working with local police to make steering locks available.

Police say they are limited in what they can do. Most law enforcement agencies have policies against chasing vehicles involved in nonviolent crimes. And in Buffalo, where more than 1,000 cars are stolen annually, police say they don't have the resources to do a forensic analysis on each recovered vehicle.

In the meantime, victims whose vehicles are recovered say it can take months to get them back because of a backlog from all the thefts. At least 14 local victims have joined a class-action lawsuit against Kia, seeking damages and demanding the automaker fix the problem.

'I'm really mad'

At first, Rachel Carter thought her silver 2020 Kia Sportage had been towed.

Carter, who lives in Buffalo, was visiting her boyfriend in the Town of Niagara. She said she had parked her SUV in an apartment building lot the afternoon of Oct. 21. They were gone less than an hour. When she returned, she said, "I noticed my car wasn't there anymore."

When they called the tow company the apartment company uses, they mentioned that the missing car was a Kia Sportage. "It's 100% stolen," Carter recalled the tow company dispatcher saying.

About the same time, they noticed another silver 2020 Kia Sportage in the parking lot with a broken back window. They surmised that vehicle had also been stolen and dumped for Carter's.

That Monday, Carter received a voicemail from a Buffalo priest. The Rev. Robert L. Gebhard Jr. at Blessed Trinity on Leroy Avenue called to let her know he had found a bunch of items left in a pile behind the church. Among the items was an Amazon box with Carter's name on it, which he used to track down her workplace.

Carter's sister drove her to the church. They drove past an accident scene on the westbound 33 and 198  which they would learn later was the crash that killed the four teens.

The priest told them he finds either a stolen car or items dumped from a vehicle about once a week.

"Most of the time they just dump the contents all over the parking lot. We pick them up. If I can find a way to get in touch with them, I do," Gebhard told The News.

On that morning, he found Carter's belongings and a different stolen car. He showed the sisters a few other discarded things he has hung onto in case someone comes looking for them, including a bowling ball and a high-end baby stroller.

Carter and her sister started looking online about the TikTok challenge and found an Instagram page that appeared to be local that showed video after video of young people either driving or partying on Kia Sportages. One of the vehicles looked like Carter's.

Four days later, Carter learned that her car had been found ditched in an apartment parking lot in Buffalo's Central Park neighborhood. It was towed to the impound lot  she had to pay to get it back  and then she had to arrange to have it towed to the repair shop. The tow truck driver at first told her he couldn't tow her car because it had no license plates  they had been stolen.

"I started sobbing," she said. She was able to find some paperwork showing that the car was indeed registered and he towed it.

"I feel like I don't have any direction about what I'm supposed to be doing," she said. "I'm scared I'm going to be stuck with this car. I don't want this car anymore."

West Seneca heist

Carrie Pencek said the West Seneca police arrived in about two minutes when she called about 5 a.m. Oct. 19 to report her car had been stolen.

The officer told her he had been in the area since about 2 a.m. dealing with reports of stolen and burglarized cars.

Her car was recovered two days later in the Town of Tonawanda. "Honestly, there's nothing I can do but get the car fixed until I have enough money to get another car," she said.

Pencek said just moved from Ohio and is staying at her father's house. She's in the middle of a divorce and starting a new job. Now the theft has left her whole family scared, she said. As for the car thieves, she said: "It's reckless. These kids are young kids. Where are these parents?"

West Seneca Police Lt. Jonathan Luterek said car thefts have skyrocketed over the last few months. The department used to get a couple of dozen reports a year, mostly involving people who borrowed someone's car and didn't return it. During the pandemic, there was an increase, often involving cars left running or with the keys inside.

A social media trend, a stolen car and speeding prove a deadly combination A day after a horrific crash Monday left four teens dead, another hospitalized and the driver facing criminal charges, Buffalo was learning about the young lives that were lost and the tragic consequences of a dangerous trend spread through TikTok.

"Now we're on pace for almost a hundred, which for us is a lot," Luturek said.

There's a lot of finger-pointing going on, he said, about who is responsible. "Obviously, the full blame lies with the thieves," he said. But they most often end up being kids.

"In conversations with these kids, they fully are aware that the repercussions are minimal," Luturek said. "They're really exploiting the current setup of the justice system."

11 and 12

After Danielle Smith's Kia was stolen from in front of her house, she and her boyfriend checked their surveillance cameras.

At 3:11 a.m., a car pulled up alongside her car on the street. At 3:13, a second car was in their driveway. At 3:17, the car had disappeared.

Smith reported the stolen car to police and also took to Facebook, posting on several neighborhood groups. She heard from several other people who also had their Kias stolen.

Later that day on Oct. 13, she was at the Walden Galleria when someone reached out to her about a crash involving a Kia on Suffolk and Easton. She went to the scene and saw her car totaled and two other cars hit.

She was horrified to hear how young the children suspected of being in the car were: 11 and 12.

"Shocked," she said. "I didn't know what to feel. It's such a loaded situation for me."

A child and adolescent therapist, Smith said she wasn't used to feeling such anger toward children. "It was very unsettling for me," she recalled.

"When I cleaned out the car, I was refilled with anger and rage. The children left behind candy wrappers, cans, clothes," she said. "They were just having a good time in my car that I worked really, really hard for."

Since then, she bought a new Kia  this one with an engine immobilizer.

Victimized twice

Kareemah Perry couldn't believe it when she woke up on Aug. 21, after just getting her car back, that it had been stolen again.

The parts to repair the car were on back order and she has had to pay the $500 deductible on her insurance twice, while also continuing to make payments for insurance and the car.

She feels Kia and the police should have done more to alert people about the situation with Kias like hers  especially regarding the fatal crash last month.

"My hearts go out to the families involved. It's just crazy," she said.

Patricia Starr of the Town of Tonawanda said she, too, was victimized twice.

Her 2020 Kia Sportage was stolen from her driveway on Aug. 13. It was recovered abandoned in the middle of a street in Buffalo, she said. She remembered that her car was low on gas and theorized the thieves ditched it when it ran out of fuel. It took two months for the repairs to be completed.

Then on Oct. 23, just four days after getting her car, she parked it at a lot in Buffalo. Someone from her "Buy Nothing" group had given her a red steering wheel club, which she put on. She returned to the car and drove with her windows down. But when she got home and tried to close her windows, she heard a crack and the glass from one of the windows collapsed inward. She believes she was targeted again but the club may have thwarted the effort. Once again, she had to deal with the fixing the window.

She got a different car instead.

"I'm paying almost $100 more in car payments and I have a higher APR," she said. "I really didn't want to get rid of the Kia. I liked it."

Starr, Perry, Smith and Pencek have all joined the class-action suit against Kia brought by California-based MLG Attorneys at Law.

"More people should take advantage of that," Starr said. "I feel like it's not being taken seriously."
FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. - The beachfront mobile-home community had been reduced to piles of rubble. But as members of the Virginia search-and-rescue team that I was embedded with combed through the wreckage left by Hurricane Ian, small treasures were found.

There were fragile items like glass bottles that somehow escaped unscathed - and sturdier ones, like ammunition scattered among the debris. Faded art. Dirtied clothes. Distinctly Florida mementos like a snorkel and a "Welcome to Fort Myers Beach" sign. A tattered American flag that they carefully collected and folded.

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But the rescuers didn't have a clue about who owned what. Most of the debris ended up in stacks of rubbish to be thrown away.

As I craned my neck and squinted my eyes under the searing Florida sun to watch them work, I couldn't help but feel I was witnessing people's lives being carried away. Millions of cubic yards of debris is expected to be removed in hard-hit Lee County. State and local officials will have to decide what to do with all the trash.

But not everything was tossed. Rescuers and neighbors recognized that for those who had lost everything, finding even one treasured belonging could be priceless. So I set out on a mission to tell the stories behind some of the items lost in the debris.

A boat named Eagle One. A framed photograph containing the portrait of a smiling, bespectacled teenage girl. A nurse's journal filled with delicate cursive writing now smudged by water and sand. Love letters. Tax return filings for Christmas tree sales.

Some of these belongings have been reunited with their owners. Others are still a mystery.

- - -

Nelson McCourry could not find his boat.

Before the Category 4 hurricane razed his new home in Fort Myers Beach, McCourry had firmly tied the Eagle One to a mooring ball in Matanzas Harbor, a narrow channel dividing two barrier islands. When he returned to that spot, the 42-foot trawler was nowhere to be seen.

Story continues

McCourry and his wife had just begun to lay roots in the community, known for its pristine beaches and laid-back lifestyle. They planned to make it their full-time home when they retired in two years. Their boat was a nod to their past and their future: It had the name of their hometown in Pennsylvania scrawled across the white stern, and the couple imagined leisurely afternoons sailing off Florida in their golden years.

Figuring Ian's 6-foot swell carried the boat to nearby San Carlos Island, McCourry went searching through miles of debris, clad in flip-flops as he stepped over glass, nails and other dangerous rubble. One suspicious man threatened to shoot him for trespassing. ("I got a gun in my bag, too," Nelson responded. "You better hit me because I know I'll hit you.")

Then he spotted a boat precariously sandwiched between another vessel and a leaning palm tree. It didn't look like his boat at first. But as he made his way back to a debris-cluttered road, he noticed the name of his hailing port: Skippack.

"Holy s---," he said. "There it is."

The scratched and dented hull sat on shards of building materials. The doors and windows were blown out. A grayish sludge covered the teak-covered interior. The arch that held the GPS equipment was torn off.

The water had probably pulled the nose underwater until the blue rope McCourry had used to anchor it snapped, pushing the boat into a minefield of debris. It's a goner, he thought - far too damaged to even think about trying to repair.

But he managed to salvage some valuables inside: A stack of necessary insurance papers. The boat's registration. And his wife's cherished, anchor-shaped pillow. He turned back to the Eagle One and said goodbye.

McCourry teared up as he told me about how rather than lamenting his ruined belongings, he finds himself grieving the loss of the life he had hoped to enjoy into his old age. Now he is preparing to return home to Pennsylvania, for good.

"My whole life," he said, looking at the piles and piles of debris, his boat now one more piece of trash. "I try to stop catching myself feeling sorry for myself, because I know so many people who lost everything. But it's the life I built for myself down here that I'm going to miss."

- - -

Before Hurricane Ian, Ellie Gressman's high school headshot sat in an ornate silver frame in her 103-year-old grandfather's family room.

After, it wound up nestled in what was left of a stranger's bedroom - several houses and a canal away from Harold Gressman's stilted "Old Florida" style home.

Harold sheltered with his son and daughter-in-law outside the surge's reach. It was a good thing he did. The family soon learned Ian's powerful storm surge had emptied out the contents of his home. Ellie said her grandfather was overcome by stress and grief - and days later he died in his sleep. The centenarian, known as a socialite by his family, was "very witty and silly right to the end," she said.

In the storm's aftermath, Ellie, who lives in California, grappled with the bad news from her relatives in Florida, which didn't seem to abate.

Then Facebook began alerting her that she had been tagged in the comments of a post on a Fort Myers community page.

"I found the totally unscathed picture frame/photo of this beautiful young lady on the floor of what was once my bedroom!" Julizza Gil Suarez wrote. "How it got there with no damages is a mystery to me. Does anyone recognize her? I'm sure her and her family would love to know this personal item was saved!"

The frame glimmered and the glass hadn't even shattered. Amid the wreckage, she'd found the image of a smiling blonde high school girl with thick black glasses and a teal floral blouse.

Minutes later friends began chiming in, tagging Ellie in the comments. That's where I spotted it, too, and I reached out to both women in hopes of learning more. Ellie's mom soon met up with Gil Suarez to retrieve the photo.

After losing her beloved, unflappable grandfather, the picture from his house has even greater value to Ellie - it's a reminder of how much he loved her. As a child, Ellie spent her weekends at her grandparents' house, enjoying family time by the pool.

"It's just cool to realize that things can be okay," Ellie said. "Things can be found again."

- - -

It started with a promise.

A Chicago police officer vowed never to go back to his job in the Windy City after setting eyes on the toasty beaches and emerald waters of Florida's Gulf Coast. But year after year he would visit only to return to frigid Chicago - and his friends at the Pier Peddler, a beachwear store, began taking his promise for a joke.

Then one day in the early 2000s he walked into the Cereceda family's store, pinned his police patch to a wall next to the cash register and announced he had retired.

Customers took notice. Soon others began adding their own police, fire and paramedic patches. Over the next two decades, hundreds were collected - so many that Anita Cereceda had enough to create a decorative trim with them around the shop.

Some represent small towns, others big cities or distant countries. There are unique units, like diving teams. One patch belonged to a New York firefighter who died at the twin towers on 9/11. Many were stitched with colorful images of eagles, crowns, buildings and flags symbolizing a department's role and origins.

"It's snowballed into being an unbelievable collection of patches from all over the world," Cereceda said, "with the most beautiful stories that came along with them."

When Ian leveled the main commercial area in Fort Myers Beach, nicknamed "Times Square," it destroyed the Pier Peddler - and took all the patches, too.

That's until some people started finding the boards Cereceda had attached the patches to scattered around town. One was a mile and a half away, washed against a dock. Another was eight blocks from the shop, resting near someone's fence. The patches on them were mostly intact.

Neighbors who remembered Cereceda and her family's collection put together the connection. One woman found a patch board behind some garbage cans six blocks away and left it on Cereceda's porch. When she returned home and picked up the recovered piece, she sobbed.

Cereceda didn't expect to be reunited with her shop's missing treasures. She's still hoping to find other items she's lost - such as her grandmother's antique, navy-blue velvet sofa.

"Fort Myers Beach right now is one big, huge puzzle that the pieces are scrambled all over the place," she told me, "and when you find a piece of the puzzle you just want to find where it belongs."

- - -

A few days after Joe and Karen Paine learned Ian had leveled their home, he told her he wished they still had the letters he had written her 45 years ago when he was stationed on Parris Island, S.C., for Marine Corps training.

The married couple would pull out the bundle every few years from her bedside table and read them together, laughing at their youthful naivete.

They hadn't looked at the letters anytime recently, and now they were gone. Their white-and-sea-foam-green beachfront cottage had floated away in the storm, leaving only a few salvageable items in its wake. Joe found Karen's heart-shaped locket with her parents' ashes beneath the debris. Also discovered in perfect condition was a plate their daughter made when she was 7, and a mug she gave Karen when they moved to Florida.

Everything they were able to salvage fit in an RV that they moved to Bonita Springs. The letters, as a well as a cross-shaped necklace Karen's mother always wore and one of his service medals were nowhere to be found.

One block away, Nikki Barrett's yard was cluttered with items she didn't recognize. Her porch had turned into a net of sorts, and debris was piled along a line of bamboo trees. Her neighbors looked through the stacks for their lost belongings.

Barrett knew anything that didn't get scooped up was destined for the garbage, so she searched for what might be traceable to owners. She spotted the letters, jewelry and a service medal. The pile of yellowing envelopes - bound by a blue shoelace and addressed to a Karen Maher from an officer in the Marine Corps - felt special.

Barrett figured Maher might be Karen's maiden name and searched for her with Joe's last name. That turned up a Karen Paine who lived in Fort Myers Beach. Through Facebook, they were able to connect - just days after Joe had told Karen how much he missed the letters.

"People have been so kind, and they say, 'Oh my gosh, it's devastating you lost your home,' and it is, but it's items like that that really weigh on you," Karen said. "We can get more furniture, we can get another refrigerator and all of that stuff. But there are some things you can't replace."

- - -

It was caked in the gray sludge that matted San Carlos Island after the storm surge retreated, but the black leather-bound notebook looked important.

I called out to colleague and photojournalist Michael Robinson Chavez, who was documenting the scene and looked up to see a man walking toward us. I quickly picked up the notebook before I lost its place and walked toward Jeff Parce to introduce myself.

I showed him the journal I had found near his home, but he didn't recognize it. He agreed it looked like it had personal value. The entries were carefully organized by alphabet-labeled dividers, notes scrawled in every available space. Surely it didn't deserve to be collected for the dump.

I saw a name written on the first page: Carolyn.

As Parce and I talked about the belongings we had come across in the rubble, we walked along the RV lot beside him, where the water had pushed homes yards away and into Hurricane Bay. There was other stuff that looked significant, too: A tax form documenting the sale of Christmas trees in December 1986. A photograph of a smiling man and woman, their names etched on the back.

As I left Fort Myers, the journal continued to tug at my curiosity.

I described it to my step-grandmother, Barbara Williams, the next day. A retired emergency-room physician from Atlanta, she immediately recognized its value. She had two similar journals of her own. Doctors and nurses filled notebooks like this with all the information they couldn't look up on computers, such as symptoms for common conditions and numbers and directions to other local hospitals. The "Peripheral Brain," they called it.

My grandmother kept hers - one black, the other navy blue - neatly preserved, stored safely in the back of her closet since she retired in 1997. Whoever owned this notebook had probably done the same for as many years.

"You need to find the owner," she said.

I posted photos of the journal and a description of where I had found it on local Facebook groups. One page, Hurricane Ian's Lost Treasures, specifically aims to reconnect people with their missing belongings, and it disseminated my post.

Meanwhile, I began searching for clues within the journal's pages with help from The Washington Post's dogged research team. A page toward the middle had a list of hospitals in the Kansas City area. I tried calling some of the numbers but found they were disconnected or belonged to different users. Carolyn could have worked in Missouri or Kansas before the advent of portable computers, retiring to Florida later in life with a treasured journal stowed away.

Pulitzer Prize-winning Post researcher Alice Crites checked in Missouri and Kansas for nonactive medical licenses of doctors named Carolyn and matched them with voter registrations for Fort Myers Beach. Nothing came back. She then ran voter registration records for Fort Myers Beach that also have a residential address in Missouri. The one result was not a doctor. I scanned Facebook and LinkedIn for likely profiles, but none appeared to match.

Still bent on finding Carolyn, I reached out to the Kansas State Nurses Association, which confirmed the first phone numbers marked in the journal probably belonged to Johnson County's emergency response system but couldn't tell me who the owner might be.

A month after I started my search, Carolyn is still a mystery - and her notebook, one more belonging adrift after the storm.

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By Michael Taylor

KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A new alliance of rainforest nations - sought by Brazil's President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva - could be key to unlocking conservation funding and bolstering a flagging global forest pact at the COP27 climate summit, environmentalists say.

Before narrowly winning Brazil's run-off election vote on Oct. 30, Lula began reaching out to Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) about forming a united front of tropical forest countries, according to a top aide of the leftist leader.

In the run-up to the COP27 U.N. climate summit, taking place in Egypt from Nov. 6-18, green groups urged Brazil and other forest nations to team up to increase their bargaining power during talks with potential donors over rainforest protection.

"An alliance of countries such as Brazil, Indonesia and the DRC - who all face similar threats - can put pressure on richer countries to accelerate efforts to stop deforestation," said Annisa Rahmawati, head of Indonesian conservation group Satya Bumi, noting Lula's pledge to put forest protection at the heart of his economic plans and policies.

Cutting down forests has major implications for global goals to curb planetary warming, as trees absorb about a third of the climate-heating carbon emissions produced worldwide, but release the carbon they store when they rot or are burned.

Forests also provide food and livelihoods, clean the air and water, support human health, are an essential habitat for wildlife, regulate rainfall and offer flood protection.

But as forest-rich countries grapple with energy and food price pressures linked to Russia's war on Ukraine, on top of fiscal pain from the COVID-19 pandemic, tapping into natural resources is seen by many as a solution.

Last year, an area of tropical forest the size of the Netherlands was lost, according to monitoring service Global Forest Watch, with Brazil seeing the highest rates of deforestation.

Story continues

Lula hopes to turn that around, promising in his election victory speech to tackle the illegal logging, mining and land-grabbing that have driven surging Amazon deforestation over the past four years under far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.

"Having such a strong voice (like Lula) in any future alliance would amplify and accelerate efforts to shift to just and climate-friendly economic development, while ensuring our forests remain standing," said Rahmawati.

NORWAY CASH RETURNS

Brazil, Indonesia and the DRC were among more than 140 nations that agreed to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030 at last year's COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

The deal, which has seen slow progress so far, was underpinned by $19 billion in public and private funding commitments to invest in protecting and restoring forests.

Since then, Germany has pledged 1.5 billion euros ($1.5 billion) per year in international biodiversity finance, while Norway agreed a new funding pact with Indonesia to cut its carbon emissions by conserving the rainforest - potentially opening the door to more support from other donors.

Norway's environment minister said in a social media post this week that it is also set to resume a deal to pay Brazil for results in Amazon forest protection, frozen after destruction of the world's largest rainforest soared under Bolsonaro.

Carbon markets, meanwhile - which are another tool to slow deforestation - have been hampered by low prices, said James Deutsch, CEO at Rainforest Trust, a U.S.-based nonprofit.

If the three most important potential government sellers of forest carbon credits join forces, however, that could help boost the price paid per tonne of avoided CO2 emissions, he added.

"It is an intriguing and potentially powerful strategy to increase monetary flows, reduce deforestation, and slow climate change," he said.

The three countries also have a tremendous amount to teach the world on forest conservation, said Amy Duchelle, a senior forestry officer at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

Brazil was the climate-change success story of the early 2000s when its government - led then by Lula - slashed deforestation rates in the Amazon, she said.

"Indonesia has (also) shown recent success in reducing deforestation," noted Duchelle, adding that there is a huge opportunity for these countries to lead by example and demand more forest-friendly policies from other governments.

SHARED CHALLENGES

Another positive factor in forging a new rainforest alliance is that net-zero targets and climate action are far stronger than ten years ago, when a first effort to form such a partnership failed, said Rod Taylor, global director for forests at the World Resources Institute, a Washington-based think-tank.

There could now be a larger pool of finance and political momentum for the three countries to tap into "if they play their cards right", he added.

But enforcing forest protection laws in remote areas is a problem for all three, conservationists said, while Bolsonaro's allies form the largest bloc in Brazil's Congress, which could hinder Lula's policy push.

Toerris Jaeger, executive director of the Oslo-based Rainforest Foundation Norway, said the potential partners "face many of the same issues", including how to monitor deforestation, stop illegal activity and support forest peoples.

Other forest nations - like Colombia - could also take part in talks and join any new alliance at COP27 to create a "more robust and effective" coalition, he added.

"Done right, collaboration and exchange of experience between rainforest countries can help in tackling deforestation," Jaeger said.

($1 = 1.0227 euros)

Originally published at:

(Reporting by Michael Taylor; Editing by Megan Rowling. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters. Visit https://www.context.news/)
Several Georgians running for office have visited the Augusta area to raise support ahead of the midterm elections, except for Gov. Brian Kemp. But with just a few days left before Nov. 8, the governor stopped in Evans to rally voters and discuss the highlights of his platform.

The local Republican parties put together a "Breakfast with Brian Kemp" Saturday morning under the pavilion at Evans Towne Center Park. Around 100 people enjoyed breakfast biscuits as they talked to and shook hands with Kemp. Many were dressed in Republican red complimented by Georgia Bulldog red fan gear in preparation of UGA's game against the Tennessee Volunteers later that day. Kemp did his own pumping up by shouting "Go Dawgs!" during the start and end of his speech, and his supporters joked that he was anxious to get back to Athens.

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After a very brief introduction by Augusta businessman Don Grantham and State Rep. Jodi Lott, Kemp explained how they are working hard to make sure Stacey Abrams does not become governor. A large chunk of his speech involved criticizing Democrats, particularly Abrams, emphasizing that, come Election Day, "We wouldn't move off kilter a little bit if we don't turn out Tuesday. It'll be a complete 180."

On election reform, Kemp took pride in passing Senate Bill 202, calling it "the strongest elections integrity act in the country that makes it easy to vote and hard to cheat despite Stacey Abrams and President Biden and the woke corporate CEO's and Major League Baseball all crying 'Foul!' They struck out."

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp addresses the crowd at a campaign stop in Evans Towne Center Park on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. Kemp met with voters and encouraged people to turn out to the polls next week.

The latter portion of his statement referred to MLB moving its All-Star Game out of Atlanta in reaction to the bill's passing in 2021. Many have considered it a very restrictive piece of legislation that creates barriers for voters of color.

Story continues

A couple other topics Kemp did a compare-contrast of include school operations during the COVID-19 pandemic and law enforcement. On the former, he called out Abrams for fighting against his efforts to bring students back to in-person education last year. On the latter, he promised that, if re-elected, he would support and never defund the police, while Abrams wants to defund them. Kemp criticized Abrams of this before at the last gubernatorial debate on Oct. 30, during which Abrams denied the accusation and declared her support for law enforcement.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp takes questions from the media after a campaign stop in Evans Towne Center Park on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. Kemp met with voters and encouraged people to turn out to the polls next week.

Abrams has also been very critical of her opponent, especially during her last visit to Augusta on Oct. 27. One issue she raised there and at other events was Kemp's failure to expand medicaid. When asked about this, the governor called medicaid "a broken government program" and "that's why we did two waivers to expand medicaid for certain populations but also to provide a pathway where they can get on an affordable private sector plan."

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp greets supporters at a campaign stop in Evans Towne Center Park on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. Kemp met with voters and encouraged people to turn out to the polls next week.

That waiver plan was initially approved under the Trump Administration, but it was blocked by Biden's last summer until a judge ruled that Georgia could proceed. Kemp said he looks forward to putting their plan into action, but that this issue speaks to an overarching problem.

"Stacey Abrams wants government to control everything in your life," he said. "She wants to control every decision you make, whether you get vaccinated or not, whether you wear a mask or not, and I do not. I trust the people over the government. She trusts the government more than the people, and that really sums up what this race is all about."

After the breakfast ended, The Augusta Chronicle asked local supporters about their thoughts on Kemp.

"The state's definitely headed in the right direction and we don't need someone like Stacey Abrams," George Bratcher said.

Jim Gillam said Kemp has displayed strong leadership.

"True, strong, conservative leadership," Gillam said. "Even when both sides were kind of coming at him, you could see that strong leadership. He did what he thought was right for the citizens of Georgia, and as a military vet and retiree, you can't ask for anything more in a governor: to tell you what he means, he means what he says, and he does what he says."

Kemp has two more stops on his tour ahead of the election, including a lunch at the Outback Steakhouse in Ringgold on Sunday and a rally with other statewide candidates Monday afternoon at the Cobb County International Airport in Kennesaw.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Brian Kemp talks accomplishments, Stacey Abrams issues at Evans rally
BEIRUT (AP)  Scores of Syrian refugees headed home Saturday from eastern Lebanon in the second convoy in less than two weeks as Beirut attempts to organize a mass refugee return to the war-torn country.

Lebanons state-run National News Agency said the voluntary return Saturday included 330 Syrians who left from the eastern Bekaa Valley to Syrias western Qalamoun region. Qalamoun borders Lebanon and years ago witnessed some of the worst fighting of Syrias 11-year conflict.

On Oct. 26, some 500 refugees returned to Syria, becoming the first group to return home in more than two years.

After living in Lebanon for years, many Syrian refugees have decided to go back home after being affected by the countrys historic three-year economic meltdown that pushed three-quarters of Lebanese into poverty. Since the economic crisis began in late 2019, some Lebanese politicians have blamed the refugees for the crisis.

Lebanon has given shelter to more than 1 million Syrian refugees but many claim the number is far higher. The U.N. refugee agency has registered about 825,000 Syrians but stopped counting them in 2015 at the request of Lebanese authorities. Earlier this year, officials touted a plan to return 15,000 refugees a month, which has so far failed to materialize.

In 2018, Lebanon began organizing voluntary return trips. Syrians would register to go back, then the list would be run by Syrian security officials to see if anyone on it was wanted for arrest or deemed a security threat to Damascus. Those names would be rejected and the original list whittled down to final names.

The returnees represent just a tiny fraction of the massive population of refugees who remain in Lebanon as the United Nations maintains that Syria is not safe for mass returns.

The returnees have received guarantees from the Lebanese and Syrian authorities to return, Lebanons caretaker Social Affairs Minister Hector Hajjar told reporters near the Syrian border on Saturday. He added that the international community should encourage such returns and if not then they should be neutral in this case.

The trips back were halted in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. At that point, some 21,000 refugees had returned to Syria this way, according to Lebanese officials. UNHCR says at least 76,500 Syrian refugees returned voluntarily from Lebanon since 2016, some in government-organized trips and some on their own.

Syrias conflict that began in March 2011 has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced half the countrys pre-war population of 23 million.
Candidates are making last-ditch efforts to sway undecided voters in the last few days before the Nov. 8 election, with the current and former presidents lending their voices to campaign rallies.

On Sunday, President Joe Biden visited to Westchester County, N.Y., to campaign with Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. She is in a tightening race against Republican challenger Lee Zeldin.

It comes a day after he joined former President Barack Obama for rallies in Pennsylvania, where former Republican President Donald Trump campaigned, as well.

Amid the campaigning, two incidents added to the tension on Sunday, one in Manhattan and one in Phoenix.

A bomb scare at an early voting site in East Harlem temporarily stopped voting, though NYPD said the threat was not related to the election. Voting resumed after a brief delay.

In Phoenix, law enforcement on was investigating after envelopes containing white powder arrived at the campaign office of GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.

A handful of races will determine which party controls both congressional chambers. While Republicans are expected to take over the House of Representatives, the Senate is a toss-up.

Stay in the conversation on politics: Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter

Georgia isn't a 'lost cause,' civil rights leader says

As Democrats look to block a predicted red wave for Republicans on Tuesday, Georgia will once again be in the spotlight.

In the gubernatorial race, Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams is trailing Republican incumbent Brian Kemp, who holds a comfortable lead in most public surveys.

Georgia could also be the linchpin once again for who controls the Senate, as Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock is in a dead heat with Republican challenger Herschel Walker.

Mawuli Davis, an Atlanta-based civil rights attorney, said despite the polling national observers shouldnt count out the Peach State yet.

Georgia is not a lost cause, he said. In fact, we think there's a real possibility were going to really shock those who think that there's going to be this wave.

Story continues

Davis is chairman of Black Man Lab, a civic group that has hosted multiple conversations with African American male voters who could be critical if Abrams and Warnock want to win.

Weve said it everywhere we've gone, Davis said. There has been a lot said about Black men, but Black men have not been given the opportunity to say enough.

Roughly four dozen attended Sundays discussion, which focused on what they would tell Abrams or Kemp is most important to them. Several expressed how Abrams campaign has a specific Black male agenda and has done more to speak to their concerns. They praised her for speaking to the group a few months ago and pointed out how Kemp hadnt.

Other participants said while Abrams would be their choice for governor, a cocktail of President Joe Bidens low approval, economic woes, and disinformation on social media has fueled a backlash against Democrats.

Ive been doing fathers rights work for several years and Ive never had so many Black individuals wanting to vote red but they have no idea why  theyre doing it purely out of anger, said Caleb Platel, 44, of Atlanta, a former Republican who attended Sundays meeting.

 Phillip M. Bailey

Bill Clinton urges voters in Vegas: 'This is not rocket science'

LAS VEGAS  Speaking to a crowd of union workers a few miles east of the Las Vegas strip, former President Bill Clinton ticked off the issues he said are top of mind for many voters: inflation, unemployment, and gas prices.

But he said fear of short-term pain shouldnt drive elections, criticizing Republican candidates and voters he called right now people unwilling to look beyond their own immediate desires.

This is not rocket science. And Ive reached the age where the thing I care the most about is the world my grandchildren live in, Clinton, 76, said. You dont have to reward the right now people who are going to make it worse.

Clinton made two stops in Las Vegas Sunday on behalf of Democratic Senate candidate Catherine Cortez Masto, the incumbent, facing a tough reelection against a Republican challenger Adam Laxalt.

 Trevor Hughes

Former President Bill Clinton speaks at a rally outside Las Vegas on behalf of U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and other Democratic candidates during the 2022 midterm elections.

Sen. Bernie Sanders rallies Pennsylvania vote

PHILADELPHIA  Sen. Bernie Sanders took a Philadelphia stage about 36 hours before polls open at 7 a.m. Tuesday in Pennsylvania and told the crowd he knows midterm elections are not all that sexy  mainly because theyre not presidential elections.

But I want to tell you that which party controls the U.S. House and U.S. Senate is of enormous consequence, said Sanders, who has been in Congress since 1991.

This election is about a womans right to choose what to do with her body, whether children and grandchildren will live on a healthy planet, saving American democracy and helping people who are living paycheck to paycheck, he said.

Our people have a right to live with security and decency and have a decent standard of living, Sanders said.

 Candy Woodall

Will young voters turn out in droves?

While waiting for Sen. Bernie Sanders to take the stage in Philadelphia Sunday night, Amanda Wilgus, 22, explained why the 81-year-old senator is the right person to rally the youth vote in the remaining hours before Election Day.

Were still fighting for things now that he was fighting for when he was our age, said Wilgus, a graduate student at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Hes never forgotten what its like to be our age and struggle.

Despite his advantages as a senator, Sanders understands the struggles of young people who have to choose between student loans and home loans, concerns about a climate crisis and wage inequality, Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez, NextGen America president, told USA TODAY before the Sanders rally.

NextGen works to mobilize young voters, and she said shes concerned complacency may mean young voters wont turn out as strongly as they did in 2018 when they helped Democrats win Congress.

She and NextGen are working to rally the vote by holding Sanders rallies in battleground states, and reaching out to voters wherever they are, Tzintzun Ramirez said. On Tuesday, theyll find out if their efforts have worked.

Wilgus said abortion rights and gun violence are the top two concerns among young voters she has talked to this year.

Its been a rough couple of years, she said, referring to a period of time when the country is still reeling from a pandemic, Jan. 6 insurrection, inflation, and the reversal of federal abortion rights. Our vote is our chance to do something about it.

 Candy Woodall

Phoenix officials investigate powder mailed to Lake's headquarters

PHOENIX  Authorities are investigating after an envelope containing a white substance was discovered by staff at GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake's campaign headquarters Saturday.

Ross Trumble, a spokesperson for the Lake campaign, confirmed that a member of the campaign staff opened an envelope delivered to the office that contained "suspicious white powder."

"It was one of two envelopes that were confiscated by law enforcement and sent to professionals at Quantico for examination, and we are awaiting details," Trumble said, referrencing the FBI's crime lab in Virginia.

 Ellie Willard and Lillian Boyd, Arizona Republic

The exterior of Kari Lake's campaign office located in a multi-suite building in Phoenix on Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022.

Flurry of campaigning in Wisconsin

While the issues of the economy, inflation and abortion rights have been driving voters to the polls across both parties, inflation could cost the Democrats the midterms  including losing both the House and Senate to the GOP.

With polls tight and the big two races going down to the wire, Wisconsin's campaign trail was crammed over the weekend as Republicans and Democrats rallied volunteers for critical get-out-the-vote operations ahead of Tuesday's election.

The candidates also gave their closing arguments, with Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and his Democratic rival, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes offering distinct messages to voters who for months have been pummeled with tens of millions of dollars in television ads in a race that could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican businessman Tim Michels also detailed the stakes in their race for governor's mansion  the most expensive gubernatorial race in the nation and in the history of the state. Read more here.

 Bill Glauber and Molly Beck, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Yard signs for Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., line the parking lot before a campaign rally on Nov. 6, 2022 in Madison, Wisconsin. Johnson is campaigning for reelection in a tight race against his Democratic challenger Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes in the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 8.

How long will it take for Pennsylvania results?

Though it is unlikely the closest races will be called in Pennsylvania on Election Day, the country probably wont be waiting as long for the commonwealths results as it did in 2020.

The areas that didnt finish counting until Saturday two years ago are predicting theyll be finished on Wednesday this year.

Thats the takeaway after reports from Acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman and election directors in Pennsylvanias biggest counties.

In 2020, it took four days of counting mail-in ballots before Joe Biden won the presidential contest in Pennsylvania, with the states 20 electoral votes sending him to the White House.

Election officials are not anticipating the wave of mail-in votes this year, and midterms tend not to yield as high of a turnout as presidential years. But the mailed ballots that come in cannot be opened until Election Day, according to Pennsylvania law.

This delay does not mean anything nefarious is happening. It simply means that the process is working as it is designed to work in Pennsylvania and that election officials are doing their job to count every vote, Chapman said.

 Candy Woodall

Unrelated bomb scare puts voting on hold in East Harlem

In New York, an early voting site in the predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhood of East Harlem was temporarily closed late Sunday morning because of a bomb scare. The threat was unrelated to voting, said NYPD spokesperson Detective Arthur Tsui.

The New York Police Department alerted the New York City Board of Elections, which initiated emergency protocols.

Staff along with a handful of voters were escorted out safely, the Board of Elections tweeted. The Board of Elections said an all-clear was received and voting has resumed around 1 p.m.

 Ken Tran

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu: 'Heat is too high all across America'

Commenting on the recent attack on Speaker Nancy Pelosis husband, Paul Pelosi and rising political violence in the United States, New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu said the heat is too high all across America.

Sununu, who had to cancel his own inauguration ceremony in 2021 due to armed protestors, told CBS News Margaret Brennan that good leadership brings that down.

Weve got to, as leaders, bring the temperature down. Its okay to disagree but at the end of the day youve gotta be able to move forward, said Sununu.

 Ken Tran

Disinformation threatens millions of voters of color

Disinformation is spreading rapidly through America, disseminating intentional lies disguised as truth. Sometimes the lies are designed to prevent people from voting by confusing them on how, when and where to vote. Sometimes the lies play on fears to try to make them vote a certain way.

"Its becoming endemic," said Sam Woolley, program director of the Propaganda Research Team at the University of Texas. "Its becoming something that were just accepting in our society. Its becoming part of day-to-day life. That were inured to it almost."

Efforts to disseminate disinformation is difficult to trace, but often target communities of color.

 Candy Woodall, Ken Tran

Liz Cheney endorses another Democrat. What's next for her?

As Election Day approaches, observers continue to wonder about the future of a politician who isn't on the ballot: Liz Cheney.

Cheney, the Republican congresswoman from Wyoming who lost her primary to a Donald Trump-backed challenger, has formally endorsed Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., for reelection  the third congressional Democrat she has backed in various races this fall.

While Cheney said she doesn't agree with Spanberger on many political issues, her Republican opponent Yesli Vega is a pro-Trump election denier and conspiracy theorist.

"I have worked closely with her in Congress, and I know that she is dedicated to working across the aisle to find solutions. We dont agree on every policy, but I am absolutely certain that Abigail is dedicated to serving this country and her constituents and defending our Constitution," Cheney said.

The support is fueling speculation that Cheney may seek the presidency, or some other office, as either an anti-Trump Republican, an independent, or possibly a Democrat.

 David Jackson

Sen. Rick Scott will 'absolutely' accept results

Sen. Rick Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate GOP campaign arm, told said on NBC News' "Meet the Press" that he will absolutely accept the midterm results.

Scott added, But what were also going to do is do everything we can to make sure that theyre free and fair.

Control of the Senate is completely up in the air, dependent on a few tight races where it could take days to determine a winner.

 Ken Tran

A sign directs voters at Bank of America Stadium on Nov. 5, 2022, in Charlotte, North Carolina. It marked the last day for early voting in the state before Election Day on Nov. 8.

Who should control Congress? It's a dead heat in NBC News poll

With just two days left before voters head to the polls, Democrats have caught up to Republicans when it comes to voter enthusiasm, an NBC News poll found. The poll was taken Nov. 3-5.

The parties are evenly matched  73% of both Democrats and Republicans expressed high interest in the election according to the poll. In October, Republicans had a 9 percentage point lead at 78%-69%. One thousand likely voters were surveyed; the margin of error is +/- 3.1%.

And when it comes to who should control Congress, voters are evenly split: 48% of respondents said they preferred a Democratic-controlled Congress while 47% said they preferred a GOP-led Congress. The poll was among 786 likely voters and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5%.

 Ken Tran

RNC chair: All Republican candidates will accept results

Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said that all Republican candidates, no matter what happens on election night, will accept the results.

We want to make sure its run fair and transparently and then well let the process play out and then well accept the results, McDaniel told CNNs Dana Bash on Sunday. When pressed further by Bash, McDaniel reiterated that all Republicans will accept their results even in defeat.

They will (accept the results), said McDaniel.

 Ken Tran

Former President Donald Trump points to supporters after speaking at a rally Nov. 5, 2022, at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Trump campaigned for Pennsylvania Republican candidates including Republican Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz and Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano ahead of the midterm elections to be held on Nov. 8.

Trump stumps for Republicans in Pennsylvania  but finds time to mock Ron DeSantis

The emerging Republican battle between former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hit a turning point this weekend  a denigrating Trump nickname.

During a Saturday night rally in Latrobe, Pa., Trump touted leads in early nomination polls over potential opponents, including one he labeled "Ron DeSanctimonious." (Never mind that Trump was supposed to be promoting Republican midterm candidates in Pennsylvania.)

Trump is expected to formally announce his candidacy later this month; DeSantis has not commented publicly on Trump and 2024, focusing on his reelection race against Democrat Charlie Crist.

In a national Morning Consult/Politico poll in mid-September, Trump led DeSantis 52%-19% when those surveyed were asked for whom they would vote if the 2024 GOP primary "were held today." That was good enough for second place among 15 possible candidates. By a late October poll, that race tightened: 49% for Trump, 24% for DeSantis.

In an October poll by YouGov for Claremont McKenna College Rose Institute, Trump held a 10-point lead, 55% to 45%, over DeSantis.

In a USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll in September, DeSantis led Trump 48%-40% in a hypothetical 2024 Florida presidential primary.

Meanwhile, Trump and DeSantis hold competing campaign rallies Sunday in their home state of Florida.Trump headlines a rally in Miami for reelection-seeking Sen. Marco Rubio; DeSantis holds events in three counties on Florida's west coast.

 David Jackson

Top Senate races to watch

Tuesday's election will determine control of the Senate and eight races are particularly contentious, as each party controls 50 seats in the Senate.Ties are broken by Vice President Kamala Harris.

While 34 Senate seats are up for election in 2022, a handful are critical for both parties. Which races are key? Look to Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona. Also key: Ohio, Georgia, New Hampshire.

 Sarah Elbeshbishi, Ken Tran

Iowa Poll: Voters prefer GOP candidates in House races

Iowas likely voters and those who already have cast ballots prefer Republican candidates in all four of the states congressional districts, a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll found.

Republicans hold a significant advantage among voters in the newly drawn 1st and 4th districts. They hold a slight edge in the 2nd and 3rd districts.

The Iowa Poll, conducted by Selzer & Co. from Oct. 31 to Nov. 3, asked 801 likely voters or those who have already cast ballots whether they favor the Democratic or Republican candidate for the U.S. House.

 Katie Akin, Des Moines Register

Former President Barack Obama speaks during a rally with President Joe Biden, Democratic candidate for Senate John Fetterman, and Democratic candidate for governor, Josh Shapiro, at the Liacouras Center on Nov. 5, 2022, in Philadelphia.

Biden, Trump, Obama try to boost Fetterman, Oz

Three men who have been in the White House fanned out across Pennsylvania on Saturday to give a push to Senate candidates in one of the nation's hottest races.

President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama appeared in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to campaign for fellow Democrat John Fetterman, while former President Donald Trump held a rally to boost Republican Mehmet Oz in Latrobe.

Trump told the crowd they need to elect Oz as part of a "giant red wave" on Election Day.

The Oz-Fetterman race could decide whether Republicans or Democrats control the U.S. Senate; Pennsylvania will also go a long way toward determining the presidential winner in 2024, just as it fueled the victories of Obama, Trump, and Biden.

 David Jackson, Francesca Chambers, Kim Strong

How to vote and whats on the ballot

What are the midterms, anyway? The midterms are halfway through a president's four-year term. Although the presidency is not on the ballot, control of the House and Senate will determine if President Joe Biden will be effective in progressing his agenda during the remaining two years.

Looking for answers on how to vote or the top issues in the midterm elections for 2022? Here are some resources:

When is the 2022 midterm election? Election Day is Nov. 8, this Tuesday, for the midterm elections.

Am I registered to vote? Same-day voter registration options and early voting deadlines vary by state.

Know your rights: Search for your state in this voting rights guide, which includes details such as which states require an ID card.

Need to vote during work hours? Here is a list of which states have rules around giving employees time off to vote.

Vote in time: See what time polls close in my state.

Questions on voting?: Last-minute voting guide for Nov. 8: How to vote and what's on the ballot

 Sarah Day Owen Wiskirchen

Election workers process vote-by-mail ballots in Industry, Calif., on Nov. 4, 2022.

Claims of a hacked or stolen election worry security officials

Despite an unprecedented U.S. focus on preventing hackers from targeting the midterm elections Tuesday, there are still concerns that malicious cyber operatives could disrupt or influence the vote by penetrating polling stations, voter registration rolls, ballot-counting efforts and even the news reports that tell Americans whos winning state, local and federal elections.

But heres what really concerns public and private sector security analysts: malicious cyber actors who claim that the election was hacked or stolen, even when nothing of the sort occurred. Such false claims, building on years of bogus election fraud narratives that began well before the 2020 presidential election, they say, could plunge the country into an unprecedented environment of political chaos and violence even worse than that which spawned the Jan. 6, 2021 attack at the U.S. Capitol.

Read more about it: Here's why security officials are concerned about claims of a hacked (or stolen) election

 Josh Meyer

Last week's debates: Here's what you may have missed

In the week before the Nov. 8 midterm election, candidates in battleground states faced off in their final debates and, possibly, their final opportunities to sway undecided voters.

Key issues including abortion and inflation took center stage. And despite efforts by moderators and citizen questioners to get candidates to explain their positions in detail or elaborate on under-the-radar issues, Republicans and Democrats largely stuck to their well-rehearsed talking points.

Georgia gubernatorial candidates Gov. Brian Kemp and Stacey Abrams and New Hampshire Senate candidates Sen. Maggie Hassan and Don Bolduc were among the candidate that faced off a final time before Election Day.

Final debate moments recap: Top moments from the last debates leading up to election night

 Savannah Kuchar

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2022 midterm elections: Clinton, Sanders rally voters
MIAMI (AP)  The head of the Organization of American States is facing growing calls, including from the Biden administration, for an external probe into possible misconduct tied to his intimate relationship with a subordinate.

The Washington-based groups own inspector general in a memo this week said it is in the organizations best interest to hire an outside firm to investigate allegations that Secretary General Luis Almagro may have violated the ethics code.

The inspector general's recommendation was based on a report by The Associated Press finding that Almagro carried on a relationship with a Mexican-born staffer described online, including on the organization's own website, as head adviser to the secretary general.

The inspector general said the AP report followed a loosely detailed, anonymous whistleblower complaint forwarded to his office by Almagro himself on June 3.

The peace and democracy-building organization's ethics code prohibits managers from supervising or participating in decisions that benefit individuals with whom they are romantically involved.

The proposal to hire an outside firm to look into Almagro's behavior is scheduled to be discussed Wednesday at the next meeting of the 34-member organization's permanent council.

The U.S.  which has contributed about half of the organization's $100 million in funding this year  has already expressed support for an external probe ahead of the meeting.

We take these allegations seriously, a State Department spokesperson told the AP in an email, adding that any ethics violation should be investigated in a fair and impartial manner by an appropriate external investigative entity.

But at least four members  Almagro's native Uruguay, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize and St. Lucia  have publicly backed draft resolutions that raise concerns about the cost of an external investigation at a time when the 600-employee hemispheric body is under pressure to cut spending.

Story continues

Their benchmark is a recent investigation into similar misconduct allegations against the president of the Inter-American Development Bank, Mauricio Claver-Carone, who was accused of having a long-running relationship with his chief of staff. The months-long probe by American law firm Davis Polk paved the way for the presidents removal.

Repeated requests for Almagro's comment on the possibility of an external probe sent to the secretary general's press office went unanswered.

But unlike Claver-Carone, who went down denying he ever had a relationship with his aide, Almagro has said only that he never supervised the staffer or participated in any employment-related decisions like authorizing a pay increase. He previously has vowed to cooperate fully with any investigation by the organization's top oversight authority.

Almagro faces criticism on other administrative matters as well.

Mexico this week slammed Almagro for allegedly betraying members wishes by renewing a contract for the OAS ombudswoman, Neida Perez, days before a long-discussed plan to implement an open and competitive process for the leadership post was approved at the organization's annual meeting.

Almagro in September unilaterally extended Perezs contract by four years and Mexico complained it was an attempt to preempt those new procedures.

Unfortunately this isnt an isolated act, Mexico's delegation said in a written statement at a Nov. 1 meeting on administrative matters. It fits into a pattern of conduct in which the will of the states is disregarded and the OAS institutions are violated.

Perez  whose contract was set to expire Oct. 21, two weeks after the new procedures were adopted  was recently reprimanded by the OAS' top review panel for neglecting her duty to serve as an impartial arbiter of workplace disputes.

That rebuke was in response to Perez's role facilitating Almagro's 2020 removal of the head of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights  an independently run body. The commissions executive secretary was himself facing workplace complaints but nonetheless enjoyed the unanimous support of the watchdog's seven commissioners.

Almagro, 59, was elected as head of the OAS in 2015 with near unanimous support after having served as foreign minister in Uruguays leftist government.

But once installed in Washington, he made common cause with the U.S. in opposing leftist leaders in Cuba and Venezuela, once even echoing President Donald J. Trumps line that he wouldnt rule out using military force to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

He was reelected in 2020 with the support of 23 of 34 member states. More recently, as the left has regained power across Latin America, calls for his removal have been growing louder.

Last month, members of the Puebla Group  an organization of former presidents and political leaders from 16 countries  issued a statement calling for Almagro's removal, criticizing his amoral firing of the rights watchdog and his intervention following messy elections in Bolivia that led to President Evo Morales' resignation and replacement by a U.S.-backed conservative government.

___

Associated Press writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report from Washington.

Follow Goodman on Twitter: @APJoshGoodman
The biggest climate event of the year kicks off Sunday in Egypt as a raft of challenges threaten global efforts to tame rising temperatures.

Set against a backdrop of severe weather disasters, this years gathering collides with soaring energy costs, food insecurity and a looming debt crisis that undercuts resilience measures in peril-prone countries.

Other complications include sharpening tensions between many of the worlds biggest climate polluters, a string of broken promises to lower emissions and failures to deliver money to people on the front lines of emissions-driven catastrophes.

The geopolitical context may not be conducive to ambition, said Alden Meyer, a senior associate at E3G. Yet the world expects governments to cooperate on three big issues: climate impacts, accelerating mitigation ambition and delivering greatly scaled up climate finance.

The Egyptian hosts of the summit have prioritized action over new pledges. That suggests that tangible responses to climate impacts will be a pillar of the negotiations like never before. And that means coming up with money  billions and billions of dollars.

President Joe Biden will make an appearance Nov. 11, about half-way through the two-week conference, along with a pared-down U.S. delegation. Two new leaders, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Brazils incoming president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, will use the talks in an effort to show their climate bona fides. The leaders of China and Russia, the worlds first- and fifth-largest climate polluters, respectively, are planning to skip the event altogether, as are officials from many of the largest economies, including India and Australia.

Here are a five things to watch as more than 40,000 attendees descend on the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, for the 27th round of global climate talks.

Mutinous nations

Cooperation has been a vital  and often elusive  element of climate talks over the past 30 years because decisions can't be made without consensus. But leaders bring baggage to these gatherings, and this year, relations between some of the worlds largest emitters are particularly fraught.

Story continues

Russia is ostracized on the world stage for its brutal war in Ukraine. The climate impacts are dizzying. The war has led to food insecurity by preventing grain shipments, caused higher prices at grocery stores and lowered supplies of fertilizers. It's also raising energy prices worldwide and driving some nations to burn more fossil fuels, at least in the short term.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin won't be at the talks, but his delegation will.

Climate cooperation between the U.S. and China remains suspended, raising concerns that the conference could fail to make headway if the worlds two largest emitters are not speaking to one another. U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said last week that conversations remain in limbo.

But those frosty relations could have smaller consequences this year than at previous conferences. There will be fewer backroom negotiations between nations in Egypt, putting an emphasis on public speeches by world leaders early in the talks. And Xi Jinping, China's leader, is not expected to attend.

With middling representation from major economies, according toa provisional speakers list, the likelihood of confrontations could be smaller, according to observers. Instead, tensions may be higher at a Group of 20 major economies meeting in Indonesia during the second week of the climate talks.

If leaders undermine climate action in Indonesia, it could bleed into the conference in Egypt and potentially water down the outcome.

It's going to take collective solidarity and a commitment to try to weather the storm together rather than sort of a fortress mentality, said Meyer from E3G.

Money, money, money

Money is always top of mind at climate negotiations. But the severity of climate-fueled disasters this year has brought the issue into the spotlight. Its been punctuated by the widening gap between what countries have committed to pay and whats needed to adapt and respond to those impacts (Climatewire, Nov. 3).

Closing that financial gap is crucial for countries that are moving away from polluting energy sources and toward renewables. It's also needed to help nations shore up their defenses against inevitable climate impacts, such as rising seas and heavier rainfall.

Developing countries will be expecting rich nations to outline how theyll deliver on a pledge made last year in Glasgow, Scotland, to double support for adaptation. At the same time, the private sector has underinvested in developing countries and will be under pressure to deliver (Climatewire, Nov. 2).

Theres been a wave of interest in new ways to unlock that money. That includes reforming multilateral development banks, and eyes will be trained on the World Bank following criticism that it has been slow-walking climate finance.

A plan by Barbados to transform the global financial system could gain traction (Climatewire, Sept. 29). And progress on an initiative launched last year aimed at helping coal-dependent countries transition to renewables  whats known as the Just Energy Transition Partnership  is expected.

Developed countries must show progress on past pledges in order to rebuild the trust needed for future negotiations on finance.

Theres a lot of headwinds, but there is still a lot that can be achieved. A lot of the channels are still open for dialogue here, said Joe Thwaites, a climate finance advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

'Loss and damage'

At the top of climate finance concerns are payments for irreparable losses and damages. Sometimes referred to as climate reparations, this money is aimed at addressing the harms caused to poor nations by emissions from rich countries.

A heat wave in Pakistan, followed by drought and historic flooding, is an example of what those losses look like, and the enormity of the funding needed to recover.

In parts [of the country] where the water is not receding, the relief needs will continue for a long time, said Farah Naureen, country director for Mercy Corps in Pakistan. But really there is not nearly enough money to meet the needs of all this population and especially move toward early recovery and rehabilitation and restoration of livelihoods."

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called efforts to address loss and damage the litmus test for COP 27.

Countries look close to agreeing on having a discussion around ways to finance payments for climate harms  though a dedicated fund to pay for climate damages is unlikely to be supported by the U.S. and Europe at these talks.

Agreeing to talks could serve as the basis for determining how money for loss and damage will flow in the future. And the shape of those talks will be critical to unlocking progress across the entire package of negotiations.

There's a very high chance that something positive will happen, said Ani Dasgupta, president of the World Resources Institute. We also feel if it doesn't happen, theres a big risk of vulnerable countries just walking away from this.

Dash to gas

The energy crisis stemming from Russia's war in Ukraine has driven intense debate over the future of natural gas. Europe's efforts to break its dependence on Russian gas has led to new plans for building ports and facilities for importing liquefied natural gas from the U.S. and elsewhere. Its also seen leaders go on the hunt for gas in parts of Africa.

African countries with oil and gas reserves say they want to use that energy to develop and power their own economies, particularly in the absence of other funding. Senegal has been among the most vocal and is leading a push for investments in gas production.

But there are also divisions among African nations themselves, since most dont have abundant fossil fuel resources but suffer from the climate impacts their use causes. Kenyas new president, William Ruto, has pledged that the country will get all of its energy from renewables by 2030, and he urged other countries in Africa to follow.

Right now within African countries the discussion is around how to put forward a common Africa position, particularly around the energy transition and around some kind of flexibility in the use of natural gas in particular, to achieve objectives around electrification, Zainab Usman, director of the Africa program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said during a recent briefing.

Around 600 million people in Africa lack access to electricity or clean cooking, making energy and sustainable development deeply intertwined.

There is an urgency to act on climate change, said Usman. But in getting to the future that we all want, whether it's net zero by 2050, or whatever objective that we have set, we have to be very clear-eyed about what is feasible  what is feasible politically, what is feasible socially.

Stubborn emissions

Only 24 of 193 countries  and almost none of the worlds major emitters  have updated their national targets to tackle climate change, despite an agreement at last years climate summit to do so. And the world has barely made a dent in its ability to keep global temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius, when scientists say climate impacts will become increasingly devastating.

There has been some progress since last year with the passage of major climate legislation in the U.S. The European Union will end the sale of gas- and diesel-powered vehicles by 2035 and has laid out a plan to move faster toward renewable energy. The recent election of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil is seen as a major boost for conservation of the Amazon rainforest.

But ambition has sputtered amid economic turmoil.

Biden has pushed for more oil production to lower gasoline prices. Coal use abroad has gone up rather than down. And Western leaders have retreated from a pledge to end gas investments (Climatewire, June 29).

U.S. midterm elections Tuesday could see Republicans take control of one chamber of Congress, or both, and make it hard for the U.S. to meet its climate finance pledges, which depend on congressional approval.

COP27 creates a unique opportunity for the world to come together, mend multilateralism, rebuild trust and unite at the highest political levels to address climate change, Sameh Shoukry, Egypts minister of foreign affairs and incoming head of the climate summit, wrote in a letter to delegates. Achieving that outcome will require solidarity and action, not empty rhetoric, he noted.

The challenge for Egypt will be to package the outcomes in a way that sends a signal of progress even if the talks don't result in a big announcement, said Kaveh Guilanpour, vice president for international strategies at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.

The whole system for decades has been geared around sort of adversarial kind of zero-sum dynamic negotiations with a huge drama around the final plenary. And I fear that dynamic is still there. Whereas the reality is that the system needs to move beyond that, he said. It's about political will to deliver against what Paris says we have to do. And it's about implementing promises. It's not really about negotiation anymore.

A version of this report first ran in E&E News Climatewire. Get access to more comprehensive and in-depth reporting on the energy transition, natural resources, climate change and more in E&E News.
Jim Clyburn - Credit: TNS

Congressman Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) went on Fox News and stood behind his comments pointing out the historic parallels he sees between the Nazi party in the 1930s and the cult of Donald Trump now.

Jim Clyburn on Fox News defends comparing Trumpism to Nazism: "I've studied history all of my life. I taught history. And I'm telling you, what I see here are parallels to what the history was in this world back in the 1930s in Germany." pic.twitter.com/E7iM4eJE0p More from Rolling Stone  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 6, 2022

Youve repeatedly made comments about Hitler, about Nazism, about Germany in the 1930s in recent years, Fox News Sunday host Shannon Bream said to the congressman. Youve gotten a lot of pushback from that from Jewish organizations and others who say it belittles the suffering of the Holocaust, of the millions who lost their lives. Your response?

This past Thursday, Clyburn said that Trumps framing of the media as the enemy of the people is similar to how Nazis demonized the press. This country is on track to repeat what happened in Germany when it was the greatest democracy going, when it elected a chancellor that then co-opted the media, Clyburn told Fox News Digital.

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While some have criticized Clyburns comparisons, its worth noting that even Trump himself has complained that the U.S. military was not more like Nazi Germanys. A book on his presidency by reporters Susan Glasser and Peter Baker quoted Trump complaining to his then-chief of staff, Gen. John Kelly, You fucking generals, why cant you be like the German generals in World War II?

On Sunday, Clyburn expanded his comments. Ive talked to many Jews, there are many Jews in my congressional district and they know that this is the stuff that caused those kinds of deteriorations in democracy, he said. This is not anything about how difficult it was. I talk about slavery and how difficult it was. But to discuss the facts of whats going on here, election deniers setting up procedures by which local committees can overturn the results of the election. To call the press the enemy of the people. To co-opt evangelicals. I grew up in a Christian faith. [I was] born and raised in a parsonage. I know a whole lot about religion, and I know [in fascism] there is always an attempt to co-opt religions, and that is whats going on here.

If people want to deny it, thats fine, but the facts are very clear, Clyburn continued. Ive studied history all of my life. I taught history. And Im telling you, what I see here are parallels to what the history was in this world back in the 1930s in Germany, in Italy.

Are voters to infer from what youre saying that if they dont vote for Democrats in this election that they are somehow supporting something akin to the rise of Hitler? Bream asked.

But Clyburn was not painting all Republicans with the same brush. He clarified that he was specifically talking about people who support candidates who lie about the legitimacy of elections. No, Clyburn said. If they dont vote against election deniers. If they dont vote against liars, people who lie, know full well theyre lying, we all know theyre lying. [The 2020 election] was the cleanest election in the history of the country. Donald Trumps own appointee said it was the cleanest in the history of the country.

So if theyre lying, theyre denying, theyre drying to delete, theyre trying to nullify votes, the congressman concluded, vote against that foolishness.

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Click here to read the full article.
The Chappell family has had a distinguished presence in Monroe since they relocated to Michigan from Kentucky nearly 100 years ago.

Linold Chappell and his wife, Flora Evans, both grandchildren of slaves, were born in Kentucky in the 1890's and moved to Monroe in the 1920's. Linolds grandfathers had been enslaved and later served as soldiers in the U.S. Colored Troops (Union Army) during the Civil War with one, Private Morgan Chappell, serving in the 12th U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment (Tennessee) and the other, Sergeant Stephen Cruise, serving in the 124th U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment (Kentucky).

Morgan had been freed sometime during the Civil War and Stephen remained enslaved and enlisted with the permission of the slaveowners wife. Both men enlisted in 1863, soon after President Abraham Lincoln first called for African Americans to enlist in the Union Army after he issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Morgan and Stephens grandson, Linold, followed in their footsteps of military service and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1913. Sergeant Linold Chappell was a member of the 24th and 25th Infantry Regiments, which were segregated units first organized during the Civil War and, along with the 9th and 10th Cavalry, were famously known as the Buffalo Soldiers.

Linold was stationed at Camp Furlong, which was adjacent to the town of Columbus, New Mexico, and his units responsibilities included guarding the U.S.-Mexico border. In 1915, Linold and 44 other soldiers were sent on temporary duty to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii before traveling to the town of Hilo on the Big Island to build the now famous Mauna Loa Trail, which rises 13,600 feet to the summit of the still active Mauna Loa Volcano.

Building the trail was incredibly hard work, with the men having only 12-pound sledgehammers to smash the lava into a three-foot-wide path and using cloth gunny sacks to carry the broken-up lava pieces away. Soldiers worked for a week at high altitude then spent a week down below at their base camp before returning to the high elevation.

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After completing work in Hawaii, Linold returned to New Mexico. On March 9, 1916, Mexican General Francisco Pancho Villa and 500 of his men, called Villistas, launched a surprise attack against Columbus, New Mexico, killing 18 Americans and looting and burning much of the town.

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson responded by ordering a Punitive Expedition into Mexico, under the command of Brig. Gen. John Black Jack Pershing, to capture or kill Pancho Villa. The expedition was unsuccessful in locating Villa, but Sgt. Linold Chappell and other members of the all-Black 25th Infantry were part of the expeditionary force that pursued Villas forces into Mexico. Linold and Flora remained at Camp Furlong for nearly seven years and, during this time, their first child, William (Billy), was born in neighboring Columbus, New Mexico in 1919.

After his discharge from the U.S. Army, Linold and Flora returned to the Tennessee-Kentucky border area where he was employed as a coal miner. He was also a union officer for a United Mine Workers Union Local in 1921 in Pruden, Tennessee. Their second (Roy) and third child (Emma) were born in Williamsburg, Kentucky.

The Chappell family moved to Monroe in the mid-1920's for employment opportunities and joined Carey Chapel AME Church on Monroes East Side. Linold worked as the Head Chef at the Park Hotel in downtown Monroe for several years and later worked for wealthy families and private clubs. His culinary skills were said to be exceptional. He died in 1940 and is buried in Woodland Cemetery in Monroe. Linold distinguished himself as a member of the Prince Hall Masons and as the founder of the original NAACP Chapter in Monroe County in 1932. He was highly thought of by the entire community, with The Monroe Evening News referring to him as an outstanding citizen. Linold was very active in the Democratic Party and made Monroe a better place for members of the Black community.

Flora Chappell was a housewife who worked part-time as a school teacher. Flora had attended college at Knoxville College in Tennessee which, at the time, was a segregated teachers college for young Black women. She attended college at a time when most people, white or Black, did not attend. Mrs. Chappell was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and was a prominent member of Carey Chapel AME Church before passing away in 1946. Her eldest son, Billy, entered the workforce after high school, eventually working as a Master Welder for Monroe Steel Castings for 38 years. Roy and Emma both received college degrees. Like his father, Billy was active the United Auto Workers union and the Democratic Party, and eventually became the President of his local UAW Union.

All three Chappell children graduated from Monroe High School between 1939 and 1942. Billy graduated in 1939 and was a star athlete on the track team, where he competed alongside his brother Roy, Perry Mason, and Bill Campbell. Soon after graduation, Billy married his childhood sweetheart, Olivia L. Walker, who was his sister Emmas best friend from Williamsburg, Kentucky. Billy and Olivia were the parents of six children and were married for over 40 years, until Billy passed away in 1983. Olivia lived until the age of 100 years, before she passed away in 2022. To honor her 100th birthday, the family held a commemoration where over 100 cars passed by her home on Monroes East Side.

The Monroe High School graduating Class of 1940 was composed of 210 students with just one Black student among them that year, Roy M. Chappell. Roy participated in football and track and graduated in the top 10-percent of his class. After graduating from Monroe High School, Roy attended college at Kentucky State University and was in his third year of a chemistry major when he joined the Army Air Corps Tuskegee Airmen program during WWII.

Roy became one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen and served as a B-25 navigator/bombardier with the 477th Bombardment Group, which was under the command of the legendary Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. In 1945, 2nd Lieutenant Roy M. Chappell was one of the 101 Black officers who were arrested, court martialed, and received Letters of Reprimand for refusing to acknowledge a base order that segregated the Officers Club at Freeman Field, Indiana, in what became known as the Freeman Field Mutiny.

The Black officers were not allowed to eat, drink or socialize with the same white aviators they flew with or protected in combat. The incident helped end segregation in the U.S. Armed Forces in 1948. During World War II, service members routinely wore their uniforms when they were home on leave. Whenever Roy came home, Billy made him wear his uniform and walk around downtown Monroe. Billy would then stand across the street and watch as white enlisted service members saluted his younger brother because he was an officer. Having grown up in segregated Kentucky, seeing the respect paid to his younger brother had special meaning to Billy.

After the war, Roy and his wife, Dr. Lucy Lang-Chappell, and his sister Emma (Clarence) Matthews moved to Chicago. Roy and Lucy were the parents of two daughters, Camille and Kathy, and Emma and Clarence were the parents of a son, Derek.

Roy received numerous awards and honors during his lifetime. There is a street and a college building in two states named after Roy M. Chappell, as well as a historical marker that commemorates his life. In Monroe, where he grew up on Liberty Court and at Monroe High School, where he graduated from, there is nothing to commemorate this highly accomplished man. It may be time to change this omission. In the 1940 Monroe High School yearbook, under Roys picture, there is a short caption that states: Get out of my way, I am going places. Roy M. Chappell fulfilled that prophecy and then some.

Another Chappell family member, Dr. Brian K. Chappell, graduated from Monroe High School in 1988 and from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force through the Air Force ROTC program.

After serving 28 years on active duty, Lieutenant Colonel Brian K. Chappell retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2021. His distinguished career includes serving as a Minuteman III ICBM nuclear weapons officer and three staff officer assignments at the Pentagon, including working for the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Secretary of the Air Force.

Lt. Col. Chappell is also a veteran of the Afghanistan War, having deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan in 2014. Brian has five college degrees, including a bachelors degree, three masters degrees, and a PhD in World Politics. Dr. Chappell is a published author who has traveled to over 50 countries and is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. His book, State Responses to Nuclear Proliferation: The Differential Effects of Threat Perception, examines the potential impact of the spread of nuclear weapons.

Dr. Brian K. Chappell is the great-grandson of Linold and Flora Chappell and the grandson of Billy and Olivia Chappell. In July 2022, Brian visited Hilo, Hawaii and hiked the Mauna Loa Trail that his great-grandfather, Linold, helped build over one hundred years earlier.

David L. Eby is a member of the Monroe County Historical Society. His email is daveeby@yahoo.com.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: A most distinguished Monroe military family
NEW YORK  Rep. Lee Zeldin stood on the back of a flatbed truck on the edge of a park in a middle-class Queens neighborhood last weekend and made a declaration that drew cheers from a crowd of hundreds.

"There is a crime emergency here in the state right now, and if Kathy Hochul will not declare it, if the State Legislature right now will not come to the table to fix it, we will make the State Legislature come to the table by day one," said Zeldin, the Republican candidate for governor of New York.

The Democratic governor responded, of course, both on the campaign trail and in an ad that aired statewide.

You deserve to feel safe, and as your governor, I wont stop working until you do, she said in the ad.

Two days before Election Day, the crime issue stands as Zeldin's best hope that he can topple Hochul. A recent Quinnipiac University poll of the race ranked crime as the most important issue. That poll also showed Zeldin, who proposes repealing a 2019 state law that bars setting bail for many criminal suspects, within single digits of the incumbent Democrat, who supports keeping that bail reform law.

But what should voters think about the crime issue as they head to the polls?

"I think people are absolutely right to be worried about public safety," said Ames Grawert, senior counsel and John L. Neu justice counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice. "We saw significant increases in violent crime in 2020 and 2021. But the questions about what caused that increase and what we can do to improve public safety and build a safer society than we had even in 2019? Those are complicated questions, and I would be wary of easy answers."

What the numbers say

Much of the dialogue on the crime issue in the race for governor stems from what's been happening in and around New York City, home to the state's largest concentration of voters.

There, a number of high-profile crimes and a few very high numbers have elevated the crime issue  even though, by some measures, crime has dropped both downstate and in Buffalo.

A mass shooting on the New York City subway grabbed headlines in April, and then last month, a gang-related shooting took place just outside Zeldin's Long Island home. What's more, the New York City Police Department reported that major crimes increased 15.2% in September compared to the same month a year ago.

As bail debate persists, data shows few rearrested in Buffalo for violent felonies The News analyzed data from the state Office of Court Administration for 11,672 Buffalo City Court cases from Jan. 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021, the first 18 months the new bail rules were in effect. It's the most recent data available.

But New York's crime rate remains far lower than it was during the crack-fueled crime wave of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and there are positive signs to be seen in the crime statistics both in New York City and in Buffalo.

Shootings fell 13.2% in New York City in September, and CityStat figures from Buffalo show that the city never experienced the kind of mid-pandemic spurt in major crime that New York City and many other communities faced.

Major crime in Buffalo increased 1.6% in 2020 but fell below pre-pandemic levels last year, those statistics show. And for the first eight months of 2022, major crime in Buffalo is up only 0.7% from the same period in the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

And that modest increase in Buffalo crime this year is almost entirely attributable to a huge spike in motor vehicle thefts, from 391 in the first eight months of 2019 to 786 in the same period this year. Meanwhile, robberies fell 23.7% and burglaries fell 19.4%.

However, Buffalo, like many other cities across the country, saw a dramatic increase in gun violence starting in 2020 with about 350 people shot in both 2020 and 2021. The average number of shooting victims in Buffalo each year over the previous decade was about 254 people.

This year, shootings are down about 30% as of Nov. 1 in Buffalo. That's including the May 14 massacre at the Jefferson Avenue Tops Markets that claimed 10 lives.

The bottom line on crime statistics everywhere?

"The numbers are all over the place," said Charles P. Ewing, distinguished service professor emeritus at the University at Buffalo School of Law.

What the candidates say

In Hochul vs. Zeldin, WNY money pours in from developers, unions and a dead person Deep-pocketed donors in Western New York have opened their wallets to chip in more than $1.7 million this year to the campaigns of Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, and Rep. Lee Zeldin, her Republican challenger.

To hear Zeldin tell it, the bail reform law that the State Legislature passed in 2019 led to a spike in crime. But to Hochul, the crime issue is largely about guns  which Zeldin wants to make more available.

The state eliminated cash bail for most people arrested on misdemeanor and most non-violent felony charges starting in 2020. Progressive proponents of the law said it ended a system that locked up the impoverished while letting suspects who were better off to go free while awaiting trial.

The plan has been a lightning rod ever since, thanks in part to a number of high-profile incidents where suspects were set free shortly before being charged with an even more heinous crime.

In Buffalo last month, Zeldin pointed to the case of Adam R. Bennefield, who stands accused of shooting his estranged wife, Keaira Bennefield, to death in front of her three children. The day before the shooting, Adam Bennefield appeared in Cheektowaga Town Court on misdemeanor domestic violence charges in which he was accused of hitting and kicking his ex-wife, and the judge released him because the state law does not let him set bail on those charges. But a public defender has suggested that police and prosecutors could have charged him with a more serious crime that would have allowed the judge to order that bail be posted.

"There are too many pro-criminal laws getting passed right now up in Albany," Zeldin said at a Buffalo press conference. "When do we say it's time to start sticking up for law-abiding New Yorkers instead of sticking up for criminals?"

Zeldin said he will suspend the bail reform law on his first day as governor.

Hochul fought for and won a modest change to the bail reform law last spring, one that allows judges to require bail if they believe suspects are capable of seriously harming an individual or if they have a history of using illegal guns.

But she has not advocated repealing the bail law or adding a provision that allows judges to consider the overall "dangerousness" of suspects before letting them go free without bail. Instead, she focuses on the gun control measures she got passed in the State Legislature this year and on Zeldin's opposition to gun control.

In Harlem last Monday, she criticized Zeldin's suggestion in a CBS interview that teachers ought to be armed to prevent school shootings.

"People who have been involved in the effort to eradicate gun violence, get the guns off our streets and stop the slaughter are sick and tired of being used by candidates like Lee Zeldin as part of a narrative which is false, which is that you can be tough on crime, but refuse to talk about any common sense gun safety legislation," Hochul said.

What the experts say

Experts in crime and criminal justice discuss what's happening on the streets  and what to do about it  in a much more nuanced way than Zeldin and Hochul.

Ewing, the UB professor, suggested that crime spiked nationwide during the pandemic for two reasons.

"People who traditionally have been more likely to commit violent crimes were people who are sort of at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder, and they're the people who were hurt the most" by the economic downturn stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.

Secondly, he said, the increase in gun crimes nationally could be tied to the increase in gun purchases at the start of the pandemic.

Analysis: The end of an unforgettable campaign Rep. Lee Zeldins campaign for governor puts our state into Republican play for the first time in memory, and a mesmerized electorate now looks forward to the results on Tuesday  Election Day.

Ewing also suggests that people dismiss the way politicians use crime statistics.

"I think they need to take any claim about violent crime with a grain of salt because the data can be manipulated, the data can be massaged, to show either side," he said.

Grawert, of the Brennan Center for Justice, said voters should be particularly skeptical about claims regarding the state's bail law.

"If you're looking for very clear statistical proof that bail reform was the cause for rising violent crime in New York, you're going to come up blank," he said. "Data to support that sort of extreme conclusion just does not really exist, especially when you compare New York in the context of a nationwide increase in violent crime. You know, it can't be that (New York's) bail reform caused an increase in, like, Florida and California."

But Jillian Snider, a retired New York City police officer, said the bail reform law worries her in one way. She said it may have made would-be criminals more likely to commit crime because they figure there won't be any consequences if they do.

"People are just like, 'Oh, I could do whatever I want,' because certain media outlets are spinning it like no one's going to jail," said Snider, who now teaches criminology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "And we know that's not the case."

Snider thinks the State Legislature ought to consider amending the bail law to allow judges to consider a suspect's dangerousness.

But she also cautions against blaming the bail law for rising crime  and against believing what you hear about crime in political commercials.

"The ads on TV are just so inflammatory, and they're so exaggerated," said Snider, who now serves as policy director for criminal justice and civil liberties at the R Street Institute, a conservative think tank. "We shouldn't be voting based on who can yell louder about what they're going to do or not do about the crime surge. We want to make sure that the policies that the candidates are considering or wanting to put into place are going to not only enhance public safety, but continue the trend that we've been seeing for the last two years in changing the criminal justice system to be more equitable."
England are still waiting to hit top gear at the T20 World Cup but head into Thursdays semi-final against India at Adelaide knowing Ben Stokes remains the man to be counted on.

Stokes was averaging just 9.8 with a 100 strike-rate in his last six T20 innings before this weekend but Englands 2019 50-over World Cup final hero delivered when they were teetering against Sri Lanka.

His unbeaten 42 off 36 balls was just what was needed to get England to victory by four wickets with two balls to spare at Sydney in a scrappy chase to pip Australia to second spot their Super 12s group.

Ben Stokes helped England to victory on Saturday (Dan Himbrechts/PA)

The contribution was another example of Stokes keeping his composure, just as nerves looked to be setting into the England camp, and fast bowler Mark Wood knows how redoubtable his Durham team-mate is.

Hes a good man to have in a tough situation, Wood said. I know people have questioned him but when you need him, he stands up. Thats why you have him in the team.

Thats another moment in his career that when you look back you can say when the team needed him he was the man to be counted on.

He didnt look phased or anything like that because hes been there and done it before. You think were under pressure but he just takes it in his stride and knows exactly what hes trying to do.

We know how good he is and that if were in trouble, hes the man that never gives in, he never gives up and he always seems to come through when we need him the most.

New Zealand v Pakistan, Sydney, November 9

India v England, Adelaide, November 10

Stokes came out at first drop on Saturday after Dawid Malan tweaked his left groin during Sri Lankas innings, pulling up sharply after chasing down the ball, and he did not bat in Englands reply.

Englands physios are monitoring the injury over the next day or so before deciding on the next steps.

If Malan is forced to miss out against India, Englands spare batter in their 15-strong squad is Phil Salt so he could be brought into the XI if they decide on a like-for-like replacement.

Story continues

Hes one of the only ones that faces the bowlers (in the nets), Wood said. Normally the batters like dog sticks but he takes on the bowlers and I think hes chomping at the bit.

Hes been ready for a while and hes got something about him.

Mark Wood has taken nine wickets in four tournament matches (Scott Barbour/PA)

Wood leaked 17 in his opening over against Sri Lanka but bowled two of the last three at the end and only conceded another nine runs as he finished with three for 26.

He was also expensive in his opening six-ball bursts against New Zealand and Ireland but made telling interventions on both occasions and boasts nine wickets in four matches with an economy rate of 7.71.

But Wood, who has consistently hit the mid-90mph range throughout Englands campaign, admitted he has been irritated by his sluggish starts of late.

Ive got to stop making a habit of that, he said. Its getting annoying having to drag it back. I wish I didnt have to do that.

Dawid Malan is a doubt to face India (Dan Himbrechts/PA)

Im pleased Ive shown some character and some pride in my performance to drag it back, but Id like not to get in that position in the first place because at times Ive taken wickets up front in the powerplay. But in the last couple Ive gone for a few, so its something I need to work on.

Used pitches, such as the ones that confronted England in their last couple of matches, have seen them struggle in the past, but Wood believes the side is capable of adapting to any situation.

Weve had to work hard with the ball and grind it out with the bat, he added. Thats not usually like us so its great we can win in other ways.
Gabby Petitos parents have filed a $50 million lawsuit against the Utah Police after their daughter was found dead in September 2021.

According to a press conference on Thursday, Nichole Schmidt and Joe Petito allege that the 22-year-old would still be alive if the Moab Police Department would have done more during their August 2021 interaction with Gabby and her fiance Brian Laundrie, who killed her weeks later.

WATCH: Gabby Petitos Father Shares Emotional Message One Year After Her Body Was Found

The family would like me to emphasize that the purpose of this lawsuit is to honor Gabbys legacy by demanding accountability and working through change in the system to protect victims of domestic abuse and violence and prevent such tragedies in the future, attorney James W. McConkie said during the news conference.

The family claims authorities mishandled the contact they made with the couple following reports from bystanders who said they witnessed a domestic dispute between them.

The officers egregiously misinterpreted Gabbys extreme emotional distress, seeing it as the cause of the domestic violence rather than its result. Officer Pratt, in particular, was fundamentally biased in his approach to the investigation, choosing to believe Gabbys abuser, ignoring evidence that Gabby was the victim and intentionally looking for loopholes to get around the requirements of Utah law and his duty to protect Gabby, the lawsuit reads in part.

[mpx_id value=ACCN810693572 post_id=658647

WATCH: Brian Laundrie Confessed To Killing Gabby Petito In Notebook, Claimed He Thought It Was Merciful

Officials from the city of Moab released a statement in response to the wrongful death suit.

The death of Gabrielle Petito in Wyoming is a terrible tragedy, and we feel profound sympathy for the Petito and Schmidt families and the painful loss they have endured. At the same time, it is clear that Moab City Police Department officers are not responsible for Gabrielle Petitos eventual murder, it said.

Story continues

Ms. Petito is believed to have died in Wyoming in late August 2021, more than two weeks after she and Brian Laundrie visited Moab and interacted with Moab City Police. At that time, our officers acted with kindness, respect, and empathy toward Ms. Petito.

The attorneys for the Petito family seem to suggest that somehow our officers could see into the future based on this single interaction. In truth, on Aug. 12, no one could have predicted the tragedy that would occur weeks later and hundreds of miles away, and the City of Moab will ardently defend against this lawsuit, the statement concluded.

WATCH: Gabby Petitos Mom Nichole Schmidt Slams Brian Laundries Written Confession: We Know How She Died


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Gabrielle Unions daughter Kaavia James is all about having the time of her life, and at only three years old, shes seen so much of the world already. The ever-so-expressive kiddo is letting people in on every emotion shes feeling during the family trip to Namibia, and its too sweet (and funny) to miss.

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On Nov 4, Kaavias Instagram page posted an adorable video of her and the whole family having the time of their lives during their transcendent trip to Namibia. She posted it with the caption, Shirley said Kaav meet me at the slides! I said Gurrllll Im at the Red Dunes in #namibia Dont sleep on Namibia yall #WadeWorldTour2022  edition.

In the compilation video, we see Kaavia holding her mamas hand as they and papa Dwyane Wade walk around the stunning dessert, followed by a darling snapshot of Kaavia holding her papas finger. Next, we get snapshots of everyone posing near a sign that says Dune 45 and a little family snapshot of the three of them looking so happy!

Click here to read the full article.

Then we see an absolutely adorable video of Kaavia nodding off in the car, ending the super-sweet video with a funny note!

The family has been uploading different updates of their amazing trip, and as Kaavia said, we wont be sleeping on Namibia with our next travel plans!

Union and Wade welcomed their three-year-old daughter Kaavia James via a surrogate back in Nov. 2018. Union also mothers Wades three children from previous relationships named Zaire, 20, Zaya, 15, and Xavier, 8.

In a previous interview with the We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle podcast back in 2021, Union talked about what it means to be a parent. She said, Understand that you are never gonna be their parent, but you can be a consistent, loving, compassionate adult in their life that they can always count on.

Story continues

The Bring It On star added, And you need to be the sanctuary in the storm.

You Got Anything Stronger? by Gabrielle Union

Image: Dey Street Books - Credit: Dey Street Books.

Dey Street Books.

With her 2021 memoir You Got Anything Stronger?, Gabrielle Union uncorks some hard truths about her life and experiences over the course of a decades-long career in Hollywood. The actress goes deep on her fertility struggle, her marriage to Dwyane Wade, and her work in front of the camera. Pair this book with a glass of red wine, and you have yourself a night.

You Got Anything Stronger?

Price: $14.79, originally $27.99

Buy Now

Before you go, see this slideshow of Gabrielle Unions best mom moments!

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By Cooper Inveen and Francis Kokoroko

ACCRA (Reuters) - More than 1,000 protesters marched through Ghana's capital Accra on Saturday, calling for the resignation of President Nana Akufo-Addo amid an economic crisis that has hammered the cedi currency and seen fuel and food costs spiral to record levels.

Filing past police in riot gear, the red-clad crowd waved placards and chanted 'Akufo-Addo must go' and 'IMF no' in reference to the government's ongoing talks with the International Monetary Fund for billions of dollars to prop up the economy.

The president last week sought to reassure Ghanaians that the authorities would get the country's finances back on track after consumer inflation topped 37% in September, a 21-year peak despite aggressive policy tightening.

"He has failed and we are asking him to resign. High fuel price increments are killing the people of Ghana," said protester Rafael Williams.

The peaceful protest was the latest in a series of demonstrations this year over the soaring cost of living that has made it even harder for people to get by in a country where around a quarter of the population live on less than $2.15 per day, according to the World Bank.

Ghana, which produces gold, cocoa and oil, has also seen the its cedi currency plummet by more than 40% against the dollar this year, making it one of the worst-performing currencies in a region that is suffering from the fallout from a global economic slowdown.

"We are speaking to the IMF. They should not give them loans," said tailor Francisca Wintima, who was among those protesting in the capital.

"Enough is enough. We have gold, we have oil, we have manganese, we have diamonds. We have everything we need in this country. The only thing that we need is leadership."

(Writing by Alessandra Prentice; editing by Jason Neely)
 Copyright 2022, Des Moines Register and Tribune Co.

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley has gained a double-digit lead over Democrat Mike Franken in the closing days of Iowas U.S. Senate race, a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows.

Grassley leads Franken 53% to 41% among Iowans who already have voted or who say they will definitely vote, the poll shows. Another 3% would vote for someone else, 2% are not sure and 1% say they have already voted but dont want to tell.

"It's a seemingly insurmountable lead, though anything can happen, said pollster J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co. This is a very good poll for Chuck Grassley. He gets not only the overall lead but the strong support of the people who are the core of his base. And Franken, by comparison, it's more lukewarm among his base.

The poll of 801 likely voters was conducted Oct. 31 to Nov. 3 by Selzer & Co., with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Grassley has widened his advantage since October when the Registers Iowa Poll showed him leading Franken by just 3 percentage points.

The new poll shows demographic groups that have traditionally made up the Iowa Republican Partys base have coalesced around Grassley, along with independent voters who have shifted toward the senator.

Nationally, political analysts and other polling suggest the effects of this summers U.S. Supreme Court opinion reversing abortion rights have waned as voters focus more on issues such as inflation.

Grassley has continued to hammer on economic issues, arguing he could act as a check on Democrats in Congress while suggesting his opponent would be a rubber stamp for Democratic President Joe Biden.

More:See what Chuck Grassley, Mike Franken say about abortion and inflation in Iowa's U.S. Senate race

His 12-percentage-point lead is comfortable, but it continues to suggest Grassley could see his narrowest margin of victory since he was first elected to the U.S. Senate by 8 percentage points in 1980.

Story continues

Grassley, 89, is seeking an eighth term in the Senate this year. Franken, 64, is a retired U.S. Navy Admiral who has not previously held public office.

Notoriously fickle independents swing to Grassley

Franken and Grassley have the support of members of their parties, with 94% of Republicans backing Grassley and 94% of Democrats choosing Franken.

But independent likely voters have now swung in favor of Grassley. He earns their support 47% to 41%.

Thats a reversal from October, when independents supported Franken 46% to 35%. In July, they were nearly evenly split, with 38% backing Franken and 37% supporting Grassley.

Independents are notoriously fickle, Selzer said.

Troy Donner, a 53-year-old poll respondent from Creston, said he plans to vote for Grassley this year.

I think hes going to vote for policy for drilling and fracking again and do everything, I hope, to get the fuel prices back down, which fuels our economy, said Donner, a political independent and truck driver.

Still, he believes Grassley probably should have retired a long time ago.

I think theres a time when you might be getting too old to serve, Donner said. I think there should be term limits. I dont think that senators and congressmen should be able to serve in there and make a career out of it.

Grassleys longevity isnt enough to persuade Donner to change his vote, however. He said he doesnt think one party should control the House, the Senate and the presidency, as Democrats have for the past two years.

I just think Grassleys a better choice than the Democrat, he said. I dont think the Democrats need to be in control of the Senate, and I dont think they need to be in control of the House at this time. I think if we had a different president, it might be OK.

Terry Murdock, a 60-year-old Evansdale resident and registered independent, said she plans to vote for Franken in the upcoming election. Murdock said she believes politicians should all be subject to term limits, and she said Grassleys long tenure was a big factor in her decision.

They spend so much time making sure that theyre staying there instead of doing what they need to do to get things accomplished, she said. And, to me, Grassley has been there too long.

Murdock said after watching some of Frankens advertisements on television, she thinks he is somebody who might actually be able to get something accomplished.

U.S. Senate candidate retired Navy Admiral Mike Franken, left, and U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley meet for a debate at Iowa PBS in Johnston, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022.

Republican base comes home for Grassley

Since the October Iowa Poll showed Grassley with a slim lead, there has been little additional outside spending on the race by either party. But the poll result sent a jolt through political circles, bringing national attention to a race that many had written off from the start.

The October poll showed some underlying weaknesses for the senator, particularly surrounding his age. According to the poll, 60% of Iowas likely voters said Grassleys age was a concern, including 86% of Democrats, 64% of independents and 37% of Republicans.

National election forecasters downgraded Grassleys chances of winning reelection from a safe or solid bet to a likely one.

In the weeks since, support for Grassley has risen among the demographic groups that traditionally have made up the Iowa Republican Partys base.

His support among evangelicals has risen from 73% in October to 79% today. Among rural residents, it has risen from 61% to 66%.

Among those who live in the 4th Congressional District, support has risen from 52% to 62%. And among men, its up from 56% to 59%.

Franken is more lukewarm with the groups that traditionally make up the Democrats base, Selzer said, particularly among women.

There's a big lead for Grassley with men, almost 2 to 1, she said. What is more common for me to see in data is that men and women kind of offset each other more or less equally. And Franken's lead with women is just 4 points.

Women favor Franken 50% to 46% over Grassley. Thats down slightly from the 54% of women who favored Franken in October.

Franken does best with those who have no religious affiliation, getting 70%. He also does well with those who have at least a college degree (48%), those who live in cities (50%) and the small group of those who live in suburbs (48%).

But Selzer noted he does not get a majority of any of the groups aside from those who have no religious affiliation.

Grassley leads in all four of Iowas congressional districts, with his largest lead in the 4th Congressional District.

Likely voters say Grassley is a stronger leader, better reflection of Iowa values

In addition to his overall advantage, Grassley leads Franken in each of seven character traits tested by the Iowa Poll.

A majority or plurality of likely voters say they believe Grassley is a stronger leader, more honest, better reflects Iowa values, better understands the issues in depth, is better at putting Iowas needs ahead of party loyalty, is a better role model and is better at defending the U.S. Constitution.

Grassley is rated highest on being a better reflection of Iowa values, with 56% of likely voters saying he best embodies that trait, compared with 35% saying Franken does. Even 11% of Franken supporters agree that Grassley is a better reflection of Iowa values.

Grassleys lowest score is with the 46% who say he is more honest. Franken gets 37%. Three percent of Grassley supporters say Franken is more honest.

Selzer said the numbers paint a strong picture for Grassley.

There's no lurking vulnerability there that shows up in these data, she said.

More:Iowa Poll shows Mike Franken within striking distance of Chuck Grassley. Could he really win?

Des Moines Register reporter Francesca Block contributed to this article.

Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Register. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on Twitter at @brianneDMR.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

About the poll

The Iowa Poll, conducted October 31-November 3, 2022, for the Des Moines Register and Mediacom by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, is based on telephone interviews with 801 Iowans ages 18 or older who say they will definitely vote or have already voted in the 2022 general election for governor, U.S. Senate, and other offices.

Interviewers with Quantel Research contacted 1,118 Iowa adults with randomly selected landline and cell phone numbers supplied by Dynata. Interviews were administered in English. Responses were adjusted by age, sex, and congressional district to reflect the general population based on recent census data.

Questions based on the sample of 801 Iowa likely voters have a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. This means that if this survey were repeated using the same questions and the same methodology, 19 times out of 20, the findings would not vary from the true population value by more than plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Results based on smaller samples of respondents  such as by gender or age  have a larger margin of error.

Republishing the copyright Iowa Poll without credit to The Des Moines Register and Mediacom is prohibited.

Iowa Poll methodology

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Chuck Grassley leads Mike Franken in US Senate race, Iowa Poll shows
TOKYO (AP)  Japans Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at an international fleet review Sunday that his country urgently needs to strengthen its military capabilities as security risks increase including threats from North Koreas nuclear and missile advancement and Russias war on Ukraine.

Eighteen warships from 12 countries participated in the review, including the United States, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea, while the U.S. and France also sent warplanes.

South Korea joined for the first time in seven years, in the latest sign of improvement in badly strained ties between Tokyo and Seoul over Japan's wartime atrocities.

The security environment in the East and South China seas, especially around Japan, is increasingly becoming more severe, Kishida said, noting North Korea's increased missile firings, including one that flew over Japan last month, and growing concern about the impact in Asia of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Avoiding disputes and seeking dialogue is important, Kishida said, but it is also necessary to be prepared for provocations and threats to peace and stability. He repeated his pledge to significantly reinforce Japan's military capability within five years.

Kishida said Japan urgently needs to build more warships, strengthen anti-missile capability and improve working conditions for troops.

"We have no time to waste," Kishida said after his review aboard the JS Izumo, where naval officers from the participating countries gathered to review a demonstration of the frigates, submarines, supply ships and warplanes in Sagami Bay southwest of Tokyo.

The 248-meter- (813-foot) long Izumo has been retrofitted so that it can carry F-35Bs, stealth fighters capable of short take-offs and vertical landings, as Japan increasingly works side-by-side with the U.S. military.

Kishida said Japan will further strengthen the deterrence and response capability of the Japan-U.S. alliance.

Story continues

Later Sunday, Kishida and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel visited the USS Ronald Reagan, the U.S. Navy's only aircraft career based outside the U.S. mainland, off the U.S. naval base of Yokosuka.

Emanuel stressed the importance of cooperation among U.S. allies. "Every time we do things in either a bilateral capacity, trilateral capacity of any other type of exercises that also brings in others, that puts China on their back heels because they realize thats the one thing they do not have is the one thing America has in abundance and we work at it extensively.

The U.S. military, which had just finished a joint exercise with South Korea that prompted missile barrages and other warnings from North Korea, is set to hold major drills with Japan later this month in southwestern Japan. Australia, Canada and Britain will join part of the drills, while France, India, New Zealand, the Philippines and South Korea are expected to take part as observers.

Japan has steadily stepped up its international defense role and military spending over the past decade, and plans to double its military budget in the next five to 10 years to about 2% of its GDP, citing a NATO standard, amid threats from North Korea and China's growing assertiveness.

China has reinforced its claims to virtually the entire South China Sea by constructing artificial islands equipped with military installations and airfields. Beijing also claims a string of islands that are controlled by Japan in the East China Sea, and has stepped up military harassment of self-ruled Taiwan, which it says is part of China to be annexed by force if necessary.

Kishida's government is currently working on a revision to its national security strategy and mid- to long-term defense policies, and is considering allowing the use of preemptive strikes in a major shift to Japan's self-defense-only postwar principle. Critics say preemptive strikes could violate Japan's pacifist constitution.

Apparently addressing concerns from Asian neighbors, Kishida said Japan will stick to its postwar pledge as a pacifist nation and continue to explain its security policy to gain understanding while asking other countries to do the same.

Many of its neighbors, including South Korea, were victims of Japanese aggression in the first half of the 1900s, and an attempt by Japan to increase its military role and spending could be a sensitive issue.

Sundays international fleet review marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of Japans postwar navy, called the Maritime Self-Defense Force, seven years after Japan was demilitarized after its World War II defeat. The naval ships and warplanes were to participate in joint exercises later on Sunday and Monday.

It was the first time Japan hosted an international fleet review in 20 years. China did not take part but was expected to participate in the two-day Western Pacific Naval Symposium in Yokohama starting Monday with officers from about 30 countries discussing maritime security.

___

Associated Press video journalist Jeremie Chanteraud in Yokosuka, Japan, contributed to this report.
For the second time this year, the uncontrolled remnants of a Chinese Long March 5B came crashing to Earth. On Friday morning, US Space Command confirmed pieces of the rocket that carried the third and final piece of China's Tiangong space station to orbit had re-entered the planets atmosphere over the south-central Pacific Ocean, reports The New York Times . The debris eventually plunged into the body of water, leaving no one harmed.

The episode marked the fourth uncontrolled re-entry for Chinas most powerful heavy-lift rocket following its debut in 2020. Unlike many of its modern counterparts, including the SpaceX Falcon 9, the Long March 5B cant reignite its engine to complete a predictable descent back to Earth. The rocket has yet to harm anyone (and probably wont in the future). Still, each time China has sent a Long March 5B into space, astronomers and onlookers have anxiously followed its path back to the surface, worrying it might land somewhere people live. On Friday, Spain briefly closed parts of its airspace over risks posed by the debris from Mondays mission, leading to hundreds of flight delays.

As he did earlier this year following Chinas Wentian mission , NASA Administrator Bill Nelson criticized the country for not taking the appropriate precautions to prevent an out-of-control re-entry. It is critical that all spacefaring nations are responsible and transparent in their space activities, and follow established best practices, especially, for the uncontrolled re-entry of a large rocket body debris  debris that could very well result in major damage or loss of life, he said.
HONOLULU  The U.S. military said it is finished draining three pipelines connecting Pearl Harbor to a fuel storage facility that last year spilled jet fuel into the military installations tap water and sickened 6,000 people.

About 1 million gallons (3.79 million liters) of fuel had been sitting in the pipelines since the military stopped using the Red Fuel Bulk Fuel Storage Facility after last Novembers spill.

The pipeline draining ended Thursday after starting a little more than a week earlier.

The military said it will next repair equipment at the Red Hill tank farm to allow it to safely remove fuel from storage tanks in preparation for closing the facility.

The Hawaii Department of Health ordered the Navy to shutter the facility after the spill, which also contaminated the ground underneath the tanks and threatened the health of an aquifer that provides water to 400,000 people in Honolulu.

The military expects to finish draining the storage tanks by July 2024. The tanks still have 100 million gallons (379 million liters) in them.

The entity managing the defueling, Joint Task Force Red Hill, said in a statement Thursday that its working with Hawaiis health department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to find ways to safely drain the tanks sooner.
SEOUL, South Korea  North Korea added to its recent barrage of weapons demonstrations by launching four ballistic missiles into the sea on Saturday, as the United States sent two supersonic bombers streaking over South Korea in a dueling display of military might that underscored rising tensions in the region.

South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the four short-range missiles fired from a North Korean western coastal area around noon flew about 130 kilometers (80 miles) toward the countrys western sea.

The North has test-fired more than 30 missiles this week, including an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday that triggered evacuation alerts in northern Japan, and flew large numbers of warplanes inside its territory in an angry reaction to a massive combined aerial exercise between the United States and South Korea.

The South Korean military said two B-1B bombers trained with four U.S. F-16 fighter jets and four South Korean F-35 jets during the last day of the Vigilant Storm joint air force drills that wrapped up Saturday. It marked the first time since December 2017 that the bombers were deployed to the Korean Peninsula. The exercise involved around 240 warplanes, including advanced F-35 fighter jets from both countries.

US, South Korea to extend military drills after North Korean launches

North Koreas Foreign Ministry late Friday described the countrys military actions this week as an appropriate response to the exercise, which it called a display of U.S. military confrontation hysteria. It said North Korea will respond with the toughest counteraction to any attempts by hostile forces to infringe on its sovereignty or security interests.

South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said the participation of the B-1Bs in the joint drills demonstrated the allies readiness to sternly respond to North Korean provocations and the U.S. commitment to defend its ally with the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear.

Story continues

B-1B flyovers had been a familiar show of force during past periods of tensions with North Korea, including the Norths provocative run in nuclear and long-range missile tests in 2017. But the flyovers had been halted in recent years as the United States and South Korea stopped their large-scale exercises to support the former Trump administrations diplomatic efforts with North Korea and because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The allies resumed their large-scale training this year after North Korea dialed up its weapons testing to a record pace, exploiting a divide in the U.N. Security Council over Russias war on Ukraine as a window to accelerate arms development.

A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022. (Ahn Young-joon/AP)

North Korea hates such displays of American military might at close range. The North has continued to describe the B-1B as a nuclear strategic bomber although the plane was switched to conventional weaponry in the mid-1990s.

Vigilant Storm had been initially scheduled to end Friday, but the allies decided to extend the training to Saturday in response to a series of North Korean ballistic launches on Thursday, including an ICBM that triggered evacuation alerts and halted trains in northern Japan.

Thursdays launches came after the North fired more than 20 missiles on Wednesday, the most in a single day. Those launches came after North Korean senior military official Pak Jong Chon issued a veiled threat of a nuclear conflict with the United States and South Korea over their joint drills, which the North says are rehearsals for a potential invasion.

South Korea also on Friday scrambled about 80 military aircraft after tracking about 180 flights by North Korean warplanes inside North Korean territory. The Souths Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North Korean warplanes were detected in various areas inland and along the countrys eastern and western coasts, but did not come particularly close to the Koreas border. The South Korean military spotted about 180 flight trails from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., but it wasnt immediately clear how many North Korean planes were involved and whether some may have flown more than once.

In Fridays statement attributed to an unidentified spokesperson, North Koreas Foreign Ministry said the United States and South Korea had created a seriously unstable atmosphere in the region with their military exercises. It accused the United States of mobilizing its allies in a campaign using sanctions and military threats to pressure North Korea to unilaterally disarm.

The sustained provocation is bound to be followed by sustained counteraction, the statement said.

North Korea has launched dozens of ballistic missiles this year, including multiple ICBMs and an intermediate-range missile flown over Japan. South Korean officials say there are indications North Korea in coming weeks could detonate its first nuclear test device since 2017. Experts say North Korea is attempting to force the United States to accept it as a nuclear power and seeks to negotiate economic and security concessions from a position of strength.
The fact that Blade Runner 2099, a TV series based on the films, will be shot in Northern Ireland, has been seen as a huge vote of confidence in Northern Ireland's screen industry.

But is only the latest in a long line of high-profile successes.

The production follows in the footsteps of television hits like Game of Thrones and Line of Duty, as well as films such as The Northman - all of which which were shot in Northern Ireland.

And according to Northern Ireland Screen more are on their way.

"I would be very much hoping and expecting in the next couple of months that there'll be at least one further big announcement," NI Screen chief executive Richard Williams told BBC News NI.

The industry has become huge in Northern Ireland.

"Northern Ireland Screen supported projects that combined to over 1bn in terms of production budget in the last four years," said Mr Williams.

"Of that, something over 330m stuck on people, goods and services in Northern Ireland."

So why has Northern Ireland become so attractive to production companies?

Andrew Wilson is a location manager who has worked on Line of Duty, The Fall and Belfast, among others.

"We're very small, that's a huge benefit that can't be underestimated because you're never two hours from anywhere here," he said.

"It's very attractive for us to be able to say 30 minutes from Belfast you can be on a beach, you can be half way up a mountain, you can be at any number of locations.

"Financially that's huge for a production, because if you travel for more than an hour you have to start to put the crew up overnight somewhere and it runs into huge money."

Another draw is Belfast's Titanic and Harbour studios.

"We did a Netflix job at the Harbour studio, there's people I was working with, who have worked many, many years in many different studios and that was, for them, the best one they'd ever worked in," Mr Wilson said.

Story continues

There are also financial incentives for production companies through UK tax credits and discretionary funding that Northern Ireland Screen uses to augment that.

"Why do people look to here? These days because we're a centre of excellence. We're a hub," NI Screen's Richard Williams added.

"It's very competitive and it never gets any easier because the projects come and go, but Northern Ireland's in a good place."

The average TV production could have around 150 people working on it day to day, while a larger film production would have more than 200.

As a location manager, Andrew Wilson said that can present a number of challenges.

"I remember trying to get 200 people to the very top of Tollymore forest, onto the foot of the Mournes [mountains], horses and everything," he said.

"We had to build roads, sometimes you have to do that, you're creating carparks, building roads, depending on the budget of the production you're on."

Mr Wilson said while recently working in Portaferry his department spent 30,000-40,000 in five or six days.

"That financial benefit goes directly to local businesses and to local people, a large chunk of it."

Crews from outside Northern Ireland will, of course, need somewhere to stay and those providing accommodation have certainly benefited from the industry.

Aileen Martin of the Hastings Hotel Group said during the Covid pandemic the screen industry was vital.

"Whenever the doors were closed and the lights were out and we didn't know what was round the corner, filming was seen as essential," she said.

"So there was the film the Northman and another one, The School for Good and Evil, and they were an absolute lifeline, they kept the doors open for the Europa, the Grand Central and the Culloden [hotels], kept people employed when everyone else was lights out."

From Hollywood to Holywood

In August, US novelist Adena Halpern wrote in glowing terms in the Hollywood Reporter about her time living in Northern Ireland's Holywood - in County Down - while her film director husband worked on Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

Richard Williams said it is becoming common for those working in the industry to bring their families with them.

"Talent and high level executives are not immediately thinking they want to come and work out of Belfast," he said.

"But they find working for a period of time - sometimes quite a long period of time - in Northern Ireland can be very good in terms of work-life balance and that their family and loved ones can have a decent and enjoyable time while they're here."

Andrew Wilson said he has worked with "producers, directors from all over the world and they do have a good experience here, they enjoy Belfast, actors as well seem to enjoy it.

"There was a guy I worked with on [Netflix film] Lift for example, his wife had worked with him in Belfast previously and she loved it so much that she kind of talked him into doing the job so that she could come back and live here again for the guts of a year."

While the 2008 film City of Ember may not be the most well-known, Mr Wilson said it was very significant for filming in Northern Ireland.

"It was the first time Northern Ireland had ever hosted a major Hollywood production in its entirety," he said.

"Not long after, there was a movie called Your Highness that came in, which then in turn led to Game of Thrones."

NI Screen's Richard Williams said success in the screen industry "ultimately comes down to having hits".

"You never get to rest on your laurels, you always have to be looking out for the next thing that can be the knock-it-out-of-the-park success."
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP)  Cameroonian President Paul Biya marked 40 years in power Sunday but stayed out of the spotlight as questions swirled about the 89-year-old who is the only leader most of the Central African country's people have ever known.

Thousands of his supporters gathered in the capital, Yaounde, to celebrate the anniversary but there were only giant portraits of the absent president.

Biya has not appeared in public since French President Emmanuel Macron visited in July. Decrees and photos of Biya receiving various diplomats are regularly posted on the president's social media accounts.

Since our father took power we live in peace  he protects us well, said Biya supporter Paul Ambassa on Sunday. "May God keep him.

However, critics of the Biya regime were wearing black on Sunday amid the celebrations.

Nov. 6 is considered a day of national mourning because Mr. Biya inherited a rich, prosperous and growing country," said critic Darling Nguevo. And he set about unraveling every sector of life and society.

Corruption has made its bed in the country. So has bad governance. Paul Biya is old and his public appearances are rare, and this is happening against the backdrop of the succession battle, he added.

Biya is Africa's second-longest serving leader: The president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, has been in power since 1979.

Biya was Cameroon's prime minister and became president in 1982 after his predecessor, Cameroon's first president following the country's independence from France, stepped down due to health reasons.

The majority of appointments Biya made in the ensuing years were members of his own southern Beti ethnic group, which quickly grew to dominate senior prefect positions and the prime ministers office.

He survived a 1984 coup attempt. When the country's first multi-party election was finally held in 1992, Biya bested his opposition rival by just 4 percentage points.

In the decades since, Biyas party has used everything from fraud to redistricting to expand his victories and the ruling partys legislative majorities, according to political analysts. Human rights groups have accused him of brazen strongman tactics, including torture and intimidation of his opponents.

Biya has faced challenges in recent years that range from a secessionist movement in Cameroons English-speaking provinces to the threat in the north posed by Islamic extremists aligned with the Nigeria-based Boko Haram group.

Critics point to the role that corruption has played in entrenching Biyas regime, with the spoils allegedly going to his allies in government, the security forces and the president's family.

Political analyst Aristide Mono said the celebrations around Biya's 40th anniversary in power were part of a tradition of sanctification."

The people in charge of these various mobilizations are very much driven by the logic of clientelism, as each tries to show his allegiance, to show a lot of fidelity and loyalty, Mono said.

Displays of loyalty have become particularly important the older Biya gets. The president's son, Franck Biya, has been more visible at his fathers side. Some think he is positioning himself as a possible successor.

There are fears chaos could break out in a country with more than 200 different ethnic groups once the president's long tenure ends.

Biya hasn't taken the time to prepare a successor, someone who could amply inherit his power, Mono said.
LATROBE, Pa.  Two former presidents duked it out with dueling rallies Saturday across western Pennsylvania, where they stumped for Senate candidates locked in one of the most consequential races of the cycle and offered wildly different visions of America as the final midterm fight centers on the Keystone State.

Around noon, Barack Obama rallied with Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic Senate nominee, along with Democratic candidates in local House races on the University of Pittsburgh's campus. Hours later, Donald Trump campaigned with Republican Senate nominee Mehmet Oz, GOP gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano, and down-ballot Republicans at a regional airport in Latrobe, about an hour east of Pittsburgh.

At attention for both former presidents is which party's nominee wins one of the most sought after Senate seats in the country.

Fetterman and Oz are locked in a neck-and-neck race that could determine control of the Senate. Should Republicans retain control of the seat currently held by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., it's likely they can recapture control of the congressional chamber. If Fetterman wins, Democrats have a fighting chance of maintaining the Senate majority.

Obama framed the fight as one between a Democratic nominee in Fetterman who will fight for working-class Pennsylvanians and to improve the economy, protect healthcare, abortion rights and democracy. He's up against a Republican Party increasingly focused on being able to "own the libs," as Obama said, and do whatever it takes to win Trump's approval, whether that mean discarding sacred democratic principles and norms that underpin the U.S. electoral system.

Trump, on the other hand, framed Oz as potentially the last line of defense against what he described as a hellscape of crime, inflation and undocumented immigration into the country. But he also made sure to repeatedly inject his false claims that widespread electoral malfeasance cost him his re-election bid, suggest without evidence that Tuesday's results may be tainted and teased that he will announce his 2024 presidential bid in a "very, very, very short period of time."

Story continues

Former President Barack Obama speaks to supporters of Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman in Pittsburgh on Saturday. (Jeff Swensen / Getty Images)

Speaking across the street from Pitt's Cathedral of Learning, Obama opened by warning of a rising tide of antisemitism and overall "dangerous climate" in the country stemming from polarized social media and over-the-top political rhetoric. He then argued the election is a question of "who will fight for you?"

Obama took aim at inflation and acknowledged how much rising costs are hurting Americans. But he said inflation is a problem not just at home, but abroad, and said Republicans solution will merely be "to gut" Social Security and Medicare while giving tax breaks to the wealthy.

"If there was an asteroid headed towards Earth," Obama said, Republicans would "get in the room and say, 'you know what we need tax cuts for the rich.'"

He accused Republicans of not being "interested in actually solving problems."

"Just about every GOP politician seems obsessed with two things," he said. "They want to own the libs. Lets get the libs. And lets get Donald Trumps approval."

With Fetterman still recovering from a stroke earlier this year, Obama said the health crisis "did not change who he is, it didn't change what he cares about."

"It didnt change his values, his heart, his fight," Obama said. "When he gets to the United States Senate, hell represent you, and thats what you deserve."

Democratic Pennsylvania Senate nominee John Fetterman speaks to supporters on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh, on November 5, 2022. (Jeff Swensen / Getty Images)

Oz, Obama said, would be a vote for Trump in case of another close election in 2024. He then argued for why protecting democracy should be at top of mind for voters.

"Sometimes it feels like government isnt making enough progress on the issues that matter to you and your family," he said. "I get that because sometimes progress is slow."

"But let me tell you something, Pennsylvania, weve seen throughout history weve seen around the world, what happens when you give up on democracy," he continued, adding, "When that happens, people get hurt. That has real life consequences."

Both Oz and Fetterman spoke briefly at their respective rallies, with Fetterman joking that "if youre gonna give a speech after youve been recovering from a stroke, you really dont want to have to come before Barack Obama." He added he was "proud to be standing with a president that is 100% sedition free," pointing to Oz campaigning with Trump. Fetterman pledged to support a number of Democratic-backed policy initiatives, including eliminating the Senate filibuster, or 60-vote threshold to advance most legislation.

Oz, meanwhile, sought to portray himself at Trump's rally as a moderate, middle-of-the-road Republican who was for boosting public safety, securing the border and allowing "legal immigration because" his father had benefitted from such opportunity.

"What surgeons do is tackle big problems," he said. "And we do it successfully. In my case, fixing broken hearts by working with everybody, by making sure we unify people in the operating room, not divide them. The same will work for our nation."

Former President Donald Trump looks on as Republican Senatorial candidate Mehmet Oz at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, on November 5, 2022. (Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images)

No one Saturday spoke longer than Trump, who addressed supporters at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport for roughly two hours, hitting on a number of hot-button cultural issues, his false claims of widespread "cheating" in the 2020 election and promoting the candidacies of Oz and Mastriano.

"We're a nation that in many ways has become a joke," Trump said near the end of his address. Later, he promised that Republicans "will stand up to the radical left Democrats and the dangerous and unpatriotic RINOs" (Republicans in Name Only).

In teasing his presidential bid, Trump said he did not want to make a formal announcement so as to take attention away from Oz, Mastriano and other Republicans.

"So I want the focus to be of them," Trump said, adding, "And very, very soon  youre gonna be surprised at how soon  but first, we have to win a historic victory for Republicans on November 8."

He called the upcoming elections "the most important midterm election in American history"  a point the Democrats at the earlier rally concurred with. Oz, Trump said, is "desperately" needed in the Senate where "he could very well be the tie-breaking vote."

Oz, he added, would be "much better than the senator that he's replacing" in Toomey, who voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and who has been campaigning alongside Oz for months.

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally for Senate candidate Mehmet Oz at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport November 5, 2022 in Latrobe, Pa. (Win McNamee / Getty Images)

He spoke on a number of issues animating conservative voters through the election cycle, including the theme of "parents rights" and discussions of race and gender in schools.

"We will get critical race theory out of our schools out of our military and out of every part of our federal, state and local governments," he said, adding, "No teacher should ever be allowed to teach transgender to our children without parental consent."

He falsely asserted that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently ruled the 2020 election in the state was rigged. (The court had ruled that undated or incorrectly dated mail-in ballots should be rejected in the upcoming election. The number of such ballots in 2020 was far less than Trump's margin of defeat to President Joe Biden).

Trump then opened the door to claiming that either Oz or Mastriano could be the victim of a fraudulent election.

"Remember, at like 9:30, in the evening ... I was up by almost a million votes," Trump said. "And then all of a sudden, like magic, it disappeared. And I'm so worried about Oz and Doug."

"We can't let this happen," he continued, adding, "And we're not gonna let it happen again."

Much of the rest of Trump's speech was freewheeling. At one point, when showing the crowd polls of the potential 2024 Republican primary, he referred to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another potential 2024 candidate, as "Ron DeSanctimonious."

"I'm winging," Trump said, "about 80% of what I'm saying."

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Pennsylvania Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks at a rally held by former President Donald Trump in Wilkes-Barre, Penn. on Sept. 3, 2022. (Hannah Beier/The New York Times)

In just a few days, Pennsylvania could elect Dr. Mehmet Oz to the Senate, which would make him the nations first Muslim senator.

With an eye on that history, Muslims in the state have invited him to events at mosques. They have waited for him to talk about how his life has been influenced by his faith, which he once told an interviewer hewed to the mystical Sufi Islam of the whirling dervishes. They have wondered if he would note the significance of the election of a Muslim to such a high national office.

But he has not done any of those things.

Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times

As Oz clashes with Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic candidate, in a close race that could decide control of the Senate, he is approaching his Muslim background with what appears to be great ambivalence  and some Muslim Americans have similarly conflicted feelings.

Ozs personal and political identities make him an unlikely fit for the role of a history-making, barrier-breaking Muslim public figure.

He identifies himself as a secular Muslim, raised his four children in his wifes Christian faith and rarely discusses his religious beliefs in public. Unlike most American Muslims, he is a Republican. And some of his rare comments about Islam  including a warning about Shariah law in the United States, which no group has ever proposed  have been viewed by fellow Muslims as Islamophobic signaling.

Above all, though, the alienation many Muslims feel from Oz stems from his vocal backing from former President Donald Trump, who once said he would strongly consider closing mosques in the United States, told an interviewer that I think Islam hates us and, as president, banned travel to the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries.

In other words, the first Muslim senator might be a man who owes his political rise to a figure who spread Islamophobia more widely than any other recent American leader.

Its going to be very difficult to wrap my head around that one, said Abdul Maghees Chaudhri, the vice president of the Islamic Society of Chester County, a mosque in suburban Philadelphia.

Story continues

Oz, who for years was best known as a television self-help personality, has described a spiritual life shaped by the conflicting views of his pious father and his secular mother, who reflected divisions within their native Turkey. His campaign did not respond to requests for an interview.

I have struggled a lot with my Muslim identity, in part because, within my family, there were two very different perspectives on it, he said in a 2009 interview with Henry Louis Gates Jr. on the PBS television show Faces of America.

In the end, he told Gates, he embraced his mothers secularism and felt drawn to Sufism, a movement found in both Sunni and Shiite Islam that emphasizes each persons individual search for the divine over dogma or rigidity.

When one is caught up in the legal aspects of religion, he said, it frustrates me to no end.

Muslims around the world interpret their faith in a wide variety of ways, and Ozs approach is one shared by many others. For many American Muslims, their concern is not over theological differences with Oz or his religious observance, but over his unwillingness to publicly embrace them while at the same time aligning with politicians who have been hostile toward their community.

Dalia Mogahed, the director of research for the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, said it felt as if Oz had disowned his background.

I think its something, for the most part, that he has de-emphasized and walked away from, she said. For the community to claim him or take any pride in his accomplishments, I dont think makes sense.

Nagi Latefa, an immigrant from the Gaza Strip and a volunteer at the Islamic Education Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, said he had been open to Oz, whom he viewed as a poster child for the sort of success immigrants want their children to have.

Latefa voted for President George H.W. Bush and President George W. Bush and was a longtime supporter of Rep. Charlie Dent, a Republican who represented the area until 2018. Latefa said he had been trying since July to organize a meet-the-candidate event for Oz at his mosque. But his efforts have gone nowhere, he said.

I have called, I have emails I sent to them, and nothing, Latefa said. The experience soured him. When other Muslims ask him about Oz, he does not know how to recommend voting for him.

How can I justify this? he said. Its like, Hey, guys, we want to go vote for this guy, hes good, but he doesnt want to be seen with us.

Only 10% of American Muslims identify as Republicans, according to a study by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding this year. Forty-six percent of Muslims identify as Democrats and 40% as independent, the highest percentage of independents of any faith group. Oz is believed to be the first Muslim nominee for Senate from a major party.

Mogahed said that American Muslims were likely to be independents because many did not feel they fit into either political party.

Many oppose Democratic positions on issues like same-sex marriage and taxation, she said. But a survey of American Muslims by the institute in 2022 also showed that a majority supported abortion rights and gun-control laws and said they agreed with the principles of critical race theory.

American Muslims have also been deeply alienated from the Republican Party since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which led to years of racial profiling and government surveillance, enabled by the Patriot Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush, a Republican. That estrangement became profound during the Trump administration.

There has been no excitement in the community over Oz the way there was when Keith Ellison, a Democrat, became the first Muslim elected to Congress in 2007, Mogahed said. Ellison visited mosques across the country, was sworn into office on the Quran and served as an eloquent spokesperson for American Muslims, Mogahed said.

Oz addressed his religious background at the start of the campaign, writing in The Washington Examiner in January that he had been raised as a secular Muslim. His four children are Christians, and he wrote that he had beamed with joy watching them and our four grandchildren become baptized.

He went further in an interview in May with Real Americas Voice, a right-wing online media company, when asked if Islam was incompatible with the Constitution.

We dont want Shariah law in America, he said. Im a secular Muslim. I dont want any of these religious fanatics playing a role in American society.

Many American Muslims view statements like that as a signal to non-Muslim voters that Oz is different from whatever scary image of Islam they may have in their minds, said Ahmet Tekelioglu, the executive director of CAIR-Philadelphia, a Muslim civil rights group. The specter of Shariah in the United States has been a frequent topic in the conservative media since the mid-2000s.

Ozs most substantive public remarks about his religious background appear to have come from his 2009 interview with Gates.

In the interview, Oz described growing up in a divided home, with one parent on one side of the religious wall, one parent on the other.

His mothers family was aligned with the secular teachings of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who founded modern Turkey after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in 1922. Oz said those in his mothers family are religious people, but in privacy.

They never flaunt it; they never talk about it, he said. Its frankly none of your business, in their opinion, that they happen to be Muslim.

But for his fathers side of the family, Islam was their core essence  it is what defined who they were; it is what gave them their morality, he said.

They would never feel comfortable separating away their view towards the law from the view towards religion, he said. They just seemed so obviously and beautifully and elegantly integrated. Why would you try to carve them apart?

As an adult, Oz said, he was drawn to Sufism, which emphasizes a personal connection with God.

Its much more mystical, much more interested in taking away the 99% of reality that we think is there and looking at the real, important 1% thats beneath that veneer, he said, the true connection with God.

He told Gates he had also found spiritual fulfillment in other traditions, including his wifes religion, Swedenborgian Christianity, a Protestant denomination based on the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, an 18th-century Swedish mystic.

Ozs background has not come up during the general election campaign, but it was a bitter part of the Republican primary in May.

Ozs opponent, David McCormick, accused him of having dual loyalties because he holds Turkish citizenship, which Oz said he would renounce if elected to the Senate.

Behind the scenes, McCormick tried to dissuade Trump from endorsing Oz at a meeting where his wife, former Trump White House official Dina Powell McCormick, showed the former president pictures of Oz alongside others wearing Muslim head coverings. They argued that Oz was too Muslim to win an election in Pennsylvania.

The idea that Oz may be too Muslim is not one shared by many Muslim Pennsylvanians.

Chris Caras, the imam of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, was a fan of Ozs television show and followed him on Facebook for years, turning to him for weight loss tips and advice about alternative medicine.

But Caras said Ozs embrace of Trump had left him profoundly disappointed.

All I saw were what seemed to my eyes to be him eating pork and drinking beer and wine in rural areas, Caras said. After months of these pictures without a single person of color, I finally unfollowed him after many years.

 2022 The New York Times Company
What would permanent Daylight Saving Time look like in Canada?

A raging debate south of the border could have a huge impact on everything from your work schedule to your morning commute.

Its tough for the United States Congress to agree on much, but the U.S. Senate passed a bill by unanimous consent on March 15 that would make Daylight Saving Time (DST) permanent across the country beginning in 2023. This bill could kickstart the time change debate in Canada, a switch that could have a significant impact on your winter routines.

U.S. SUNSHINE PROTECTION ACT SEEKS LONGER EVENINGS

If the Sunshine Protection Act passes the U.S. House and President Joe Biden signs it into law, the country would stop observing the twice-yearly time change and stick their clocks an hour forward for the entire year.

Such a move would be wildly popular with a vast swath of Americans, especially in northern communities where the midwinter sun sets relatively early in the afternoon.

This shift could prove even more popular in Canada, where winter days are often far shorter than even the shortest day in the contiguous U.S.

If the U.S. makes the switch to permanent DST, it could boost longtime efforts to keep the clocks in one position across Canada and put pressure on provincial and federal politicians to follow suit.

British Columbia Premier John Horgan welcomed the news from Washington this week.

For British Columbia families who have just had to cope with the disruptions of changing the clocks, this brings us another step toward ending the time changes permanently, Horgan tweeted in response to the bills passage.

WATCH: 9 DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME FACTS THAT WILL KEEP YOU UP TONIGHT

Click here to view the video

WHAT WOULD YEAR-ROUND DST LOOK LIKE IN CANADA?

While there are some communities in places like Saskatchewan and the Yukon that stick with one time all year, most of Canada still springs forward in March and falls back in November. The seesaw back and forth can disrupt schedules and sleep cycles alike.

Proponents of DST argue that the benefits outweigh the potential downsides. Steve Calandrillo, professor of law at the University of Washington, argued back in 2020 that year-round Daylight Saving Time would make the evening commute safer, reduce crime, help to save energy, and improve quality of sleep.

Story continues

DON'T MISS: Five must-have items to help you adjust to the time change

While more sunlight in the evening would make life a little sweeter for folks who enjoy some outdoors time after they get off work, sticking with DST all year would also pose some oft-overlooked problems.

DSTJan1Sunrise

The biggest and most obvious change would be the delayed sunrise. Shifting the sunset an hour later would also make the sunrise an hour later, and that extra hour of morning darkness would be a significant adjustment for many folks across Canada.

Sunrise wouldnt take place until or after 9:00 a.m. for much of the country during the heart of winter. Take sunrise times across the country on New Years Day: on the first day of the year, the sun wouldnt come up until 8:51 a.m. in Toronto, 9:07 a.m. in Vancouver, and not until almost 10:00 a.m. in Edmonton.

There are other issues with permanent DST beyond a simple lack of morning sunshine.

Darker mornings would heighten the danger of commuting by foot in cities and neighbourhoods alike, and the time shift would force many young children to walk to school or wait for the bus in the dark during the winter months.

Extended morning darkness would also push low visibility and colder temperatures deeper into the morning commute, potentially making your drive into work more hazardous on mornings when roads are icy or covered with snow. Its tough to navigate a slippery road in traffic under the best conditions, let alone when its still pitch black outside.

If the United States sees the Sunshine Protection Act pass into law, the permanent time shift wouldnt take place until fall 2023.

Theres no guarantee that it would last, either.

Congress experimented with permanent Daylight Saving Time back in 1973 in an attempt to save energy. The dark mornings were such a widely despised disruption that Congress reversed course and reinstated seasonal time changes the following year.

Thumbnail courtesy of Venrick Azcueta via Unsplash.
AMES  Whatever happens over the next three weeks, whether its a dramatic turnaround or a disappointing stretch, Iowa State can look back to the first weekend in November with a smile.

Maybe its the game that sets the Cyclones on the path to improbable bowl eligibility. Or maybe its the lone Big 12 victory in a sea of losses.

Either way, Iowa State earned a 31-14 victory Saturday afternoon over West Virginia to snap a five-game losing streak and provide a moment of optimism in a season that had grown increasingly bleak since its last victory back in mid-September.

Our story is our story, Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. Until its not our story.

Theres a whole lot of story still to tell.

More:Fourth-quarter outburst powers Cyclones to first Big 12 victory

Whatever narrative lies ahead for Iowa State, getting the 0 out of the Big 12 win column and snuffing out a losing streak is victory enough, for now.

Whether Saturday was the start of something profound or just a brief reprieve, its something. Especially for a team that to this point, literally had nothing in Big 12 play.

Well see what the coming weeks bring, but, on Saturday night, Sweet Caroline played at Jack Trice Stadium.

Now let's answer some questions we got from Cyclones fans after the win.

Does the number of games Oklahoma State has played in a row make you think Iowa State's chances are better or worse going into next week?

After Iowa States loss last week to Oklahoma, it felt like a bowl game was all but completely unachievable since it would mean needing a road win against one of two teams that opened that weekend ranked in the top-10.

Since then, though, Oklahoma State got stomped 48-0 by Kansas State and handled 37-16 by Kansas. Against the Jayhawks, the Cowboys were down their starting quarterback, wide receiver, safety, right guard and punter while their starting running back played through an injury.

That game looks significantly more winnable than it did two weeks ago.

Story continues

More:Peterson: Iowa State unloads the offensive playbook in stopping a five-game losing streak

Now, how much more winnable? Thats the question.

Oklahoma State has had a terrible two weeks, and Iowa State struggled through three quarters against what was their competition for worst team in the Big 12, so getting too worked up in either direction is probably folly.

Certainly, though, Iowa State is going to Stillwater with a little juice while the home team looks significantly hobbled.

There are several experienced guys on the O-line, why do they look like they have regressed this season?

The offensive line is now in Year 7 of being an issue for Iowa State.

Whatever the reasons are  and the list of potential culprits is long  it's simply true to say that group has disappointed relative to the rest of the roster.

It'll be interesting to see what Iowa State does in regard to its offense this offseason. Campbell can be ruthlessly honest in his self-evaluation of the program. Does he chalk up this years offensive struggles to youth and injuries? Or does the blame get placed on something more structural?

If the next three weeks play out without extremes in either direction, that might be the most intriguing question facing Iowa State this offseason.

Is Jirehl Brock actually 50/50 to play next weekend or is he seriously hurt?

When the running back got twisted back as he was tackled in the second quarter, things looked very serious. When Campbell helped Brock off the field and then when Brock was carted back to the locker room, it maybe looked like a season-ender.

It looked bad, Campbell said. And he was in a lot of pain.

More:Peterson: Iowa State running backs were very good in Jirehl Brock's absence

Not long after, though, Brock was back on the sideline, wearing his helmet and running sprints under the watchful eye of Iowa States training staff.

Brock ultimately didnt return to the game, but seeing him not on crutches felt like a win for Iowa State.

I do think he will be OK, Campbell said. He was able to dress back out and probably would have been available in an emergency situation.

He is as tough as they come. Its a situation where its a little bit of bad luck, but hes a tough cookie and my guess is hell be ready for us next week.

Campbell is notoriously opaque about injuries, but Brock being on the field with his helmet  a sign the training staff hadnt ruled him out  means hes probably got a real chance at playing at Oklahoma State.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Mailbag: Can Iowa State football win at Oklahoma State?
Candidates who have often been overlooked by voters in past elections have an outsized presence in these midterm elections.

Ahead of Election Day, Republicans and Democrats running for secretary of state are combating misinformation from some of their counterparts and stressing how their races' outcomes could directly impact the future of democracy.

While the precise duties of the office can vary by state, these officials typically administer elections.

This election cycle, Americans in 27 states will see candidates for secretary of state on their ballot. At least 13 of these races will include a 2020 election denier as a choice, according to research by the nonpartisan group States United Action and its president and CEO, Joanna Lydgate.

The bottom line is we can't take these races for granted anymore, Lydgate said. We can't put people in charge of our elections who don't believe in them.

'Major threat' to U.S. democracy: Hundreds of elections deniers running for office nationwide in 2022

An unusual standout: Idaho's GOP secretary of state rejects false election fraud claims

What is an election denier?

Lydgate said her organization identifies election deniers as individuals who have publicly rejected the results of the 2020 election.

A USA TODAY analysis of election deniers on the ballot defined the term as:

one of the 147 members of Congress who voted against certifying the election results or said they would have if they were in office.

someone who has publicly said the 2020 election was rigged, stolen, marred by voter fraud or otherwise illegitimate  and have not recanted their false claim.

or someone who still publicly questions the results of the 2020 election, nearly two years after it has been certified.

Fighting election misinformation

The 27 secretaries of state who win this year will oversee the 2024 presidential election and the 2026 midterms.

So the real risk here is that we could see an election result that doesn't reflect the will of the voters, Lydgate said.

Story continues

For example, since the 2020 election controversy, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat, said the job has the added responsibility of being on the front line of combatting election misinformation.

That wasn't as much of a thing three, four, five or more years ago, Simon said. Now, it's a routine responsibility of explaining what our election system is and what it is not, and pushing back on those who try to undermine democracy with lies about the system.

Simon is seeking a third term in office. He faces Kim Crockett, a Republican who has accused him of enabling voter fraud and called the 2020 election lawless and rigged.

She peddles conspiracy theories, he said.

Crockett said Simons false narrative about her is hysterical and misleading. She said she questions the push he has made toward more absentee and mail voting.

There's this whole hundreds of millions of dollars being spent by the left and his friends on the left to create this false narrative that somehow Kim Crockett and other citizens are not allowed to ask questions, Crockett said.

She is among the list of candidates the States United Action research team identified as an election denier.

Across the country: What is an 'election denier'?

A year after Jan. 6: Americans say democracy is in peril but disagree on why

A need for nonpartisanship

Simon, along with Colorado Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold, was in office during the 2020 election, when false claims of voter fraud abounded, spearheaded by then-President Donald Trump. Since then, Simon and Griswold both say they have seen rhetoric around the office become more polarized.

This isn't business as usual pre-2020, Griswold said. It's not partisan to stand up for the right to vote. It's American.

Griswolds opponent, Republican Pam Anderson, likewise said election officials need to stand up for democracy, not as a left or right issue, but as an American value for free, accessible, and accurate and fair elections.

We need to take (out) the partisan rhetoric and politicians using these platforms to raise millions of dollars with polarizing and divisive rhetoric, she said.

Lydgate said that among the 13 election deniers States United Action identified running for secretary of state  11 Republicans and two independents  there is an effort to politicize American elections and democracy. For voters to trust their secretaries of state or any officials overseeing the process, she said nonpartisanship is crucial.

To be the experts that they are and do their jobs, it's no different in my mind from taking your car to be serviced by a car mechanic or taking your child to see a nurse or a doctor when they're sick. These people are professionals, Lydgate said.

Secretary of state candidates run with party labels on the ballot. But with challenges to the election system becoming unnecessarily partisan lately, Simon said officials have an even greater responsibility to remain neutral.

You have to, to some extent, leave your politics at the door, Simon said. It's more important than ever for Democrats and Republicans to be fair and impartial in their duties.

Despite the extremism coming from the right, Anderson said officials in the Republican Party are just as concerned about the potential impact of election deniers on democracy.

There are Republicans all over this country standing up and operating in a way that is for democracy and all voters, Anderson said. "The exceptions are the ones that politicize this office.

'Conspiracy to defraud': Judge says Trump knew fraud claim was wrong

Election workers fear trouble: Vengeful threats persist after Trump loss

What does a secretary of state do?

Leaving out partisan affiliation is also important in respect to other responsibilities of the office, said Cisco Aguilar, Democratic candidate in Nevada. There, the secretary of state is responsible for administering corporate filings, a job Aguilar says has a great impact on the states small businesses.

I always say that a small business should never have to hire an attorney to deal with the secretary of state's office, Aguilar said.

Business licensing and regulating nonprofits and charities are also among the duties for Colorados secretary of state. Its less of a political job and more of a leadership, management position, Anderson said, adding that nonpartisanship in the office extends to not publicly taking a position on issues that may go before voters.

Some candidates make promises related to their partys platform: Griswold, a pro-choice candidate, has campaigned on a promise not to extradite someone for violating another states abortion law.

In Georgia, Democratic nominee Bee Nguyen said the attention on the secretary of state race should go beyond election implications to the totality of the offices responsibilities, which in her state include regulating nursing licenses.

The question that Georgians have is if a nurse is implicated or caught up in the abortion ban, is our current secretary of state going to protect health care workers who may be subject to losing their licenses? Nguyen said.

Her opponent and current Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said the licensing division is the office's "number one thing" and that he hopes to address licensing reform next session if elected. However, he said protecting nurses' licenses would not be under the Georgia secretary of state's control, since the division is run by governor-appointed boards.

"She obviously doesn't understand what this office really does," Raffensperger said. "Our office handles the paperwork and follows the rules and regulations that are promulgated by the board members."

Kim Rogers, executive director at Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, said she sees the extremist candidates threats to democracy as inextricably linked to other rights her party is concerned about, including abortion and LGBTQ rights.

"We are running against folks who want to restrict the freedom to vote. And if they're willing to take away such a fundamental freedom, where are they going to stop? Rogers said. All of these things are under attack if we don't have a functioning democracy and representation at the ballot.

The Democratic political action committee has invested around $25 million in their candidates across the country, Rogers said, including an $11 million television ad buy in Michigan, Minnesota and Nevada.

Andrew Romeo, communications director for the Republican State Leadership Committee, said the GOP can't match the spending by Democrats in these races, despite record-breaking fundraising this year.

"We need to prioritize protecting our incumbents who are working to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat," Romeo said, specifically mentioning Raffensperger, who is their "most vulnerable incumbent."

Lydgate and her group have been keeping an eye on polls across the country that suggest several of these races will be tight.

Whatever issue you care most about, whether it's the economy, abortion, education, it depends on free and fair elections, and that depends on these state and local election officials, Lydgate said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why these 27 secretary of state races may be most critical in midterms
If you're still on the fence about which candidate to vote for in Iowa's U.S. Senate race, the image of Sen. Chuck Grassley on Thursday cozying up to disgraced, defeated, lying, former president Donald Trump ought to tip the scales.

This isn't a case of Iowa-style loyalty to a longtime friend or political incumbent. Federal prosecutors, in the face of overwhelming evidence, are now criminally investigating Trumps efforts to change the 2020 election outcome in his favor by asking an election official to find him another 11,780 votes. Thats what two-bit dictators do, enabled by corrupt government systems stacked toward an outcome.

Our system is better than that.

What prevented Trump from getting away with pressuring officials to throw the election in his favor were the checks and balances that are part of our separation of powers. Iowans have put Grassley in the legislative branch of federal government for 47 years to play that checking and balancing role. He failed us by refusing to take action against Trump's wrongdoing. He has even noted Trump's popularity with Iowa Republicans as a reason to accept Trump's endorsement in his re-election bid. No doubt Trump would expect the favor repaid if he runs for president in 2024.

Again and again, Chuck Grassley says one thing and does another

Iowas senior senator is skilled at making persuasive arguments that tap into public indignation, but then voting just the opposite way. In a textbook case of trying to have it both ways, he issued a statement condemning the events of the Jan. 6 insurrection as completely inexcusable and a direct, violent attack on our seat of government, then voted to acquit Trump last year of "incitement of insurrection," The attack on the U.S. Capitol and its aftermath left seven people dead, including three U.S. Capitol Police officers. Expressing righteous indignation over Trump's conduct, Grassley acknowledged that the former president "continued to argue that the election had been stolen even though the courts didnt back up his claim" and "belittled and harassed elected officials across the country to get his way," even encouraging Vice President Mike Pence "to take extraordinary and unconstitutional actions during the Electoral College count.

Story continues

Former President Donald Trump stands behind U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley as he speaks at a rally on Thursday, November 3, 2022, at the Sioux City Gateway Airport in Iowa.

He also acknowledged the former president "continued to argue that the election had been stolen even though the courts didnt back up his claim. He belittled and harassed elected officials across the country to get his way. He encouraged his own, loyal vice president, Mike Pence, to take extraordinary and unconstitutional actions during the Electoral College count.

So what consequences did Grassley vote to give him? None. His excuses to acquit included supposedly not having the authority to convict a private citizen, though the Constitution says nothing forbidding that. And, argued the senator, "Even if (it) did, he should have been accorded the protections of due process of law." And "even if we assume he has been, the House Managers still did not prove that he committed incitement to insurrection."

But he was happy to put the onus on all of us, suggesting "we all" needed to tone down our rhetoric and declaring, "Too many people think that politics really is just war by another name.  To far too many people, our democracy (is) a street fight."

More:Donald Trump teases Iowa crowd: 'I will very, very, very probably' run for president

I haven't engaged in any street fight over politics and I doubt any of you reading this have. Nor did Hillary Clinton, though Grassley then turned to accusing her of the same thing Trump did for suggesting Trump had used voter suppression to win in 2016.

There is just so much doublespeak here. In a Washington Post analysis last August as the House's Jan. 6 investigation was getting started, Aaron Blake wrote: "Grassley's argument ultimately boiled down to this: It wasnt so bad, because Trump didnt actually get the Justice Department to do what he wanted it to do. Oh, and when he failed at that, he didnt actually make good on his threats to start firing people and install a loyalist to lead the DOJ.

Many longtime Iowans I've spoken to say Grassley has changed since he started serving in Congress in 1975, and then the Senate in 1981. Theyre disappointed by what they see as his growing partisanship. The Grassley Ive followed can be charming, like when he makes a joke at his own expense, and folksy, as when he discusses his daily early-to-bed, early-to-rise-and-run routines. But Ive seen too many missed opportunities for him to use his Senate leadership positions for the good of ordinary people, inaction he then tries to justify with partisan rhetoric.

In rejecting a Democratic push to let Medicare negotiate for lower drug prices in 2019, the senator first decried the burden on Americans from the rising costs of prescription drugs, then patted himself on the back for having led the Republican charge to add the Medicare drug benefit (Plan D) 13 years earlier with Democrats. Then he swung to partisan rhetoric against so-called "calls to put the government in the drivers seat," adding in a thinly veiled rallying cry against  what?  communism! "Its the same back seat drivers who think centralized government knows best." He insisted the "forces of free enterprise and competition" should drive costs down.

We've seen how well that's worked.

A National Rifle Association campaign fund recipient, Grassley refused to support a ban on the sale of guns even to known domestic abusers after the National Rifle Association opposed it. He voted against the bipartisan Violence Against Women Act in 1994. In 2020 he was a part of the Republican-controlled Senate that wouldn't bring California Sen. Dianne Feinstein's amendment on keeping guns from abusers to a vote. He also voted against laws expanding paid family leave for a birth or adoption or to care for a sick family member, and measures to guarantee equal pay for women.

Each of those positions should force you to question whether his core priorities align with yours. Then add in Grassley's double standard in refusing to give President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee a Senate confirmation hearing because Obama was in his last year of office. Grassley later helped rush through Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation in October 2020 as a presidential election was underway. He forced a vote on Trump nominee Brett Kavanaugh despite the damning public testimony of Christine Blasey Ford of being sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh in high school. But the senator wouldn't vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson, the Supreme Court's first Black woman, as a justice.

Even on the most fundamental of human rights protections, he demurs. When our torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib was exposed post-9/11, Grassley refused to condemn or reject torture as an interrogation technique. His campaign ads hint at no higher goals than less crime and lower taxes.

Iowans deserve better.

Mike Franken offers a different vision

This year for the first time, Grassley is in a competitive race for his Senate seat. His challenger is Mike Franken, a retired three-star vice admiral in the U.S Navy. Here's an opportunity to replace Grassley with someone full of new vision, empathy, ideas, and real-world experience. Someone who gives you straight talk and really cares about serving real people's needs. Among Franken's many priorities are expanding Medicare to cover hearing, dental and vision care and putting mental health care on a par with medical care. He has formidable knowledge about the rest of the world. And he has said he'd use his Senate position to pass legislation protecting abortion rights. Grassley, an abortion opponent, says that issue should remain in the states.

More:Mike Franken rallies supporters in Des Moines, aiming for contrast with Donald Trump

He should, too.

If you haven't already, get out and vote Tuesday.

Rekha Basu is an opinion columnist for The Des Moines Register. Contact: rbasu@dmreg.com. Follow her on Twitter @RekhaBasu and at Facebook.com/rekha.basu1106. Her book, "Finding Her Voice: A collection of Des Moines Register columns about women's struggles and triumphs in the Midwest," is available at ShopDMRegister.com/FindingHerVoice.





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This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Opinion: Chuck Grassley, with Donald Trump in Iowa, shows true colors
While the heavy fighting in Ukraine is concentrated in the east and south, the capital of Kyiv in the northcentral region and its surrounding areas are subjected to a different kind of assault  one relying on suffering and disruption as weapons.

Under duress because of Russian attacks that have destroyed 40% of the country's energy infrastructure, Ukraine's electricity operator has announced rolling blackouts for Kyiv and six other nearby regions, including Kharkiv. Unscheduled emergency outages are expected as well.

We are doing everything to avoid this,'' Mayor Vitali Klitschko told state media. "But lets be frank, our enemies are doing everything for the city to be without heat, without electricity, without water supply, in general, so we all die. And the future of the country and the future of each of us depends on how prepared we are for different situations.

Power outages caused by Russia's drone and missile attacks have affected 16 provinces and forced Kyiv officials to contemplate conducting mass evacuations. They plan to establish about 1,000 heating shelters but noted that may not be enough for the city's 3 million people. Kyiv's average temperatures in the winter range from the low 20s to the low 30s.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday in his nightly video address that about 4.5 million people had lost power, telling the nation: We must get through this winter and be even stronger in the spring than now.

'A TEST OF OUR ENDURANCE': Will brutal winter weather be a game changer for Ukraine or Russia?

Cars drive down a road near The Ukrainian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War in Kyiv, Ukraine. Electricity and heating outages across the country caused by missile and drone strikes to Ukrainian energy infrastructure have added urgency to winter preparations.

Latest developments:

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was reconnected to Ukraines power grid Sunday, three days after fighting in the region knocked it offline, forcing the use of emergency diesel generators to keep vital cooling systems running.

Russian officials continue to evacuate occupied Kherson city in the south, sending warning phone messages Sunday telling residents to leave for the east bank in anticipation of a major battle with the Ukrainian army. Russian troops, though less visible, "have dug in there quite powerfully,'' said Nataliya Humenyuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraines Southern Forces.

Story continues

The 15,000 remaining residents in the eastern city of Bakhmut have been living for months under persistent shelling that has intensified in recent weeks, leaving them without water or power, local media reported.

Iran acknowledges sending Russia drones, claims it was before war

Iran has backtracked on its denials that it supplied drones to Russia, bringing into question other statements qualifying the admission.

We gave a limited number of drones to Russia months before the Ukraine war, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told reporters Saturday in Tehran.

Amirabdollahian added that Iran had no knowledge of Russia attacking Ukraine with the drones, adding: If it is proven to us that Russia used Iranian drones in the war against Ukraine, we will not be indifferent to this issue.

That flies in the face of Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard vaguely boasting of providing drones to the worlds top powers.

Since last month, Russia has been engaged in a campaign of destroying Ukrainian power plants and other civilian targets, relying on exploding drones that can cost as little as $20,000 per or 50 times less than a cruise missile. Russia has rebranded the drones but there has been evidence they're Iranian-made Shaheds.

Both Russia and Iran, which insists remaining neutral on the war, had denied any shipments of the unmanned aerial vehicles. The U.S. and its Western allies on the U.N. Security Council have called on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to investigate if Russia has used Iranian drones to attack civilians in Ukraine.

The whole world will know that the Iranian regime helps Russia prolong this war, Zelenskyy said Sunday.

Security official Sullivan staying in touch with top Russian aides, report says

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who has warned the Kremlin that using nuclear weapons in Ukraine would result in "catastrophic consequences'' for Russia, has held confidential talks with top aides of President Vladimir Putin in an attempt to prevent the war from escalating or expanding, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

The objective of the conversations over recent months was not to negotiate a peace agreement but to maintain open lines of communication and reduce the risk of non-conventional weapons being used in the war, the newspaper said, citing U.S. and allied officials.

Sullivan visited Kyiv on Friday and expressed the U.S.'s "unwavering and unflinching'' support for Ukraine even after Tuesday's midterm elections.

Another senior Russian commander ousted  fourth one since war began

Russia may oust the commanders of all its military districts before the year's over.

The latest to get tossed aside was Colonel General Alexander Lapin, who appears to have been replaced as head of the Central Military District by Major General Alexander Linkov, according to the British Defense Ministry.

The ministry pointed out the commanders of Russia's eastern, southern and western military districts have already been supplanted since the invasion of Ukraine began in February.

"These dismissals represent a pattern of blame against senior Russian military commanders for failures to achieve Russian objectives on the battlefield,'' the ministry said. "This is in part likely an attempt to insulate and deflect blame from Russian senior leadership at home.''

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukraine updates: Russian attacks leave Kyiv, other regions in the dark
The midterm campaign is closing with a potent reminder of the Joe Biden-Donald Trump rematch that may await in 2024.

Campaigning in New York on Sunday, the president framed the midterms in familiar terms, vowing that democracy is literally on the ballot." That same night, in Florida, Trump was once again spreading baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

After the Capitol attack by Trump's supporters, his resulting second impeachment, Russia's war on Ukraine and the reversal of Roe v. Wade, the midterms are seemingly ending right where the last presidential election left off.



Two incumbents, Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, said of Biden and Trump. Its still a referendum on both of them."

Biden  who tacitly acknowledged at least some uncertainty about his 2020 assertion that no one is going to take our democracy away from us"  on Sunday joined Democrats scrambling to prop up Gov. Kathy Hochul in her tighter-than-expected campaign. He arrived there after stumping in Pennsylvania for John Fetterman and Josh Shapiro, the partys nominees for Senate and governor, respectively.

Trump, meanwhile, was appearing in Miami for a rally for Sen. Marco Rubio.



For much of this campaign cycle, even as the former president remained popular with the GOPs rank-and-file, many party leaders had hoped losses by candidates Trump tied himself to could damage his credibility in the run-up to 2024. As Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell put it, the focus had to be candidate quality  an ongoing concern after the GOP primaries ended in victory for a number of pro-Trump conservatives with clear liabilities come general election time.

But many of Trump's favored candidates have recovered in the waning days of the campaign as Republicans surge nationally, with toss-up or better prospects in Senate races in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona and New Hampshire.

Story continues

The fact that Biden was campaigning in heavily Democratic New York on Sunday signaled how seriously his party is concerned about massive losses.

Already, Democrats entered the weekend resigned not only to the likelihood that they will lose the House, but the growing risk that they may lose the Senate too.

Im not feeling great, said Matt Bennett of the center-left group Third Way.

Democratic pollster Molly Murphy, president of Impact Research, said, October is where it really came back down to earth, and that is just still where it is.

They dropped in a ton of money, said Murphy, whose firm was Bidens lead pollster in the 2020 election. And in a bad cycle and when the economy is still in bad shape, that is all culminating into what I think is looking like a tougher and tougher night for Democrats.

On Sunday, the final CBS News poll of the midterms found Democrats had caught up to Republicans in enthusiasm for the election, erasing a 9-percentage-point GOP advantage in voter interest last month.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said on ABCs This Week on Sunday that we have got to translate that to people getting out.

In a late-hour scramble to lift turnout, Democrats were fanning out across the electoral map this weekend, including in New Hampshire, where Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) campaigned Sunday for vulnerable Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan.

Buttigieg and Klobuchar, whove become odd bedfellows on the campaign trail in the run-up to the midterms, poked fun at their newfound tag-teaming at a riverside rally in Nashua  their first appearance together in New Hampshire since finishing second and third, respectively, in the states 2020 presidential primary.

Last time we were on a stage [here], the circumstances were a little different, Buttigieg joked to Klobuchar from atop an autumn-themed stage erected in a parking lot. Now, he said, We are absolutely unified in our enthusiasm for your phenomenal congressional delegation.

But Democrats still face their own intraparty troubles after nearly two years of internecine squabbling over policy. On Saturday, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) ripped into Biden for pledging to shut down coal plants during a speech in California, saying comments like these are the reason the American people are losing trust in President Biden. The centrist Democrat called Bidens language offensive and disgusting.

Amanda Renteria, who was national political director of Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign, said she was bracing for impact on Tuesday, not only because of expected losses, but because of the kind of politics thats winning out right now.

What makes me nervous is, youre going to have folks who are election deniers who have made jokes about [the attack on] Paul Pelosi, then win an election and have a mandate to not just continue that kind of intensity and that kind of rhetoric," she said.

We usually think after an election, were going to come together now. But this is not being set up to even be able to say that," Renteria added. "Were in the space of a never-ending election cycle that doesnt ever get a chance to recover, reconcile and even feign trying to get together and bring the country together.

Biden, as he did during his presidential run two years ago, cast the midterms in historic terms, telling supporters in Pennsylvania that they were making a choice between two vastly different visions of America.

Trump, on the same night, drew a sharp contrast with his potential 2024 primary opponents, touting his position in early polls.

Two days after telling Iowa rallygoers that he will very, very, very probably do it again" in 2024, Trump also began to belittle his leading potential Republican primary rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis  describing him as Ron DeSanctimonious, though he did not double down on his criticism of him in Miami.

Youre going to re-elect my good friend Marco Rubio to the Senate and Ron DeSantis as your governor, Trump said to a packed crowd at the Miami-Dade County fairgrounds on Sunday night.

The fact that Trump, after losing and with all his legal problems and with his polarizing personality, can still arguably not just be a frontrunner, but probably waltz to the nomination, speaks to [the fact that] it is his Republican Party, said John Thomas, a Republican strategist.

Still, in an acknowledgment of Trumps likely continued problems winning over general-election voters, Thomas added: Im just grateful he didnt [announce a presidential run] before the midterms. Because the gains were making with white women would not be happening.

Lisa Kashinsky and Matt Dixon contributed to this report.
The LACMA Art + Film gala 2022 was rich with big stars showing off their most glamorous looks as they arrived at the event. Sydney Sweeney, Salma Hayek, Quinta Brunson, Henry Golding, Paris Hilton and more celebrities walked the red carpet and you can see their looks in the photo gallery posted above.

This year the Los Angeles County Museum of Art honored Helen Pashgian and Park Chan-wook.

More from Deadline

Im so pleased that we will be honoring Helen Pashgian, who has played an indelible role in the Southern California art community and has been a friend of the museum for so long, LAMA CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director Michael Govan said in a statement earlier this year. We are also excited to recognize Park Chan-wook, whose unforgettable films never fail to show us the power of cinema. Honoring these two artists together continues the vitally important dialogue between art and film that this event supports.

Gala co-chair Eva Chow added, It is always a privilege to bring the worlds of art and film together at the Art+Film Gala. We are thrilled to honor Helen Pashgian and Park Chan-wook, both visionaries who have pushed the boundaries of their fields. Im so grateful to Gucci, our partner since the first Art+Film Gala, for making this event possible for the eleventh year.

Chan-wook is a South Korean director, screenwriter, and producer whose most recent work, Decision to Leave, won Cannes Best Director in 2022. Pashgian is an artist that has created sculptures comprising vibrantly colored columns, discs, and spheres that often feature an isolated element appearing suspended, embedded, or encased within.

Story continues

Launch Gallery: LACMA Art + Film Gala 2022 Photo Gallery

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Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
A white tent looms over the grounds of the Uvalde County Fairplex, a sparse multipurpose venue that previously hosted rodeos, quinceaneras and the annual firemen's ball, now home to Texas's newest trauma center and Gov. Greg Abbott's latest self-declared success.

PHOTO: A sign with the 'Uvalde Strong' message and a Uvalde High School Coyote logo is displayed on the window of a building in downtown Uvalde, Texas, on Aug. 21, 2022. (Kat Caulderwood/ABC News)

The Uvalde Together Resiliency Center was created in response to the shooting at Robb Elementary School, which left 19 children and two adults dead. The Republican governor authorized $5 million for its construction the same week, the symbolic centerpiece of his administration's response to longstanding mental health care failings locally and statewide.

In the wake of the massacre, Abbott has repeatedly insisted the mass shooting  one of 574 across the country so far in 2022 and one of 42 in Texas alone  was not a symptom of the country's (and his state's) obsession with guns but rather the result of the country's (and his state's) failure to adequately invest in mental health care.

MORE: Counselors in Uvalde work to battle mental health stigma in Latino community

"We as a state, we as a society need to do a better job with mental health," Abbott said in a news conference days after the shooting. "Anybody who shoots somebody else has a mental health challenge. Period. We as a government need to find a way to target that mental health challenge and to do something about it."

PHOTO: A woman cries and hugs a young girl while on the phone outside the Willie de Leon Civic Center where grief counseling will be offered in Uvalde, Texas, May 24, 2022. (Allison Dinner/AFP via Getty Images, FILE)

Since then, Abbott, who is currently running for reelection, has appeared to make access to mental health care a political priority.

In response to questions from ABC News, his office pointed to Uvalde Resiliency as "a hub for community services  being run by the Uvalde community." They pointed to a $105 million investment "to make schools safer and support the mental health of children, teachers, and families in Uvalde and across Texas." And they claimed that his administration spent billions on mental health care services during his governorship.

PHOTO: A Children's Bereavement Center of South Texas office is located in downtown Uvalde, Texas. (Kat Caulderwood/ABC News)

"Throughout his time in office," an administration spokesperson told ABC News, "Governor Abbott has worked closely with the Texas Legislature to appropriate over $25 billion to address mental and behavioral health issues and pass a variety of bills expanding access to mental health services."

Story continues

'Lack of cooperation'

But local leaders and mental health care professionals told ABC News that the work of Uvalde Resiliency has been hampered by a lack of cooperation with existing institutions with established relationships in the community. And an ABC News review found that only a small fraction of the money touted by the governor's office has actually gone to fund state mental health care programs.

Experts say the patchwork mental health care system leaves millions of rural Texans without access to medical care and that "stopgap" funding won't fix the systemic issues plaguing the Lonestar State.

PHOTO: The Robb Elementary School sign is seen covered in flowers and gifts on June 17, 2022 in Uvalde, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images, FILE)

Immediately after the shooting, Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchell Busbee applied for and received $5 million from the state-funded Texas Crime Victims Assistance Grant Program to build and run the Uvalde Together Resiliency Center.

MORE: Uvalde families find new bond in shared grief, path to healing

Soon after, Abbott also allocated $1.25 million to the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District to provide trauma-informed counseling to students and $5 million to the Hill Country Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Center, an existing mental health care facility in the Uvalde area that, at the time of the tragedy, had a staff of just 13 people.

Taken together, the money represented an unprecedented investment in access to mental health care for the Uvalde community, but Busbee soon learned that it was hardly enough to address the complex challenge its citizens faced.

"Five million dollars sounds like a lot of money," Busbee told ABC News, "but once you start trying to assist these agencies with recruiting counselors to come to Uvalde, you want to be able to pay them a decent salary to come here and plant roots in our community, it does not go very far."

The center, with help from various partnering organizations, has offered a menu of services to the grieving town and its citizens, including "psychological first aid, crisis counseling, and behavioral health services for survivors, first responders, and those in the community experiencing vicarious trauma."

According to the Resiliency Center's interim executive director Mary Beth Fisk, the center has so far provided over 3,800 contacts in the community, with over 1,900 clinical visits serving more than 700 individuals.

PHOTO: Governor Greg Abbott speaks with sheriffs during a vigil for victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, on May 25, 2022. (Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE)

"We have organizations that are bringing mental and behavioral health counseling and subspecialties," Fisk told ABC News, "to include really intensive trauma therapies that are readily available at no cost to all community members."

But Fisk did not respond to questions about whether these numbers include the pre-existing clients of the resiliency center's private practice partners, and some community members say they won't seek care at the center because of a longstanding distrust of their state government.

"It's run by our state government, which they couldn't give a s--- less," Brett Cross, guardian to 10-year-old victim Uziyah Garcia, told ABC News. "Everybody in this town has profited off our kids' deaths. The resiliency center's a joke and it's been that way since day one."

Local practitioners say they have received negative feedback from community members regarding the quality of care, the therapeutic environment, and the long wait times at the center, all exacerbated by cultural taboos stigmatizing mental health care and poor insurance coverage in the largely Latino community.

MORE: 'No playbook': New Uvalde superintendent mulls future after shooting

Jaclyn Gonzalez, a licensed professional counselor who has practiced in Uvalde since 2015, told ABC News the center's leadership failed to seek advice and cooperation from local providers in Uvalde's established mental health care network who could have shed light on the community's unique needs.

"I think that was the hardest thing for me was that they wouldn't allow me to help," Gonzalez told ABC News. "Day one, they're like, 'We've got it covered. We don't need anybody.'"

Alejandra Castro, director of rural services at Family Service Association, a Texas-based human service organization which has assisted the community for 22 years, says she was also turned away by the center's leaders.

PHOTO: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a 'Get Out The Vote' rally on Oct. 27, 2022 in Katy, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

"I had hoped that being here in the community, the outsiders would want to partner with us and say, 'How can we best support the community that you have been in, like your community for the last 20 something years?'" Castro told ABC News. "And it was the total opposite of that, unfortunately."

When asked about frustrations some members of the Uvalde community have expressed about accessing various resources, Fisk defended the work of the Resiliency Center, emphasizing how quickly the center took over the role of its predecessor, the Family Assistance Center, to provide mental and behavioral health services, as well as the role it has served as a lending hand for victims and survivors seeking financial aid.

"I think we've been blessed to be able to bring a collective resources together along with other community partners that are willing to work with one another," Fisk said. "We all have a common goal, and that is to walk alongside this journey of healing when so many of this community are currently finding themselves in a place of true despair."

Fisk did not respond to requests for a follow-up interview about the work of the Resiliency Center.

At the state level, experts described a similar landscape regarding mental health care access.

Millions spent after Uvalde massacre

Abbott's oft-cited $105.5M spending response to the mass shooting includes $5.8 million to fund the Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine, $4.7 million for the Health and Human Services Commission to include multi-system therapy across the state and $950,000 to the HHSC to expand Coordinate Specialty Care, directives that have been widely celebrated by health care experts.

But it comes after a $210 million cut to the HHSC, which oversees mental health services in the state, over the past two years in order to finance Operation Lonestar, the border security initiative launched in March of 2021.

"Mental health stakeholders have seen positive improvement over the past few years," Boleware said. "But we were already at such a deficit in our state that a lot more is needed to catch up."

And a closer look at the governor's published breakdown of the budget shows that only $16.5 million out of the $105.5 million  about 15% of the total that the Abbott administration has touted  went to expand statewide mental health resources, while the other 85% has been allocated toward police training, personnel travel, and security upgrades for classrooms, including $50 million for bullet-resistant shields.

During the only Texas gubernatorial debate in September, Abbott brought up a perplexing figure$25 billion in mental health care spendingin response to the Uvalde shooting.

Several experts, Alison Mohr Boleware, Director of Policy at the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, a research and grantmaking institute out of the University of Texas at Austin, told ABC News they were unsure how the governor could have arrived at such a figure.

"I had never heard that before," Boleware said of the governor's accounting.

The governor's office did not respond to ABC News' request for information about this claim.

The most likely source for this figure is a $25 billion Medicaid expansion grant in 2017$15 billion of which was federal funding from the Department of Health and Human Servicesa program established by the Obama administration and which Gov. Abbott actively fought against.

But this funding, known as the Texas Healthcare Transformation and Quality Improvement Program, went to expand statewide Medicaid under the 1115 Medicaid waiver authority and cannot be accurately described as funding for mental health services, considering that only 1 in 5 Texas psychiatrists accept Medicaid patients.

Boleware went on to say that even with proper funding, not all issues can be addressed by spending increases.

"There's a big difference between mental health spending and mental health access," Boleware said."We're a huge state and we may be spending a lot on mental health, but that doesn't mean access is the same in every community."

Some of the systemic issues troubling mental health care access include a worsening workforce shortage and lingering cultural stigmas surrounding mental health care.

Dr. Andy Keller, a licensed psychologist who sits on the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium and is president and chief executive officer of the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, called the governor's statewide spending plan in response to the Uvalde shooting a hurried "stopgap."

"This is a really complicated issue," Keller said, "and when the legislature and the governor and the lieutenant governor were trying to come up with a plan  I don't think this really sunk in, how important this was."

Texas governors much-touted mental health care expansion falls short of local, state need originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
It wasnt supposed to be this way. The story of New York politics since 2002 has always started and ended with Democrats. But in 2022, Rep. Lee Zeldins campaign for governor puts our state into Republican play for the first time in memory, and a mesmerized electorate now looks forward to the results on Tuesday  Election Day.

For sure, Erie County will loom as one of the key locales. Thats because Erie Countys Democratic plurality of about 132,000 voters lands it squarely in blue turf. And in the past, if Republicans like Nelson Rockefeller and George Pataki were to win statewide, they succeeded partially via success in upstates largest county.

However, this year poses all kinds of question marks. For the first time in 140 years, the governor hails from Erie County. Nobody will be surprised if Democratic incumbent Kathy Hochul wins here  shes supposed to claim her home county. But by how much? If Hochul wins locally with only soft numbers  say in the low 50th percentile  it could prove a sign of statewide trouble.

Erie County Democratic Chairman Jeremy Zellner thinks the furious efforts to rally local Democrats this weekend and Monday will benefit Hochul.

I think Kathy will be elected governor on Tuesday and strongly believe she will win Erie County, he said late last week. I didnt think that was the case all along.

Thats because if a Republican is scoring in heavily Democratic New York, it will be reflected in Erie County among conservative Democratic strongholds like Cheektowaga, West Seneca and even South Buffalo. And how about Hochuls hometown of Hamburg? The watchers will also pay close attention to the Democratic town that can also lean toward the GOP.

Zellner believes the message conveyed by Hochul and other Dems since the summer has evolved into more relevant topics like crime (Zeldin forced that issue) and the economy (which Zeldin pushed, too). Zellner likes the more pointed economic and anti-Trump message of the campaigns latter stages, and says his troops are as united as they have ever been.

The chairman kicked off the final campaign weekend Friday with a Larkinville rally featuring Mayor Byron Brown, who commands his own political army that will work in sync with every other aspect of the party. And dont forget labor and its thousands of workers.

Dems slated another event at Hochul headquarters in Hamburg for Saturday morning, President Biden is set to campaign with her in Westchester today, and the governor herself will address the traditional closing rally at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Statler. Then she heads to New York City and election night in downtown Manhattan.

Erie County Republican Chairman Michael Kracker also likes what he sees in Erie County. Nobody in his camp says Zeldin will win here, but they are confident of strong numbers. Kracker is also shoving his entire organization into the field.

In my 15 years in politics Ive never seen this kind of effort for a gubernatorial election, he said. Well use everything in our toolbox to make sure our people turn out to vote.

Zeldin was slated to close his Western New York campaign Sunday morning outside West Seneca Town Hall before he heads to his midtown Manhattan HQ.

No matter how this turns out, it all ranks as one of the memorable elections for governor of our time.



 In case you missed it, local GOP types hosted a fundraiser for Rick Scott at the Buffalo Club a few days ago. The Republican senator from Florida appears to be widening his circle of supporters for whatever lies ahead.

 We dont often get fired up about endorsements, but any nod from Baby Joe Mesi always makes news. The former heavyweight contender endorsed Ed Rath Friday for the same State Senate seat he unsuccessfully sought in 2008.

 Quote of the Week comes from state GOP Chairman Nick Langworthy on Zeldins chances on Tuesday: This is not a drill.
At least two people were killed, several were injured, and dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed as storms and tornadoes struck Texas and Oklahoma on Friday, officials said.

One death was confirmed in Morris County, Texas, County Judge Doug Reeder said in a statement Saturday.

Officials in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, in the southeast corner of the state, said Saturday that one person died and seven others were injured when two suspected tornadoes touched down in the area.

The exact causes of death, identities and other information about the deceased was unavailable.

Two of the 10 people injured in Lamar County, Texas, were in critical condition but were stable, the county sheriffs office and office of emergency management said Friday night.

Approximately 50 homes were reported damaged or destroyed in the county in the northeast corner of the state, where Paris, Texas, is located, officials said.

The National Weather Service said at least two presumed tornadoes, including the one in Lamar County, have checked out.

The weather service said its ground observers believe "significant damage" in the area is consistent with a major EF-3 strength tornado capable of producing sustained winds as strong as 160 mph.

In Athens, Texas, observers on the ground said it appeared an EF-2 strength tornado struck the area. The rating means it likely had maximum sustained winds of 115 mph.

The storm activity in Lamar County occurred after a tornado warning was issued around 4 p.m. Friday, and the county agencies said a tornado was confirmed on the ground.

Craig Holcomb, of Midcity in Lamar County, told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth that he could see the debris flying from a tornado. He and his wife took cover in a bathtub.

"You could hear  I make fun of people, always talking about the train noise, but it sounded just like it," he told the station. "All you could hear was a loud whistle and I saw debris flying everywhere.

Altogether there were 17 reports of tornadoes in northeastern Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, and Arkansas late Friday, according to the National Weather Services Storm Prediction Center. Storm surveys are typically done to confirm whether tornadoes touched down.

Story continues

In Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt said he was praying for residents impacted by tornadoes, and that search and rescue teams and generators were headed to the area of Idabel, a city of around 7,000 in the southeastern corner of the state.

Stitt canceled scheduled appearances at campaign events Saturday in order to survey the damage, his office said by email. The governors office said more than 100 structures, including homes, were damaged or destroyed.

Buildings were damaged or destroyed in Idabel but there had been only minor injuries reported Friday evening following a suspected tornado, Fire Chief Greg Oliver said at the time.

Red Cross Oklahoma set up a shelter in Idabel for those displaced by the storms.

The National Weather Service said it was still analyzing data and could not yet conclude a tornado struck Bryan County, Oklahoma.

Stitt planned on declaring a state of emergency for affected counties, his office said.

Northeast of Dallas, the National Weather Service at 5:24 p.m. warned of a tornado on the ground headed in the direction of Sulphur Springs.

The Hopkins County Sheriffs Office said there was some structural damage along a road southwest of Sulphur Springs, with four houses damaged, but no injuries had been reported. Damage assessments were ongoing.

Video from NBC Dallas-Fort Worth showed heavy damage to a home in the area, and trees split and knocked onto the house and vehicles.

The severe storms occurred as tornado watches covered a swath of northern and northeastern Texas and into Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana on Friday afternoon, affecting around 14 million people, according to the weather service.

Warm, moist air surging ahead of a cold front pushing eastward created conditions ripe for severe weather, including tornadoes, in the region, the agency said.

By early Saturday, tornado watches were confined to a relatively a small section of eastern Texas, but covered most of Louisiana and Arkansas.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  Reece Udinski threw three touchdown passes and Richmond built a 24-point lead before holding off New Hampshire 40-34 to celebrate homecoming on Saturday.

Richmond's win creates a three-way tie for first place in the Colonial Athletic Association. Richmond (7-2 overall), New Hampshire (6-3) and William & Mary (8-1) are all 5-1 in league play. All three are ranked in the FCS coaches poll.

Two of Udinski's TD passes came in the first half as the Spiders built a 24-0 lead in the second quarter. New Hampshire began to build momentum, however, when Max Brosmer hit Heron Maurisseau with a 46-yard bomb to the end zone on the final play of the half.

Brosmer threw two more TD passes in the second half, his 1-yard hookup with Maurisseau drawing the Wildcats within 37-34 with 11:06 remaining in the fourth quarter. A New Hampshire fumble led to a short drive and 45-yard field goal by Richmond's Andrew Lopez for a 40-34 lead. New Hampshire got no closer than the Richmond 35-yard line on its final two possessions.

Udinski completed 30 of 43 passes for 287 yards. Two of his touchdowns went to Leroy Henley who caught seven passes for 106 yards.

Brosmer was 23-of-36 passing for 277 yards with three touchdowns.

-

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The US has warned North Korea that a nuclear weapon attack against the US or its allies will result in the end of Kim Jong-uns regime as Pyongyang continued to test launch a barrage of missiles.

The hermit kingdom has launched over two dozen missiles in the last two days in response to US-South Korean military exercises which began earlier this week and were extended till Saturday due to the escalation.

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean defence minister Lee Jong-sup, after meeting at the Pentagon, released a joint statement on Thursday, strongly condemning the Norths escalating military flexing.

Any nuclear attack against the US or its allies and partners, including the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons, is unacceptable and will result in the end of the Kim regime, Mr Austin said according to a joint communique released by the defence department.

Mr Austin said the test launches are destabilising to the region and called on the North to cease that type of activity and to begin to engage in serious dialogue.

He insisted that Pyongyangs increased military aggression would not result in Washington permanently relocating troops and strategic assets to the region. Mr Kim would see additional US military presence there, he added.

On Friday, a day after Mr Austin made the comments, South Korea said it scrambled fighter jets after detecting around 180 North Korean warplanes moving near the border between the two countries. Seoul scrambled around 80 jets, including F-35A stealth fighters, in response to the Norths sortie.

South Koreas joint chiefs of staff said the Norths warplanes were detected in various inland areas along the countrys eastern and western coasts.

On Thursday, the North had launched a suspected new type of banned intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), forcing Japan to issue evacuation alerts and halt trains.

The ballistic missile test was preceded by the test firing of at least 23 missiles and 100 artillery shells that were fired into an eastern maritime buffer zone on Wednesday. The missiles were all short-range allistic missiles or suspected surface-to-air missiles, the Souths military said.

According to Seoul, one of the ballistic missiles was flying toward the countrys Ulleung island before it eventually landed 167km northwest of the island.

Meanwhile, the US and South Korean forces separately conducted their Vigilant Storm combined aerial exercise, which involved nearly 240 warplanes.
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An argument could be made that a new $319 million dry pump technology plant at the Genesee County STAMP business park provides more reason for applause than a $10 million expansion of a green energy plant on East Delavan Avenue in Buffalo.

Wed say Edwards Vacuum and Viridi Parente are equally exciting projects, for different but similarly compelling reasons. The location of either of these developing industries in Western New York means major economic spinoff in the form of hundreds of jobs (approximately 600 at both plants) and the possible attraction of related industries. And both herald a modest return of manufacturing to an economy that has been suffering for decades from its loss.

In the case of Viridi Parente, its job creation is targeted at an urban area that  for a long time  has been lacking almost everything that gives people hope.

Together, the Edwards plant at STAMP (Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park) and the Viridi operation at the old American Axle plant on East Delavan promise even hardline doubters that major industries are choosing the Western New York workforce for their headquarters and regional expansions.

Theres another big similarity between the two companies. Both are staking out high-profile positions in industries where the United States has lagged behind: semiconductors and battery manufacturing.

Last Wednesdays Edwards announcement was welcome news to all who have been anxiously waiting for the underutilized STAMP business park, located near Batavia, to attract high-tech tenants. It has been attempting to land a semiconductor industry project, but without success. There was some disappointment when the $100 billion Micron Technology semiconductor manufacturing campus located near Syracuse instead of STAMP, but that location came with a promise: When Micron made its announcement, Tom Kucharski, CEO of Invest Buffalo Niagara said that ... if STAMP was eventually to become a supplier park to the emerging semiconductor industry, it could have more job creation and investment than actually landing a (fabricator).

Sure enough, Edwards Vacuums dry pump technology helps maintain the clean environment needed in semiconductor manufacturing facilities.

Thanks to the Edwards and Micron announcements, its proximity to low-cost energy and abundant fresh water and the underpinning of the recent CHIPS and Science legislation championed by U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, it looks like STAMP has moved from bridesmaid to bride.

If STAMP has been waiting a few years for its dreams of a successful high-tech business park to move toward reality, the neighborhoods around 1001 E. Delavan have been waiting much, much longer for any kind of viable economic development.

Originally built by General Motors in 1923, the campus here was used by GM and then American Axle until 2007, when it was purchased by businessman Jon M. Williams. Williams started his Viridi Parente green energy operation, which is based on high-tech, electronic storage devices, in 2010.

This is much more than a single-entrepreneur success story. Williams has been working with GreenForce, a nonprofit that he formed in partnership with local leaders, including three East Side pastors, to actively recruit employees from the East Buffalo community. Now that Williams is expanding the company to occupy the entire American Axle facility  850,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space in all  the green energy manufacturer is looking to hire 500 more workers from nearby neighborhoods. Already Viridi and GreenForce have more than 270 job applications, of which 72% are from the surrounding ZIP codes and 64% are currently unemployed.

The majority of our workforce over the next two years will walk to work, Williams says.

How appropriate for a company dedicated to reducing greenhouse emissions.

  

Whats your opinion? Send it to us at lettertoeditor@buffnews.com. Letters should be a maximum of 300 words and must convey an opinion. The column does not print poetry, announcements of community events or thank you letters. A writer or household may appear only once every 30 days. All letters are subject to fact-checking and editing.
A Lincoln woman is missing her Louis Vuitton wallet and a diamond ring worth more than $70,000 after she left both items unattended at a Costco food court, she told police.

The 39-year-old woman was eating lunch at the Costco in south Lincoln at around 12:30 p.m. Thursday when she finished her meal and left the wholesale warehouse store  leaving her wallet behind, Lincoln Police Sgt. Chris Vollmer said.

Surveillance video from the store, near 14th Street and Pine Lake Road, showed an unknown man grab the wallet and leave the store before 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Vollmer said.

Among items inside the wallet, the woman told police, was a four-carat diamond ring worth $77,500.

Vollmer said it's common for victims reporting thefts to provide photos of items stolen  not necessarily for proof of ownership, but to help police track down missing items at pawn shops or in online marketplace postings.

It's unclear if the 39-year-old woman provided photos of the ring, Vollmer said. An investigation into the theft is ongoing.
A Precision Air passenger plane crashed into Lake Victoria as it was on its way to Bukoba Airport. Based on the reports, the plane crashed 100 meters away from the airport. The reports from local media suggest that the plane had 43 people on board. However, it is not known if anyone has been injured in the collision on Sunday. The news broadcasts display images and pictures on Twitter show the plane mostly submerged in the lake. The airline has confirmed that rescue operations are underway, and rescuers are working to pull out passengers still stuck in the fateful plane belonging to Precision Air.

Based on Al Jazeera's report, among the 43 people on board, 39 were passengers, while there were two pilots and two crew members. Of all the 43 people, 26 have been rescued and transported to the hospital. Moreover, the rescue team is communicating with the pilot while carrying out the rescue operations. The reports have quoted the officers saying, "everything is under control."

The Precision Air plane crash occurred because the plane encountered problems mid-air because of bad weather. As storm and heavy rains were reported in the area near Victoria lake at the site of the accident.

Notice to the public pic.twitter.com/QvdMGeMynq  Precision Air (@PrecisionAirTz) November 6, 2022

Addressing the statement, Precision Air has released a statement saying, "Precision Air flight no. PW 494, flying from Dar es Salaam to Bukoba, was involved in an accident as it was approaching Bukoba Airport. The rescue team has been dispatched to the scene, and more information will be released in 2 hours' time."

Expressing her condolences on the incident, the president of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu, tweeted, "I have received with regret the information of the plane crash of Precision Corporation in Lake Victoria, Kagera region. I send my condolences to all those affected by this accident. Let's continue to be calm while the rescue operation continues while we ask Allah to help us." (Translated into English)

Precision Air is a publicly listed airline n Tanzania, serving over 10 destinations in and out of the country. The airline has a fleet of five 70-seater ATR 72-500, three 48-seater ATR 42-500, and 1 48 seater ATR 42-600 aircraft, based on the information present on the company's website.

With inputs from agencies
What is the height of the tallest person that can travel in a plane? Considering the cabin space, many might expect the person's height to be not more than average. However, Turkish Airlines has probably created a world record by pulling off the first of its kind thing. The airline gave Rumeysa Gelgi her first flight experience. Gelgi is the world's tallest woman and holds the Guinness World Record for the same. She has a height of 215.16 cm (7ft 0.7in), as per the record registered in her name. But this is not all; she has multiple other records in her name, like the longest finger on a living person, the longest hands, and the longest back.

Rumeysa Gelgi shared her first flight experience through her Instagram handle. As per the post, the world's tallest woman took a 13-hour flight with Turkish Airlines. The flight took off from Istanbul and landed in San Francisco in the United States. The airline had to remove six seats to get her on the plane.

Also read: COP27 Summit: Climate activists block private jet take off at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport

The cause of Ms. Gelgi's extraordinary height is a disorder known as Weaver syndrome. Accelerated growth and noticeably advanced bone age are symptoms of the rare hereditary disease. According to Guinness World Records, it also causes restricted joint motion, instability when walking, and issues with breathing and eating.

In a social media post, Gelgi described the journey to her 19,500 followers. She assured everyone that although this was her first flight, it wouldn't be her last. She thanked everyone who has been supportive of her during the process. She said, "This was my first plane ride, but it certainly won't be my last."

The English translation of Rumeysa Gelgi's post on Instagram, "flawless journey from start to finish." Later on, she thanked the airline, the staff, and everyone else who had a role in making it possible to have her first flight experience.
New Delhi: Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra has hailed the success of Indias digital payments ecosystem for reaching to the remote corners of India. Mahindra shared the post of a Twitter user with pictures informing about the availability of the UPI payment at a shop in the last village at the 10,500 elevation in Uttarakhand.

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As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. This captures the breathtaking scope and scale of Indias digital payments ecosystem. Jai ho!, Anand Mahindra tweeted.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. This captures the breathtaking scope and scale of Indias digital payments ecosystem. Jai ho! https://t.co/n6hpWIATS0  anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) November 4, 2022

The post was originally belonged to a Twitter user named Arul Mozhi. He had shared the pictures of a shop in the last village at the height of 10,500 feet elevation in Uttarakhand running by a woman.

ALSO READ | Wipro announces 100% variable pay for its employees - Check details

Mahindra post has garnered over 5k likes and 466 retweets. One user replied on the post and said that they provide Amul Milk and Maggi. UPI is no big deal now with the availability of Internet. Tourism is their earning so its all about what completing customers need.

Do UPI payments without using UPI Pin through wallet

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has recently introduced UPI Lite for making low-value transactions faster and safer. This feature will be enabled on the BHIM App and low-value transactions can be carried out using an on-device wallet. It might be similar to other wallets present in the market. You can put a maximum amount of Rs 2000 in the wallet at any given point. Here are steps to enable UPI Lite on your BHIM APP

How does it work?

The service will have UPI Lite balance meaning the virtual on-device balance enabled by the User from the Account to perform Transactions using UPI Lite on the BHIM App.

Customers of the following eight banks would be able to use UPI Lite payment system: State Bank of India (SBI), Union Bank of India, Utkarsh Small Finance Bank, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, Indian Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Punjab National Bank.

How to set up UPI Lite in BHIM app

Step 1: Download and install BHIM app on your Android phone or iPhone.

Step 2: Login the app and add a bank account for UPI transactions.

Step 3: Scroll down and tap the UPI Lite banner.

Step 4: Tap the Enable Now button.

Step 5: Read all the details and then tap the Enable Now button.

Step 6: Now, you will be asked to add Rs 2,000 to your UPI Lite e-wallet. Enter the amount that you want to transfer.

Step 7: Select the bank account from which you want to transfer the sum.

Step 8: Tap the Enable UPI Lite button.

Step 9: Enter your UPI PIN. Once the amount is transfer, your UPI Lite e-wallet will be activated.
New Delhi: The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, on Saturday issued an open letter to Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter Inc, urging him to "ensure human rights are central to the management of Twitter".

ALSO READ | BYJU's ropes in Lionel Messi, Twitteratis troll company for hypocrite nature

Twitter Inc laid off half its workforce on Friday and tweets by staff of the social media company said the team responsible for human rights was among those affected, a development which Turk described as not "an encouraging start".

ALSO READ | Explained: What is Climate Financing that India demands from rich nations

"Twitter is part of a global revolution that has transformed how we communicate," Turk said in the letter. "But I write with concern and apprehension about our digital public square and Twitter's role in it."

"Like all companies, Twitter needs to understand the harms associated with its platform and take steps to address them," he added. "Respect for our shared human rights should set the guardrails for the platform's use and evolution."

"In short, I urge you to ensure human rights are central to the management of Twitter under your leadership," the High Commissioner said.

Friday's layoffs capped a week of chaos and uncertainty about Twitter's future under Musk, the world's richest person, who tweeted on Friday that the service was experiencing a "massive drop in revenue".
New Delhi: Russia has become Indias top oil supplier in October, surpassing traditional sellers Saudi Arabia and Iraq, according to data from energy cargo tracker Vortexa. Russia, which made up for just 0.2% of all oil imported by India in the year until March 31, 2022, supplied 935,556 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil to India in October  the highest ever. It now makes up for 22% of Indias total crude imports, ahead of Iraqs 20.5% and Saudi Arabias 16%.

ALSO READ | Anand Mahindra hails UPI system for its presence in 'India's Last Tea Shop'

Indias appetite for Russian oil swelled ever since it started trading on discount as the West shunned it to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. According to Vortexa, an energy intelligence firm, India imported just 36,255 bpd of crude oil from Russia in December 2021 as compared to 1.05 million bpd from Iraq and 952,625 bpd from Saudi Arabia.

ALSO READ | Elon Musk tells a user how Twitter will stop scammers impersonating accounts

There were no imports from Russia in the following two months but they resumed in March, soon after the Ukraine war broke out in late February.

India imported 68,600 bpd of Russian oil in March while it increased to 266,617 bpd in the following month and peaked at 942,694 bpd in June. But in June, Iraq was Indias top supplier with 1.04 million bpd of oil. Russia in that month became Indias second biggest supplier.

Imports dipped marginally in the following two months. They stood at 876,396 bpd in September before rising to 835,556 bpd in October, according to Vortexa. Iraq slipped to the second slot with 888,079 bpd of supplies in October, followed by Saudi Arabia at 746,947 bpd. The Indian government has been vehemently defending its trade with Russia, saying it has to source oil from where it is cheapest.

In FY22 (April 2021 to March 2022), the purchases of Russian oil was 0.2% (of all oil imported by India). We still buy only a quarter of what Europe buys in one afternoon, oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri told CNN in Abu Dhabi last week. We owe a moral duty to our consumers. We have a 1.34 billion population and we have to ensure that they are supplied with energywhether its petrol, diesel.

On being asked if India faces a moral conflict due to imports from Russia amid the latters conflict with Ukraine, he had stated: Absolutely none. There is no moral conflict. We dont buy from X or Y. We buy whatever is available. The government does not buy, its the oil companies which do the buying. India has also remained non-committal on a plan proposed by the G7 group of nations (UK, US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan) to cap the price of oil purchased from Russia as a means of limiting Moscows revenue.

Puri said India will examine the proposal as and when it is finalised and communicated.

It will respond according to its supreme national interest. Emphasising that India would look to source crude oil from diverse sources, he had said that the country will buy from Guyana and Canada as well.
Iran on Saturday acknowledged for the first time it provided drones to Russia months before the Ukraine war. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told reporters in the capital, Tehran, that Iran "gave a limited number of drones to Russia months before the Ukraine war," reported CNN. The statement by Iran`s Foreign Minister comes after previous denials by Tehran that it had supplied Russia with weapons for use in Ukraine, saying it "has not and will not" do so. However, Amir-Abdollahian did not say if the drones that were supplied to Moscow were the type that carries explosives.

Iran admits to drone supply, not missiles

"Some western countries have accused Iran of helping the war in Ukraine by providing drones and missiles to Russia. The part regarding missiles is completely wrong. The part about drones is correct, we did provide a limited number of drones to Russia in the months before the start of the war in Ukraine," Amir-Abdollahian told reporters in Tehran, reported CNN.

Also Read: Iranian troops 'directly engaged in Crimea' to support Russia's drone strikes on Ukraine, says US

Self-detonating drones have played a significant role in the conflict since Russia launched its invasion in late February. They are capable of circling for some time in an area identified as a potential target and striking only once an enemy asset is identified.

Russia's drone attacks

Russia has launched a series of drone attacks across Ukraine in recent weeks, striking vital civilian infrastructure. Ukrainian officials said last week that they had shot down more than 300 Iranian drones, reported CNN.

The last shipment of weapons from Iran to Russia included about 450 drones, officials said, which the Russians have already used to deadly effect in Ukraine.

Ukraine President hits out at Iranian govt

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for the Iranian government to be held accountable, after Tehran admitted to supplying drones to Russia, reported NHK World.

He said in a video message on Saturday that Iran claimed drones had been sent before the Russian invasion, but Ukrainian forces "shoot down at least ten Iranian drones every day."

He went on to say, "There will be no such thing in the modern world that any of the terrorists or their accomplices will remain unpunished."Ukraine`s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov told reporters on Friday that Iran plans to send Russia 1,500 to 2,400 drones, but Moscow has yet to receive all of them, reported NHK World.

Ukraine and Western countries have condemned Tehran for what they see as its support for Russia. The allegations prompted the United States and the EU member nations to impose sanctions on Iran.
Mumbai: Rutuja Latke, the candidate of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), was on course for a comfortable win in the bypoll to Andheri (East) Assembly seat in Mumbai by bagging more than 37,000 votes out of the 49,616 votes counted so far on Sunday, followed by 7,556 votes polled in favour of the None of the Above (NOTA) option. So far, 10 rounds of counting have been completed, an official said.

The November 3 byelection, necessitated due to the death of sitting Shiv Sena MLA and Rutuja Latke's Ramesh Latke in May this year, was a mere formality after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) withdrew its candidate from the race.

At the end of the 10th round of counting, Rutuja Latke bagged 37,469 votes out of the 49,616 votes counted so far.

As many as 7,556 votes were so far polled in favour of the NOTA option, leaving the six other independent candidates far behind.

The NOTA gives an option to electors not to vote in favour of any of the candidates in an election.

Sena's Ramesh Latke had represented the Andheri (East) Assembly seat twice.

The Shiv Sena had won 56 seats in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls. Ramesh Latke's death in May this year brought the tally down to 55.

In June, 40 Sena legislators led by Eknath Shinde revolted against the party leadership, resulting in the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government (MVA).

Shinde subsequently became chief minister in an alliance with the BJP.

This was the first electoral contest in Maharashtra after the collapse of the MVA government.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, both constituents of the MVA, have supported Rutuja Latke's candidature.
Patna: Former Bihar minister and BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain claimed on Sunday that the party will win 40 seats in the state in the next Lok Sabha elections. The byelections for seven assembly seats in six states were held on November 3, and the counting began on Sunday morning. "JD(U) broke with the BJP and joined the RJD, but they were unable to defeat the BJP in Gopalganj. The message is clear: even if they work together, they cannot defeat the BJP "He stated. His remarks come after Kusum Devi defeated RJD candidate Mohan Prasad Gupta in the Gopalganj bypoll. Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate Neelam Devi received 70,746 votes in Bihar's Mokama seat, while BJP candidate Sonam Devi received 54,258 votes.

"Their victory margin went down in Mokama. It shows the future is BJP`s. We`ll win all 40 seats in LS polls," said Hussain. Taking a shot at the JDU, he said that despite breaking away from the BJP and forming a grand alliance with the RJD, they were unable to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gopalganj.

Also Read: Munugode Bypoll Election Results: Neck and neck fight between TRS and BJP in Telangana

"As far as their win in Mokama is concerned, "chote sarkar" Anant Singh fought the election there. RJD and JDU made an alliance to fight elections yet their margins decreased. BJP fought with great strength. BJP will win 40 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats," Bihar`s former minister and BJP leader said. Lauding the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said that people are happy with the policy and the efforts of PM Modi. "BJP is blooming everywhere in the bye-election and there is a wave of Bharatiya Janata Party everywhere. It is clear that the people of the whole country are happy with the policy of our leader Narendra Modi, so the results of the elections are coming in our favour," he added.

Also Read: Andheri bypoll result: Uddhav-led Sena's Rutuja Latke leads, NOTA surprisingly at second place
Delhi Schools Closed: Several schools in Delhi-NCR and parents of students welcomed the government's announcement on holding online classes for primary grades in view of rising pollution, and expressed hope that concerted efforts would be made by the authorities as well as people to address the recurring problem. Experts suggested that the government should rejig vacation schedule in schools as pollution turns severe in winter season every year. The Delhi government on Friday announced that primary schools in the national capital will remain shut from Saturday till further orders while outdoor activities will be curtailed for senior classes amid worsening air quality in the city.

According to Pallavi Upadhyaya, Principal of Delhi Public School (DPS), Raj Nagar Extension, the school will conduct online classes during the period. "We respect the decision taken by authorities and plan on conducting online classes to ensure that there is no learning loss for children. Teachers and students are already adept and comfortable with online classes, so we don't expect any technical hurdles or glitches. Extra classes are already being conducted in the evening in online mode. So, for us logging in for classes will never be a hassle," she said.

Bharati Chaturvedi, founder and director of Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group, said the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) was implemented earlier too and shutting down schools under the action plan is nothing new. "This happens every year, so why didn't the Kejriwal government re-work their vacation schedules? Amid all these, the education of children suffer and the most impacted due to these abrupt school shut downs are the underprivileged ones. Most kids in the slums don't have access to online classes," she said.

Delhi Pollution

The city continued to reel under the eye-stinging pollution with air quality recorded in the "severe" category even on Friday. Thick smog blanketed Delhi as the city's air quality remained in the "severe" zone for the second consecutive day, primarily due to unfavourable meteorological conditions and raging farm fires in Punjab. Shubhi Soni, Head of Shri Ram Wonder Years (TSWY) school, believes that the life of a student is paramount.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had recently asked the Delhi government to shut schools until the city's air quality improves. In the wake of severe pollution in the national capital, many schools have taken several measures to protect children, including suspension of outdoor activities and introduction of breathing exercises in classes.

Delhi schools resume online classes

Aparajitha Gautam, Delhi Parents Association President said shutting down of primary schools is a welcome step but questioned why senior classes have not been suspended. "Does the government think those children won't suffer from the poor air quality in Delhi? Impact of pollution doesn't have an age bar. Relief should have been given to students of all classes. Moreover, how long will the government continue will these temporary solutions?," she said.

The online classes will commence as usual, and the timetable will be allocated to the parents by the school teachers. "Simultaneously, keeping the mental health of children in mind, we will be providing counselling sessions, yoga sessions, and awareness sessions. MPS has a health and wellness club which monitors, assesses, and assists students in their healthy well-being," she said.
TORONTO  Banks know a growth market when they see it, and they're increasingly seeing one in the buying, selling and generating of carbon offsets.

The concept of paying a few bucks when, say, buying a flight, to have the carbon emissions "cancelled out" by a project elsewhere is decades old, but with corporate net-zero promises piling up and the urgent need for action being emphasized at the latest UN climate conference that runs this week, offsets are being thrown into the global spotlight.

Since many companies cant cut emissions entirely, or the technology to do so isnt quite there, theyll be relying on offsets to deliver on their net-zero promise.And while theres still tremendous skepticism about their effectiveness, banks are positioning themselves as ready brokers.

The Bank of Montreal bought carbon offsets advisory firm Radicle Group Inc. in July while TD Bank Group launched a carbon advisory business in September, when it also announced a $10-million buy-in to the Nature Conservancy of Canada's (NCC) Boreal Wildlands offset project.

"In terms of what's happened in the last 12 to 18 months, I think, really is this mainstreaming of carbon markets," said Andrew Hall, managing director of TDs new carbon markets advisory unit.

"We've seen it grow very, very quickly, and I expect that trend to continue."

Meanwhile, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has been working to build the foundations for a global carbon credit transaction network called Carbonplace as part of a group of international banks and Royal Bank of Canada, which first launched an environmental commodities trading desk back in 2008, said voluntary offsets make up an increasingly large percentage of total trades and strong growth is expected.

The global voluntary offsets market, which covers a wide range of projects from cleaner burning cookstoves to peatland preservation, is still relatively small at around $1 billion last year. (That compares with the more established, and regulated, compliance carbon market in places like Europe that runs in the hundreds of billions of dollars.)

Story continues

Its expected, however, to grow to upwards of $50 billion by 2030, consultancy firm McKinsey & Co. estimates, while former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney was only last year talking about the market possibly topping $100 billion by decade's end.

Carney made the comments as one of the key people behind the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets, established in late 2020 to expand options in anticipation of the need ahead.

The taskforce, however, became a focal point for long-standing criticism on offsets generally, with critics arguing both that the concept itself is a dangerous distraction from companies actually reducing their emissions, and that the way offset projects are actually assessed and carbon credits tallied is highly flawed.

In March, the group announced a name change it's now the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market, with a focus on improving the credibility of the market more than its growth.

The group is not to be confused with the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative, also working to bring legitimacy to an unregulated and fragmented space.

RBC said the new efforts at standardization will be key to enhancing credibility and driving growth, while TD said it also still has faith in the four main verification standards that have been around for years, as well as its own ability to assess projects.

We're going to be very intentional on who we transact with, and we're going to be dedicated to making sure we're using different registries that are best in class, said Amy West, TDs global head of ESG solutions.

She said the bank will also be focusing on areas it knows well, with North America its key focus, as it looks to instill trust and transparency in the market.

But even projects closer to home have come under scrutiny. A British Columbia auditor-general report was highly critical of NCC's Darkwoods project, finding that the forest would have been protected without the carbon offset payments. A key component of offsets is that only though money paid in would the carbon be trapped.

Its a widespread problem in forestry-based projects, trying to guess what might have otherwise been cut. Theres also the problem of trying to figure out once a forest is protected, whether a logging company just cut the same amount of wood elsewhere.

The NCC said it accounts for these problems by setting aside portions of the credit, along with setting aside more for the potential that the forest burns, which is an increasing problem as climate change effects accelerate.

But while debates around the process and accounting continue, some dismiss the concept entirely.

It basically legitimates and licenses the continued extraction of fossil fuels, said Kate Ervine, associate professor in Global Development Studies at Saint Marys University.

Offsets not only have too doubtful a track record on how well they perform and reliably trap the emissions promised, but they are a distraction from the pressing needs to reduce direct emissions, said Ervine.

"Banks getting into offsetting are providing their clients with a tool that they will then obviously profit from, but I don't think it's about dealing with climate change.

Greenpeace has also been vocally opposed to offsets, with Shane Moffatt, Canadian head of nature and food, calling them total greenwash and a barrier to actual emissions reductions.

He did, however, give a slight window of allowance where good-faith actors are making genuine emissions reduction efforts and have tricky short-term issues, or where reductions are very hard, but overall believes they'll be overused as a panacea.

The expectation that offsets not be used in place of emissions reductions is becoming more common as part of improving standards around the concept. The Net Zero Banking Alliance for one, of which Canada's big banks are members, says offsets should only be used on residual emissions when there are limited technologically or financially viable alternatives.

Canadian banks have also emphasized that offsets are an add-on as part of the wider push for neutral emissions.

Net-zero doesnt happen without carbon offsets, and carbon offsets wont be effective unless theyre permanent, additional to cutting actual emissions, transparent, measurable and verified, said Levent Kahraman, co-head of global markets at BMO Capital Markets, in a statement.

Dominque Barker, head of sustainability advisory at CIBC Capital Markets, said that there's still much to improve in carbon markets, including fragmentation and a lack of transparency, but that offsets are an important part of the necessary global push to emission reductions, especially in pushing more funding and assistance to projects in the Global South, a key area of discussions of the climate talks in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

We need this. It's not a choice, we need to move ahead, and the role of banks in this is absolutely critical.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2022.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TD, TSX:RY; TSX:BMO: TSX:CM)

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press
Valsad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a public meeting in the Valsad district of poll-bound Gujarat on Sunday and attend a mass marriage ceremony in Bhavnagar. PM Modi will address a public meeting at Kaprada Village in Valsad district at 3 pm. This will be the Prime Minister`s first visit to his home state after the Assembly elections were declared. At around 5:45 pm, PM Modi will attend the mass marriage ceremony, `Papa Ni Pari` Lagnotsav 2022 at Bhavnagar. At the ceremony, 522 girls will be getting married at the programme, who do not have fathers. BJP has geared up for the upcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat. Intensive campaign is on in Gujarat as Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the "Gujarat Gaurav Yatra" in Ahmedabad on October 13.

A day before the inauguration of the "Gujarat Gaurav Yatra", JP Nadda flagged off the `Gujarat Gaurav Yatra` in Mehsana. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and other BJP leaders were also present at the occasion.

Also Read: Pakistani Hindu refugees in Gujarat to vote for 1st time in Assembly polls - Here's what it means

Earlier on October 12, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a public meeting at Jamkandorna in Rajkot district. He also held a roadshow after the rally.

"Being in Jamkandorana is always special," tweeted PM Modi.

PM also launched multiple projects worth over Rs 8,000 crore at Amod, Bharuch. He laid the foundation stone of the Bulk Drug Park at Jambusar, the Deep Sea Pipeline Project at Dahej, Phase 1 of Ankleshwar Airport and the development of Multilevel Industrial Sheds at Ankleshwar and Panoli.

Also Read: 'TRUMP CARD' is Narendra Modi, but THESE factors to play a major role in the BATTLEGROUND of Gujarat Assembly Election

The Prime Minister also dedicated several projects which will give a boost to the chemicals sector in Gujarat including GACL Plant, Bharuch Underground Drainage and IOCL Dahej Koyali Pipeline.

The term of the Gujarat Assembly ends on February 18, 2023.

Gujarat Assembly election dates

The elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will take place on December 8. The BJP has won six consecutive assembly polls in Gujarat. The Congress is keen to take an early decision on candidates to give them more time for campaigning and is seeking to bolster its campaign through yatras.

Unlike previous elections, this year Aam Aadmi Party is also fighting the election with full might, led by Delhi Chief Minister and AAP National convener Arvind Kejriwal, which has made it a triangular contest.
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday (November 6, 2022) released its manifesto for the upcoming Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections and promised to implement the Uniform Civil Code in the hilly state. While releasing BJP's 'Sankalp Patra 2022' in Shimla, party national president JP Nadda said that a committee of experts will be formed for implementing the Uniform Civil Code and that it will be brought in the state on the basis of their report. Nadda also promised the creation of eight lakh jobs in a phased manner and five new medical colleges.

"This 'Sankalp Patra' stands on 11 commitments. These commitments will bring uniformity in society, empower youth and farmers, strengthen horticulture, give justice to govt employees and take forward religious tourism," Nadda said.

He also stated that the BJP government will conduct a survey of the Waqf properties in Himachal Pradesh to stop any illegal use.

"The BJP government will launch a program 'Shakti' under which Rs 12,000 crores will be spent over 10 years duration to develop infrastructure and transportation around religious places and temples. They'll be connected to 'Himteerth' circuit'," Nadda said.

The saffron party also released a separate manifesto for women in the state and said that the girl students in classes 6-12 will get a cycle and those pursuing higher education will get a scooty.

Nadda promised a 33 per cent reservation for women in government jobs.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur, state party chief Suresh Kashyap, and Union Minister Anurag Thakur were among those present at the event.

Elections to the 68-member Himachal Pradesh assembly will be held on November 12 and the counting of votes will take place on December 8.
New Delhi: Nana Patole, the president of the Maharashtra Congress, stated on Sunday that the outcome of the byelection for the Andheri (East) constituency here showed that the public rejected the "politics of horse-trading and frightening political opponents" of the Bharatiya Janata Party. On Sunday, Rutuja Latke, a member of the Shiv Sena faction headed by Uddhav Thackeray, won the byelection with more than 66,000 votes. Latke's campaign has received support from the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), who were members of the former Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray. After Latke's victory, Patole told reporters that he was confident the Congress and its partners will defeat the BJP in the upcoming elections.

According to him, the Andheri (East) byelection results demonstrate that the 'ED' (Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis) government is untrustworthy. "By casting their votes, the constituency demonstrated its confidence in the MVA and rejected the BJP's methods of horse-trading and frightening political rivals," he said. In addition, Patole refuted the BJP's assertion that it will not run in the byelection because a sitting MLA had passed away.

Also Read: Himanta Biswa Sarma's BIG STEP for youth, fee of unsucessful govt job aspirant to refunded

"BJP had put up candidates in Kolhapur, Deglur and Pandharpur in the last two three years where bypoll was held due to death of sitting MLAs," he said. People have rejected the politics of the Eknath Shinde-led group and BJP of freezing the Shiv Sena party's name and symbol, he said, adding people will defeat the BJP and Shinde faction in all future elections. The November 3 election, necessitated due to the death of sitting Shiv Sena MLA and Rutuja Latke's husband Ramesh Latke in May this year, was a mere formality after the BJP withdrew its candidate from the race.

Also Read: Bihar Bypoll: JD(U), RJD couldn't defeat BJP in Gopalganj, says BJP's Shahnawaz Hussain
New Delhi: Indian National Congress unveiled its poster for the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections on Sunday, November 6. The poster features the slogan Dil Jeeta hai, Dilli jeetenge as a part of their campaign for the MCD elections. Congress revealed the poster through its official Delhi Congress Twitter Handle.

The slogan is in connection to the ongoing campaign of Bharat Jodo Yatra of the INC where the party has been claiming that the campaign has reached out to a massive amount of people and has won the hearts of the Indians. In the poster, the party has given a new definition for the MCD abbreviation and has defined it as Meri Chamakti Delhi.

Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit also features on the poster along with the images of Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Party President Mallikarjun Kharge. Anil Chaudhary, the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee President could also be seen on the poster.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra continued in Telangana on Sunday. On the 60th day of his walkathon, the Congress MP started walking at Alladurg in Medak district on Sunday morning.

Congress is looking to revive its party through a total overhaul with the party getting a Non-Gandhi president for the first time in 24 years. Mallikarjun Kharge was elected as the party president after he contested an election against Shashi Tharoor and came out victorious to secure the top role.

MCD elections will be held on December 4 while the counting of votes will be done on December 7. Addressing a press conference on Friday, the Delhi State Election Commissioner Commissioner Vijay Dev said that the Model code of conduct has been implemented in Delhi from November 4.

Earlier, the Delhi Congress had questioned the reduction of wards from 272 to 250. The Delhi Congress had also alleged a conspiracy to reduce the representation of the Dalit community in this regard, as the reserved seats have been reduced from 46 to 42. Notably, AAP Delhi raised concerns that there is no equal distribution of population in the delimitation of wards.
New Delhi: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Neelam Devi on Sunday (November 6, 2022) won the bypoll to the Mokama assembly constituency in Bihar and said that it was "just a formality" as she said that her victory was "certain". As per the latest figures available on Election Commission's website, Neelam Devi won by over 16,000 votes against Bhartiya Janata Party's Sonam Devi. While Neelam polled 79,744 votes, Sonam Devi got 63,003. The Mokama seat fell vacant following the disqualification of Neelam Devi's husband and RJD MLA Anant Singh after his conviction in an Arms Act case.

"My victory was certain. I had already said there was nobody else in my contest. It was just a formality. Mokama is the land of Parshuram, people won't get lured. Vidhayak ji (Anant Singh) served people. They're giving the result now," Neelam Devi said after her victory.

Mokama, notably, has been the stronghold of Anant Singh since 2015, who has won the seat twice on JD(U) tickets and fought as an RJD candidate in the 2020 elections and retained the seat. He, however, was disqualified from the assembly following his conviction in the criminal case.

Meanwhile, the BJP is currently ahead in the Gopalganj Assembly seat, where its candidate Kusum Devi has taken a lead over RJD's Mohan Prasad Gupta. The by-election in Gopalganj was necessitated following the death of sitting BJP MLA Subhash Singh.

Of the 6.10 lakh voters -- Gopalganj (3.31 lakh) and Mokama (2.70 lakh) - 52.3 per cent had exercised their franchise in the two seats on November 3, he said. A total of 619 polling booths were set up in the two constituencies.

Fifteen candidates are in the fray -- nine in Gopalganj and six in Mokama.

This was the first electoral face-off between the ruling Grand Alliance and the opposition BJP in Bihar after the change of government in August this year, when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party JD-U snapped ties with the saffron party and aligned with Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD-led coalition, comprising Congress and other parties, to form a new government.
The ongoing Water Week program at Greater Noida's India Expo Mart concluded on Saturday. The country's Vice President, Jagdeep Dhankhar, had come to attend the closing ceremony. During this time, a big mistake by the police regarding security came to the fore. 15 policemen deployed for security were found absent. When DCP Abhishek Verma of Greater Noida investigated the policemen on duty for the security of the Vice President, two police stations in-charge, one inspector posted in an IT cell, one sub-inspector, a female sub-inspector, six head constables, four women constables were found absent. All the policemen reached their duty very late by the stipulated time limit. By giving strict instructions to these policemen, the absence list of all has been registered.

Tight security arrangements were made by the top officials of Greater Noida Police regarding the security of the Vice President. A heavy police force was deployed around the India Expo Mart. On this occasion, DCP Abhishek Verma of Greater Noida and Additional DCP Vishal Pandey kept monitoring themselves regarding the security. During this time, when DCP Abhishek Verma inspected the police force, it was found that some policemen had not reached duty on time.

The Water Week program was inaugurated by the country's President Draupadi Murmu and state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the India Expo Mart, Greater Noida. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar attended the concluding day of the function. Several Union Ministers also attended the closing ceremony.
New Delhi: Defeating the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the BJP was able to retain its Dhamnagar MLA seat in Odisha`s Bhadrak district with its candidate Suryabanshi Suraj winning by a margin of 9,881 votes. Suraj garnered 80,090 votes while his nearest rival BJD candidate Abanti Das got 70,288 votes. BJD rebel candidate Rajendra Das polled 8,122 votes. Congress was in the fourth position as its nominee Baba Harekrushna Sethy got only 3,533 votes. The voting for the bypoll was conducted on November 3 at 252 polling booths and 68.98 per cent of polling was recorded.

The BJP, which slipped to the third position in the last by-poll for Brajarajnagar, has fought the bypoll unitedly. Many senior leaders including Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Bishweswar Tudu, former Union Minister Pratap Sarangi and state President Samir Mohanty have campaigned for the party candidate. The organisation set up by Manmohan Samal and Bishnu Sethi has also helped the party to win the MLA seat, said, party insiders.

Also Read: Munugode Bypoll Election Results: Neck and neck fight between TRS and BJP in Telangana

The BJD, which had played women and SHG cards in the by-poll to counter the sympathy wave for Suryabanshi, failed in its strategy."DhamnagarBypoll result is a victory of democracy. It is a victory for the youth and women. Gratitude to the people of Dhamnagar for reposing their faith on @BJP4Odisha, for honouring the legacy of Late Bishnu Bhai and for blessing Shri @suryabanshibjp," Pradhan said in a tweet.

Odisha | BJP workers celebrate the victory of BJP candidate Suryabanshi Suraj in Dhamnagar by-election https://t.co/hCGm6FUVTI pic.twitter.com/C6u68zCKEe  ANI (@ANI) November 6, 2022

The bypoll result reflects the mood of people in Odisha as well as Odisha`s trust in the decisive and credible leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, congratulating all party workers on this victory. Notably, Dhamnagar has been regarded as the citadel of the BJP since it won twice in the recent past - Manmohan Samal in 2004 and Bishnu Charan Sethi in 2019. The BJD had emerged victorious in all five bypolls in the state since 2019, wresting the Balasore Sadar seat from BJP. This win will give a boost to the party to fight against the ruling BJD in the coming elections.

Election Commission's official update | BJP candidate Suryabanshi Suraj wins Dhamnagar by-election in Odisha by a margin of 9,881 votes.#OdishaByElection pic.twitter.com/cIWiDtb6K9  ANI (@ANI) November 6, 2022

Also Read: Andheri bypoll result: Uddhav-led Sena's Rutuja Latke leads, NOTA surprisingly at second place
New Delhi: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday (November 5, 2022) said that the toppling of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was "revenge" for a "betrayal". The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that the Shiv Sena and Uddhav Thackeray betrayed him and his party in 2019 when they ended the saffron alliance and joined hands with the Nationalist Congress Party and Congress to form the MVA government. Fadnavis, who was the chief minister of the BJP-Sena government from 2014 to 2019, also reiterated that the BJP never promised the chief minister's post for half the term to the Shiv Sena as the latter claimed.

"During the 2019 campaign, our leaders said elections were being fought under Fadnavis's leadership, which was never contested by Thackeray. But after the results, he realised that if three parties came together, he can become CM," he told a TV news channel.

Instead of sharing the CM's post, the BJP had offered the Palghar Lok Sabha seat and more ministries in the state to the Sena and finalized the alliance, Fadnavis claimed.

Eknath Shinde becoming Maharashtra CM was not a 'shocker'

Devendra Fadnavis also said that Eknath Shinde becoming Maharashtra chief minister instead of him after the fall of the Uddhav Thackeray government was not a "shocker".

"Shinde was made the chief minister after consultation with me. It was my proposal, so it was not a shocker for me," he said.

"What was shocking was that I should be the deputy chief minister," he added.

He did not want a post in the new government but the central leadership of the BJP told him that he was the leader of the party in the state and had administrative experience, hence his staying out was not advisable, Fadnavis said.

He also asserted that his political stature had increased after becoming deputy chief minister.

Shinde never made him feel like he was deputy chief minister and they take decisions after consulting each other, Fadnavis added.

2024 Maharashtra Assembly polls will be fought under Eknath Shinde's leadership

The Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister also said that the 2024 Assembly elections will be contested under the leadership of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

"In 2024, we will fight the election under the leadership of Eknath Shinde as chief minister and me as deputy CM and we will return with a huge majority," Fadnavis said.

(With agency inputs)
New Delhi: As the Ukraine conflict enters its ninth month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will begin a two-day visit to Russia on Monday to meet with the country's Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, as part of the two sides' regular high-level dialogue. The two sides are expected to discuss a wide range of bilateral issues as well as exchange perspectives on various regional and international developments. Jaishankar will meet with Denis Manturov, the Russian Federation's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Industry, his counterpart for the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological, and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC).

"Issues pertaining to bilateral economic cooperation in various domains will be discussed," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) release said in an earlier release.Jaishankar`s visit follows Russian President Vladimir Putin`s praise of Indians. Marking the occasion of Russia`s Unity Day on November 4, Putin said India has much potential with no doubts that it will achieve outstanding results in terms of development."India will achieve outstanding results in terms of its development - there are no doubts - and almost one-and-a-half billion people: now that`s potential," the Russian President said, according to a Reuters translation of the speech originally delivered in Russian.Since the start of the Ukraine conflict earlier this year, India`s bilateral ties with Russia have come under the scanner of the West for a surge in oil imports from the sanction-hit Moscow.

Also Read: COP27 begins in Egypt: What will be India's main focus? - All details here

The war in Ukraine which has continued for more than eight months has had a significant impact on global food security and has led to a sudden increase in crude prices.A survey by the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation (ORF) said the majority of young Indian believe that Russia is India`s most reliable partner since the country gained independence in 1947.Notably, India has not condemned Russia since the start of the conflict and maintained its independent position. On several UN forums, New Delhi has consistently called for a cessation of violence and advocated the path of peace and diplomacy.

On Wednesday, Jaishankar said the Ukraine conflict has dramatically widened the scope of political leveraging, in which trade, debt, and even tourism are being weaponized as the points of pressure."This emanates from the weaponisation of everything. In recent years, we have already seen, how trade, connectivity, debt, resources and even tourism have become the point of political pressure.

Also Read: WATCH: Hindu diaspora in Canada heckles mayor over pro-Khalistan posters

The Ukraine conflict has dramatically widened the scope of such leveraging," Jaishankar said, during a lecture at the IIM Calcutta, while speaking on the topic of "India and the World".He said the scale of measures, technology control, infrastructure and service restrictions and seizure of assets, has truly been breathtaking. The minister added sharpening great power competition is inevitably creating stress factors across multiple domains.
Srinagar: Former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday, November 6, 2022, said that only Congress could challenge Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, while Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is "merely a party of UT Delhi". Months after exiting the decades-long association with the Congress party, Azad said that he was not against its policy of secularism, but its weak party system.

J&K | Although I have separated from Congress, I wasn't against their policy of secularism. It was only due to the party's system getting weakened. I would still want that Congress performs well in Gujarat & HP Assembly polls. AAP isn't capable to do so: Ghulam Nabi Azad pic.twitter.com/yjzRNIffwt November 6, 2022

While talking to ANI at Srinagar, he said, "Although I have separated from Congress, I wasn`t against their policy of secularism. It was only due to the party`s system getting weakened. I would still want Congress to perform well in Gujarat and HP Assembly polls. AAP isn`t capable to do so."

Exuding confidence in the Congress, he said that the party takes a long everybody, Hindu, and Muslim farmers. He said that Aam Aadmi Party can`t do anything in these states, they have failed in Punjab and the people of Punjab will not vote for them again. In a scathing attack on Aam Aadmi Party, Azad said that it is " AAP is merely a party of UT Delhi. They can`t run Punjab efficiently, only Congress can challenge BJP in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh as they have an inclusive policy."

On Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman hinting at the Centre thinking of restoring State status to J&K, he said that he had taken this issue many times and if Centre Government will do that`s a welcome step. Ghulam Nabi Azad is on a tour of Doda where he will be meeting many delegations and addressing many rallies in the coming days.

Earlier on August 26, Azad quit the 52-years-long association with the Congress party. While in October, Azad announced his new political outfit `Democratic Azad Party`. In his resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi, he had targeted party leadership, particularly Rahul Gandhi, over the way the party has been run in the past nearly nine years. In the hard-hitting five-page letter, Azad had claimed that a coterie runs the party while Sonia Gandhi was just "a nominal head" and all the major decisions were taken by "Rahul Gandhi or rather worse his security guards and PAs".

He was earlier the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha. Recounting his long association with the Congress, Azad had said the situation in the party has reached a point of "no return." While Azad took potshots at Sonia Gandhi in the letter, his sharpest attack was on Rahul Gandhi and he described the Wayand MP as a "non-serious individual" and "immature".

The elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will take place on December 8. The BJP has won six consecutive assembly polls in Gujarat. The Congress is keen to take an early decision on candidates to give them more time for campaigning and is seeking to bolster its campaign through yatras. Unlike previous elections, this year Aam Aadmi Party is also fighting the election with full might, led by Delhi Chief Minister and AAP National convener Arvind Kejriwal, which has made it a triangular contest.
Two years ago, just over 8,000 people arrived in the UK on small boats (Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)

The crisis of asylum seekers making the dangerous journey across the Channel in small boats to reach the UK is heightening as concern grows about the conditions in which migrants are living after arrival.

This week, it was revealed that there is serious overcrowding at the Manston asylum processing site in Kent. The facility can hold up to 1,600 people but is housing about 4,000, according to Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale.

A migrant centre in Dover was firebombed over the weekend, leaving two people with minor injuries. The suspect was identified and found at a nearby petrol station, where he was confirmed dead.

What is the process for claiming asylum in the UK?

People who arrive to the UK after crossing the Channel can claim asylum at the port of Dover by telling immigration officials that is what they want to do. Those who do not make a claim at the point of entry can make an appointment to do so at the Asylum Intake Unit in Croydon.

After an asylum claim has been made, a screening interview takes place where an immigration officer registers the claim and takes the persons details. The officer will ask about where the individual has come from and how he or she arrived in the UK.

Asylum seekers then face a second, more comprehensive interview with Home Office officials, which can take place anywhere between weeks or months after they arrive in the UK.

While their claim is processed, a person seeking asylum will be provided with initial accommodation to live in, which is usually a hostel. Later, they may be moved to a flat or shared housing, when they will receive 40.85 a week to live on.

Some people may be placed in an immigration detention centre if the Home Office is considering whether the application is inadmissible.

How many people have crossed the Channel in small boats this year?

The highly visible trend that has become central to political debate is the rise in small boat arrivals to the UK.

Almost 40,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats so far in 2022, according to government data  the highest number since figures were first gathered in 2018. In 2021, the total was 28,526 people, while in 2020 it was 8,404. Nearly all of those arriving by small boats claim asylum, according to the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence.

Story continues

However, the numbers arriving by small boat are low compared with those granted through official schemes. A total of 75,764 visas were issued in the last year under the Hong Kong scheme for British nationals. In the last nine months, almost double that number  140,000  entered the UK through the Ukrainian scheme.

Over the last year, a quarter of refugee arrivals into the UK came by small boats or lorries.

How many asylum seekers does the UK take in?

The UK received eight asylum applicants for every 10,000 people across the country in 2020/21, the figures show.

This compared with just under 23 for Germany and just under 18 in France. Cyprus received 153 applicants for every 10,000 people in the country, the highest among 32 European countries.

There were more than 63,000 asylum applications in the UK in the year ending June 2022  77 per cent higher than in 2019, which is largely down to the increase in small boat arrivals.

Figures from the Home Office showing the numbers of people claiming asylum from 1979 to 2021 demonstrate that the UK is on an upward curve now.

However, the number of asylum claims in 2021 was well below the peaks of more than 80,000 of the early 2000s when there were conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and the former Yugoslavia.

The Syrian refugee crisis beginning in 2014 caused a slight rise in overall numbers. But the current peak is closer to the levels in 1991 when there were conflicts in Sri Lanka and Somalia.

What is the difference between a refugee and asylum seeker?

Refugees are those who seek safety in another country. Among the things they may be fleeing are war, persecution or natural disasters. Refugee status would be given to someone who has had asylum claims accepted and has permission to stay in the country.

Asylum seekers are people who have left their country and are seeking protection from persecution and serious human rights violations in another country, but who havent yet been legally recognised as refugees and are waiting to receive a decision on their asylum claim.

There is no such thing as an illegal asylum seeker  under international law, anyone has the right to apply for asylum in any country that has signed the 1951 Convention and to remain there until the authorities have assessed their claim.

What are the safe and legal routes to claim asylum in the UK?

The UK currently has nine safe and legal routes open to asylum seekers.

However, five of these routes are country-specific, only applying to people from Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Ukraine.

The Refugee Council has said that for the vast majority of refugees, there is no safe way for them to seek asylum in the UK. It says that people who do not qualify for government schemes may be forced to enter the UK illegally, since they cannot apply from overseas.

The other four schemes are:

UK Resettlement Scheme  opened in 2021 and prioritises those from regions in conflict. It planned to resettle 5,000 in its first year but resettled 1,125 refugees.

Community Sponsorship Scheme  opened in 2016 for local community groups to provide accommodation and support for refugees. In 2021, 144 people came through this route.

Refugee Family Reunion  opened in 2011 to partners and children under 18 of those already granted protection in the UK. In 2021, 6,134 visas were granted through this route.

Mandate Resettlement Scheme  opened in 1995 to resettle refugees who have a close family member in the UK who can accommodate them. The scheme has resettled around 430 refugees since 2004 but just two people were resettled in 2021.

These routes are resettlement schemes that grant refugee status to vulnerable groups.
Shimla: Issues related to women and religion form the core of the poll manifestos of the BJP and the Congress, with both parties vying with each other in announcing sops to woo voters for the crucial November 12 assembly elections. Women account for nearly half (49 per cent) of the population of the hill state and the principal rivals have gone out of the way to impress them this time. While the Congress on Saturday unveiled the "Har Ghar Lakshmi, Nari Samman Nidhi promising Rs 1500 per month to adult women besides 300 units of free power which too would potentially ease the living of women, the BJP on Sunday launched a dedicated manifesto for the female voters calling the document Stree Sankalp Patra.

BJP manifesto for women

The BJP manifesto for women promises bicycles for schoolgoers, scooties for college students and enhanced 'shagun', which includes monetary assistance, for the marriage of girls from BPL families. Stree Shakti Sankalp also ambitiously offers 33 percent reservation to women in government jobs and educational institutions.

Also Read: Thackeray-led Sena trying to appease Marathi Muslims ahead of the civic polls: BJP

Mukhmantri Shagun Yojna

A corpus fund of Rs 500 crores for interest-free loans to women entrepreneurs will be set up for homestays and financial support for the marriage of girls belonging to below-poverty-line families will be raised from Rs 31,000 to Rs 51,000 under the ongoing Mukhmantri Shagun Yojna.

Another thrust area of the manifestos of both parties is religion with the BJP promising a ?Him Teerath? circuit to link major temples and Shakti Peeths by launching 45 special busses from New Delhi, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Meerut and Mathura.

Temples and Pilgrimages

The Congress has for the first time included a stand-alone segment in its manifesto on "Devsthan and Tirth Yatras" (Temples and Pilgrimages). The segment promised to pay for a free pilgrimage of all elderly (accompanied by one attendant) to a shrine of choice; doubling the annual contribution to state-supported temples and double emoluments to temple priests. The BJP also promised to implement the Uniform Civil Code and survey Waqf properties to end alleged illegalities therein. Making a religion-centric pledge in its poll manifesto, the Congress promised to develop tourism circuits to strengthen religious tourism and a special budget for the restoration and modernisation of temples.

Also Read: Bihar Bypoll: JD(U), RJD couldn't defeat BJP in Gopalganj, says BJP's Shahnawaz Hussain

The thrust of parties on women is rooted in the fact that the women voters in Himachal have been outnumbering men in all elections since 1998. Also, out of Himachal's 5574793 voters, 2846201 are men and 2728555 are women. The BJP manifesto seeks to woo the segment with several promises ranging from three free LPG cylinders to women of poor households, enrolment of all women over 30 years from poor families under the Atal Pension Scheme and two hostels per district.

It promised Rs 2500 monthly scholarship for 50000 meritorious female students of government schools during the course of graduation, among many pledges. The pro-women push of the BJP comes close on the heels of the party's historic win in Uttar Pradesh, where the silent women voters were seen as a decisive factor behind the party's re-election, a first for any incumbent government in 37 years. The BJP clocked a lead of 16 percent among women voters over its rival SP-led alliance in UP.
New Delhi: The primary market continues to be a busy one with four firms, including Archean Chemical Industries and Five Star Business Finance, are set to float their IPOs next week to collectively raise about Rs 5,000 crore.

The other two firms whose initial public offerings (IPOs) are ready to open are -- Kaynes Technology India and Inox Green Energy Services. This came after four companies launched their initial share-sales last week. Of these, two IPOs -- maker of snacks and sweets Bikaji Foods International and Global Health Ltd which operates hospitals under the Medanta brand -- are currently underway.

The IPOs of Archean Chemical and Five Star Business will be open for public subscription on November 9 and close on November 11, while that of Kaynes Technology and Inox Green are set to kick off on November 10 and November 11 respectively, as per the red herring prospectus (RHP).

So far in 2022, as many as 26 companies have floated their IPOs to raise over Rs 48,000 crore. In 2021, 63 IPOs had mopped up over Rs 1.19 lakh crore, the data with exchanges showed.

According to market experts, volatility in the secondary market led to a weak IPO market in 2022.

Non-banking lender Five Star Business Finance's IPO is entirely an offer for sale (OFS) of shares to the tune of Rs 1,960 crore by existing shareholders and promoter group entities.

The OFS will see the sale of shares to the tune of Rs 166.74 crore by SCI Investments V, Rs 719.41 crore by Matrix Partners India Investment Holdings II LLC, Rs 12.08 crore by Matrix Partners India Investments II Extension LLC, Rs 361.44 crore by Norwest Venture Partners X- Mauritius and Rs 700.31 crore by TPG Asia VII SF Pte Ltd.

The Chennai-headquartered firm has set a price band of Rs 450-474 per equity shares. The NBFC is backed by investors like TPG, Matrix Partners, Norwest Ventures, Sequoia and KKR.

The IPO of speciality marine chemical manufacturer Archean Chemical consists of a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to Rs 805 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 1.61 crore shares by the promoter and investors, including the India Resurgence Fund, a joint venture between the Piramal Group and Bain Capital.

Promoter Chemikas Speciality will sell 20 lakh shares via OFS, while investors Piramal Natural Resources and India Resurgence Fund will sell 38.35 lakh shares each. India Resurgence Fund II will divest 64.78 lakh shares.

The price band has been set at Rs 386-407 a share for the issue, which is expected to fetch Rs 1,462.3 crore at the upper end of the band. The company plans to use the proceeds of the fresh issue for the redemption of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) issued by it.

The initial share-sale of Kaynes Technology, an IoT (Internet of Things) solutions-enabled integrated electronics manufacturing company, comprises fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 530 crore and an OFS of up to 55.85 lakh equity shares by a promoter and an existing shareholder.

The OFS comprises sale of 20.84 lakh equity shares by promoter Ramesh Kunhikannan and 35 lakh equity shares by existing shareholder Freny Firoze Irani.

According to merchant banking sources, the issue is expected to mop up over Rs 850 crore.

Proceeds from the fresh issue will be used to repay debt, funding capital expenditure for its manufacturing facilities at Mysore and Manesar and funding working capital requirements. Also, the company plans to invest in its arm Kaynes Electronics Manufacturing for setting up a new facility at Chamarajanagar in Karnataka.

The Rs 740-crore IPO of Inox Green, an arm of Inox Wind, comprises a fresh issue and an offer for sale of Rs 370 crore each. The issue will open on November 11 and close on November 15. Proceeds from the fresh issue will be utilised for repaying debts and general corporate purposes. The equity shares of the four companies will be listed on the BSE and NSE.
NEW DELHI: Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor are all set to embrace parenthood soon. The duo, who met and fell in love with each other on the sets of 'Brahmastra', dated each other for almost five years before tying the knot in April this year. On Sunday, the adorable couple was seen arriving together in their car at RN Hospital in Mumbai early morning. Both Alia and Ranbir were twinning in white and were captured seated inside their car as they arrived at the hospital. Ranbir was seen in his statement cap and was busy talking on the phone.



Meanwhile, Alia Bhatt's mom and veteran actress Soni Razdan and her mother-in-law Neetu Kapoor have also arrived at the hospital.

Alia Bhatt's father and filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt reportedly confirmed the arrival of the new member in the family and told HT, "Waiting for a new sun to rise. A fresh sparkling dew drop of life."

The marriage was an intimate ceremony with only close friends and family members in attendance. Alia Bhatt took all her fans and dear ones by surprised when she announced in June that she and Ranbir are all set to welcome their first child.



Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt had taken to social media to announce that they were expecting their child together soon after their marriage. Alia shared a picture from the hospital where she is undergoing her sonography test, while Ranbir is seen seated next to her. The actress continued to shoot for her first Hollywood film 'Heart Of Stone' in Spain and promoted 'Brahmastra'. She also launched her maternity wear 'Edamama'. However, Alia and Ranbir were not seen at any Diwali parties or Bollywood gatherings in the last two months. The two have been maintaining a rather low profile and almost no presence on social media.



Alia and Ranbir got married after dating each other for almost five years. The actors met on the sets of Ayan Mukerji's 'Brahmastra' and soon came close to each other.



On the work front, Ranbir Kapoor had two releases this year including 'Shamshera' and 'Brahmastra', whereas Alia was seen in 'Gangubai Kathiawadi', 'RRR', 'Darlings' and 'Brahmastra'.

Alia will next be seen in Karan Johar's directorial 'Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani'.


NEW DELHI: Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, who tied the knot in April this year, welcomed their first child, a baby girl, on November 6, 2022, at HN Reliance Hospital in Mumbai. The news has left their fans elated as they thronged to Alia's social media account and flooded the comment section with some adorable messages.

The couple was spotted arriving at the hospital early morning on Sunday. Later, Alia's mother and veteran actress Soni Razdan and her mother-in-law Neetu Kapoor were also papped arriving at the hospital.

Alia Bhatt had recently hosted an intimate baby shower with her friends and family members at her home.

Alia Bhatt's father and filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt had earlier confirmed the arrival of the new member in the family and told HT, "Waiting for a new sun to rise. A fresh sparkling dew drop of life."

Alia and Ranbir's marriage, which took place on April 14, 2022, was an intimate ceremony with only close friends and family members in attendance. Alia Bhatt took all her fans and dear ones by surprise when she announced in June that she and Ranbir are all set to welcome their first child.

Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt had taken to social media to announce that they were expecting their child together soon after their marriage. Alia shared a picture from the hospital where she is undergoing her sonography test, while Ranbir is seen seated next to her. The actress continued to shoot for her first Hollywood film 'Heart Of Stone' in Spain and promoted 'Brahmastra'. She also launched her maternity wear 'Edamama'. However, Alia and Ranbir were not seen at any Diwali parties or Bollywood gatherings in the last two months. The two have been maintaining a rather low profile and almost no presence on social media.

Alia and Ranbir got married after dating each other for almost five years. The actors met on the sets of Ayan Mukerji's 'Brahmastra' and soon came close to each other.

On the work front, Ranbir Kapoor had two releases this year including 'Shamshera' and 'Brahmastra', whereas Alia was seen in 'Gangubai Kathiawadi', 'RRR', 'Darlings' and 'Brahmastra'.

Alia will next be seen in Karan Johar's directorial 'Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani'.
Guwahati: Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut who is currently filming `Emergency` in Assam, paid a visit to Assam`s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Guwahati on Saturday. On Saturday, the `Queen` star took to her Instagram, and shared her gratitude towards Assam`s `honourable` Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, she captioned the post, "Such a delight to meet Honourable Chief Minister Assam, Shri Himanta Biswa Sarma ji.... He extended his support for our team as we begin our outdoor schedule very soon in various locations across Assam ... Such an honour and privilege to get his support and encouragement Many thanks, sir." The meeting is said to be a courtesy call by the 35-year-old star.

On the other hand, Assam`s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted some glimpses from the meeting, he wrote, "Happy to have met actor, writer and filmmaker Kangana Ranaut Ji in my office today. I`m glad that she will be shooting one of her productions in Assam. I thanked her and assured all help for her production."

Happy to have met actor, writer and film maker Kangana Ranaut Ji in my office today.



I'm glad that she will be shooting one of her productions in Assam. I thanked her and assured all help for her production. pic.twitter.com/piDaKOavRJ November 5, 2022

The `Queen` actor is seen gifting Sarma in a brief video of the meeting. Post that, Sarma could be seen offering Kangana a traditional Assamese stole. In her upcoming period drama `Emergency`, Kangana will be seen portraying the role of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. `Emergency` marks Kangana`s first solo-directorial film. Apart from Kangana, the film casts Anupam Kher, Mahima Chaudhry, Vishak Nair and Shreyas Talpade in prominent roles. The official release date of the film is still awaited.

Talking about Kangana`s upcoming projects, she will be seen in `Tiku Weds Sheru` marks the first project produced by Kangana`s production house, Manikarnika Films. Helmed by Sai Kabir, the film stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Avneet Kaur in the lead roles. The film is all set to premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. The official release date from the makers is still awaited.
New Delhi: Power couple Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt were blessed with a baby girl at Mumbai's RN Hospital on Sunday, November 6, 2022. Right before the arrival of the news, Alias mother Soni Razdan and mother-in-law Neetu Kapoor was papped outside the hospital.

As soon as the baby was delivered, new-mom Alia Bhatt confirmed the news officially on her Instagram handle. And in the best news of our lives, our baby is here, and what a magical girl she is. We are officially bursting with love - blessed and obsessed parents!!! Love love love Alia and Ranbir, she penned the post.

Just as Alia shared the post, mom Soni Razdan reshared it on her Instagram story and shared her excitement on the most amazing gift of her life. Oh happy day ! So much gratitude to life for this amazing wonderful blessing of a gift. Thank you all for your wishes of love. Our collective cup runneth over, wrote.

Similarly, Ranbirs mom Neetu Kapoor also shared Alias post on her Instagram handle and wrote, Blessings, with a heart and thankful emoji.

Ranbirs sister Riddhima Kapoor Sahni also shared a picture of the couple on her Instagram story and wrote, ooooofffff! Happiest today Proud parents to the most adorable baby girl #blessings Bua Loves her already.

Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor fell in love while working together in Ayan Mukerjis Brahmastra. After dating for a few years, the couple got married in an intimate ceremony on April 14 this year. In June 2022, Alia Bhatt broke the internet when she announced that the couple are expecting their first child together and a posted an image of her sonography results.

We congratulate new parents Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor for being blessed with a baby girl!
New Delhi: As Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt became proud parents to a baby girl on Sunday. Alia was admitted to Mumbai's RN Hospital and around noon, the actress announced the birth of her princess. Ranbir's mom Neetu Kapoor was spotted by the paps as she returned back from the hospital. She then gave a health update on both Alia and baby Bhatt Kapoor.

Paparazzi congratulated Neetu on the occasion and asked her how is she feeling as 'Laxmi' has come to their family. The actress can be seen glowing with happiness, she said, "Kaisa lag raha hai matlab, bohut khush hun main... hadd see zyada! (What do you mean how am I feeling, I am extremely happy...)

Paps then asked her about Alia's health, to this she replied, "Ekdum first class, absolutely fine, sab theek hai, dono healthy hain... sab achcha hai," she also told the paps that the baby is very cute when they asked her whom does she resemble. She said, "She is too young for that, just a day old, but i can say one thing for sure that she is very cute..."

Alia took to Instagram barely minutes after the arrival of her baby and shared a post, confirming the development. She wrote, "And in the best news of our lives, our baby is here, and what a magical girl she is. We are officially bursting with love - blessed and obsessed parents!!! Love love love Alia and Ranbir."

Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt welcomed their little bundle of joy, a baby girl at Mumbai's RN Hospital on Sunday (Nov 6). The couple tied the knot in April in an intimate close-knit affair in April this year, in the presence of their close people and relatives.

Alia and Ranbir got married after dating each other for almost five years. The actors met on the sets of Ayan Mukerji's 'Brahmastra' and soon came close to each other.
NEW DELHI: B-Town couple Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, who tied the knot in April this year, arrived at HN Reliance Hospital in Mumbai. As per several reports, the actors have reached the hospital for her delivery. However, some people assumed that they might have come for her routine check-up. It was reported earlier that Alia's delivery date is anytime between November 20-30. Alia had hosted a baby shower with her friends and family members only recently.

"#Aliabhatt and #RanbirKapoor arrived at Ambani Hospital on Girgaon at 730 am today for delivery," the post by the paparazzo read.

Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt had taken to social media to announce that they were expecting their child together soon after their marriage. Alia shared a picture from the hospital where she is undergoing her sonography test, while Ranbir is seen seated next to her. The actress continued to shoot for her first Hollywood film 'Heart Of Stone' in Spain and promoted 'Brahmastra'. She also launched her maternity wear 'Edamama'. However, Alia and Ranbir were not seen at any Diwali parties or Bollywood gatherings in the last two months. The two have been maintaining a rather low profile and almost no presence on social media.

Alia and Ranbir got married after dating each other for almost five years. The actors met on the sets of Ayan Mukerji's 'Brahmastra' and soon came close to each other.

On the work front, Ranbir Kapoor had two releases this year including 'Shamshera' and 'Brahmastra', whereas Alia was seen in 'Gangubai Kathiawadi', 'RRR', 'Darlings' and 'Brahmastra'.

Alia will next be seen in Karan Johar's directorial 'Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani'.
New Delhi: If you want to make your daughter future secure and safe, then Post Offices Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme is a good option for you. There are lots of benefits you and eventually your daughter will get just by opening the account under the scheme.

ALSO READ | Four IPOs will come next week; Check which companies are going to float

The scheme has been designed to keep daughters in the mind. This is a small savings scheme which allows you to do small savings for your daughter little by little. You can start the account just by putting a small account in it. The scheme has been started by the Government in 2014. Its 100% risk free and you can also save income tax via this scheme.

ALSO READ | Anand Mahindra hails UPI system for its presence in 'India's Last Tea Shop'

Lets understand the scheme in detail:

You can get 7.6% return

The scheme offers 7.6% return. However, the interest has been fixed at every quarter so it can fluctuate up and down. But it doesnt dip below 7%. The interest will be credited in the account at the end of every financial year.

How much you can invest in it

You can start the account by investing a mere Rs 250 annually under the scheme. And the maximum amount you can put each year is Rs 1.5 lakh. If you dont deposit the minimum amount as set by the start of the scheme, you will be charged Rs 50 penalty will be imposed next month.

Who can open the account?

The parents and guardians can open the account of a minor girl which is under 10 years. It should be opened with the name of daughter and you can open for two daughters for a single house.

When can you withdraw money?

When your daughter turns 18-years-old, then she can withdraw the accrued amount. Remember the money cant be withdrawn before that. The account becomes mature when she turns 21. However, in case your daughter dies before the maturity, the account will be closed and parent/guardians will get the money.
Indian Railways has been working relentlessly to give the existing railway stations a new look along with all the modern facilities. This redevelopment of stations will provide passengers the ease of travelling as the revamped railway stations will be equipped with modern airport-like facilities. Currently, Indian Railways is redeveloping around 400 stations across India to enhance the travelling experience. The construction of station infrastructure will adopt green building technology and facilities to make it Divyangjan-friendly. Having said that, the Ministry of Railways recently shared a glimpse of the to-be redeveloped Dakaniya Talav Railway Station in Rajasthan. The glance shows the proposed design of the surrounding areas as well.

The pictures reveal an airport-like design for the station. Moreover, based on the photos the surrounding areas of the station will have an ample amount of greenery to give the station a lively look. The photos also show a more extensive parking area for the vehicles that come to the railway station.

Also read: Indian Railways cancels over 140 trains today on November 6; Check full list here

The Ministry of Railways took to Twitter to share the news. "Dazzling & Astounding: The proposed design of the to-be redeveloped Dakaniya Talav Railway Station in Rajasthan," read the tweet of the Ministry of Railways.

Dazzling & Astounding: The proposed design of the to-be redeveloped Dakaniya Talav Railway Station in Rajasthan . pic.twitter.com/qLflf9C4Tr  Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) November 5, 2022

The Ministry of Railways previously shared a glimpse of multiple development projects like Secundrabad Railway station, Udaipur Railway station, Bengaluru Cantonment Railway Station, and many others. Further, among 40 stations, Ayodhya, Tirupati, Puri, Somnath, Rameswaram, Madurai, Sabarmati, Jammu Tawi, Gwalior, Lucknow (Charbagh), Chennai Egamore, and Gaya are some major stations where work is awarded and in progress in different stages of Survey, Site Mobilization and Construction.

Whereas, New Delhi, CSMT, Kanpur Central, Chandigarh, Prayagraj, Kanyakumari, Ajni (Nagpur), Ghaziabad, Ludhiana, Cuttack, Banglore Cantt., Ahmedabad, Jodhpur and Delhi Cantt. are those Stations where work is under Tendering stage and likely to be awarded in next 4-5 months.
Gotham/FilmMagic via Getty

Elon Musk is threatening to name and shame advertisers who have hit pause on Twitter while his takeover of the social media platform sows chaos.

The idea, apparently, is that Musks fans would boycott those companies until they agree to start funneling ad bucks to Twitter again.

General Mills, General Motors, Volkswagen, and Pfizer are among the major corporations that have stopped advertising on Twitter since Musk bought it a week ago for $44 billion.

The vast majority of Twitters revenue comes from advertising, and the new boss was not happy to see the bottom line drying up.

Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists, Musk tweeted Friday morning.

Extremely messed up! Theyre trying to destroy free speech in America.

Ironically, after Twitter users flagged the tweet, a Guardian story about why advertisers were actually fleeing the site was added as context.

Hate speech on the platform ballooned after Musks purchase, and banned users immediately began clamoring for reinstatement, undoubtedly making advertisers nervous.

Musks complaint about their abandonment led conservative operative Mike Davis to tweet at the new owner: Name and shame the advertisers who are succumbing to the advertiser boycotts. So we can counter-boycott them.

The SpaceX and Tesla founder then replied: Thank you. A thermonuclear name & shame is exactly what will happen if this continues.

The billionaires vow seems unlikely to calm corporate jitters and bring advertisers back. It comes during a week of utter tumult, with Musk firing top executives and board members, launching massive layoffs, and announcing a plan to charge verified users $8 a month to keep their blue check marks.

Regarding Twitters reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day. Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required, he tweeted.

Story continues

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

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New Delhi: Be it an office or home in India, it is difficult to fathom communicating without WhatsApp. It is the most widely used instant messaging platform in India, enabling its 390 million users to exchange photographs and videos in addition to texts. However, there is a drawback that the majority of users encounter and find annoying when sending photos via WhatsApp: the images are appallingly compressed.

Your image's quality deteriorates to the point that it loses its luster. You may no longer choose to use the awful photo compression but the new improvements to the media sharing service over the previous few months by the Meta-owned app for the tech-savvy users exempted from the problem.

Using WhatsApp's function, you can transmit photos in their highest possible quality. In essence, all it does is send slightly higher-quality photographs than it does by default. Although not identical to the original quality, WhatsApp's top quality is unquestionably superior.

A step-by-step guide to send photos in high quality through WhatsApp:



- Open your WhatsApp.

- Go to the settings option.

- Click on the storage and data settings option.

- Click on the media upload quality option.

- Change photo quality option to best quality option.
The 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) kickstarted on Sunday (Nov 6) in Sharm El Sheikh. Egypt. As erratic weather changes and disastrous effects of climate change come to the forefront, this conference holds significance to countries meeting their climate goal. The summit will take place from Nov 6- Nov 18.

Who is expected to attend?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not attend but Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav will be attending the summit. "The world has gathered to deliberate on sustainable ways to fight Climate Change. COP27 should be `COP of Action` with key deliverables having a specific focus on defining Climate Finance, outcomes on Adaptation and Loss & Damage," said Yadav.

On the other hand, US president Joe Biden, and climate envoy John Kerry are also expected to be there. French President Emmanuel Macron and UK PM Rishi Sunak are also taking part. Sunak had earlier said that he would give the summit a miss but on Nov 2 reversed his decision.

India's main focus at COP27

India's primary focus will be pushing for a better definition of 'climate financing' for developing nations. Climate finance is necessary for mitigation because large-scale investments are required to significantly reduce emissions. It is also equally important for adaptation, as significant financial resources are needed to adapt to the adverse effects and reduce the impacts of a changing climate. The Green Climate Fund (GCF) will play a major role in supporting India to make this transition. But central banks and other financial institutions will have to step up their game. India will also discuss the mantra of Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE), coined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

(With IANS and ANI inputs)
Ottawa: Canada's city of Brampton mayor, Patrick Brown was hackled in a temple by the Hindu community for allowing anti-India elements to conduct their "Khalistan Referendum". The mayor was asked by the Hindu diaspora to remove hateful banners against Hindus from all over the city that read "Sikh Infants burnt alive by Hindu Mobs," TAG TV reported. Mayor Brampton, Patrick Brown when asked that would he remove those banners by Khalistanis - "We love everyone," he answered. Brown was shamed in front of four federal parliamentarians, three provincial parliamentarians, and two city councilors. Liberal MP Chandra Arya appealed to the audience to cool down and said that "We do have strong differences but Mr. Brown is our guest in the temple".

Patrick Brown is a known politician for creating Hinduphobia and Indophobia, according to TAG TV.

Also Read: India sends strong message to Canada over Khalistan referendum. Details here

Khalistan referendum

According to TAG TV, Brown and other cities` mayors have allowed government-funded auditoriums and arenas to carry on the referendum in the name of freedom of expression, but the Hindu diaspora is shocked that how could Canadian municipal, provincial, and federal governments allow Khalistani ideology to nurture in the name of freedom of expression since Canada`s largest terrorism "Air India Bombing" in 1983 was associated with Khalistani ideology.

WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE INCIDENT HERE:

Patrick brown and other politicians dodged questions about hate signs against Hindus at Bharat mata mandir. Our group members tried to talk with them when they came out and all of them were like meet us at the office next week and we will discuss. pic.twitter.com/wdLROxQ72D November 6, 2022

The diaspora also ponders how would Canadian politicians and authorities feel if Quebec Referendum happens in India.

Previously in October, as many as 400 to 500 people clashed in the Canadian city of Mississauga during the Diwali celebration.

India's reaction to 'Khalistan Referendums' in Canada

Not too long ago, India asked Canada to stop the so-called "Khalistan Referendums" by the anti-India elements on November 6 in Ontario. The Centre has asked the Canadian government to act against those who promote terror and violence against the largest democracy in the world.

Responding to a media query, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the issue of the referendum conducted by separatist groups has been taken up with the Canadian High Commission in Delhi and as well as with the Canadian authorities.

India has made it clear that it will continue to voice these issues both in New Delhi, Ottawa, and elsewhere."We have taken it up with the Canadian High Commission in Delhi and also in Canada with the Canadian authorities. We will continue to take up these issues both in New Delhi, Ottawa & elsewhere," MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi stated on so-called "Khalistan Referendums" in Canada.
Jack Dorsey quit as Twitter CEO in November

Twitter co-founder and ex-CEO Jack Dorsey has addressed the mass sackings at his former firm, apologising for growing Twitter "too quickly".

Half of the social media giant's staff are being fired, a week after Elon Musk bought it in a $44bn deal.

Billionaire Mr Musk has said he had "no choice" but to slash the company's workforce as the firm is losing more than $4m (3.5m) a day.

Twitter staff took to the platform to express their anger at the firings.

In a statement posted on the microblogging site, Mr Dorsey - who quit as CEO in November and left the board of directors in May - said Twitter staff "are strong and resilient. They will always find a way no matter how difficult the moment. I realise many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologise for that."

"I am grateful for, and love, everyone who has ever worked on Twitter. I don't expect that to be mutual in this moment...or everand I understand," he added.

His statement appeared to endorse the need for dismissals at the firm. The 45-year-old Mr Dorsey has been supportive of Mr Musk's takeover.

Back in April when Mr Musk first began his purchase of Twitter, Mr Dorsey said the 51-year-old was the "singular solution I trust" and that the South African's takeover was "the right path...I believe it with all my heart".

Mr Dorsey created Twitter in 2006 along with Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and Noah Glass. He sent the company's first Tweet, writing "just setting up my twttr".

The cuts have come across Twitter's 7,500-strong work force, and there are fears it could damage the firm's content moderation efforts.

Despite the dismissals Mr Musk has said the firm's policies remain "absolutely unchanged".

A host of major brands have halted advertising spending with Twitter in recent days, including Volkswagen, General Motors and Pfizer.

Almost all of Twitter's revenue currently comes from advertising, and Mr Musk has been looking for ways to cut costs and make money in different ways from the platform.

In a move much publicised in advance, Twitter launched a subscription service on Saturday allowing users to buy blue-tick verification on the platform for a monthly fee of $7.99 (7).
(Getty)

A new book claims that King Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry were reportedly so unhappy with former president Donald Trumps 2012 remarks about Kate Middleton, they unleashed torrents of profanity.

Earlier this week, Newsweek reported on excerpts obtained from Christopher Andersens upcoming royal biography, The King: The Life of Charles III. The book, which is slated for release in the US next week and in the UK on December 8, explains what took place within the royal family after Mr Trump tweeted disparagingly about Kate Middleton.

In 2012, Mr Trump tweeted about the Princess of Wales after photographs of her sunbathing topless were published in the French publication Closer.

Kate Middleton is great  but she shouldnt be sunbathing in the nude  only herself to blame, Mr Trump tweeted at the time. Who wouldnt take Kates picture and make lots of money if she does the nude sunbathing thing. Come on Kate!

Mr Andersen wrote in his book that, at the time, Trumps criticism of Kate resulted in what one Clarence House butler referred to as torrents of profanity from both Prince Charles and his sons. He also alleged that this wasnt the first time the royals had openly expressed ire towards Mr Trump.

Prior to the 2012 incident, Mr Andersen explained that Mr Trumps comments about Princess Diana were also not well-received by the royal family.

It didnt help that Trump had aggressively pursued Princess Diana after her divorceovertures that were rebuffedand claimed later on a radio program that he could have nailed her if I wanted to, but only if she passed an HIV test, Mr Andersen wrote.

Years later, in 2017, the royals also apparently tried to discourage a planned visit by Mr Trump to the UK. Mr Andersens book claims that King Charles and his two sons burned up the phone lines between Clarence House and Kensington Palace, with all three princes agreeing to work behind the scenes to discourage Trumps visit.

Story continues

Throughout 2017 and into 2018, Britons seemed nearly as fascinated with the tweet-storming Trump as their American cousins. The royal family was no exception, Mr Andersen wrote. At every opportunity, including Prince Harrys wedding reception, Charles took his wealthy and influential American friends aside and gently prodded them for information. It was important that he not push too hard or too far; some of the donors to his charities, including those with the deepest pockets, were Trump supporters.

The excerpt continues: Still, when lent a receptive ear, Charles asked on several occasions how likely it was that President Trump would be impeached. Trump seems to be detached from reality, doesnt he? he asked a former Washington official who now headed up a major US conglomerate. What a ghastly, awful man.

A spokesperson for the royal family declined The Independents request for comment on the books claims.

The Independent has contacted representatives for Mr Trump for comment.
The NGN Training Center has agreed a partnership with PECB, a global provider of training, examination and certification services, headquartered in Canada.

The partnership was agreed with the aim of providing training to Bahrainis and Bahrain-based institutions and companies. Participants undertaking these highly regarded ISO training courses will develop their skills and business expertise.

According to the company, this development demonstrates NGN's desire to increase national productivity and adhere to the highest international standards in training, examination and professional certification.

Yaqoob Al Awadhi, NGN Training Center CEO, said: The importance of mutual collaboration with PECB, as a globally recognised certification body, noting that the collaboration will help to unlock the talent of Bahraini professionals."

Through this partnership with PECB, professionals in Bahrain will have the opportunity to strengthen and advance their careers. The agreement reflects our awareness of the importance of investment in training professionals and will ensure their attainment of internationally recognised qualifications. This will increase the availability of job opportunities with rewarding salaries, all while contributing to the strategy for increasing the numbers of Bahrainis working within national institutions, Al Awadhi stated.

Tim Rama, Executive Chairman of the PECB, said: That cooperation with the NGN Center will upgrade the level of training and enable the award of certificates with global recognition in Bahrain and the wider region. The agreement also facilitates Bahraini access to PECB training courses through the NGN Training Center, enabling any Bahraini to enhance their professional abilities.

We anticipate a high turnout for these courses as Bahrainis look to develop their skills, increase their knowledge and attain international credentials, added Rama.

Zainab Assiri, Director of the NGN Training Center, said: The entire NGN team is excited to deliver the first-rate courses, providing professionals with the tools they need to study, develop and achieve their career goals.

The courses will cover a wide variety of subjects including; information security, data protection, business continuity, quality, service management, risk management, health and safety and sustainability. NGN, which is based in the World Trade Center in Manama, provides a unique educational and training environment not found anywhere else in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Furthermore, the company supports a programme of training with practical application through its partnerships with many international ICT companies, concluded Assiri. -TradeArabia News Service
(Met Police)

A man has been jailed for life for fatally stabbing a fellow resident at a hostel in Wimbledon.

Mongo Bolili was on Friday sentenced for murdering Paul Dalton in what the police called a brief but deadly assault.

In the incident in January 2021, the pair had a disagreement and Bolili was said to have attacked Mr Dalton while he was sitting in another residents room at the venue.

Bolili was sentenced to a minimum of 23 years, reduced to 21 years and 72 days due to time spent in custody. He had previously pleaded not guilty but was convicted in July before the Old Bailey.

Police said they found Mr Dalton in a pool of blood when they were called to the Wimbledon address in the early hours of January 13, 2021, after reports of a stabbing. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Paul Dalton (Met Police)

A special post-mortem examination held the next day gave cause of death as a single stab wound to the back of the left thigh, puncturing the femoral vein and artery.

CCTV captured Paul slamming a communal door, adjacent to Bolilis room. Bolili then searched the building, apparently looking for Mr Dalton.

The Metropolitan Police said the victim was sitting in a friends room before Bolili entered and then left in less than two minutes. This was when the attack was inflicted. The victims friend witnessed the attack and alerted residents and staff who called police and rendered first aid.

Forensic examination found Paul's blood on the blade and Bolili's DNA on the handle.

Detective chief inspector Jim Shirley who led the investigation said: Bolili claimed Pauls friend had stabbed him, but there was no evidence at all to support this.

My team of officers worked fast and incredibly hard for Paul and I thank them for their diligence and dedication. I hope Pauls family can derive some comfort that we have done everything we possibly could to bring them justice.
e.GO presents the future of urban electro mobility at the Paris Motor Show.

Visit us at Pavilion 6, Stand 624 from October 17 th to 23 rd .

Join our press conference with exciting highlights about e.GO at October 17th, 4:35 pm.

AACHEN, Germany and PARIS, Oct. 6, 2022 /CNW/ -- The independent German electric vehicle manufacturer Next.e.GO Mobile SE will be presenting its new vehicle line up comprised of 2022 urban BEV e.wave X as well as new urban delivery electric vehicle, e.Xpress at the Paris Motor Show October 17-23 (Pavilion 6, Stand 624). The Paris Motor Show, called "Mondial de l'Auto" in French, is one of the world's most visited auto shows and is considered a premiere automotive industry event, as well as a favorite of automotive enthusiasts and experts. True to this year's motto of the Paris Motor Show "Revolution is on", the new e.wave X and e.Xpress represent the innovative future of sustainable electro mobility, both in consumer sector as well as commercial deliveries.

e.wave X on the road (PRNewsfoto/Next.e.GO Mobile SE)

The main guiding principle at e.GO is simplicity and practicality at scale. e.GO designs and manufactures vehicles with particular attention to material selection, performance and seamless user experience. The combination of an innovative 3D Aluminum space frame with polymeric skin strikes great balance between weight, durability and corrosion resistance, whereas the flexible and exchangeable battery solution provides peace of mind to urban drivers and is designed to eliminate overdependence on the fast-charging infrastructure that is not as prevalent as it should be. The seamless digital connectivity along with the proprietary App (e.GO Connect) is intended to offer a unique digital user experience making e.GO vehicles smart phones on 4 wheels.

"We are delighted to be present at the Paris Motor Show and to share our vision on the future of urban electro mobility both for individuals as well as for businesses. Our e.wave X and e.Xpress vehicles have been developed with sustainability and total cost of ownership front and center; they intend to create the perfect symbiosis between innovation and economic practicality", says Ali Vezvaei, Chairman of the Board of Next.e.GO Mobile SE.

Story continues

The e.wave X offers far more than just a means of transportation, in fact it offers a true lifestyle. The new e.wave X was deliberately designed to be practical and purposeful for the urban environment. With optimized dimensions for a comfortable four-seater, an intelligent and flexible battery solution that does not depend on the availability of a dedicated charging infrastructure, an ultra-wide digital display, and a polymeric exterior, which provides a range of benefits to the user, the e.wave X not only offers quality and comfort but also meets modern urban needs.

The e.Xpress is intended to cater to the ever-growing need for sustainable and zero-emission urban commercial and last mile delivery. It has been designed with the utmost attention to the needs of the sector such as dimension fit for the urban environment and the battery exchange solution that is designed to help ensure optimum uptime and productivity.

Join our press conference

At the Paris Motor Show Next.e.GO Mobile SE welcomes all interested journalists to attend the press conference on October 17th at 04:35 p.m., which will also be available via live stream. In addition to presenting the e.wave X, Ali Vezvaei, Chairman of the Board, will be joined by Dr. Stefan Rudolf, CTO, and Dr. Matthias Kreimeier, Vice President Sales, to provide insights on the production of the new model. They will also share exciting news about the future direction of the company. After the press conference, there will be an opportunity for a personal interview with Ali Vezvaei and the other experts.

Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in Paris

17.10.2022 | 4:35 p.m.  4:45 p.m.

Pavilion 6 | Stand 624

The livestream will be available on our website www.e-go-mobile.com.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1915481/e_waveX.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1915480/e_Xpress.jpg

e.Xpress will be unveiled to the public at Paris Motor Show (PRNewsfoto/Next.e.GO Mobile SE)

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/next-ego-mobile-se-to-present-ewave-x-and-express-evs-at-the-paris-motor-show-301642701.html

SOURCE Next.e.GO Mobile SE

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2022/06/c5604.html
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Charlotte, N.C.  (Saturday, November 5, 2022)  Detectives with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's Sexual Assault Unit have identified Octavis Wayne Deandra Wilson (DOB: 03/04/1993) as the suspect in this sexual assault case that occurred in the Metro Division. He is charged with First Degree Kidnapping, Second Degree Forcible Rape, Attempted Second Degree Forcible Sexual Offense, Assault on a Female, and Sexual Battery.



On Saturday, November 5, 2022, shortly after 2:00 a.m., CMPD Metro Division Officers responded to a sexual assault call for service that occurred in the 3800 block of Glenwood Drive. The female victim advised that she was walking home on Glenwood Drive around 11:30pm when she was approached by the unknown suspect. After initiating a short conversation he attacked the victim by physically assaulting her. The suspect forced the victim to a nearby location where she was then sexually assaulted. CMPD Officers responded and the victim was transported to a nearby hospital. Sexual Assault Detectives canvassed the area and then Crime Scene processed the scene.

On Saturday, November 5, 2022, just before 5 p.m., CMPD Metro Division Officers were patrolling the area and located an individual matching the suspects description. They identified Mr. Wilson as a person of interest and brought him to the Law Enforcement Center for questioning. At the conclusion of the interview, Mr. Wilson was arrested and transported to the Mecklenburg County Jail.

This investigation into this case is active and ongoing. If anyone has information about this case or the suspect, please call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or http://charlottecrimestoppers.com/. For additional information about this case, please refer to the report: 20221105-0228-00.

###




OMAHA -- A 20-year-old man was driving a Dodge Challenger over 150 mph in a 70 mph zone on Interstate 29 this summer when his car crashed into a pickup truck, Council Bluffs police said Friday.

Police had been sent to investigate a crash on southbound I-29 about 12:05 a.m. Aug. 21, according to a news release. They determined that a southbound car driven by Evaristo Javier Garcia was traveling at a high rate of speed when it rear-ended a Chevy S10 pickup driven by Dorothy Drelicharz, 51. Both drivers then lost control of their vehicles and crashed.

Drelicharz was flown to a hospital by a medical helicopter for treatment of multiple serious injuries. Passengers in the Challenger were taken to area hospitals in ambulances for treatment.

Garcia turned himself in to the Pottawattamie County Jail on Friday. He is set to appear in court next week.
Solana Price Prediction as $3 Billion Trading Volume Blasts SOL into the Green  Time to Buy?

Solana price prediction remains bullish; however, the double top pattern is acting as a major resistance, keeping SOL's uptrend limited under $38.20. Solana (SOL) responded favorably to a recent development involving its blockchain network and Google Cloud.

In response, Solana's trading volume blasted past $3 billion, and its price kept a strong uptrend.

Google is Now a Solana Validator

SOL's price spiked by 15%, taking it temporarily beyond the $38 mark after the cloud provider stated it would begin acting as a validator for the Solana network.

Hertzner, a German data center provider, recently deleted one thousand Solana validators from its system, giving policy violations as the reason.

Despite this, the blockchain network's inventor and CEO, Anatoly Yakovenko, remains unfazed and insists there will be no more interruptions for their customers until the end of the year.

He continued by saying that a forthcoming validator will aid Solana in ensuring continuous service availability across its network. In that case, Google's cloud services are available. The company tweeted at Yakovenko, asking if it was okay to share the news.

The subsequent message read:

Now that we got your attention check this out: Google Cloud is running a block-producing @solana validator to participate in and validate the network.

Circle's Euro Coin Will Debut in Solana in 2023

In the first part of 2023, Circle, a crypto payments startup, will release Euro Coin, a stablecoin backed by the Euro on the Solana blockchain. The director of engineering at Circle, Marcus Boorstin, recently spoke at the Solana Breakpoint conference in Lisbon, Portugal, and he said, "there's already a lot of interest from the ecosystem" for the launch.

At the debut, he said, FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange, will allow users to deposit and withdraw Euro Coin on Solana.

Solana-based DeFi protocols Radium and Solend "announced their intent to do so as well."

Boorstin also disclosed that in the first half of 2023, Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol would go live on Solana, initially allowing for native transfers of its USDC stablecoin and eventually expanding to Euro Coin.

USDC can now be transferred natively between blockchains thanks to the Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol, a permissionless infrastructure that makes this possible. The process involves exchanging UDSC on the sending chain for USDC that will be burned at the receiving end.

Hence's it's considered as another positive news for Solana, keeping SOL/USD pair bullish.

Solana Price Prediction

Solana's current price is $35.90, with a 24-hour trading volume of $2.4 billion. Solana has increased by over 3.5% in the last 24 hours. CoinMarketCap currently ranks #10, with a live market cap of $12.9 billion. The circulating supply is 359,222,505 SOL coins, and the maximum supply is not known.

Solana Price & Tokenomics - Source: Coinmarketcap

The SOL/USD pair is trading bullishly, with immediate resistance at $38.20. The RSI and MACD indicators are exiting the overbought zone, indicating the possibility of a bullish reversal.

SOL's immediate resistance remains at $35.80, and a bearish breakout of this level has the potential to test $33.40.

Solana Price Chart - Source: Tradingview

The SOL/USD pair is likely to trade bullish because the 50-day moving average, in addition to the fundamentals discussed above, is supporting the uptrend.

In addition to Solana, Dash 2 Trade, IMPT and Calvaria are viable alternatives that should be included in your portfolio.

Dash 2 Trade (D2T)

The second stage of the D2T presale has already sold out, raising $5.16 million in just over two weeks. Dash 2 Trade is a concept created by the hugely popular trading signal company Learn 2 Trade that will be launched in the second half of 2022. The platform's goal is to provide market-driven insights to investors to help them make informed decisions.

To improve the trading experience, D2T provides trading signals, social analytics, and even market sentiment analysis. Dash 2 Trade aspires to be the Bloomberg trading terminal for cryptocurrencies, according to the development team. For automating trading processes and optimizing all trading methods, the platform also includes automation and backtesting capabilities.

Dash 2 Trade includes a notification service that alerts investors to all new coin listings on centralized exchanges, providing them with information that was previously only available to elite investors.

It's no surprise that D2T presale numbers have been phenomenal with so much potential.

The digital currency has already raised more than $5.3 million ($5,370,788).

Visit Dash 2 Trade now

IMPT

IMPT team's dedication to the carbon credits revolution has made IMPT the most popular green cryptocurrency on the market. The Impact Project team is revolutionizing the carbon credit industry by putting carbon credits on a public blockchain.

Up until now, the carbon credit system was highly untransparent, applicable exclusively to businesses, and the entire trading mechanism was inefficient and dated.Trading carbon credits as NFTs on the blockchain allows for continuous trading around the clock.

Over 25,000 companies, including Microsoft, River Island, Amazon, and Samsung, are now available on the IMPT shopping platform. Thus far, over $12.3 million has already been raised in the IMPT presale, and tickets are selling out swiftly.

The IMPT token price has increased with each presale round, from $0.018 at the start of the sale to $0.023 at the end of the round. Pre-sale tokens can be purchased on the IMPT website for those interested in taking part in the initiative.

Buy IMPT on Presale Now

Calvaria (RIA)

Calvaria, a new cryptocurrency gaming project, is poised to take the industry by storm and become one of the market's top play-to-earn games. Calvaria developers have discovered two major barriers to widespread Web3 gaming adoption.

While investors have recognized the potential of Web3 games, players have not. Calvaria continues to accelerate its presale, which is already in stage 4 of 10 and close to the $1.5 million mark.

With the price of the native RIA token rising significantly at each presale stage, investors are flocking to the rapidly expanding GameFi project.

Tokens cost $0.025 each in stage 4, but by stage 5, the price has risen to $0.03, and by stage 10, tokens cost $0.055.

Visit Calvaria Presale Now
Top U.S. election security officials say protecting the nation's voting systems has become increasingly challenging.

That's due mostly to the embrace by millions of Americans of unfounded conspiracy theories and false claims about widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential race.

With the midterm elections just days away , the director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Jen Easterly, and other officials say they have no evidence that election infrastructure has been altered by hostile actors to prevent voting or vote counting, compromise ballots or affect voter registration accuracy.

But they're not lowering their guard. Disinformation is rampant. Foreign rivals are capable of potent cyber mischief. And the insider threat is considered greater than ever. On top of the physical threats and intimidation of elections officials  which is authorities' overriding concern  security experts are particularly worried about tampering by those who work in local election offices or at polling stations.

"The current election threat environment is more complex than it has ever been," Easterly told reporters in mid-October.

Global rivals also are expected to deepen longstanding disinformation efforts. The tense geopolitical moment means Russia, Iran and China may have fewer qualms about trying to disrupt the conduct of elections in key battlegrounds with cyber operations.

The spectrum of potential threats is wide: foreign ransomware gangs friendly with the Kremlin, conspiracy-obsessed local election officials, hostile voters bent on sabotage or political provocateurs trying to suppress the vote with dirty tricks or misinformation.

Here are some of the potential threats agencies are assessing through Election Day:

Threats from within

Insider threats are a growing concern and could undermine serious strides made to secure voting systems  including migrating to hand-marked paper ballots and introducing reliable audits  since they were declared critical national infrastructure in January 2017.

Rogue election officials could provide access to voting systems to unauthorized individuals, as happened in Colorado and Georgia. Poll workers or even voters could try to access voter registration databases or equipment, or plant malware to taint election management systems.

Eddie Perez, a voting technology expert with the nonprofit OSET Institute, calls the repeated efforts to cast doubt on the integrity of voting equipment an element of a more broad "manufactured chaos"  intentional subversion of the nation's elections to sow doubt.

Perez is among specialists who think attempts to discredit voting technology are one manifestation of efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to undermine trust in election results so Republican-controlled state legislatures  rather than voters  can decide the outcome of future races.

To counter the threats from insiders, federal authorities have conducted trainings and encouraged election officials to focus on limiting access to critical equipment, adding video surveillance and key cards on doors. They also encourage strict chain-of-custody rules for everything from ballots to voting scanners and tabulators.

Threats to public officials and election disruption attempts haver occurred with increasing frequency and intensity, federal and local law enforcement officials say. They are especially concerned about physical violence by protesters in highly contested districts during the post-election vote-counting process.

Threats from abroad

U.S. officials have issued two main election-security advisories in the run-up to the Nov . 8 elections. They say malicious cyberactivity is unlikely to seriously disrupt or prevent voting and that hostile foreign states are apt to try to influence outcomes with "information operations."

Foreign meddlers could launch cyberattacks or exaggerate the effects of relatively ineffectual attacks. They could spread misinformation about voting or voter fraud, try to incite violence or, if violence is already happening, fan the flames.

Hostile foreign bids to undermine U.S. democracy have risen since the Russian operation that hacked and then leaked Democratic emails to aid Trump in the 2016 presidential race. None have had anywhere near the impact, though.

Rivals constantly probe U.S. networks for vulnerabilities. Moscow may seek payback for Washington's arming of Ukraine against its invasion. Iran resents U.S. support for anti-regime demonstrations triggered by the death in police custody of a young woman who defied head-scarf orthodoxy. As for China, relations are tense as Washington tries to throttle high-tech supplies to Beijing over its perceived hostility and growing authoritarianism.

There's also the possibility that foreign actors might have breached election systems long ago and are waiting to pounce.

Attacks from foreign adversaries

On Election Day, hostile foreign powers or sympathetic hackers could mount what are known as denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, which render websites unreachable by flooding them with junk data. Targeting state and local government websites, such attacks could prevent voters from looking up registration information or polling locations, or knock offline sites that report election results after voting ends.

One group on the radar of the U.S. cybersecurity agency is Killnet, pro-Russia hackers who made a ruckus in October by organizing DDoS attacks on U.S. airport and state government websites.

Such attacks are mostly a nuisance and don't destroy data or even breach sites. But they can frustrate voters and election poll workers, and become powerful grist for disinformation offensives. For example, Russian state media and fake news mills could amplify exaggerated claims of disruption, as occurred with the Killnet effort against the airport and government sites.

Another potential threat are Russian-speaking ransomware gangs that operate with little Kremlin interference. They have largely spared U.S. election infrastructure, which by now tends to be a lot better protected than many of the hospitals, schools and businesses they routinely plague.

Hack-and-leak operations also are possible. Sensitive data could be stolen from election or campaign websites, partially falsified and released online.

Cybersecurity firm Trellix reported a spike in phishing emails targeting county election workers in Pennsylvania and Arizona, both battleground states, over the summer seeking to harvest passwords and potentially interfere with the administration of absentee ballots.

"In many cases, the threat actors attempting to breach our election systems are the same ones who are conducting influence operations that seek to sow discord," Easterly, the CISA director, said in mid-October.

That could include the Russian troll farm known as the Internet Research Agency, a key player in the 2016 Russia destabilization campaign that favored Trump and sought to widen social divisions in the U.S. The group sought to manipulate public opinion by gaming social media platforms, including by purchasing online ads.

In a pre-election report, the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future said it was "almost certain" that networks associated with the group "are engaging in covert malign influence on a subset of the U.S. population."
One thousand feet above rolling fields of dew-covered grass and clumps of auburn trees floats a wicker basket attached to a massive, multi-hued balloon. As it listlessly eases its way through the troposphere, the quiet is broken by a sudden roar as a jet of fire tumbles upward toward the 120,000 cubic foot nylon enclosure. The burner cuts off, and the hot air balloon coasts on in peaceful silence.

Its kind of my reprieve from life, said Monticello Country Ballooning owner and pilot Mandy Baskin. So many of my flights are transcendent.

The 47-year-old small business owner has been flying since she was a teenager. At 19 she had her first hot air balloon experience and never looked back. She began working for a local balloon company where her job was to chase the flight from the road in a follow vehicle and meet them as they came in for a landing.

By age 23, she had undergone the rigorous process to become a certified commercial pilot, which included six written, oral, and flight exams.

It is expensive and time-consuming and requires a huge amount of dedication and commitment to get a pilots license at all, said Baskin.

With over 3,000 flight hours logged she is now one of two senior commercial pilots in the Charlottesville area, both of whom are women. She estimates that there are about 3,000 commercial hot air balloon pilots in the United States, with the vast majority being men.

Female pilots represent about twenty percent of the balloon pilot population in Virginia, said Baskin.

As far as flying a hot air balloon goes, a pilot has more control than one might think.

The wind at one altitude may be pushing in a certain direction at a certain speed, while a few hundred feet up it could be headed in an entirely different direction at an entirely different speed. Skilled pilots like Baskin are able to adjust their altitude using burners and in doing so, control the direction that the balloon will go.

Theres different layers at different altitudes that take them different directions at different speeds, said Holly Layne, Baskins crew chief and friend since kindergarten.

Using this steering technique, pilots ...can set themselves up for landing options.

When she isnt tending to her horse and dog boarding business, Snow Hill Layne, she chases for her lifelong friend.

Laynes duties range from taking pictures of charter guests and helping everyone feel comfortable, to assembling and dismantling the rig, following the flight from the ground, and keeping in constant contact with her friend, the pilot.

Its so important to know and trust that person on the ground, said Baskin, who has built a rapport with Layne over the past 15 years of working together.

The teamwork that Baskin and Layne share in shepherding the balloons for their customers grounds them, even if their work takes them high above it.

I love what I do, and I love sharing it with people, said Baskin. I really love just being outside, being connected to mother nature, being connected to the weather and being connected to sharing that with people.
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine is nobodys idea of a radical. The moderate Democrat was raised Catholic and worked as a missionary. He married the daughter of a Republican governor. He is devoutly Catholic. He served as governor of Virginia and won his U.S. Senate seat with campaigns that drew support from rural, urban and suburban areas.

So when Kaine told students at UVa last week that he has never been more troubled about the state of the country than he is today, his statement should be taken as something more than pre-election hyperbole.

The Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by Donald Trumps supporters created the watershed moment for American democracy that will occur on Tuesday. Trump and his troops tried and failed to overturn the results of a free and fair election for president of the United States. Trumps lies about election fraud continue. Many Republican candidates across the country continue to spread the lie that widespread cheating afflicts American elections, despite voluminous evidence that disproves it.

At UVa, Kaine called out Virginias 5th District Congressman Bob Good by name for refusing to certify the 2020 presidential election results in the wake of the Capitol invasion. But all of Virginias Republicans in the House of Representatives  Good, Rob Wittman, Morgan Griffith and Ben Clineopposed certification. In sum, 147 Republican members of Congress voted against certification on Jan. 7, one day after a coup attempt. They are all 2020 election deniers.

Collectively, dozens of candidates in current races for the U.S. Senate and House, governorships, and secretaries of state who will oversee future elections have perpetuated and expanded the myth of election fraud. Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has already said she will not acknowledge defeat. Nevada Republican Secretary of State candidate Jim Marchant has said that he and other pro-Trump secretaries of state will fix the whole country and President Trump is going to be president again in 2024.

This is why Kaine, Virginias other U.S. Sen. Mark Warner and many others find America at risk in a way not seen in modern times. Election fraud lies created by Trump and perpetuated by his political clones feed the paranoia of millions of voters who now seem ready to surrender the most fundamental rule of a democratic republic  the peaceful transfer of power to election winners.

False claims of voter fraud fueled a violent insurrection at the Capitol followed by state legislatures across the country using those false claims to try to restrict the right to vote, Kaine told The Daily Progress.

This must not become the American way. The best way to drive the changes you wish to see, said Kaine, is to make your voice heard in Tuesdays elections.

The caption of an editorial cartoon by Phil Hands of the Wisconsin State Journal perfectly captured the approach of too many candidates in the 2022 midterms. Heads I win. Tails its rigged.

The most dangerous byproduct of such thinking is the destruction of majority rule. That is what the country got a taste of Jan. 6, 2021.

Despite the vast number of foreign threats I see every day as the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I think one of the greatest dangers to our nation is actually right here at home, Warner, a moderate Democrat, told The Daily Progress. Im saddened and disturbed by the increasingly mainstream rhetoric that frames political opponents as enemies and questions the very foundations of our democracy. This election presents a unique opportunity for Americans to stand against those who are willing to undermine our freedoms and indulge violence for political gain.

Too many Americans seem not to care about the results of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. The committees investigation painstakingly proved a carefully planned attempt to undo the 2020 presidential election. The inquiry laid bare the role Trump played in setting his supporters loose on the democratic process. Yet millions of Americans signal their indifference to Jan. 6 by backing candidates willing to continue undermining that process.

If those people prevail Tuesday, we may not be so lucky the next time election deniers invade.
Daikin, a leading manufacturer of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC-R) products, will be showcasing a wide range of its flagship commercial and industrial refrigeration solutions at the upcoming Gulfood Manufacturing 2022 expo, in a first for the company regionally.

Daikin will be out in force at the three-day event, which kicks off on November 8 at Dubai World Trade Centre, along with its acquired companies - AHT, Zanotti, Tewis, Hubbard and J&E Hall.

It will bring the one-stop solution for all cold chain and refrigeration needs and will showcase products and solutions that are expected to meet the demand of each and every customer but are not limited to Horeca (Hotel, Restaurant & Cafe), food retail chain (hypermarkets and supermarkets), logistics providers, food processing facility, or food manufacturers in most efficient & environment-friendly manner.

"We are excited to participate and showcase our innovative solutions at the regions largest and leading food and beverage processing and packaging event," remarked Sanjeev Maheshwari, the General Manager (Service & Refrigeration) at Daikin Middle East & Africa.

"With over 100 years of experience in the industry, Daikin is on hand, ready to lend its expertise. With water scarcity and drought among pressing climate-change concerns globally and especially in the Middle East, ensuring long-term food security is at the top of the agenda for regional governments," explained Maheshwari.

"In response, many GCC nations, among them the UAE and Saudi Arabia, as well as African countries are now looking to bolster their domestic food processing and manufacturing capabilities, as they seek to become increasingly self-sufficient," he added.

Daikin said its refrigeration and cold-chain solutions play a vital role in the global distribution of food products and ensure perishable foods are transported safely and efficiently from farm to fork in finely temperature-controlled environments.

"Our innovative, sustainable, eco-friendly, and energy-efficient solutions support the UAEs ambitions to become a global manufacturing hub," noted Maheshwari.

For the Horeca sector, Daikin said it will roll out its Monoblock range which not only reduces power consumption drastically but also brings quality and speed while installing the product. Also it will introduce the group's AHT products along with its inverter-driven ZEAS unit, bringing a one-stop solution for Food Retail Chain business practices.

At the event, Daikin will also display its truck refrigeration unit for standard ambient and will give a glimpse of upcoming products for high ambient temperature regions.

Food processors and manufacturers will be able to see Daikins single screw technology utilized in packed Ammonia compressor racks applied in various storage and processing facilities, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
Bich Thao and her husband are still trying to get a son after seven years and five in vitro fertilization attempts despite knowing sex selection is illegal.

The couple, both 34 and from the northern Vinh Phuc Province, say they have been unlucky in that all five IVF attempts failed either to faulty embryos or a faulty Y (male) chromosome.

Thao married her husband in 2010 and their first child was a girl. With her husband being the oldest son, the expectation is that she, too, will produce a male heir.

When they decided to have a second child, they opted for IVF, which works by combining a woman's egg and a man's sperm in a laboratory to create an embryo. It also enables sex selection before the embryo is implanted in the uterus.

Mai Huong and her husband, both of whom work for the government, also had a girl child and decided to shell out more than VND100 million (over $4,000) for IVF to have a son.

"I don't want to be a topic of discussion for not bearing a son for my husband's family," she says.

The women with vastly different educational, economic, and social backgrounds were all coerced into giving birth to a son.

Many other Vietnamese women too find themselves in a similar situation.

Two boys the northern Thanh Hoa Province in 2019. Photo by VnExpress/P.D

According to a 2020 report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Vietnam is among the three countries with the greatest sex ratio imbalance at birth along with China and India.

Son La, Hoa Binh, Bac Giang, Hung Yen, Ha Nam, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau provinces have a sex ratio of more than 120 boys for every 100 girls.

According to a 2014 report by the General Statistic Office, married couples who are better educated and economically well-off are more likely to desire sons.

The preference for male children has existed in Vietnam for a long time and is the primary source of the sex ratio imbalance at birth.

Recent changes have also contributed to this phenomenon like low birth rates and sophisticated and easily accessible reproductive technologies.

If one wanted to undergo IVF until a decade ago, they had to travel to Thailand or Singapore and spend billions of dong. In recent years IVF techniques and technologies have progressed enormously in Vietnam.

The cost of IVF at more than 40 institutions and hospitals in the country that offer the procedure is VND70-100 million, or only equivalent to 20-25 percent of the cost in other countries.

Since 2017 Vietnam has had the highest number of IVF procedures performed annually in Southeast Asia.

For instance, in 2019 some 35,000 were done in the country.

It is unclear how many of these cases involved sex selection, but the use of IVF to give birth to a boy is a hot topic on social media, with people listing reliable IVF centers and doctors and even talking about what coded language to use so that the medical staff understand that one wants a son.

According to Ha Thi Quynh Anh, a UNFPA specialist on gender and human rights, the mentality of desiring males and degrading girls has had severe implications.

According to the 2020 World Population Report, the long-standing preference for boys in Vietnams society terminates 40,800 baby girls before they are born every year.

According to estimates, if the sex ratio at birth continues to remain unchanged, Vietnam will have a surplus of 1.5 million males aged 15-49 by 2034, and more than 2.5 million by 2059.

If this scenario plays out, Vietnamese men will almost certainly have to seek brides like China and India.

UNFPA regional director for Asia and the Pacific, Bjorn Andersson, said at a conference in Vietnam in early October that around 140 million women are believed to be "missing" around the world as a result of the preference for sons and gender-biased sex selection, which is a pervasive form of gender inequality and discrimination.

He said it is critical to recognize that sex selection based on gender stereotypes is largely a problem of gender inequality and violates women's human rights.

Sex inequality has occurred in China, South Korea and India, and governments there have taken numerous initiatives to bring the birth rates of boys and girls closer to parity.

Mai Huong is pregnant with her second baby girl. Photo courtesy of Huong

Many measures have been taken in Vietnam too to combat gender imbalance, including a fine of up to VND20 million for using tools, drugs or applications to determine the sex of the fetus and researching into methods to select the sex.

Thao and her husband were unhappy after seven years of IVF treatment to conceive a son and spending up to VND1 billion.

She says: "I could not believe it when I took a test in my ninth week of pregnancy and discovered I had a son. After five failed IVF attempts, it feels better than winning the lottery now that I have naturally conceived a son."

Thao is now in her fifth month of pregnancy.

As for Huong, she was told to see a fortune teller after her IVF procedure failed. She was greatly relieved to hear the man say giving birth this year will increase her chance of having a son.

However, an ultrasound at 12 weeks showed that the baby was a female.

She says: "We are not sad after learning about the baby's sex and have stopped caring about what people say. All we need is a healthy baby to be born."
There has been an upward trend in diabetes cases in younger patients compared to last four years, experts noted at the 7th annual Diabetes for Primary Care conference, which took place in Abu Dhabi on November 5.

Weve seen a rise in younger diabetic patients diagnosed, something that weve not seen to this scale before, said Dr Mohammed Al-Khatib, Conference Chairman, and Medical Director Consultant, Internal Medicine, Endocrinology & Diabetology, HealthPlus Diabetes & Endocrinology Centre, Abu Dhabi.

Dr Al-Khatib said: As were seeing an upward global trend in the prevalence of diabetes, and with the region prone to these lifestyle diseases, the conference could not have come at a more critical time. The HealthPlus Diabetes for Primary Care conference aimed to shed light on the latest guidelines, research and technologies in the field of diabetes. It also served as a platform to help the healthcare community understand the impact the pandemic has had on peoples lifestyles and on their health. As we continue to tackle one of the most pressing issues in this field, it is essential for the medical community to urge people to focus on their health.

Investing in the young

Speaking on type 2 diabetes post bariatric  remission, burden and risks, Dr Hazem Al Momani, Head of Surgery and General Surgery Consultant at Danat Al Emarat Hospital, Abu Dhabi, UAE, said: Diabetes and obesity is becoming a disease of the young. We know that with early onset obesity, the likelihood of developing diabetes increases at a younger age. This tells us that the health and sustainability of our society is dependent on us investing in the young.

The one-day conference under the theme, At the Heart of Diabetes and hosted by HealthPlus Diabetes & Endocrinology Centre, a Mubadala Health partner, was launched by Alexander Schonfelder, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the UAE.

Schonfelder said: The UAE has shown tremendous progress in the healthcare sector over the last decade. As the cooperation between Germany and the UAE continues to grow, it is proof of the strong relationship our two countries hold.

Obesity and metabolics

The conference agenda covered pressing issues from the field of diabetes including obesity and metabolics, remission, vision management, burden and risks associated with bariatrics and addressing dyslipidemia, one of the major cardiovascular side-effects of diabetes.

The conference also discussed the role nutrition plays in managing diabetes in its early stages, the latest guidelines and technologies in managing the disease, as well as areas of research that can help discover the future outlook of this chronic disease.

Professor Dominik Bergis, Medical Director, Diamedicum Wuerzburg, Germany said: The event is important to show whats possible in the management and treatment of diabetes. This includes discussing the latest technologies and something weve always dreamed of in diabetology call a closed loop; which were now starting to implement into patients daily practices to help them improve their diabetes control and management.-- TradeArabia News Service
ELKO  Early voting dates were added at a reservation on the Nevada-Idaho border after Shoshone-Paiute tribal members sued over equal access.

The Elko County Clerk had scheduled three days of early voting at the Duck Valley Indian Reservation in Owyhee for the first time this year, then added five more at the end of October and early November as a result of the lawsuit. Owyhee will also have a ballot drop-box on Election Day.

The lawsuit claimed that the limited early voting schedule violates state law, and imposes constitutional burdens on their fundamental right to vote.

The Duck Valley tribes were assisted in the lawsuit by Four Directions Native Vote.

The complaint was filed Sept. 16 and Elko District Judge Al Kacin heard five hours of testimony on Oct. 18. District Judge William Maddox of Carson City presided over a settlement conference the following day.

After meeting for several hours, the Tribes and Elko County settled the equal voting access lawsuit for all future elections with greatly expanded access for election 2022, stated Four Directions.

We are eternally grateful for Four Directions help in this historic lawsuit in which we increased access to the poll 5 times fold and starting in 2024 we will have equal access to the polls with the same days and hours as the good citizen living in the Elko County seat, stated Tribal Chairman Brian Mason. We were given citizenship in 1924 and it took us until 2022 to acquire equal access in the Electoral Process.

Voting is the backbone of Democracy in America, stated Four Directions Native Vote Director OJ Semans. A fifteen-fold advantage for the residents of Elko compared to the members of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation cannot  in any court or by anyone  be considered an equal shot at the ballot box.

Miller Law and Sandven Law represented the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes. They also successfully represented the plaintiffs in Sanchez v Cegavske in a similar equal access lawsuit in 2016.

Elko County Clerk Kris Jakeman this week confirmed the additional voting access at Owyhee.

The Clerks Office will provide twelve days of early in-person voting and in-person voting on election day on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation starting in the 2024 election cycle, she said. The in-person polling location days and hours of service on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation will be the same as the in-person polling location days and hours of service in Elko.

Jakeman said the Reservation agrees and understands that the thirteen days of in-person voting are on the condition that the Reservation continues to meet all the criteria for an in-person polling location, including, but not limited to, a sufficient number of poll workers that have been trained to the satisfaction of the Elko County Clerk for all election days.

Two days of early voting were also scheduled this year at the Elko Indian Colony, but Te-Moak Tribe members were not part of the lawsuit to extend their dates.

The county clerk also mails ballots to all registered voters, who can vote and drop them in any mailbox up until Election Day.
RENO (AP)  Nevadas secretary of state declined Friday to lift a ban on a rural countys controversial early hand-count of mail-in ballots, saying a modified procedure the county clerk proposed still raises concerns relating to the integrity of the election.

Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske ordered Nye County last week to halt its hand-counting of ballots until after polls close on Nov. 8. Her order came after the Nevada Supreme Court issued an opinion siding with the American Civil Liberties Unions objections to the reading of individual votes out loud.

In a letter to the county Friday, Cegavske invited county officials to update or better explain their proposal for a silent hand-count with more details.

But the move makes it increasingly difficult for Nye County to revise, submit, get approval and carry out plans for the hand-count of mail-in ballots before polls close on Election Day.

Meanwhile, the ACLU and the sprawling, heavily GOP county halfway between Reno and Las Vegas continued to argue over the circumstances that led to an election official, who was openly carrying a gun, removing an ACLU observer from the hand-count that lasted two days before Cegavske suspended it last Thursday night.

Lawyers for Nye County said in a new letter to Cegavske Friday that the chairman of the Nye County GOP Central Committee who was legally armed was acting as a hand-count volunteer trained by county Interim Clerk Mark Kampf when she confronted the ACLU observer she believed was tallying the vote count in violation of the recount rules.

The ACLU quickly responded and the dispute could last past Election Day. But the rejection of the countys late-hatched proposal to resume the hand-count in silence puts the early count of mail-in ballots almost out of reach by the time polls close.

Kampf proposed three talliers and a control team with two independent verifiers who mostly worked separately, so there would be no reader who called out each ballot or verifier, who looked over the readers shoulder.

Cegavske listed a number of concerns in explaining why she would need more details before she allowed the count to resume.

She noted the silent hand-count will require the complete focused attention on each ballot by talliers that will prevent them from noticing when other talliers make wrongful marks or mistakes.

Additionally, there are no provisions in your plan describing the required use of medical-style gloves to further mitigate the risk of cheating or accidental marking, nor a prescribed and standardized device for tallying to ensure any new mark could be quickly identified, she said.

Nye County is one of the first jurisdictions nationwide to act on election conspiracies related to mistrust in voting machines, though other counties across Nevada have considered using hand-counts in the future.

Earlier Friday, lawyers for the county rejected the ACLU's recent accusations of a coordinated partisan election administration effort" in a letter to Cegavske's office asking for an investigation into the hand-count. Hours later the ACLU responded, doubling down on its concerns.

The ACLUs complaint about the removal of its observer by Nye County GOP Central Committee Vice Chair Laura Larsen raised concerns about Kampfs delegation of authority to partisan officials to remove observers from hand-count rooms, particularly during a hand-count process dealing with ballot tabulation.

Along with noting Nevada is an open-carry state, Nye County's lawyers said the county understood Larsen, a trained volunteer, had never threatened to use the firearm. The county also argued that taking notes jeopardized releasing early voting results and said there was no partisan conspiracy as part of its hand-count plan.

Larsens position as the vice chair of Nye Countys GOP central committee does not limit or invalidate her ability to participate as a poll worker/volunteer, the response added.

But the ACLU said in a letter to the secretary of states office that the countys response further emphasizes that Larsen is, in fact, not serving in a neutral capacity and remains active in partisan leadership.

In an interview with The Associated Press after the first day of hand-counting, Larsen said her role was making sure things are going the way Mark (Kampf) has set everything up. So, just looking out for the election integrity. She did not respond to an email requesting comment on Friday.

Of Nye Countys 97 hand-count volunteers, 70 were registered Republicans, 16 were Democrats, 10 were Non-Partisan or had no political party and one was from the Independent American Party, according to data The AP received through a public records request. The county later declined to give the party breakdown for each of the individual hand-count rooms, which had five people each: a reader, a verifier and three talliers.

The county also declined to provide the party breakdown for an updated number of volunteers, which was at 102 on the first day of hand-counting. Former President Donald Trump won about 69% of Nye County in the 2020 election, though he lost Nevada by about 2.4%.

Nye County has just over 33,000 registered voters and planned on using a hand-count as the secondary tabulation method to Dominion tabulators. Kampf has floated the possibility of moving away from tabulators in the 2024 cycle for a sole hand-count.

Two hand-count groups that The AP observed on day one took about three hours each to count a batch of 50 ballots.
Shortly after the successful convening of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), leaders of four countries visited Beijing within a week.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese president, met with General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong, Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, respectively, during this past week.

Here are four key takeaways from their meetings.

COMRADES AND BROTHERS

During the meeting with Trong, Xi said that the two countries should carry forward the traditional friendship of "comrades and brothers" nurtured by the older generation of leaders.

China and Vietnam are both socialist countries led by the Communist Party, with the same political system, shared ideals and beliefs, and similar development paths. "Comrades and brothers" speaks to the particularity of China-Vietnam relations, and this traditional friendship is a common and valuable asset for both parties and countries.

After their talks, Xi awarded the Friendship Medal of the People's Republic of China to Trong, while Trong responded by saying that he will work with the Vietnamese people on his post to continue to adhere to the socialist path, constantly consolidate and deepen the Vietnam-China friendly relations as "comrades and brothers," and jointly realize a brighter future.

IRONCLAD FRIENDSHIP

"China and Pakistan are good friends, good partners and good brothers. Amid global changes and instability in recent years, the two countries have supported each other and forged ahead, demonstrating an ironclad friendship," Xi said when meeting with Sharif.

"China expressed deep sympathies to the Pakistani people concerning the devastating floods that have hit the country, and will provide additional emergency relief to help with post-flood reconstruction," Xi said.

Xi put forward a series of pragmatic initiatives to deepen China-Pakistan cooperation, including advancing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with greater efficiency, and making CPEC an exemplar of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, welcoming Pakistan to export more quality agri-products to China, and supporting Chinese provinces with strong industries in pairing up with Pakistani partners to advance industrial cooperation.

"No country has ever helped Pakistan or other developing countries with such wholehearted sincerity," Sharif said, noting that Pakistan-China friendship is "unbreakable," and that Pakistan will always stand firmly with China.

SINCERITY, REAL RESULTS, AMITY AND GOOD FAITH

While visiting Tanzania in 2013, Xi put forth the principles of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith to guide China's cooperation with African countries. It has now become the basic policy guiding China's solidarity and cooperation with other developing countries.

During their talks, Xi and Hassan announced the elevation of the bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

Xi mentioned that the Tazara Railway marked a milestone in both China-Tanzania and China-Africa friendship. He said even when China was poor, it had tightened its belt to help its African brothers build this railway.

"Now that China is more developed, it is better placed to act on the principles of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith, to help our African friends achieve common development, and build a stronger China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era," Xi said.

"Tanzania views China as its top real friend and will always be a trustworthy partner for China," Hassan echoed Xi's remarks.

STABILITY AND CONSISTENCY

China's policy toward Germany has maintained a high degree of stability and consistency, and it is hoped that Germany will follow a positive China policy for the mutual benefit of both countries, Xi said when meeting with Scholz.

This was the first visit to China by a European leader since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and also the first visit to China by Scholz since he took office as German Chancellor.

"The visit will further enhance the mutual understanding and trust between the two sides and deepen practical cooperation in various fields," Xi said.

According to foreign media reports, more than 100 German companies applied to join the visit, of which 12 well-known companies were shortlisted, which speaks volumes about the attractiveness of the Chinese market.

Germany firmly supports trade liberalization, supports economic globalization, and opposes decoupling, Scholz said, also expressing his hope for closer trade and economic cooperation with China.
China continues to play a leading role in the world economy and the China International Import Expo (CIIE) is a landmark initiative for international trade, a Greek official told Xinhua on Saturday on the occasion of the opening of the fifth edition of CIIE in Shanghai.

"For Greek exporters, China's fast-evolving economy remains a key market, and our growing bilateral trade underpins the longstanding commercial relationship between our two countries. That is why Greece and Greek companies have been active participants in the CIIE since its inception," said Marinos Giannopoulos, CEO of Enterprise Greece, the official trade and investment promotion agency of Greece.

Both countries are vested in the global trading system and share a vision of sustainable prosperity for their people and for the world, the official added.

"We have a long history of cooperation from shipping to supply chains, and we in Greece look forward to cultivating the commercial relationship with our Chinese friends even further in the future," he said in a written statement.

The fifth CIIE, which will run until Nov. 10, attracted representatives from 145 countries, regions and international organizations, among them, including more than 280 industry-leading or the world's top 500 companies.
The meat counter at Coopmart Can Tho. Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs showed that Vietnam imported 191,580 tonnes of meat and meat products worth 417.75 million USD in the third quarter this year, up 4.4% in volume and 24.4% in value from the same period last year.

India, the US, Brazil, the Republic of Korea and Russia were the biggest exporters of meat and meat products to Vietnam in the period. India took the lead with 37,350 tonnes valued at 125.84 million USD, up 164.9% in volume and 180.7% in value year-on-year.

In particular, import of pork continued with the downward trend due to slow demand recovery while that of beef, poultry and buffalo meat was on the rise.

In the third quarter, Vietnam spent 67.07 million USD on importing 31,760 tonnes of pork, down 24.4% in volume and 30.6% in value on an annualised basis.

Brazil, Russia, Germany, Canada and Poland were the biggest suppliers of pork to Vietnam. Brazil topped the list with 11,790 tonnes worth 25.6 million USD, up 8% in volume and down 2.2% in value.

Vietnam urges RECP member economies to fully implement commitment

High-level Forum entitled RCEP Spurs Higher-level Opening up was held within the framework of the China International Import Expo (CIIE) which kicked off in Shanghai, China on November 5. (Photo courtesy of Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Given current regional and international situation, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member economies should continue to strengthen trust and cooperation, and fully and effectively implement agreements and commitments, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh said in a pre-recorded speech at the High-level Forum entitled RCEP Spurs Higher-level Opening up on November 5.

According to Vietnam News Agency, the forum was held in the framework of the fifth China International Import Expo (CIIE) which kicked off in Shanghai, China on November 5.

In his speech, Deputy PM Thanh proposed RCEP promote areas such as infrastructure connectivity, digital transformation, clean energy, circular economy in association with goals and orientations for sustainable, balanced, inclusive and transparent development.

The Vietnamese Government official suggested that China and major economies give priority and support to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries so that they can make the most of the opportunities brought by RCEP.

Thanh highly appreciated the role of RCEP in the post-pandemic economic recovery, trade liberalisation process and regional and global economic linkages.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh said in a pre-recorded speech at the event. (Photo courtesy of Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

The Vietnamese Deputy PM emphasised that as the ASEAN Chair 2020 and the Chair of the RCEP Agreement negotiation, Vietnam made great efforts to promote ASEAN's central and leading role to sign the agreement in November 2020.

The China International Import Expo is one of China's top 10 trade fairs, held annually since 2018. This year, Vietnam is among 10 countries invited to open its national booth online. About 100 enterprises from Vietnam are taking part in the expo with mainly agricultural and fishery products.

Hanoi builds headquarters of Vientiane justice, procuracy sectors as gift

Chairman of the Hanoi Peoples Committee Tran Sy Thanh and Mayor of Vientiane Capital Athsaphangthong Siphandone at the groundbreaking ceremony for the project. (Photo: VNA)

Construction of new headquarters of the Department of Justice and the People's Procuracy of the Lao capital city Vientiane began on November 5, reported Vietnam News Agency.

The work is the gift of the Hanoi Party Committee, authorities and people to the Lao capital city.

Covering a total area of 2.5ha, the project comprises two three-storied buildings and one one-storied hall, along with auxiliary facilities and technical infrastructure system. It will be built within 12 months at a total cost of 3 million USD.

Vice Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee and Chairman of the Hanoi Peoples Committee Tran Sy Thanh pledged to direct agencies concerned to ensure the progress of the project.

The Hanoi official is on a two-day working trip to Laos from November 4, during which he also attended a symposium connecting investment, trade and tourism between Hanoi and Vientiane on November 5. It was a follow-up of a conference on investment, trade and tourism promotion between Hanoi and Vientiane and a Vientiane goods exhibition held in Hanoi in August.

K53 team of Kon Tum begins dry-season search for Vietnamese soldiers' remains in Laos

At the event. (Photo: VNA)

The Central Highlands province of Kon Tum held a ceremony on November 5 to send off the province's team in charge of searching for and repatriating remains of volunteer martyrs and experts who died in Laos and Cambodia during wartime (Team K53) on its mission in the 2022-2023 dry season, reported Vietnam News Agency.

The team K53 will conduct the search in Attapeu, Sekong and Champasak provinces of Laos and Rattanakiri province of Cambodia during the dry season of 2022-2023.

Speaking at the ceremony, Vice Chairwoman of the provincial People's Committee Y Ngoc said that the search for and repatriation of remains of fallen soldiers in the two neighbouring countries of Laos and Cambodia is an extremely difficult task but a noble one, requiring each officer and soldier to uphold the sense of responsibility and determination to overcome challenges to successfully complete the assigned duties.

The official asked Team K53 members to contribute to enhancing the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the three countries Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in general, and between Kon Tum province and other provinces in particular.

Since the 1994-1995 dry season to now, the K53 team of Kon Tum has found and repatriated 2,050 sets of remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts from Cambodia and Laos. The remains were re-buried in the war martyrs' cemetery of Ngoc Hoi district./.
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech via video at the opening ceremony of the 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands held in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Nov. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday called for strengthening cooperation on wetlands conservation and scaling up wetlands action across the world.

He made the remarks while delivering a speech via video at the opening ceremony of the 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP14).

In his speech, Xi noted that it is important to build global consensus on prizing wetlands, show respect for nature, minimize disruption and damage caused by human activities, and protect the ecological security of wetlands in order to leave the beautiful wetlands to future generations.

"It is important that we advance the global process on wetlands conservation, redouble efforts to preserve authenticity and integrity, include more important wetlands in nature reserves, improve cooperation mechanisms and platforms, and increase the coverage of wetlands of international importance," Xi said.

He also called for enhancing people's well-being globally by leveraging the role of wetlands in promoting sustainable development, tackling climate change, protecting biodiversity, and delivering more benefits to people around the world.

Historic achievements have been made in wetlands conservation in China. The country has increased the area of wetlands to 56.35 million hectares, put in place a protection system and enacted a Wetlands Conservation Law, according to Xi.

The president further noted that China will pursue a modernization of harmony between humanity and nature, and promote high-quality development in the wetlands conservation cause.

China has recently drawn up a layout plan of national parks. Under the plan, China will designate a number of national parks, accounting for about 10 percent of the country's land area. About 11 million hectares of wetlands will be incorporated in the national park system, with a focus on developing wetland national parks including the Three-River-Source National Park, the Qinghai Lake National Park, the Ruoergai National Park, the Yellow River Estuary National Park, the Liao River Estuary National Park and the Songnen Plain Crane Homeland National Park.

A national wetlands conservation plan and major conservation projects will be implemented, Xi added.

China will promote international exchanges and cooperation to protect the four bird migration routes passing China and to build an international mangrove center in Shenzhen, Xi said, adding that China supports the convening of a conference of the World Coastal Forum.

"Let us join hands to write a new chapter in global wetlands conservation," said the Chinese president.

Themed "Wetlands Action for People and Nature," the COP14 is scheduled to run from Nov. 5 to 13 in China's Wuhan and Switzerland's Geneva.

Editor: Zhang Zhou
In conflict-ravaged nations like Yemen and Somalia, devastating floods and droughts kill hundreds of people and uproot tens of thousands from their homes.
More than 3,000 journalists and media professionals from around the world will cover the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in the Red Sea city of Sharm El-Sheikh between 6-18 November, Chairman of Egypts State Information Service (SIS) Diaa Rashwan said.

In a press statement posted on the SIS website on Friday, Rashwan said that significant numbers of media professionals and correspondents from news agencies, newspapers, websites and television channels have registered to cover the COP27 and most of them have already arrived in Sharm El-Sheikh.

The number includes 2,800 journalists, correspondents, and photojournalists representing about 450 media outlets from all over the world.

It includes about 300 journalists and correspondents accredited to the SIS representing nearly 50 foreign media and press institutions that have bureaus in Egypt, he said.

It also includes photojournalists, broadcasters and journalists accompanying official delegations to the conference, Rashwan said.

He noted that these numbers do not include the over 500 journalists, media professionals and photojournalists representing dozens of Egyptian media outlets who have already registered to cover the conference.

Rashwan, who is also head of the Egyptian Journalists' Syndicate, said the conference is expected to be covered in 15 major languages, including Arabic, English, French, Spanish, German and Italian.

A significant number of media outlets will be broadcasting the conference proceedings from Sharm El-Sheikh, including Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg News, Fox News, in addition to news agencies from Russia, Italy, China and others, Rashwan said.

Media delegations from the world's major television networks, notably the BBC, the British Sky News, NBC, CBS, Al Hurra, CNN and Euronews will also be covering the conference, Rashwan said.

In addition, there will be media delegations from television networks from Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Japan, Belgium, Turkey, China, and others, along with Arab and African media outlets, he added.

Correspondents from the worlds biggest newspapers including the New York Times from the US, the Independent from the UK, and Le Monde and Jeune Afrique from France will be present, he added.

Furthermore, media delegations of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the United Nations will be present at the conference in addition to media delegations from the Americas, Asia, Australia and the Arab region, he noted.

Journalists will be provided with all facilities needed to broadcast from the event, thanks to coordination between the UN office in Cairo and the governments ministries, Rashwan said.

The SIS is facilitating this process by receiving media professionals at Cairo and Sharm El-Sheikh international airports and facilitating customs release of their equipment, he said.

They are also issuing the necessary permits and facilitating the movement of journalists throughout the conference, as well as providing some technical materials and equipment necessary for their work, Rashwan said.

These arrangements are being carried out through the global press centre that the SIS has already set up, Rashwan added.

More than 40,000 are expected to participate in the COP27.

French President Emmanuel Macron will be attending the conference, according to statements on Friday by the French ambassador to Egypt.

US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak are also attending.

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Four Iranian police officers and one "terrorist" have been killed in separate incidents in the strife-torn country, state media and the Revolutionary Guards said Sunday.

Iran has been rocked by more than seven weeks of nationwide protests over the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the Tehran morality police.

Amid the wider unrest, clashes have rocked Sistan-Baluchistan province, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, sparked by the alleged rape of a local teenage girl by a police chief.

The four police officers were killed in Sistan-Baluchistan, official media said, without saying when, and blaming a personal dispute between police conscripts.

"The incident, at a traffic police station on the Iranshahr-Bampour highway, caused the martyrdom of the police officers," regional police chief Major Alireza Sayyad told IRNA news agency.

Poverty-stricken Sistan-Baluchistan has long been a flashpoint for clashes with rebels from the Baluchi minority, Sunni Muslim extremist groups and drug smuggling gangs.

On September 30 in Zahedan, the provincial capital, dozens of protesters and six members of the security forces were killed, according to the authorities.

In a separate incident, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said its forces had killed an "element hostile to the revolution" after an attack on one of their bases in Mahshahr, in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.

"The forces fired on two terrorists on motorbikes in order to protect the headquarters, killing one of them while steps were taken to identify and arrest the second person," the IRGC said in a statement.

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One of the largest scandals ever to hit the country has recently hit Iraq, but the case is still shrouded in cloak-and-dagger drama, writes Salah Nasrawi

When the embezzlement of the equivalent of almost $2.5 billion from the Iraqi tax authorities was made public last week, it was quickly dubbed the theft of the century.

For many Iraqis, however, that seemed to be an exaggerated label and an attempt to paint a partial picture of the endemic corruption in Iraq.

The biggest robbery in Iraqs history, which is also how the heist has begun to be known, amounts to disinformation that benefits the regime of kleptocrats in Iraq, a country that has been one of the most corrupt in the world for nearly 20 years.

The case was disclosed by the oil minister in the outgoing Iraqi cabinet, Ihsan Abdel-Jabbar, who said he had ordered an investigation when he was acting finance minister.

Abdel-Jabbar was appointed to the job following the resignation of former minister Ali Allawi in August following the uncovering of a similar scandal at the Iraqi Rafidain Bank.

Preliminary reports emerged on 14 October when the Finance Ministry said it had uncovered the theft of 3.7 trillion Iraqi dinars (about $2.5 billion) from the account of the General Tax Authority at the Rafidain Bank.

The Iraqi State News Agency (INA) reported that an internal probe by the Finance Ministry had found that the money had been withdrawn from the account at the state-owned bank.

The agency said that the ministry had asked the Integrity Commission, the governments anti-corruption body, to investigate the case. Later, a Baghdad court ordered the summoning of the director-general of the General Tax Authority and his assistant, as well as other authority officials.

A statement by the judiciary, which has been tasked with carrying out its own probes, noted that its decision was in accordance with the Iraqi code on crimes against government funds.

No more details have been released from the government, the commission, or the judiciary, but Iraqi social media has been awash with talk and documents about the scandal.

According to a 40-page document quoted by some media outlets, the theft was carried out by using five fake companies and was done by a large group of officials and employees of the General Tax Authority and the Rafidain Bank, along with senior officials in the government and parliament.

The five fake companies, with suspicious names such as the Hunchback Whale, the Baghdad Wind, the Worshipper, the Creatives, and the Evening Desert, were registered with the state-run National Investment Commission (NIC) without mentioning their business interests or financial portfolios.

One of these companies, Baghdad Wind, is registered by an owner named Hussein Kawa Abdel-Qadir, 21, who withdrew some 624 billion dinars (about $500 million) from the Tax Authoritys account.

The company was only established a short while before the withdrawal of the cash, and it started with a registered capital of only one million dinars, or about $750.

Other significant details have showed that the collaborators targeted a bank account set up by the General Tax Authority for pending income tax refunds.

Under regulations set out by the authority, large taxpayers deposit advance payments in the Rafidain Bank account pending a review of how much they are required to pay.

Until last year, the review was usually made by the Board of Supreme Audit (BSA), Iraqs primary state-run audit institution, which is entitled to oversee government financial operations.

The procedure was surprisingly terminated in 2021 when the head of the parliaments Finance Committee asked the Ministry of Finance, which oversees the General Tax Authority, to apply an internal audit to the refund account.

The move to stop the BSA audit, legal experts say, is a violation of the law endorsed by Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, who was chosen as prime minister after massive nationwide anti-corruption protests in 2019.

Between September 2021 and August 2022, some 247 cheques were cashed to a value of some $2.5 billion to the owners of the fake companies, leaving only $100 million in the account.

Public outrage following the scandal has prompted reactions from other stakeholders and the UN mission in Iraq.

Iraqs Supreme Judicial Council said a Baghdad court had started investigating the case in August. It described those behind it as an organised network linked to influential figures.

In a statement, the council said arrest warrants had been issued against a number of people, and it has heard evidence from Finance Ministry employees.

The Ministry of Finance issued a lengthy statement detailing the scandal and confirming the arrest of some of the officials accused. The General Tax Authority said it had ordered the seizure of the assets of five of its top officials involved in the case.

Iraqs prime minister-designate Mohamed Shia Al-Sudani has vowed to make the fight against corruption a top priority of his government.

We will not hesitate to take real measures to curb the corruption that has so brazenly spread throughout the state and its institutions, Al-Sudani tweeted.

Al-Kadhimi, who lost his chance to secure a second term as prime minister after Al-Sudanis nomination, denied any wrongdoing and blamed unnamed rivals for spreading misinformation and attempting blackmail.

UN Special Representative for Iraq Jeanine Hennis Plasschaert has called on the Iraqi authorities to recover the $2.5 billion that was embezzled. Retrieve these funds and return them to their rightful owners, she tweeted.

Corruption has been rife in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion of the country that toppled former dictator Saddam Hussein. Many politicians have been arrested or removed from office for malpractice.

Iraq is considered to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It was ranked 160th out of 180 nations on the international NGO Transparency Internationals 2021 Corruption Index, slightly better from previous years when Iraq topped the list.

The latest corruption case is the second biggest to take place in Iraq this year. In August, a court awarded an electronic-payment processing company $600 million in compensation from the Rafidain Bank in a dispute.

The ruling disclosed a shady deal between the Rafidain Bank and a Baghdad foreign-currency bureau to provide electronic-payment services to government employees and pensioners.

The deal was cancelled by former finance minister Ali Allawi on the grounds that the Ishtar Gate company, which was set up by the currency bureau to carry out the transactions, did not meet the terms and conditions set by the ministry.

The cancellation of the contract prompted the company to sue the bank for compensation on the grounds of a penalty clause between the two sides.

Though it is not clear if the owner of the company, reportedly well-connected to a Shia political group, has received the compensation, the disclosure sparked protests on social media platforms in Iraq and calls for an investigation.

Lawmakers and activists in Iraq have also revealed other shady business deals involving millions of dollars, including a Baghdad International Airport security programme.

A bogus Canada-based firm was awarded a $22-million contract for security at Baghdad Airport to replace the contract previously held by the UKs G4S.

According to Iraqi activists, including some in Canada, Biznis Intel, which was awarded the contract, may be a front company set up to disguise the business interests of Iraqi politicians.

MP Alia Nassif said the company, registered under the name of Hafeez Oki, an Afghan asylum-seeker in Canada, had not provided credible accreditation for its capital assets, expertise, or previous business deals.

The deal with Biznis Intel is similar to countless other contracts signed with bogus companies over the past two decades.

In 2013, the government of then Iraqi prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki signed a $6 billion contract with Satarem, a company based in Switzerland, to build and operate a 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) oil refinery in the southern province of Maysan.

An Iraqi expert based in Switzerland who investigated the deal concluded that Satarem was a fake company and only existed on paper. The revelation forced Al-Maliki to cancel the deal.

In 2011, the Iraqi government cancelled a $1.2 billion power generation contract with Capgent, a Vancouver-based company, after it was disclosed that it was fake.

Corruption in Iraq has become so deep-rooted that many Iraqis believe that the government is so full of compromised officials that they can do little to stop it.

In 2021, former president Barham Salih said that $150 billion of oil money had been stolen and smuggled out of Iraq in corrupt deals since the 2003 US-led invasion.

In a report last month, the London based think tank Chatham House estimated that from 2006 to 2014 Iraq lost an estimated $551 billion to corruption.

With annual budgets that reach over $100 billion and a government that is based on a power-sharing system, graft forms the backbone of conducting business and getting things done in Iraq.

I know to what extent government capacity has deteriorated over the past 15 years, in a way that the political parties, as well as the various interest groups, have practically confiscated broad areas of the state, former finance minister Allawi wrote in his resignation letter in August.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 27 October, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Rolls-Royce has successfully commissioned the first six mtu Kinetic PowerPacks to secure one of the worlds largest supercomputers located at King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (Kaust) in Saudi Arabia.

The fully customised, turnkey secure power system is equipped with dynamically rotating kinetic energy accumulators, providing the universitys Scientific Computing Data Centre, which hosts the supercomputer with uninterruptible power.

The successful commissioning of the first six units marks a significant project milestone towards the eventual commissioning of 12 total mtu Kinetic PowerPacks that have been delivered for Kausts Scientific Computing Data Centre upgrade.

State-of-the-art

Matthew Early, Vice President, Facilities for Kaust, said: The mtu Kinetic PowerPacks are state-of-the-art, uninterruptible electrical power systems that are designed for operating in extreme environments and provide the highest reliability of back-up power for the most critical and essential systems, such as healthcare facilities, airports, data centres and in our case, our future supercomputer Shaheen III, which will be the most powerful supercomputer in the Middle East and allow Kaust to greatly enhance its ability for scientific discovery and AI Innovation.

The work completed on this complex design-and-build order for Kaust has been extremely rewarding, said Karim Hamzaoui, Operations Manager at the Rolls-Royce business unit Power Systems. This was an opportunity for us to not only provide our world-class power generation products but also to showcase our ability to be a complete solution provider, taking on the full scope of all aspects of the project, from manufacturing and testing to delivery and installation, creating a customised solution from top to bottom.

The mtu Kinetic PowerPacks were manufactured and underwent successful factory acceptance testing in Liege, Belgium at the Rolls-Royce facility. The 12 units, along with medium-voltage switchgears, were then shipped and assembled for installation at the site.

Designed for humid conditions

Each mtu Kinetic PowerPack has a power output of 1.6 megawatts, operates in medium voltage at 13.8kV, 60Hz and is powered by an mtu 16V 4000 G74S diesel engine. The systems are designed for humid ambient conditions and temperatures of up to 50 degrees Celsius. With 12 total units delivered to Kaust, the PowerPacks are being installed in two groups of 6 systems each, with one available as a back-up in each group (5 + 1 redundancy). In the event of a power outage, the constantly rotating, robust kinetic energy accumulator will both guarantee the starting of the diesel engine and instantaneously secure the critical load.

Kaust is a renowned high-tech seat of learning, equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and one of the world's best supercomputing installations that is also the largest of its kind in the Middle East. The Shaheen supercomputer at Kaust Supercomputing Laboratory (KSL) is available to help Kaust users and projects, to provide training and advice, to develop and deploy applications, to provide consultation on best practices and to provide collaboration support as needed.-- TradeArabia News Service
Sameh Shoukry, Egypts foreign minister and president-designate of the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), urged countries of the world to honour their climate commitments, warning against backsliding on climate action amid economic crises.

In remarks made to TV, Shoukry stressed that the ongoing energy crisis, which resulted from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, has derailed efforts aiming to end reliance on fossil fuel and expand the use of clean and renewable energy sources.

COP27 kicked off today in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh, with over 41,000 people (including heads of state and government and media professionals) attending the inauguration.

The conference reflects the urgency, on a global level, of cutting emissions and boosting climate action.

We urge the countries that probably think of going back to unclean energy due to economic impacts to return to the path of tangibly reducing emissions, Shoukry stated.

The COP27 president also called on all countries not to allow any geopolitical differences to interfere with the efforts to priorotise climate action.

We can overcome political and economic crises through multilateral and political frameworks, but if we come to the point where the damage done to planet earth becomes irreparable, it will be very hard to wind back the clock, Shoukry stated.

COP27 is held under the title Together for Implementation. The conference envisions translating climate pledges into action and ensuring commitments on financing climate action in developing states are fulfilled.

Egypt has repeatedly urged countries to put aside political differences over the Russia-Ukraine war and to collaborate to move forward on climate action. Egypt has also vowed to work on avoiding a spillover of other issues into the climate change negotiations.

The Egyptian COP27 presidency said over 120 heads of state and government are expected to take part in the conference.

In his TV remarks today, Shoukry said African leaders will actively participate in the COP27 World Leaders Summit, which takes place 7-8 November, to voice Africas concerns over climate change.

The active participation of African countries aims to promote the continent's interests. These interests focus on guaranteeing fair energy transition in a way that enables the continent to fulfill its climate responsibilities without obstructing its sustainable development.

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The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) signed on Sunday an MoU on developing Lake Bardawil and the Sinai Peninsula with Egypt-based AlexMar Shipping company and Belgian Dredging International NV, one of the Belgian DEME Group companies.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, his Belgian counterpart Alexander De Croo and head of the SCA Osama Rabie attended the signing ceremony, which took place on the sidelines of the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), the Egyptian Cabinet said in a statement.

The purpose of the MoU is to study the joint implementation of a project to develop and restore the ecosystem of Lake Bardawil and the Sinai Peninsula. The project will be carried out through collaboration between the public and private sector (known as public-private partnership (PPP)).

It will seek funding opportunities provided by international financing institutions, Rabie said.

Rabie stressed the importance of the project in restoring the vegetation cover and agricultural area in Sinai given the quality of arable soil in the area surrounding Lake Bardawil, which lies on the north coast of the peninsula.

He also shed light on the sustainable impact of the project in accordance with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Egypt Vision 2030.

The project will also help secure up to a million job opportunities, Rabie added.

For his part, a representative of Dredging International NV, highlighted the projects positive and direct effects on the world and its impact on climate change in the countries of the Mediterranean and north and east Africa.

The project will help restore the water cycle and original wind in Sinai and will boost fish production in Lake Bardawil, the Belgian companys representative added.

Over the past years, Egypt has worked on developing and cleaning lakes nationwide to restore their ecosystems. Egypt also implemented a number of fish-farming projects across the nation to reduce the gap between fish production and consumption, achieve self-sufficiency and reduce fish imports.

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Sporadic rain is expected Monday through Wednesday on territories of the North Coast and northern areas of Lower Egypt, according to the Egyptian Meteorological Authority (EMA).

Starting Monday through Saturday, the North Coast territories will experience highs of 23-25 degrees Celsius and lows of 16-17 degrees Celsius, whereas Greater Cairo and Lower Egypt will see highs of 25-27 degrees and lows of 17-18 degrees.

South Sinai, whose Red Sea city of Sharm El-Sheikh is hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP27 6-18 November, will experience highs of 28-31 degrees and lows of 20-21 degrees

Strong winds are predicted Wednesday to Thursday on areas of South Sinai

North Upper Egypt will have highs of 26-28 degrees and lows of 14-15 degrees , whereas South Upper Egypt will have highs of 28-31 degrees and lows of 16-17 degrees.

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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi called on Sunday for the development of a road map to protect the world from the effects of climate change.

He said that Egypt hopes COP27 climate conference, which kicked off earlier today in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, shall come up with tangible results that will take the world from the stage of pledges to the stage of action. He also reiterated hopes that COP27 builds on the outcomes of both the Glasgow summit and the Paris Agreement.

"With pride, honor and responsibility, I look forward to opening the activities of the 27th session of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh," Sisi said on his official page on Facebook.

He stated that the current session of the climate summit comes at a very sensitive time as the world faces unprecedented dangers and challenges that threaten our planet and our ability to live on it.

These dangers and challenges require quick action by all countries to develop a road map to protect the world from the effects of climate change, he added.

On Monday, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi will inaugurate COP27. The conference on climate change comes at a time of growing concern over the state of the global environment and at a time when political and security challenges are consuming international attention and budgets at the expense of measures to manage climate change.

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Ahram Online is providing daily live update coverage of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP27) taking place in the Egyptian Red Sea city of Sharm El-Sheikh from 6-18 November.

21:00 For the first time since the adoption of the UN climate convention, Parties agreed to introduce the loss and damage funding as an agenda item.

For the first time since the adoption of the UN climate convention, Parties agreed to introduce #LossAndDamage funding as an agenda item at the climate conference. (1/2) #COP27 pic.twitter.com/Ct8Q6WVnd0  COP27 (@COP27P) November 6, 2022

19:20 In TV remarks, Shoukry urged countries of the world to honour their climate commitments, warning against backsliding on climate action amid economic crises. He stressed that the efforts aiming to end reliance on fossil fuel and expand the use of clean and renewable energy sources have suffered a major setback as a result of the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

18:35 French President Emmanuel Macron and Rishi Sunak will hold their first meeting since the British prime minister took office, talking on the sidelines of the UN climate summit on Monday, Macron's office said Sunday.

17:35 Yeb Sano, Greenpeaces COP27 head of delegation, says: It is a significant moment that loss and damage finance has been agreed as an agenda item for the first time since the most vulnerable countries raised the clarion call decades ago, emphasising that the fight is far from over because the rich countries, who are most responsible, may practice more delay and diversion tactics in the future.

Sano called on developing countries to stand firm in their demand that the conference reach a dedicated loss and damage finance facility that defines the collection and distribution of money needed to compensate the worst-hit countries coping with the unavoidable impacts of the climate crisis. Developed countries should act on these demands and make sure fossil fuel polluters are made to pay for the damages they have caused, he said.

17:00 The 57th session of the subsidiary body for scientific and technological Advice (SBSTA) and subsidiary body for implementation (SBI) kicks off with comments from participating delegations on each countrys vision on the implementation stage.

16:20: Egypts Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly inaugurated the Green Zone of COP27, a platform that aims to promote dialogue and awareness through various events in which young people, members of the business community and civil society, academics, and artists will participate. In a presser, Madbouly said the COP27 Green Zone is larger than that of earlier COPs so as to accommodate local and regional organisations.

15:40 Over 41,000 people are participating in COP27, including heads of state and government and media professionals, Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said in a presser on the sidelines of the event.

14:30 Ethiopias Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed arrives in Sharm El-Sheikh to take part in the leaders' summit set to be held on Monday and Tuesday, local media reported.

14:00 In a post on his official Facebook page, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi expressed pride and honour over the start of COP27 in Egypt.

The president said that the conference is being held at a very sensitive and crucial time when the world is "facing existential and unprecedented crises that impact our planet's survival and [humanitys] ability to live in it."

         27         . "#COP27    

/  Abdelfattah Elsisi (@AlsisiOfficial) November 6, 2022

13:42 The plenary of CMP17 concludes. The next plenary is set to start at 3:00pm.

13:15 The opening plenary of CMP17 kicks off; conference president Shoukry reviews the event agenda. (Check full statements)

13:10 Shoukry announces the conclusion of the opening plenary of COP27.

12:50 Shoukry reviews conference agenda.

The conference will discuss for the first time funding arrangements to deal with climate change-related losses and damages, according to the agenda announced by the COP27 president.

Poor and vulnerable countries, who are little responsible for global warming but very exposed to its devastating consequences, have been insisting for months that this issue of "loss and damage" be officially placed on the COP agenda, which rich nations had been reluctant to do.

Negotiations and informal discussions (huddles) across the conferences blue and green zones stretched for 20 hours until 4am on Sunday morning, as developed countries stressed that financing loss and damage would take the form of support, rather than liability or compensation. Read more here.

12:25 The implementation of climate commitments rests with everyone, everywhere in the world, Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said in his address at the opening of the climate gathering.

Stiell called for focusing on three tracks during the two-week summit: the transition from the negotiations stage to that of tangible action, the provision of climate finance to achieve the Paris Accord goals, and reinforcing the principle of transparency and environmental reliability.

12:20 COP27 president Shoukry highlighted several obstacles in the way of climate change efforts, saying climate change-related efforts over the past decades were remarkably polarised, which has slowed down progress of the negotiations  and the current mobilisation efforts have raised many concerns, that the $100 billion a year pledge has not yet been honoured.

Also, the currently available financing focuses on curbing emissions, not adaptation efforts. Also, most of the financing is based on loans, he pointed out.

We have to change our approach to this existential threat. We have to work diligently and honestly and listen to one another and to the concerns of other parties and understand them, and we also have to work to reach consensual solutions that can be implemented, Shoukry said.

The opening plenary of #COP27 has commenced with the election of HE Sameh Shoukry as COP27 President by the Parties.#TogetherForImplementation pic.twitter.com/QdwM5oQzkS  COP27 (@COP27P) November 6, 2022

12:10 Sameh Shoukry, COP27 president, started his speech highlighting the climate incidents that have impacted several areas worldwide, most recently in the floods in Pakistan as well as African and European countries.

We have witnessed during this year painful events in Pakistan, the African continent and various parts of Europe and America. All these events and the destruction and impact represent a lesson to be learned and alarm all over the planet  to invite us to more precaution, and to act quickly to take all necessary measures as per our commitments and pledges," he said.

Shoukry underscored the necessity of the participation of non-state actors, including private sector, banks, international finance institutions, civil society, youth associations, indigenous associations, and others -- for the sake of an efficient implementation of pledges and commitments.

11:50 In his speech, Alok Sharma, president of COP26, called for unity moving forward to keep the 1.5-degree goal within reach, emphasizing the important role that finance will play in this COP. We know that we have reached a point where finance makes or breaks the progress of the program ahead of us, he said. This summit must be about concrete actions and I hope when the world leaders join us today, they will explain what their countries achieved during the last year and how they will go further, he added.

11:38 The opening ceremony of the 27th session of the UN Conference on Climate Change Conference (COP27) kicks off.

The conference started with a speech by Alok Sharma, president of COP26, CMP16 and CMA3  that was held in Glasgow last year.

Sharma will hand over the presidency of the annual climate gathering to Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry who is president designate of COP27, CMP17 and CMA4.

10:30 Egyptian Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad tells Al-Ahram Weekly that the COP27 presidency will present 14 initiatives addressing equitable energy transition, agriculture, food security, water security, climate adaptation, and sustainable cities. Six of the 14 initiatives to be proposed by the presidency have a clear focus on Africa, and two more include Africa in their aims. Read the full interview here.

Today is the launch of the annual climate gathering with a somehow quiet schedule that includes a few side meetings, as the formal opening of the summit itself is due to start on Monday. The first day of the climate implementation summit as host Egypt dubbed includes meetings of groups of Convention (COP27), Kyoto Protocol (CMP17), and Paris Agreement bodies (CMA4).

Several heads of states and governments are expected to arrive in Sharm El-Sheikh on Sunday, but no national statements is expected for today.

Day 1, 6 November agenda: From 10am to 1pm: Opening plenaries of COP 27 - CMP 17 - CMA 4 From 3am to 5pm: Opening plenaries of SBSTA 57 - SBI 57 From 5pm to 6pm: Joint plenary to hear statements

To know

COP stands for Conference of the Parties, and the COP summit is attended by the countries that signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)  a treaty that came into force in 1994. COP is a supreme decision-making body of the UNFCCC. All the parties participate and review the implementation of the UNFCCC and make decisions.

CMP is the conference of the parties serving as the meeting of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol. All the parties of the Kyoto Protocol participate and review the implementation of the Protocol and make decisions. CMP is held once a year and kicked off during the COP11 conference in Canada in 2005.

CMA is the conference of the parties serving as the meeting of the parties to the Paris Agreement. All the parties of the Paris Agreement participate and review the implementation of the Agreement and make decisions. CMA is held once a year and kicked off during the COP22 conference in Morocco in 2016.

SB is a subsidiary body for scientific and technological advice (SBSTA) and subsidiary body for implementation (SBI). SBSTA provides scientific and technological information and advice regarding the UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement. SBI evaluates and reviews the effective implementation of the UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement. SB meetings are held twice a year and kicked off in 1995.

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Sameh Shoukry, Egypts foreign minister and president-designate of the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), asserted the importance of scaling up climate ambitions according to countries' capacities and resources, hailing those who have updated their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), including Egypt.

Shoukry made his remarks Sunday while addressing the opening ceremony of the COP27 conference, which is being held in the Red Sea city of Sharm El-Sheikh 6-18 November.

Shoukry called for moving from negotiations and pledges to implementation, offering assurances that such a step is a priority at COP27. Another priority is accelerating the implementation of work programmes agreed upon under the framework of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), he added.

Shoukry also underscored the necessity of non-state actors  including the private sector, banks, international finance institutions, civil society, youth associations, indigenous associations and others  participating in climate action if it is to be effective.

The NDCs, which detail each countrys domestic measures to adapt to and mitigate climate change, revealed that the current level of ambition is not up to the goals of the Paris Agreement, Shoukry warned.

He highlighted the climate disasters that have impacted several areas worldwide, including Pakistan, Africa, Europe and America.

All these events and their destruction and impacts represent a lesson to be learned and invite us to act quickly to take all necessary measures as per our commitments and pledges.

He also highlighted several obstacles, saying climate change-related efforts over the past decades were remarkably polarised, which has slowed down progress of the negotiations and the current mobilisation efforts have raised many concerns that the $100 billion-a-year pledge has not yet been honoured.

Also, the currently available financing focuses on curbing emissions, not adaptation efforts. Also, most of the financing is based on loans, he pointed out.

He called to shift the worlds current approach in dealing with the existential threat posed by climate change.

We have to work diligently and honestly and listen to one another and to the concerns of other parties and understand them. We also have to work to reach consensual solutions that can be implemented, Shoukry said.

The conference is being held this year amid geopolitical tensions that has left a deep impact on all countries especially on their energy and food supplies, Shoukry said, referring to the Russia-Ukraine war.

However, humanity still has a chance to overcome this challenge if countries have the political will to work together, Shoukry said, citing the development currently taking place in the renewable energy sector.

He also cited other ongoing efforts that can help overcome the climate threat, including the development of adaptation technologies and the contributions of civil society, among others.

The contributions of civil society has also increased. Think tanks have been mobilised, women have been mobilised. Local governments as well have all been mobilised, he said

This proves that we still have a chance to overcome this threat that jeopardises the lives of millions all over Earth, he added.

Shoukry concluded his speech by calling on all countries to listen carefully and commit to turning commitments into implementation.

The implementation and the effects of our work will affect the lives and livelihoods of millions of people around the world who have been suffering the impacts of climate change so we cannot afford any negatives or shortcomings, he said.

I am very aware that you know the magnitude of challenge and that you will have the will to work to combat it effectively. Let us implement together for the sake of humanity and our planet.

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Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi received Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and her accompanying delegation on the sidelines of the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) being held in the Red Sea city of Sharm El-Sheikh 6-18 November.

The meeting on Sunday was attended by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, the acting governor of the Central Bank of Egypt and the ministers of planning and economic development, international cooperation and finance.

During the meeting, Georgieva hailed the measures Egypt has taken to protect its economy in the face of global economic crises, said Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady.

President Sisi said Egypt is keen to proceed with the economic reforms and maximize the role of the private sector in the development process.

In October, Egypt reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF to secure a fresh loan under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme worth $3 billion.

The new IMF-backed economic reform programme aims to tackle the imbalances in Egypts fiscal policy that are the result of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

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French President Emmanuel Macron and Rishi Sunak will meet Monday on the sidelines of a UN climate summit for the first time since the British premier took office, Macron's office said.

Dozens of heads of state and government, including Macron and the recently named Sunak, are expected to converge on Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for the UN's COP27 summit, which began on Sunday.

Macron and Sunak spoke over the phone late last month, with Downing Street saying that they had agreed on greater cooperation to prevent migrant crossings across the Channel.

The British prime minister stressed the "importance for both nations to make the Channel route completely unviable for people traffickers", according to Downing Street.

In an article published in British newspaper the Mail on Sunday, interior minister Suella Braverman said she had been working with her French counterpart Gerald Darmanin "to build greater cooperation, and make better use of UK surveillance technology".

This year, a record 37,570 people have crossed the Channel to England in small boats.

The issue has caused a major political headache for the UK government, which promised tighter border controls after leaving the European Union.

Tensions have risen between London and Paris, with the UK government accusing France of not doing enough to stop the crossings.

The Mail on Sunday reported that Sunak's government wants to sign a deal with France on cross-Channel cooperation "in the coming weeks".

The Times reported last month, citing government sources, that Sunak wants to tighten up terms of a draft deal with France and make it "more ambitious".

Sunak wants the draft deal with France to include a minimum number of French officers patrolling beaches, the report said.

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Envoys from around the globe gathered Sunday in the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for talks on tackling climate change that come as the world also grapples with multiple crises, including the war in Ukraine, high inflation, food shortages and an energy crunch.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned last week that the planet was heading toward irreversible "climate chaos'' unless countries find a way to put the world back on track to cut emissions and help poor countries cope with the impacts of global warming.

More than 40,000 participants have been registered for this year's talks, reflecting the sense of urgency as major weather events around the world impact many people and cost billions of dollars in repairs. Egypt said over 120 world leaders will attend, many of them speaking at a high-level event on Nov. 7-8, while U.S. President Joe Biden was expected to arrive later in the week.

But many top figures including China's President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India were not planning to come, casting doubt on whether the talks in Egypt could result in any major deals to cut emissions without two of the world's biggest polluters.

Germany's foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said the talks were being overshadowed by Russia's attack on Ukraine that has triggered political and economic upheaval around the world.

"But 2022 must not become a lost year for climate protection,'' she said in a statement. "For many states, it's about the survival of their population and their culture. For them, the climate crisis remains the most important security issue, not Russia's war in Europe.''

Baerbock said Germany was willing to show solidarity with poor countries, including on the thorny issue of compensation for losses resulting from climate change caused by rich countries' emissions.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online

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The Global Cybersecurity Forum (GCF), the action-oriented platform shaping the global cybersecurity agenda, will welcome over 4,500 attendees from over 110 countries at The Ritz-Carlton, Riyadh, from November 9 to 10.

Aiming to leverage the opportunities of an evolving global cyber order, GCF is bringing together the best minds to advance the cybersecurity agenda and grasp its benefits. Over the two-day event founded by the National Cybersecurity Authority, GCF will convene over 120 speakers from across the globe to discuss the most pertinent cyber issues of the day.

Under the event theme, Rethinking the Global Cyber Order, there will be more than 30 sessions covering a plethora of topics organised across five sub-themes including Disruption Frontier, Cyber Economics, Geo-Cyber Evolution, Future of Cyber Work and No One Left Behind.

Opening session

The opening session Rethinking the global cyber order, why? will host former Foreign Secretary of India, Shyam Saran, alongside Dr Michio Kaku, renowned futurist and Professor of Theoretical Physics, City University of New York, and Dr Mary Aiken, a world-leading expert in cyberpsychology, bringing their unique geographical and cross-practice perspectives.

Speaking ahead of the event, Saran said: The need to evolve how we approach both current and future cybersecurity challenges is critical. With rapid technological advancements, growing global competition, and disruptive threats more pervasive than ever, how we work together to advance the sector is paramount. As part of our efforts, cyber diplomacy is key to harness this powerful sector and the global opportunities it brings. I look forward to discussing global cyber priorities with leading voices at the 2022 edition of the Global Cybersecurity Forum.

Greater cybersecurity

Day one of the event will also feature Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, Saudi Arabias Minister of Energy, who will address the necessary steps required by the international energy sector to ensure greater cybersecurity for the industry, while Aramcos President and CEO, Amin H Nasser, will discuss cybersecurity resilience across the energy supply chain.

Throughout the event, global industry leaders will address a variety of critical Cyberspace topics including AI Algorithms, how to keep children safe online and the psychology of cybercriminals.

Other prominent speakers include:

Jeremy Jurgens - Managing Director at the World Economic Forum

Doreen Bogdan-Martin - Secretary-General-elect of International Telecommunication Union

Eng Nadhmi Alnasr, CEO of NEOM

Goran Marby -President and CEO of ICANN

Ursula Owusu-Ekuful - Minister for Communications and Digitalisation of Ghana

Isa Ali Ibrahim - Minister of Communications and Digital Economy of The Federal Republic of Nigeria

Range of experts

Eng Abdurahman Al Hassan, Deputy Governor of Saudi Arabias National Cybersecurity Authority for the Strategy and International Cooperation Sector, said: We are excited to convene a range of experts in Riyadh to discuss the most pertinent cybersecurity issues of the day. We are taking a holistic approach, with a programme designed to expand the discussion beyond technical topics, to include socioeconomic development and geo-political issues related to cybersecurity. Key policy matters will be addressed, with perspectives sought from across sectors enabling collective solutions.

We are working with knowledge partners comprised of leading international organisations and institutions including ITU, UNICEF, ETRI and UNITAR among many others. The collaboration will bring to bear a huge depth of expertise spanning the full spectrum of Cyberspace policy and issues, Al Hassan concluded.-- TradeArabia News Service
Five people were killed in a suicide bombing targeting a military training camp in Somalia, army officials told AFP Sunday, in an attack claimed by Al-Shabaab jihadists one week after twin blasts left 116 dead.

Saturday's attack on the camp in Somalia's capital Mogadishu came as the government intensifies its fight against the Islamists who have led a 15-year insurgency in the troubled Horn of Africa nation.

"The suicide bomb explosion occurred at the entrance and five new recruits died in the blast, more than ten others were wounded," military officer Mohamed Abdullahi told AFP.

Army official Adan Yare also said five people had died in the attack, which left several injured.

"Among the casualties are civilians who stayed near" the Xero Nacnac training camp for army recruits, he told AFP.

There was no official statement from the government about the attack, which was claimed by Al-Shabaab.

The Al-Qaeda-linked fighters have stepped up their attacks in Somalia since President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud took office in May and vowed an "all-out war" against the jihadists.

On Friday, the ministry of information said the army had killed more than 100 Al-Shabaab fighters in an operation in central Hirshabelle state.

Last weekend, the militants carried out twin car bombings targeting the education ministry in the deadliest assault on the country in five years.

The attack took place at the same junction where a truck packed with explosives blew up on October 14, 2017, killing 512 people and injuring more than 290, the deadliest attack in Somalia.

In August, the group launched a 30-hour gun and bomb attack on the popular Hayat hotel in Mogadishu, killing 21 people and wounding 117.

The insurgents, who have been seeking to overthrow the fragile foreign-backed government in Mogadishu, were driven out of the capital in 2011 by an African Union force.

But the group still controls swathes of countryside and continues to wage deadly strikes on civilian, political and military targets.

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Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged Sunday to beef up Japan's naval and military capacity, warning that nations must prepare to face aggressors.

Kishida also condemned Russia's war in Ukraine and denounced North Korea's recent blitz of missile tests, one of which flew over Japan for the first time since 2017 and prompted a rare evacuation warning.

"We must prepare ourselves for an era when actors emerge to disobey rules and use force or threats to destroy the peace and safety of other nations," Kishida said as he addressed Japan's international fleet review.

The leader's remarks come as Tokyo is drafting security plans that may call for doubling the nation's defence spending within five years. That would represent a sea change in Japan, where the pacifist constitution limits its military capacity.

"We will accelerate realistic discussions on what's needed to defend our people by keeping all options on the table," Kishida said.

"The enhancement (of Japan's naval capacity) cannot wait, including construction of new naval ships, bolstering our missile defence capacity and improvement of the work conditions and compensations for our (military) personnel," he said.

He did not name China but said that "the national security environment surrounding our nation is growing more severe including the East China Sea and South China Sea," where Beijing has taken assertive positions in territorial disputes with countries including Japan.

Kishida added that Japan will ensure transparency of its military spending.

"Japan will maintain our way as a pacifist country as we have done so since the end of (World War II)," he said.

The fleet review gathered ships from Japan and 12 other countries -- including Australia, India and the United States -- at Sagami Bay, south of Tokyo.

South Korea also took part for the first time in seven years, as Tokyo and Seoul attempt to mend strained relations.

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Italian authorities prevented 35 migrants they did not deem vulnerable from getting off a boat in Sicily on Sunday as Italy's far-right-led government takes a hard line against privately operated maritime rescue ships in Italian waters.

The impact of a directive ushered in by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi became clearer overnight. The Humanity 1, carrying 179 rescued passengers, was given access to the Sicilian port, but three other rescue boats run by non-governmental organizations and carrying 900 more people remained at sea.

The NGOs reported people sleeping on floors and decks, the spread of fever-inducing infections and scabies, and food and medical supplies nearing depletion. Some migrants have been on the ships for more than two weeks.

Officials at the German-run charity SOS Humanity, which operates the Humanity 1, challenged Italy's decision to distinguish passengers considered "vulnerable'' or not. All the ship's passengers were rescued at sea, and that alone qualified them for a safe port under international law, the organization said.

"As we feared, not everyone was allowed to disembark,'' SOS Humanity spokesperson Wasil Schauseil said Sunday.

"Our doctor was asked to make a selection of the people who are in a bad medical condition, and the doctor replied everyone is in a vulnerable situation, so she would not make the selection,'' Schauseil said.

Over 100 of the 179 people on Humanity 1 were unaccompanied minors, according to the charity.

Two Italian doctors eventually boarded the ship after midnight and conducted exams through the night to determine which people on board had medical conditions that made them vulnerable.

"The doctors declared 36 people not in an emergency. After receiving the news, one person collapsed and lost consciousness and had to be taken by an ambulance,'' Schauseil said. "That is why 35 people are on board.

"You can imagine the condition of the people. It is very devastating,'' he said.

The Humanity 1 has not yet received orders to leave the port, as specified in the directive signed by three Italian ministers Friday night. It specified the ship could remain in Italian waters just long enough to determine which passengers were vulnerable, defined as minors and people with medical emergencies.

"Everyone has a right to disembark, and we expect everyone can disembark,'' Schauseil said. "We do not think this is valid under international law.''

Three other ships carrying rescued migrants remained at sea, two in Italian waters and one in international waters, after the crews made repeated requests for safe ports.

The Norway-flagged Geo Barents, carrying 572 migrants, and the German-run Rise Above, carrying 93, entered Italian waters east of Sicily over the weekend to seek protection from storm-swollen seas.

The Ocean Viking, operated by the European charity SOS Mediteranee, with 234 migrants on board, remained in international waters, south of the Strait of Messina.

The confrontational stance taken by Premier Giorgia Meloni's government is reminiscent of the standoffs orchestrated by Matteo Salvini, now Meloni's infrastructure minister in charge of ports, during his brief 2018-2019 stint as interior minister.

Italy's new government is insisting the countries whose flags the charity-run ships fly must take in the migrants. Late Friday, Piantedosi described such vessels as "islands'' under the jurisdiction of the flag countries.

In a Facebook video, Salvini repeated his allegations that the presence of the humanitarian boats encourages smugglers.

Nongovernmental organizations reject the government's interpretation, saying they are obligated by the law of the sea to rescue people in distress and that coastal nations are obligated to provide a safe port as soon as feasible.

While the humanitarian-run boats are being denied a safe port, thousands of migrants have reached Italian shores over the last week, either on their own in fishing boats or after being rescued at sea by Italian authorities. They account for 85 percent of all arrivals, according to the government.

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Floward, the go-to online flowers and gifts delivery destination in MENA and UK announced the launch of its annual Singles Day campaign.

Stemming from Flowards belief to celebrate each person; the company launched its annual Singles Day campaign celebrating single people. Through its campaign which serves as invitation for love, celebration, and self-appreciation, Floward dedicated a song titled Loving me, myself and I to all the single people in its communities. Floward also launched a special collection of luxurious products and amazing gifts to mark the occasion.

Singles Day is an international occasion that falls on 11/11 of every year to highlight the importance of showing gratitude to oneself and self-love; it also invites the community to celebrate the individuals who are single, their achievements, and their lives.

Floward has been celebrating this occasion for four consecutive years with an aim to create occasions to give members in its communities the chance to express their emotions in a kind way that creates an atmosphere of communal closeness.

Established in 2017, Floward is a full-fledged e-commerce solution that offers prime fresh-cut flowers sourced from the best growers and farmers around the world and arranged locally by a team of florists and designers. Floward also offers cakes, chocolate and perfumes curated by the regions most exciting designers bundled with its flower arrangements and manages last-mile same-day delivery to ensure the best customer experience.

###

About Floward:

Founded in 2017, Floward is the preferred online flowers and gifts destination in the MENA region that offers a wide range of fresh-cut flowers and a variety of accessories for every occasion. Floward procures flowers from the best farmers and growers around the world which are arranged by a team of florists and delivered to the customer through its last-mile delivery fleet.

www.floward.com

----

For any media inquiry contact:

Nai Issa on +965 60064186 and [email protected]

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There is nothing new in Sharm El-Sheikh hosting high-profile conferences. In the last three decades, writes Dina Ezzat, the Red Sea resort has seen many meetings between international and regional leaders. According to a retired Egyptian diplomat, whenever something big was happening in the region it had to be in Sharm El-Sheikh, especially when it involved meetings on the Arab-Israeli struggle.

Sharm El-Shiekh hosts at least 30,000 representatives from over 190 UN member states, including 80 world leaders. According to Khaled Fouda, governor of South Sinai, the city has undergone a LE15 billion overhaul in preparation. The airport and road network have been upgraded, security systems updated and a new solar power plant will secure electricity supplies to the more than 100 hotels that will be hosting participants.

While the main focus of the event will be the climate change agenda, with intense negotiations on the financing of mitigation and adaptation schemes, Egyptian and foreign diplomats agree that a host of other political issues will also be raised at the gathering of leaders.

The war in Ukraine will be impossible to ignore. The war is likely to continue well beyond February next year. There are no reasons to think that the parties on either side are ready to put down their arms, said a European diplomat based in Cairo. Growing awareness in leading capitals that the war is going to be long and painful has lent momentum to devising measures to ensure the tragic humanitarian costs are not exacerbated. The need to establish red lines that are not crossed, said the diplomat, was already broached in September during the UN General Assembly, and COP27 offers an opportunity for world leaders to review the situation.

Some of the issues related to the war directly relate to climate change. Some European countries have suspended plans to opt for cleaner energy and shut down nuclear power plants in order to reduce their dependency on Russian gas.

The US has increased exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe, and the continent is also looking for other suppliers, including from the east Mediterranean, as it scramble secure its winter needs.

World leaders in Sharm will be discussing less a strict energy agenda than a broader political agenda capable of ensuring the European energy crisis does not turn into an added hazard for climate change. They will also, adds the European diplomat, address a range of ideas on military de-escalation.

Food security will also be examined, both in relation to climate change and the Russia-Ukraine war and Moscows decision this week to suspend the UN brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed deep concern over the Russian decision. Scheduled to arrive Sunday in Algeria to take part in the Arab Summit, Guterres delayed his arrival in order to attend to the issue.

The spillover of the Arab Summit, which closed on 2 November, of Israeli elections and the mid-term US Congressional elections, will also reverberate in Sharm El-Sheikh.

Egyptian diplomatic sources say that Egypt has made concerted efforts to guarantee two issues  non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign Arab states and Palestinian-Israeli peace  receive their fair share of attention at this years Arab Summit, with the latter likely to garner attention in Sharm given increasing levels of tension in the West Bank and Gaza and expectations of either a return to office of Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu or of the formation of a government bringing together Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz. Israeli Prime Minister Lapid this week posited a third disturbing scenario when he said he feared Netanyahu might refuse to accept defeat.

In Sharm El-Sheikh, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will almost certainly raise concerns over the impact of internal Israeli politics on Palestinian affairs as well as frustrations over the collapse in international support for funding environmental projects in Gaza and the West Bank, including addressing levels of pollution along the coast of Gaza and the tons of material waste from batteries used to generate electricity in the densely populated and impoverished Strip.

According to a paper published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace late last week, as COP27 host Egypt finds itself on the world stage as a leading voice for the Global South, especially Africa, and Egypt looks to the summit as an opportunity to burnish its international prestige, emphasise its Afro-Arab identity, and position Cairo as a bridge-builder between the Global South and North.

Egypts hosting of COP27 should be seen as a continuation of a recent evolution wherein Cairo is pivoting back to Africa as a hybrid player, pitching itself as a gateway to Africa and a strategic player with a growing footprint on the continent, wrote Mohamed Soliman, author of the paper.

Soliman added that Egypt hopes to use the spotlight to raise awareness of the double whammy of a climate crisis that it itself faces.

Egypt is a water-poor nation and is also facing the dark reality of reduced water supplies from the Nile because of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which is expected to impact Egypts water share as Cairo depends on the river for more than 90 per cent of its water.

They are points echoed by an Egyptian diplomat. Egypt, he says, will definitely use the opportunity to bring up the unresolved conflict over the filling and operation of GERD. For three years Ethiopia has undertaken annual fillings of the GERD reservoir during the rainy season in the absence of an agreement with the two downstream riparian states. And while a resolution will be adopted by the Arab summit in support of the fair and legitimate demands of Egypt and Sudan, the management of the flood is, says the diplomat, something that will be brought to the attention of COP27.

A version of this article appears in print in the 3 November, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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OPEC is honoured to participate in COP27 in Egypt at such a critical juncture for the UN Climate Change Conference.

With the COP returning to Africa, and with Egypt a country that has an array of energy resources, including hydrocarbons, the event is a unique opportunity for the world to come together and ensure that all voices are heard.

Egypt has a long history of promoting dialogue and cooperation. In fact, it played a central role in the establishment of OPEC. In April 1959, Cairo hosted the first Arab Petroleum Congress and it was on the sidelines of this event that the five founding fathers of OPEC forged a gentlemens agreement, or what has become known as the Maadi Pact. It was here where the idea of OPEC was incubated, before the organisation came into the world in Baghdad in September 1960.

Today, the challenges around energy, climate, and sustainable development are enormous and this means the parameters of the discourse need to be inclusive. We need every voice at the table.

As the energy affordability, security, and sustainability challenges we have faced this past year have shown, we cannot return to a world that is limited by the question are you for, or against fossil fuels? It constrains the available options.

With populations and economies growing, the world will need more energy in the decades to come. In our recently released World Oil Outlook, global energy demand expands by 23 per cent to 2045. Meeting this growth, while also lowering global emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, requires a broad energy mix and unprecedented investment and collaboration.

For the oil industry alone, we see global investment requirements totalling $12.1 trillion between now and 2045. This is equal to over $500 billion each year.

Recent annual levels have been significantly below this, due to industry downturns, the pandemic, and the increasing focus on environmental, social and governance issues.

Looking at energy holistically, the sustainability of the global system is at stake.

All industry policymakers and stakeholders need to work together to ensure a long-term investment-friendly climate, with sufficient finance available. One that works for producers and consumers, and developed and developing countries.

We have heard appeals for oil and gas producing countries to play a key role in ensuring stable and sustainable global energy supplies. At the same time, however, we have also heard calls from industrialised countries to end financing in fossil fuel projects.

Clear and transparent signals of the continuing importance of oil to our energy future are required, particularly given the industrys high upfront capital costs and long lead times.

In fact, for global oil production to just stand still requires massive investment. Average annual industry decline rates of around five per cent means we need to add five million barrels a day every year to just keep current production levels.

We need a realistic view of the investment challenges and understand what each energy can offer in an orderly and inclusive energy transition. If the world does not get it right, it could sow the seeds of future energy crises.

OPEC member countries are ready, willing, and able to play a key role in helping provide energy to the world and in reducing emissions. I heard this very clearly at ADIPEC in the UAE earlier in November, a country that will follow Egypt and host COP28 in 2023.

We are investing in upstream and downstream capacity. We are mobilising cleaner technologies as well as our vast pool of human expertise to help decarbonise the industry. We are making major investments in renewables and hydrogen capacity.

History has shown us that energy transitions evolve slowly, take many decades, and have many paths. We need to remember the sad reality that over 700 million people still have no access to electricity and 2.4 billion still use inefficient and polluting systems.

What can be viewed in the current market turmoil is what can occur if we do not see energys interwoven complexities. We need to work with each other, and not against each other.

COP27 has been labelled The Implementation COP and we welcome calls from the host to ensure that all stakeholders effectively engage in this critical global conversation, with a strong focus on transition.

We are supportive of our hosts in making the conference an impactful event. We hope the future sees investments and finance focusing on an all-peoples, all-fuels, and all-technologies approach. OPEC subscribes to a sustainable path forward, one that works for all.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 3 November, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the governors of Germany's 16 states agreed Wednesday on a two-stage plan to tackle high gas prices that largely mirrors the recommendations last month of an expert panel.

Some other European Union countries think the move by the 27-nation bloc's biggest economy should have been coordinated with them and have expressed concern that it could push up prices elsewhere.

Scholz has repeatedly defended the plan, insisting that Germany is showing solidarity with the rest of Europe and its program is similar in scope to other countries'.

Scholz's Cabinet agreed that the state will take on the cost of gas customers' monthly bill in December. That will be followed by a price subsidy for part of what households use starting in March and through April 2024.

Officials aim to backdate the start to Feb. 1; state governors are still pressing the federal government to find a way to make it valid for January too.

For businesses, the so-called "gas price brake'' is being introduced in January already.

In addition to that, an "electricity price brake'' is to take effect on Jan. 1, capping the cost of part of what households and businesses use. It will be financed in part by using "windfall profits'' that many electricity generators have run up as a result of high energy costs.

German officials say the plan, which will limit subsidies to a proportion of pre-crisis use, will still encourage people to save energy.

"One thing is clear, (costs) won't quite go down to the level we had before the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, but the increase won't be as enormous as what some people have received in the way of bills,'' Scholz said.

Both houses of parliament have cleared the way for the government to borrow the money for the plan.
Iraqi lawmakers were due Sunday to examine a bill seeking to reestablish military conscription in the country, before the first reading was postponed.

Service in the armed forces was mandatory in Iraq from 1935 up until 2003, when a US-led invasion toppled former dictator Saddam Hussein.

A first reading of the bill was scheduled to be held Sunday but was postponed to Tuesday, the parliament's press service said, without specifying the reason for the postponement.

The bill would pave the way for the conscription of young men aged 18 to 35, for terms between three and 18 months depending on their education level, MP Yasser Iskander Watout told AFP.

They would receive allowances ranging from 600,000 to 700,000 Iraqi dinars (more than $400), added Watout, who serves on the legislature's defence committee.

It would take two years after the passing of the law to fully restore conscription, Watout said, adding that only-sons and breadwinners would be exempted.

Since Saddam's overthrow Iraq has suffered sectarian conflict that culminated in the Islamic State group seizing large swathes of territory, before the jihadists' defeat in late 2017 by Iraqi forces backed by a US-led military coalition.

That anti-IS coalition continued a combat role in Iraq until last December, but roughly 2,500 American soldiers remain in Iraq to offer training, advice and assistance to national forces.

The bill was initially submitted by the defence ministry in August 2021, under the government of then-prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi.

Iraq later that year elected a new parliament that only last month swore in a government led by Mohammed Shia al-Sudani after a year of political paralysis.

Despite the declared victory over IS, members of the group continue to stage intermittent attacks on government forces and the former paramilitary organisation Hashed al-Shaabi, now integrated into the regular forces.

This persistent "terrorist threat" prompted MP Sikfan Sindi to call, in a recent interview with state news agency INA, for the reinstatement of military service.

Though it is unclear whether the bill would receive much backing in parliament, it has already drawn a backlash within the legislature and beyond.

"The militarisation of society will not create patriotism," lawmaker Saeb Khidr of the minority Yazidi community, which was brutalised by IS, told AFP.

In a country where nearly four out of 10 young people are unemployed, former electricity minister Louai al-Khatib suggested it was more important to "create centres for professional training" rather than reinstate conscription.

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KYODO NEWS - Nov 6, 2022 - 14:30 | All, Japan

Emperor Naruhito underwent a prostate examination at the University of Tokyo Hospital on Sunday after a rise in a tumor marker, the Imperial Household Agency said.

The 62-year-old arrived at the hospital at around 9:30 a.m., underwent an MRI scan and left at around 1 p.m., the agency said. The result of the scan will be learned in a few days, it added.

The emperor has no symptoms. When the agency announced in early October that the emperor would undergo an examination, it said his prostate specific antigen level was slightly higher than normal and "showing a slightly worrying movement."

The doctors at the hospital will study the result and determine whether a biopsy is required, the agency said.

The emperor has been engaged in official duties since the announcement regarding the medical examination and visited Okinawa with Empress Masako late last month.

In 2007, the emperor had endoscopic surgery to remove a benign duodenal polyp, but he has not had any other medical problems.

Related coverage:

Japan emperor opens festivals in 50th anniv. yr of Okinawa's return

Japan emperor to undergo prostate exam as tumor marker level rises

Japan emperor, empress leave for Queen Elizabeth's state funeral
Miss Grand International 2021 mired in multiple court battles

Miss Grand International 2021 Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien has found herself mired in multiple court cases involving defamation claims and counter-accusations of unpaid loans.









Miss Grand International 2021 Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien



In the lawsuit recently sent to the Go Vap District People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City, the crowned beauty wanted the court to request Dang Thuy Trang to remove all public claims and images about her, correct that information and issue an apology.



According to Thuy Tien, Trang posted numerous photos of Tien posing with Le Hoang Long, who was recently arrested for leading a prostitution ring, with insinuations that she was related to the ring.



Trang had also spread false information that Thuy Tien had refused to pay a debt of VND1.50 billion.



Thuy Tien also asked Trang to pay VND 387.60 million in compensation to cover her legal and mental health costs.



In a post on her social media account on November 4, Thuy Tien said that the false information had seriously affected her mental health and work.



"I did sign the loan agreement with Trang but then I never received the money from her," she wrote. "At the age of 19, I had thought that everyone was treating me with love and kindness, but then I was cheated."





Go Vap District People's Court also received papers from Dang Thuy Trang filed against Thuy Tien, asking her to repay debts and compensation of VND 2.40 billion.

Dang Thuy Trang, who is the sister and manager of Miss Vietnam Ocean 2014 Dang Thu Thao, said that Thuy Tien had borrowed VND1.5 billion to cover the costs when she competed in the Miss Southern Vietnam 2017 pageant. The loan agreement said that Tien would repay the money right after the competition. If Tien won the competition,Trang would become her manager and get commissions from Tien's shows. However, Tien failed to repay the loan and refused to work with Trang after she was placed as first runner-up in the competition.



Trang added that in April 2019, Tien agreed to meet Trang at a coffee shop in HCM City to repay the loan. However, at the meeting, Tien suddenly snatched the loan agreement from Trang and tore it up. She has continued to refuse to repay the loan until now.



Trang shared in some Facebook posts that she wanted to give Tien more time to develop her career and hoped that she would repay her later. But as she got more titles and became more famous, she still ignored the loan and even negatively talked about Trang on her social media sites.

Trang therefore filed a lawsuit against the crowned beauty, asking her to repay the debt of VND1.50 billion and compensation of VND 932 million.



Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien was crowned Miss Grand International 2021, becoming the first Vietnamese contestant to win the title.
QatarEnergy has announced a successful bid for Parcel 8 of the Orphan Basin, offshore the province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada.



The Parcel 8 winning bid by QatarEnergy (30% working interest) and ExxonMobil (operator, with a 70% working interest) was announced by the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) as part of the 2022 Newfoundland and Labrador Call For Bids NL22-CFB01.



Commenting on this occasion, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President & CEO of QatarEnergy, said: We are pleased to be the successful bidder in Parcel 8 offshore Canada, and look forward to maturing the lead prospects potential, testing an exciting play within a transparent and stable regulatory environment.



"This successful bid demonstrates our ambition to further increase our footprint in the Atlantic basin, as part of our international growth drive. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the C-NLOPB for an efficient tender process, as well as our strategic partner, ExxonMobil, for their excellent cooperation in achieving this result, he added.



Located offshore Eastern Canada, Parcel 8 lies in water depths of 2,500 to 3,000 meters and covers an area of approximately 2,700 sq km. Entry to the Parcel 8 license is subject to customary government approvals, a QatarEnergy statement said.  TradeArabia News Service
By Reito Kaneko, KYODO NEWS - Nov 6, 2022 - 17:59 | All, Japan

Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force held an international naval fleet review Sunday in the wake of North Korea firing off ballistic missiles at an unprecedented pace, with South Korea's navy participating amid efforts by the two East Asian neighbors to thaw their icy relations.

The MSDF said that 18 vessels from 12 nations, including Australia, Canada, India and the United States, as well as a total of six French and U.S. warplanes, joined the review.

A mass of vessels and aircraft gathered at Sagami Bay off Kanagawa Prefecture, with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida inspecting the fleets.

On board the MSDF carrier Izumo, Kishida said North Korea has been launching ballistic missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles, more frequently than ever since earlier this year.

"North Korea fired a missile that flew over our country," Kishida said, referring to one launched on Oct. 4. "We can never tolerate (North Korea's) nuclear and missile development," he said.

The prime minister also said Japan cannot accept Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying, "Unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, such as the invasion of Ukraine, must never be tolerated in any part of the world."

In a veiled reference against China, Kishida said, "The security environment surrounding our country, including the East China Sea and the South China Sea, is rapidly becoming more severe," stressing the necessity to prepare against any threat and vowing to drastically ramp up Japan's defense capabilities.

Japan hosted the International Fleet Review for the first time in 20 years to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the MSDF this year. The country has held a fleet review on a smaller scale every three years in principle and South Korea's last participation in such an event was in 2015.

In 2019, Japan did not invite South Korea to a fleet review, which was eventually canceled due to a typhoon.

The country's participation comes as President Yoon Suk Yeol has been working to improve trilateral defense cooperation with the United States and Japan. He has adopted a hard-line stance against North Korea.

Relations between Japan and South Korea sank to their lowest level in decades under Yoon's progressive predecessor Moon Jae In over disputes stemming from Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, including compensation demands from South Koreans over wartime labor.

Defense cooperation between the two countries -- U.S. security allies in the region -- also deteriorated as the South Korean navy allegedly locked fire-control radar on an MSDF patrol plane in 2018.

Japan had also invited China to the fleet review, the Defense Ministry has said. But amid tense bilateral ties, Beijing had informed Tokyo that it would not join the naval event, though it said it will participate in a two-day Western Pacific Naval Symposium to be held in Yokohama from Monday.

The symposium will draw top naval officers from nearly 30 countries, including observers, to discuss maritime security, the ministry said.

Japan had extended an invitation to all member nations of the biennial naval symposium to attend the review but later rescinded its invitation to Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in late February.

Related coverage:

Japan, South Korea look to hold summit in mid-Nov.: source

South Korea scrambles jets after 180 North Korean military flights detected

Yoon, ex-Japan PM Aso agree dialogue needed to improve ties
KYODO NEWS - Nov 6, 2022 - 20:03 | Arts, All, Japan

Local authorities in the central Japanese city of Gifu were on maximum alert Sunday as 460,000 people, more than the city's population, flocked to a festival to catch a glimpse of a superstar dressed as a warlord astride a horse.

The Gifu Nobunaga Festival went off mostly without a hitch, although three women had to be taken to the hospital with minor injuries. Strict crowd control measures were in place, with a deadly Halloween crush in Seoul, South Korea, still a fresh memory.

The two-day festival, which began Saturday, culminated Sunday with a parade of people dressed as samurais, led by actor Takuya Kimura on horseback and dressed as the 16th-century warlord Oda Nobunaga, who unified half of Japan's provinces under his rule.

Kimura, 49, and Hideaki Ito, 47, an actor from Gifu, as well as other performers, started the warrior parade along the main street in the city center around 1:30 p.m., with Kimura raising a fan high in the air and shouting a battle cry, "All hands, go forth," followed by those dressed as soldiers letting out a roar.

Roadside spectators cheered and took pictures and videos with their smartphones from behind fences as the city authorities divided the viewing area into 16 sections and restricted the movement of spectators to prevent accidents.

Katsuko Shibata, 88, of Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, was temporarily discharged from the hospital to see the festival. Speaking from a wheelchair and all smiles, she said, "Seeing Kimu Taku made my heart feel better," using the star's moniker.

Since the participation of the two actors was announced, the festival has attracted national attention, with more than 960,000 people -- more than twice the city's population of 400,000 -- applying for admission, 64 times the viewing area's capacity of 15,000.

An extra viewing space for the unsuccessful applicants was set up as many were expected to show up. The city and Gifu prefectural police also introduced large-scale traffic regulations and temporarily blocked the stairs around JR Gifu Station to avoid a "crowd avalanche."

The turnout of 460,000 this year was much higher than the previous event in 2019, which drew about 250,000 visitors. The festival was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the spread of the coronavirus.

Kimura, a member of the Japanese pop idol group SMAP, active between 1988 and 2016, attended a talk event in Gifu after the festival and said, "I am very happy that we were able to stage the parade safely under controlled circumstances. I am grateful."

Ito said, "Seeing the joy on the faces of the people along the route made me feel happy that we were able to hold this event," in a voice that seemed to be choked by emotion.

The festival started in Gifu in 1957 to honor Nobunaga, who is said to have contributed to the city's development. The original model was a warrior parade held in 1953 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Nobunaga's entry into the castle of Inabayama, later known as Gifu Castle.

Kimura was cast as Nobunaga in this year's festival as the actor will play the role of the warlord in the movie "The LEGEND & BUTTERFLY" to be released in Japan in January.

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By Ko Hirano, KYODO NEWS - Nov 6, 2022 - 11:05 | World, All, Japan

Japan should step up intelligence sharing and military exercises with the United States as part of efforts to boost deterrence and the response capabilities of the bilateral alliance against possible contingencies over Taiwan and North Korea, according to a former Biden Senate aid.

Frank Jannuzi, now president of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation in Washington, also welcomed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's call for a "substantial increase" in Japan's defense spending and his not ruling out the introduction of counterstrike capabilities.

Jannuzi made the remarks as senior U.S. military officers have said China could attempt to take control of Taiwan by 2027, or even this year or 2023. Speculation is also growing that North Korea may carry out a seventh nuclear test.

The fate of Taiwan has direct links to the security of Japan. Following a trip to Taipei by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in August, the Chinese military held massive exercises around the self-ruled democratic island including the launch of ballistic missiles, five of which fell into Japan's exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea for the first time.

Cross-strait tensions have risen further since Chinese President Xi Jinping -- speaking at a twice-a-decade Communist Party congress last month, where he cemented his position as the country's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong -- said the mainland will never renounce the right to use force to bring Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province, under its control.

China has also been attempting to undermine Japan's administration of the Senkaku Islands, which it claims and calls Diaoyu, near Taiwan.

"Japan has close economic relations with Taiwan and I think it is pretty clear that the Japanese government believes an attack on Taiwan would constitute a grave threat to Japan's national security interests," Jannuzi said in an interview during a recent visit to Tokyo.

"Therefore it would be allowed under the Constitution for Japan to join international efforts to try to defend Taiwan," said Jannuzi, who for 12 years advised the current U.S. president, Joe Biden, on East Asian and Pacific affairs when Biden was a senator on the upper chamber's Foreign Relations Committee.

"This is a message that needs to be communicated more clearly to the Chinese."

Jannuzi urged Japan to strengthen its intelligence-sharing system with the United States to the level Washington has with its Five Eyes partners so as to better assess what China, North Korea and Russia are doing in the region and reach a consensus about their strategic capabilities.

The Five Eyes intelligence alliance involves Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.

"In order for this to happen, Japan needs to do a better job on information security, cybersecurity, Earth observation and satellite capability so that it can achieve the level of integration with the U.S. intelligence community that is necessary to have a fully integrated analytic and intelligence-sharing operation," Jannuzi said.

"This is a high priority for the Biden-Kishida partnership," he said. "I've spoken to senior U.S. government officials about this challenge, and I know that Japan is working on it."

In addition to boosting capabilities such as air defense, ballistic missile defense and anti-submarine capability, Japan must demonstrate its readiness to respond to contingencies over Taiwan and North Korea by conducting more multilateral exercises with the United States, South Korea and other partners, according to Jannuzi.

Besides increased deterrence, he suggested Biden and Kishida promote diplomacy with Xi, saying the Nov. 15-16 summit of the Group of 20 major economies in Bali, Indonesia, will provide a good opportunity for interactions.

"The United States needs to have talks with China on Taiwan, North Korea, human rights and nuclear arms control, and it needs to happen directly at a senior level, and it's not happening enough," Jannuzi said. "I think it's very important that Japan also have that kind of bilateral dialogue with China."

Despite a spate of recent missile launches and signs of preparations for a test to miniaturize nuclear warheads by North Korea, Pyongyang's weapons development is low on the U.S. foreign policy list, he said.

Jannuzi added it will be difficult to halt North Korea's provocations without China taking serious economic action against its neighbor, something he calls unlikely.

"President Biden knows the best that we might negotiate would be some limitation on the North Korean nuclear program," he said, arguing the North's leader Kim Jong Un views holding on to nuclear weapons as vital for the survival of his regime, especially after seeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"Mr. Biden also knows that such a limited amount of progress would require major concessions on sanctions," Jannuzi said. "Such a deal could be negotiable, but he would be condemned for lifting sanctions in exchange for only partial denuclearization."

"As a result of this, it's not a high-priority diplomatic effort because the return on the investment is too low," he said.

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KYODO NEWS - Nov 6, 2022 - 21:14 | All, World

Ukraine's so-called IT army has executed cyberattacks on around 8,000 Russian resources, successfully targeting the defense industry and countering disinformation campaigns by state-sponsored outlets, according to Ukraine's deputy minister of digital transformation.

Stressing the importance of strengthening joint efforts to stop fake news, Georgii Dubynskyi told Kyodo News in a recent online interview that "Information war, specifically in cyberspace, is a new dimension of this warfare and very, very dangerous."

Ukraine's IT army, estimated to number around 215,000, is an anonymous group predominantly made up of volunteers, Dubynskyi said. He believes the team consists not only of Ukrainian IT experts but also enjoys "support from the global IT community" in what he calls "digital solidarity."

Operating through the messaging app Telegram, the cyber army targets Russian state-sponsored media outlets "spreading disinformation in brainwashing their own population," as well as financial drivers of the war.

"If you stop their activity at least for one day, many lives of our citizens and soldiers are saved," said Dubynskyi, referring to funding from sources such as Russian energy firm Gazprom.

The IT army has also successfully attacked the website of the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary organization, to delete large amounts of data, he added.

Dubynskyi has accused Russia of using tools, such as artificial intelligence, to create "sophisticated fake news" to spread disinformation to Africa, the Middle East, South America, India, and China to gain support at the United Nations.

Ukraine has been the target of cyberattacks from Russia since 2014, when Moscow unilaterally annexed the Crimean Peninsula. Kyiv has focused on cyber defense since then, according to Dubynskyi.

But following Russia's invasion in February, the country launched a cyber offense unit with the help of tech-savvy civilians, he said.

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Participants attend the press conference on World Openness Report 2022 & International Symposium on Current Situation and Prospects of World Openness during the fifth Hongqiao International Economic Forum in Shanghai, east China, Nov. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Xiang)

SHANGHAI, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- The World Openness Index, gauging the openness levels of 129 economies from 2008 to 2020, was released on Saturday at the fifth Hongqiao International Economic Forum in Shanghai.

In 2020, the World Openness Index was at 0.7491, down 0.02 percent from 2019. This was mainly due to the strengthening of cross-border social isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The index, first released in 2021, was compiled by the Institute of World Economics and Politics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Research Center for the Hongqiao International Economic Forum. It was included in the World Openness Report 2022.

The 10 most open economies in 2020 were Singapore, Germany, China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, Malta, France, and the United Kingdom, according to the index.

China's openness index jumped from 0.7107 in 2012 to 0.7507 in 2020, up 5.6 percent, and its ranking rose from the 47th to the 39th.

Meanwhile, BRICS countries and economies along the Belt and Road have opened wider, as indicated by the index. In 2020, the openness index of Belt and Road economies was at 0.7218, up 0.4 percent from 2019, and the BRICS openness index rose 0.2 percent to 0.7091 in 2020.

The United States, which was the most open economy in 2008, slid to the 23rd place.

The report noted that, amid the security challenges faced by the world, all countries should seek peace through openness and inclusiveness, promote security through win-win cooperation, and jointly create a globalized future. 
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz jointly meet with representatives of the Chinese and German business community at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 4, 2022. The two leaders listened to the ideas of the business leaders on deepening China-Germany business cooperation, and exchanged views with them. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz jointly met with representatives of the Chinese and German business community at the Great Hall of the People on Friday evening.

The two leaders listened to the ideas of the business leaders on deepening China-Germany business cooperation, and exchanged views with them.

Recognizing China and Germany as major economies in the world and each other's important partners, Li said that businesses of the two countries enjoy longstanding cooperation, the bilateral economic and trade ties have long been deeply integrated, and severing these ties and decoupling is simply impossible.

The growth of economic and trade ties is ultimately driven by businesses through their cooperation in production and operation, said Li, adding that given the complexities in the world economy, economic and trade interactions between market players are crucial for buttressing the economic development of both countries.

The premier stressed that China wishes to work with Germany to make a bigger pie of cooperation, foster a favorable environment for the development of businesses, and support businesses of the two countries in working with each other to grow together amid cooperation. "This is not only good for China and Germany, but also conducive to the stability and smooth functioning of global industrial and supply chains."

Li pointed out that China, as a developing country with more than 1.4 billion people, is a big market. The Chinese economy has become deeply integrated into the world, and its market potential is steadily releasing, he added.

"China will unswervingly expand opening-up, uphold free and fair trade, and follow market principles and business rules," said Li, adding that the reform to streamline government administration, improve regulation and upgrade services will be advanced, and work will continue to foster a market-oriented and law-based business environment up to international standards. Domestic and foreign investors and enterprises under all types of ownership will be treated fairly and as equals.

Li encouraged German companies to actively invest and do business in China, remain committed to the Chinese market, deepen cooperation with Chinese counterparts, and properly address issues and challenges that emerge in the course of cooperation in the spirit of mutual benefit.

Li briefed the participants on the state of China's economy. He said that due to the shocks from factors beyond expectation, the Chinese economy faced new downward pressures this year, with a notable decline early in the second quarter.

"We responded to the situation with resolute and swift actions, focusing on supporting market entities and keeping employment and prices stable. We introduced and implemented a policy package for stabilizing the economy and follow-up measures," said the premier.

Through painstaking efforts, the downturn was reversed in time and the economy is stabilizing and picking up, said Li, adding that despite various challenges, the over 160 million market entities in China have shown strong resilience and vitality.

"This is our source of confidence and strength in maintaining the sound and steady performance of the economy. We believe that China's economy will achieve better development," Li stressed.

For his part, Scholz noted that globalization brings affluence and prosperity, and that Germany-China cooperation delivers fruitful results. He underscored the value of candid communication between the two sides and called for efforts to preserve such partnership.

Germany is ready to work with China to strengthen equal-footed and mutually beneficial cooperation and create a fair market environment for their entrepreneurs to do business in each other's countries, so as to deliver benefits to both sides, Scholz said.

Wang Yi and He Lifeng were present at the event, which was attended by nearly 30 business executives from the two sides. 

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz jointly meet with representatives of the Chinese and German business community at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 4, 2022. The two leaders listened to the ideas of the business leaders on deepening China-Germany business cooperation, and exchanged views with them. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)
A Geely's Geometry C electric car is seen on display before the signing ceremony in Budapest, Hungary, on Nov. 4, 2022. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

GACE will distribute Geely's Geometry C, a premium category electric car model, in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia via dealers in its network. The first Geely brand cars are expected to be sold in these three countries in the first half of 2023.



BUDAPEST, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese automaker Geely Auto Group has entered the European Union (EU) market by signing an agreement with Hungarian car importer Grand Automotive Central Europe (GACE) here on Friday.

The deal was signed by Xue Tao, executive deputy general manager of Geely Auto International Corporation, and Viktor Molnar, chief executive officer (CEO) of GACE.

GACE will distribute Geely's Geometry C, a premium category electric car model, in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia via dealers in its network. The first Geely brand cars are expected to be sold in these three countries in the first half of 2023.

Xue Tao (L), executive deputy general manager of Geely Auto International Corporation, shakes hands with Viktor Molnar, chief executive officer (CEO) of Grand Automotive Central Europe (GACE), at the signing ceremony of distribution agreement in Budapest, Hungary, on Nov. 4, 2022. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

"This is the first time the Geely brand enters the European Union market," Xue said. "This partnership with Grand Automotive Central Europe represents a significant step forward for Geely's globalization ambition."

Geely, a global enterprise, has a rich product line that includes combustion engine vehicles, electric cars, hybrid vehicles, methanol cars and even battery swaps, Xue said.

Technical equipment, mobile phones and machinery made in China are considered as being of "top quality," actually even better than most of the established European manufacturers' products, Molnar told Xinhua following the signing ceremony.

"If you look at the automotive industry, the very early signs and the early comments from the European customers on Chinese cars are extremely positive," Molnar said.

"Since we are going forward with e-mobility, electric vehicles, I think the Chinese manufacturers have a super great chance to improve the overall quality and the leadership in technology," he said.

A Geely's Geometry C electric car is seen on display before the signing ceremony in Budapest, Hungary, on Nov. 4, 2022. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

According to Geely, internationalization is the key to the company's strategic layout, and the entry of its brand into the central and eastern European market is an important step in its globalization strategy.

Geely Auto Group, founded in 1997, is a leading automobile manufacturer based in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. Its well-known automobile brands include Geely Auto, Volvo, Polestar and Lotus. 
Vehicles and motorcycles move on a road amid thick smog in New Delhi, India, Nov. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Javed Dar)

NEW DELHI, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 80 percent of families living in India's Delhi and surrounding areas have someone suffering from air pollution related ailments, a new survey has found.

The findings assume significance in the wake of air pollution touching alarming levels over the past few days, with the air quality index (AQI) crossing into the "severe" category.

Quoting the survey findings, the "Business Standard" reported on Saturday that four among every five families living in Delhi and nearby areas, often referred to Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), surveyed have someone experiencing pollution-related ailments.

"Eighteen percent of them have already visited a doctor or a hospital," the survey said.

A total of 19,000 people were covered in the survey conducted by LocalCircles, a community social media platform.

The responses were sought from residents of Delhi and nearby cities of Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad.

During the survey, it was also found that 80 percent said their members were "facing multiple issues due to the pollution," while seven percent denied having any issue at all due to the pollution. 

A train arrives at a station amid thick smog in New Delhi, India, Nov. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Javed Dar)

People walk on a railway track amid thick smog in New Delhi, India, Nov. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Javed Dar)
The opening ceremony of the 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is held in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Nov. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo)

WUHAN, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- The 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP14) kicked off Saturday in China's Wuhan and Switzerland's Geneva.

It is the first time the conference is held in China, as the world's most populous nation highlights the harmony between humanity and nature while pushing for modernization.

The meeting, scheduled to run from Nov. 5 to 13, will take place both physically and online, with its main venue in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, and a parallel session running in Geneva, Switzerland.

More than 1,000 delegates from contracting parties and international organizations will attend the meeting, which will discuss the future development of the convention, said Meng Xianlin, director of the meeting's executive committee office.

The agenda also includes updating the list of wetland cities and establishing the International Mangrove Center in China.

The Ramsar Convention, named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the convention was signed in 1971, is an intergovernmental agreement dedicated to the conservation and rational use of wetland ecosystems. To date, it has 172 contracting parties.

Since its accession to the convention in 1992, China has established a legal framework for wetlands protection while actively fulfilling its obligations under the convention. Over the past decade, China has added or restored more than 800,000 hectares of wetlands, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

The flag handover ceremony is held during the opening ceremony of the 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Nov. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

Delegates watch via video link the opening ceremony of the 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP14), which is held in Wuhan City of central China's Hubei Province, in Geneva, Switzerland, Nov. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)

Participants view the exhibition on China's progress in wetland protection and restoration at the 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP14) in Geneva, Switzerland, Nov. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
A Chinese medical team has completed a free consultation and treatment campaign in West region of Cameroon, aiming to improve the local health conditions.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
Female bosses from three leading airlines will take to the Future Stage at WTM London on Monday (November 7) to talk about the opportunities and challenges theyve experienced on their way to the top in the airline industry.

Aer Lingus CEO Lynne Embleton, Wizz Air UK Managing Director Marion Geoffroy and TUI Airline Chief Operating Officer Dawn Wilson will come together to discuss their path to board-level membership and their leadership roles in a male-dominated airline world.

The BIG Airline Session, on Monday, will kick off with a perspective on the outlook for the airline sector by WTMs aviation expert John Strickland, Director of JLS Consulting.

In what has long been a must-attend event at WTM London, John Strickland will draw on his 40 years of experience in the air transport industry to give an overview of how airlines have fared over the past year and will draw on his strategic insight and contacts to give his view on the months and years ahead.

Hell then invite the female aviation bosses to tell their stories, as well as address the current challenges faced by their companies and the wider aviation industry.

Strickland commented: Im really looking forward to interviewing these exceptional women leaders and learning about the challenges they faced in advancing their own careers. They bring vast experience and Im sure theyll be keen to share advice and motivation for other woman in the audience seeking to get into the industry.

Juliette Losardo, WTM Exhibition Director, said: Im honoured to welcome these three incredible women - whove made it to the top of the aviation  to World Travel Market. Ill be fascinated to hear their stories and am confident a session such as this will inspire, excite and motivate those trying to carve a path within the sector.

WTM will open tomorrow at ExCel, London and will run till November 9.- TradeArabia News Service
Roger Kornberg, chairman of the World Laureates Association (WLA) and winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, addresses the opening ceremony of the 5th World Laureates Forum in Shanghai, east China, Nov. 6, 2022. The 5th World Laureates Forum kicked off Sunday in Shanghai, gathering 60 decorated scientists, including 27 Nobel Prize winners, at the two-day event online and offline. (Xinhua)

SHANGHAI, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- The 5th World Laureates Forum kicked off Sunday in Shanghai, gathering 60 decorated scientists, including 27 Nobel Prize winners, at the two-day event online and offline.

Themed "Science Forward: Create a Bright Future," the forum would host over 20 activities, focusing on topics such as sustainable development, food security, and gender equality in the scientific field.

At the opening ceremony, the World Laureates Association (WLA) Prize was awarded to two scientists. The 2022 WLA Prize in Computer Science or Mathematics went to American computer scientist Michael I. Jordan, and German biochemist Dirk Gorlich won the 2022 WLA Prize in Life Science or Medicine. Apart from a medal and certificate, each received a reward of 10 million yuan (about 1.38 million U.S. dollars).

Established in Shanghai, the WLA Prize aims to recognize and support eminent researchers and technologists worldwide for their contributions to science. It was the first time the awards took place.

Co-organized by the WLA and the China Association for Science and Technology, the forum aims to build a platform for high-level dialogue in the international scientific community. 

American computer scientist Michael I. Jordan, winner of the 2022 World Laureates Association (WLA) Prize in Computer Science or Mathematics, addresses the opening ceremony at the 5th World Laureates Forum in Shanghai, east China, Nov. 6, 2022. The 5th World Laureates Forum kicked off Sunday in Shanghai, gathering 60 decorated scientists, including 27 Nobel Prize winners, at the two-day event online and offline. (Xinhua)

This photo taken on Nov. 6, 2022 shows the scene of the 5th World Laureates Forum in Shanghai, east China. The 5th World Laureates Forum kicked off Sunday in Shanghai, gathering 60 decorated scientists, including 27 Nobel Prize winners, at the two-day event online and offline. (Xinhua)

American computer scientist Michael I. Jordan, winner of the 2022 World Laureates Association (WLA) Prize in Computer Science or Mathematics, addresses the awarding ceremony at the 5th World Laureates Forum in Shanghai, east China, Nov. 6, 2022. The 5th World Laureates Forum kicked off Sunday in Shanghai, gathering 60 decorated scientists, including 27 Nobel Prize winners, at the two-day event online and offline. (Xinhua)

German biochemist Dirk Gorlich, winner of the 2022 World Laureates Association (WLA) Prize in Life Science or Medicine, addresses the opening ceremony at the 5th World Laureates Forum in Shanghai, east China, Nov. 6, 2022. The 5th World Laureates Forum kicked off Sunday in Shanghai, gathering 60 decorated scientists, including 27 Nobel Prize winners, at the two-day event online and offline. (Xinhua)

German biochemist Dirk Gorlich, winner of the 2022 World Laureates Association (WLA) Prize in Life Science or Medicine, addresses the awarding ceremony at the 5th World Laureates Forum in Shanghai, east China, Nov. 6, 2022. The 5th World Laureates Forum kicked off Sunday in Shanghai, gathering 60 decorated scientists, including 27 Nobel Prize winners, at the two-day event online and offline. (Xinhua)
A pharmacist distributes free medicine to a patient after the consultation in Ngat-Bane, Cameroon, Aug. 20, 2022. (Photo by Kepseu/Xinhua)

As early as 6:00 am, Berline Fangan had already taken her seat at a makeshift but comprehensive Chinese clinic just outside Bangou sub-divisional hospital in Cameroon's West region.

YAOUNDE, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- As early as 6:00 am, Berline Fangan had already taken her seat at a makeshift but comprehensive Chinese clinic just outside Bangou sub-divisional hospital in Cameroon's West region.

The mother of two was nervous and in pain as she explained that her untreated 10-year-old joint pain was wearing her down. She said she had been treated by doctors over the years, but the prescribed drugs were not effective.

"It (drug) relieved me a bit...but five minutes later the pain comes back," the 53-year-old widow told Xinhua as she and hundreds of Cameroonian residents of Bangou and Bamendjou sub-divisions of the Upper Plateau division of the region waited for a team of Chinese specialized medics who had arrived at the region on Friday for a two-day free consultation and treatment campaign.

Bangou and Bamendjou, with a population of over 100,000, are surrounded by many rural communities with abundant wildlife and dispersed settlements, and have only two hospitals. Villagers are often troubled by such health problems as gastritis, typhoid, malaria, cataract, rheumatism. But most of them cannot afford medical services.

"My brother informed me of the health campaign. I left Douala (Cameroon's commercial hub, more than 200 km away from Bangou) at midnight and arrived here at 6:30 in the morning," said the retired history teacher and father of five who said he has been suffering from nerves and cramps since 2016.

Martine Kouamo stood looking dejected as she watched her 10-year-old son Christian Djomo who was suffering from testicular pain. His twin sister was suffering from neck strain, and one part of her body was not stable, she said.

"I tried to use traditional medicine (on Djomo) for three years in vain. I think Chinese doctors will help because they work well," Kouamo said.

A doctor takes temperature of a patient in Ngat-Bane, Cameroon, Aug. 20, 2022. (Photo by Kepseu/Xinhua)

As the sun rose over Bangou and Bamendjou, a good number of patients began taking turns to register, consult and then receive treatment from doctors in various departments, who were here as members of the 22nd Chinese medical team to Cameroon.

Fangan was among the first patients to be consulted.

She was carefully administered an acupuncture treatment, an ancient Chinese method of treatment in which fine needles are inserted through the skin at specific points to treat various physical conditions.

"As I speak to you the pain is gone," Fangan said after the treatment. "I feel better. In the morning I couldn't swing my neck like this...but now I can swing behind, left and right without problem."

After being examined, little Djomo was given medicine that he hoped would heal him. "I feel about better," he said.

For the first time since 2016, Justin Kouamou, 71, felt relieved when his sickness was detected through an echography. Before this, he had visited doctors several times, but results were not satisfactory.

"The Chinese doctors inserted needles in my skin and it magically alleviated my pain. I am still amazed by the wonders of that treatment," Kouamou told Xinhua two days after he was administered an acupuncture treatment.

Over 1,600 patients were consulted and treated during the campaign that ran from Oct. 29-30, said Paul Sikapin, mayor of Bangou council.

"I asked firmly that such a campaign should be organized next year," Sikapin said.

Fabrice Dubila, a medical doctor in Bangou sub-divisional hospital, said Cameroonian and Chinese doctors worked shoulder to shoulder in treating patients and offering much-needed medical services during the campaign.

"This is a great opportunity to learn from our colleagues overseas. So far we have collaborated on the diagnosis of some patients and I have also learned some other diagnostic techniques I can use to diagnose some particular diseases notably lipoma and other pathologies. I think it is a very good opportunity to have witnessed acupuncture here in Bangou," Dubila said.

Theodore Datouo, deputy speaker of Cameroon's National Assembly who is also a member of parliament of Upper Plateau constituency, said, the campaign was a mark of friendly relations between Cameroon and China.

"China has always assisted Cameroon in the health sector and this time it is the turn of West region to benefit," said Datouo, the main organizer of the campaign.

"This campaign is for the wellbeing of the population, the health of the population and when the population is healthy, economic development will follow. We thank China for this cooperation and the Chinese medical team in Cameroon," he added.

Guo Jun, head of the Chinese medical team in Cameroon said, China has already dispatched 22 medical teams and 736 medical professionals to Cameroon since 1975 to diagnose diseases, relieve patients' pains, improve local health conditions and local medical level.

"Today's free clinic is just an example. In the future, we will further deepen cooperation, contribute to promoting medical assistance projects and stimulating China-Cameroon friendship," Guo said.

Besides the free clinic, the Chinese medical team, along with Beijing Urban Construction Group, donated drugs and protective materials to local hospitals.
WINDHOEK, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Namibia has partially lifted the restrictions on the movement of cloven-hoofed animals and animal products in the Zambezi region which were imposed after detecting a foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in cattle on Oct. 13.

Namibia's Directorate of Veterinary Services (DVS) in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform (MAWLR) in a statement Sunday said that the first round of cattle vaccination against FMD has so far been completed in crush pen areas that are within the 30-km radius from Mbalasinte and Kasika of Zambezi region with 48,458 out of 52,480 cattle vaccinated with SAT trivalent vaccine representing vaccination coverage of 93.3 percent.

"Since the infection is still in the eastern part of the region in Kabbe South Constituency, the infected area is the kraals in Mbalasinte and Kasika villages, while the new Disease Management Area (DMA) is, therefore, Kabbe South constituency," the country's Chief Veterinary Officer Albertina Shilongo said.

According to Shilongo movement restrictions of all cloven-hoofed animals and animal products from the DMA to the rest of the region will stay in place.

"Several patrol teams are strategically placed and the public is urged to cooperate with the veterinary and police officials fully. Re-vaccination of all cattle in the region will continue and all farmers are strongly urged to bring their cattle for vaccination to the designated crush pens as per announcement by DVS officials," she said highlighting the measures which are still in place.

Shilongo meanwhile said movement of all cloven-hoofed animals among crush pens in Kabbe South Constituency in the DMA is allowed but not to the rest of the region while slaughtering of fully vaccinated cloven-hoofed animals for own consumption within the DMA is also allowed.

"Farmers and the general public are now once again requested to report to the relevant authorities any suspicious cases of FMD as well as the suspected illegal movement of animals and their products as prohibited in the public notification," she concluded.

FMD clinical signs in cattle include salivation, not grazing, limping, reluctance to move, fever, blisters, and ulcers on the tongue, gum, and on hooves. 
BEIJING, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday exchanged congratulatory messages with President of Madagascar Andry Rajoelina on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties five decades ago, China-Madagascar relations have been developing in a sound and steady way, no matter how the international landscape evolves, Xi said in his message.

In recent years, he said, the two countries have set up a comprehensive cooperative partnership, with increasing political mutual trust and fruitful exchanges and cooperation in various fields.

Xi said that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Madagascar relations, and that he is willing to work with Rajoelina to take the anniversary as an opportunity to continuously promote the friendly cooperation between the two countries, so as to benefit both countries and their people.

Rajoelina said that since the establishment of diplomatic relations 50 years ago, Madagascar and China have deepened friendly cooperation in various fields, which has yielded fruitful results.

Noting that the comprehensive cooperative partnership is marked by sincerity, friendship, mutual respect, mutual trust and support, Rajoelina said Madagascar is willing to work with China to build an even closer community with a shared future. 
TEHRAN, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Iranian border guards seized a batch of smuggled weapons and ammunition at the southeastern border in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday.

The smuggled weapons, including 85 pistols, a number of magazines, and bullets, were concealed "skillfully" in a pickup truck, Tasnim cited Iran's Border Guards Commander Ahmad Ali Goudarzi as saying.

This is the third time that border guards in Sistan and Baluchestan Province captured smuggled weaponry and ammunition over the past weeks, according to Tasnim. 
MOGADISHU, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- A suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of a military training camp in the southern part of Mogadishu on Saturday evening, killing at least 15 people, local media reported on Sunday.

Civilians and new recruits were among the casualties, the Garowe news portal quoted a military official as saying, adding that scores of people were wounded.

The Islamist militant group Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, according to other local media.

Somali National Army forces backed by pro-government militia killed more than 100 al-Shabab militants on Thursday evening during an offensive at a village in Hiran region of central Somalia.

A week ago in Mogadishu, twin car bomb explosions targeting Somalia's Education Ministry building killed at least 100 people and injured more than 300 others.

Al-Shabab has been fighting for more than a decade to topple Somalia's central government and to establish its own rule based on its strict interpretation of Islamic law. 
JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- A health official from South Africa's Gauteng Province on Sunday called on those who have recently travelled to and from malaria endemic areas to seek medical treatment when they have symptoms.

Nomantu Nkomo Ralehoko, a member of the executive council for health and wellness in Gauteng Province, made the remarks on Sunday while observing the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Malaria Day. Nov. 6 is Malaria Day in the SADC region to create awareness about malaria prevention, symptoms, and treatment.

"It remains worrying that from January to September 2022, Gauteng as a province recorded 1,103 cases with 11 deaths," said Ralehoko, adding that most malaria cases recorded in the province are from Mozambique followed by Malawi, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.

We are working with multiple stakeholders including the tourism and transport sectors to fight this disease, she said. "When one experiences fever, chills, headache and other flu like symptoms, they should seek medical attention."

Ralehoko advised people to take some medication before malaria prone areas. "With the festive season fast approaching, we encourage people who will be travelling to and from malaria endemic areas to take prophylaxis before their visit," she said. 
DAR ES SALAAM, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- At least three passengers were killed after a passenger plane crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania's northwestern region of Kagera on Sunday morning, and the death toll is expected to rise, a local official said.

The Kagera regional medical officer, Isesanda Kaniki, said the deceased -- two men and a woman -- died while receiving treatment at a regional hospital.

"The number of passengers killed in the plane accident has risen as rescue work continues," Kaniki, who is working with rescuers, told Xinhua in a telephone interview.

The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) said in a statement that Precision Air flight number 5H-PWF from Dar es Salaam to Bukoba was involved in the landing accident at 8:45 a.m. local time (0545 GMT).

"The aircraft landed in water short of the runaway about 500 meters before the threshold," said the statement.

The statement said a rescue operation was in progress, adding the TCAA would keep the public updated on further information and proceedings.

Kagera Regional Commissioner Albert Chalamila said the plane was ferrying 43 people, including 39 passengers, two pilots and two cabin crew. The official added that rescuers were still working at the site.

Precision Air said in a separate statement that its ATR-48 aircraft with 39 passengers, including 38 adults and one infant, was on board the ill-fated plane as it was approaching Bukoba Airport and crash-landed in Lake Victoria.

"The rescue is ongoing and we can confirm 26 passengers have been rescued and rushed to hospital for medical care," said the statement.

The statement said an investigation team consisting of Precision Air technical staff and the Tanzania Airports Authority has been dispatched to join the rescue team on the ground.

The statement said Precision Air has established information centers in Dar es Salaam and Bukoba.

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan said she was shocked by the news of the accident. 
DAR ES SALAAM, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-six passengers have been rescued from a plane that crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania's northwestern Kagera region on Sunday morning, said a local official.

The Kagera regional commissioner, Albert Chalamila, said the plane flying from the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam to Bukoba Airport in Kagera region was ferrying 43 people.

Chalamila said out of the 43 people on board the plane, 39 were passengers, two pilots and two cabin crew, adding that rescuers were still working to pull out 13 passengers still stuck in the fateful plane belonging to Precision Air, a private aviation company.

He said the rescued passengers had been rushed to hospitals, adding that authorities were still contacting pilots trapped inside the plane.

Chalamila said the plane crashed into Lake Victoria, the world's second-largest freshwater lake shared by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, at about 8:20 a.m. local time (0520 GMT) as it approached the Bukoba airport.

"As we continue with rescue work, Kagera region authorities have informed the country's top leaders, including the prime minister, about the plane accident," he said.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan said she was shocked by the news of the accident. 
COLOMBO, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasized the need to gradually liberalize the country's service sector to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), the President's Media Division (PMD) said in a statement on Sunday.

The president also said steps should be taken to gain membership in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world's largest free trade agreement to date.

Wickremesinghe made these remarks during a meeting with the officials of the National Trade Negotiations Committee at the Presidential Secretariat.

The president talked to them about free trade negotiations, the future outlook of international trade, and the importance of aligning policy priorities.

He further said that in parallel with the expansion of international trade activities, the government will implement a trade adjustment program to support local industries to adjust to the competition.

Access to regional and global supply chains and re-engagement with the global economy to enhance export and export-oriented foreign direct investment is an element of the government's economic reform program to revitalize the domestic economy, he said. 
Deutsche Hospitality has opened Steigenberger Residence Doha in the Qatari capital, featuring 278 furnished serviced residences, ranging from one to three bedrooms and a refined, contemporary design throughout.



The expansive new residential property is located at the Commercial District on the Airport Road, and offers a wide range of modern features, such as 24/7 security service, dedicated private parking and housekeeping, alongside a wide selection of luxury amenities including F&B outlets, GOCO Spa, an outdoor swimming pool, a state-of-the-art gym and a kids zone.



Sherief Abouelmaged General Manager of Steigenberger Hotel and Residence Doha, said: Were very excited to have officially opened the doors at Steigenberger Residence Doha today. Complementing the luxury Steigenberger Hotel Doha, we aim to offer tourists, residents, and business travellers the utmost quality of comfort, services, and facilities with opening of this new Steigenberger property. With endless recreational and family-friendly facilities, were confident that our property will be a favourite for Qatari residents and travellers.



Siegfried Nierhaus, Vice President Middle East, Deutsche Hospitality, added: This is our first Residence launch in the market. The Middle East is teaming with great growth potential and the quality and service of the Steigenberger Residence Doha combined with German hospitality creates the perfect guest experience. We look forward to launching further residences in the region increasing the Deutsche hospitality group footprint and portfolio in the region.



F&B

Outlets include CRUST, a sensory all-day dining restaurant, with an open-show kitchen, featuring international cuisine; Genuss, a contemporary, a la carte modern bistro inspired by the rich flavours, aromas, and heritage of modern European modern cuisine with a German twist; and Avenue, an elegant yet casual lobby cafe offering a myriad of experiences with special selections of tea, coffee, and mocktails.



Outdoors guests can savour the offering at Sun Deck, offering a wide selection of hot/cold select drinks and mocktails along with a variety of food delights; and Olea, an expansive terrace restaurant inspired by the rich flavours and heritage of Levantine and Mediterranean cuisine



Leisure

The hotel offers a rooftop swimming pool, an expansive indoor gym, fully equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and access to the renown GOCO Spa, offering authentic treatments and Spa rituals in its 1,700-sq-m spa.



Guests can relax and unwind with the therapeutic Turkish Hammam or choose from an extensive list of rejuvenating facials and body treatments. Families can relish in the Kids Zone, boasting a kids pool and play area located on the top floor of the property.



Steigenberger Residence Doha is conveniently situated right across from the metro for easy transportation access. The commercial district also connects the Steigenberger Residence with some of the city's main tourist attractions such as Souq Waqif, the National Museum, and Katara Cultural Village to name a few.



The property fuses world-class services with extraordinary amenities, a wide range of culinary F&B outlets, and leisure activities. With the hotels exceptional offerings, guests have the opportunity to experience luxury at its finest. As a result, the property has positioned itself as one of the most sought-after destinations in the heart of Doha.



Steigenberger Hotel Doha is a flagship property of Deutsche Hospitalitys luxury brand, Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts, introducing renowned German Hospitality to the rising city of Doha.  TradeArabia News Service
NEW DELHI, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- About 64,100 people were killed by snakebites each year in India, compared to a global total of 78,600, the local newspaper The Hindu reported Sunday citing an international study.

The figures are from an international study recently published in the Nature Communications journal, and the study was conducted by a team led by Soumyadeep Bhaumik, an international public health specialist at the George Institute for Global Health-India together with researchers from 21 other countries, according to the report.

"That snakebite is a long-recognized public health problem in India and many other low- and middle-income countries. But the global rate of death from snakebites was not known until recently," Bhaumik wrote in the newspaper.

The expert said the recent study "estimated that the majority of snakebite deaths worldwide - up to 64,100 out of 78,600 deaths - occur in India."

The northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of snakebite deaths each year, at about 16,100, followed by Madhya Pradesh with up to 5,790, and Rajasthan with up to 5,230, the study shows.

India's snakebite death rate is 4 per 100,000 people, one of the highest in the world, far exceeding the global death rate of 0.8 per 100,000 people, according to the study.

"Despite such a high number of deaths every year, there is no national strategy to deal with the burden of snakebites in India," Bhaumik said, stressing the need for a national strategy that focuses on preventing snakebites and strengthening the health system.

"Preventing snakebites requires more than simple awareness programs," he said. 
MANILA, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- A blast on a bus in the southern Philippines injured at least five people shortly before noon on Sunday, a senior military official said.

Major General Roy Galido, commander of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, said the bomb, believed to be an improvised explosive device, went off around 11:30 a.m. local time (0330 GMT) while traveling southwest from Kidapawan City to Tacurong City on Mindanao island.

The five wounded passengers were taken to a local hospital, he said, adding that the military coordinates with the provincial police to investigate whether the attack was part of an extortion activity of criminal groups in the area.

The bus company has been getting bomb threats, Galido said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. 
MAIMANA, Afghanistan, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Unknown armed men shot dead two miners and a guard of a salt mine in Afghanistan's northern Faryab province on Saturday, provincial police spokesman Hamidullah Bot Shekan said Sunday.

The attack took place in the Andkhoy district late Saturday night when the unknown armed men opened fire on the workers of the salt mine inside a a break room, killing two workers and a guard on the spot, the official added.

"Motivation behind this crime is yet unclear, and security forces are looking for the perpetrators to bring them to justice," Bot Shekan told reporters.

A villager has confirmed the incident on condition of anonymity, saying the unidentified armed men attacked the break area of the workers late at night and killed the three people.

No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack. 
Deputy PM Vereshchuk elaborates on Italian weapons for Ukrainian army 6 November, 06:59 PM M113 armored personnel carrier (Photo:General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine/Facebook)

Italy has already sent a range of weapons for the Ukrainian army to fight against Russia but Ukraine currently needs missile defense systems to protect cities against Russian air strikes, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories, Iryna Vereshchuk, said in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on Nov. 6.

"We have already received heavy long-range artillery, self-propelled artillery systems, M113 tracked vehicles, missile systems, and shells of various calibers from Italy. Now we need missile defense systems that will help us to safeguard our cities against bombardments by Russian terrorists, who are trying to knock our energy system down," she said.

Video of day

Vereshchuk also thanked Italy for its support and stressed the urgent importance of such weapons for Ukraine.

On Oct. 22, Giorgia Meloni became Italy's prime minister. She pledged herfull support for Ukraine and Western sanctions against Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

Meloni announced she believes the only way to peace between Russia and Ukraine is to help the latter defend itself militarily.

On Nov. 4, Guido Crosetto, the Defense Minister of Italy, said the government was going to approve the EU's sixth sanctions package against Russia.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News
Romania rejects Putin's false statements that the country has territorial claims against Ukraine 6 November, 01:52 PM Romania condemned the Putin regime for attacking Ukraine (Photo:Yevgeny Biyatov/REUTERS)

Bucharest has described as absolute nonsense a statement by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin about Romania having "territorial claims" against Ukraine, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a message on its website posted on Nov. 5.

During his speech on Russia's Day of National Unity in Moscow on Nov. 4, Putin talked of Ukraine's supposed territorial disputes with Poland, Romania and Hungary over areas that were lost after the Second World War.

"We're talking about the territories taken away from Poland by Stalin after the Second World War. We have to admit it. Large areas were seized by the Soviets in Romania and Hungary," the dictator said, apparently projecting Kremlin geopolitical ambitions onto other states.

Romaina's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in contrast said Romania fully supports the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.

It also condemned the current Russian armed aggression against Ukraine.

Read also: Dmytro Tuzov About the death of Putin and his entire system

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania rejects the assertions expressed by the President of the Russian Federation in a speech given on the occasion of the National Unity Day, which falsely induced the idea that Romania has territorial claims against Ukraine, the Romanian Foreign Ministry said in its post.

Video of day

The (Romanian Foreign Ministry) emphasizes that the war of aggression launched by Russia on Feb. 24 represents a serious and brutal violation of the principles of international law, including the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, the post added.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News
Proficient Market Insights

PUNE, Nov. 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- "Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Market" research report focus on overall information that can help to take decisions on current market situation. Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device market using different methodologies and analyzes to provide accurate and in-depth information about the market. For a clearer understanding, it is divided into several parts to cover different aspects of the market. Each area is then elaborated to help the reader comprehend the growth potential of each region and its contribution to the global market. The researchers have used primary and secondary methodologies to collate the information in the report. They have also used the same data to generate the current market scenario. This report is aimed at guiding people towards an apprehensive, better, and clearer knowledge of the market.

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Machine learning

Deep learning

NLP

Computer Vision

Predictive Analytics

Others

Segment by Application

Predictive Maintenance/Self Diagnostics

Virtual Assistance

Network Operations & Monitoring Management

Others

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North America (United States, Canada, and Mexico)

Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Spain, etc.)

Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia, Southeast Asia, etc.)

South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, etc.)

Middle East & Africa (South Africa, UAE, Saudi Arabia, etc.)

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Google

Apple

Microsoft

IBM

NVIDIA Corporation

Medtronic

GE Healthcare

PathAI

Aidoc

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In-depth analysis of the Artificial Intelligence AI Chips Market

Sales, price, revenue, market share, and growth rate are covered in the report sales channels, distributors, traders, dealers, etc. are covered in the report

Detailed TOC of Global Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Market Report, History and Forecast 2016-2027, Breakdown Data by Companies, Key Regions, Types and Application

1 Market Overview of Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device

1.1 Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Market Overview

1.1.1 Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Product Scope

1.1.2 Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Market Status and Outlook

1.2 Global Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Market Size Overview by Region 2016 VS 2021VS 2027

1.3 Global Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Market Size by Region (2016-2027)

1.4 Global Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Historic Market Size by Region (2016-2021)

1.5 Global Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Market Size Forecast by Region (2022-2027)

1.6 Key Regions, Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Market Size (2016-2027)

1.6.1 North America Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Market Size (2016-2027)

1.6.2 Europe Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Market Size (2016-2027)

1.6.3 Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Market Size (2016-2027)

1.6.4 Latin America Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Market Size (2016-2027)

1.6.5 Middle East & Africa Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Market Size (2016-2027)

2 Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Market Overview by Type

2.1 Global Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Market Size by Type: 2016 VS 2021 VS 2027

2.2 Global Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Historic Market Size by Type (2016-2021)

2.3 Global Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Forecasted Market Size by Type (2022-2027)

2.4 Machine learning

2.5 Deep learning

2.6 NLP

2.7 Computer Vision

2.8 Predictive Analytics

2.9 Others

3 Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Market Overview by Application

3.1 Global Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Market Size by Application: 2016 VS 2021 VS 2027

3.2 Global Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Historic Market Size by Application (2016-2021)

3.3 Global Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Forecasted Market Size by Application (2022-2027)

3.4 Predictive Maintenance/Self Diagnostics

3.5 Virtual Assistance

3.6 Network Operations & Monitoring Management

3.7 Others

4 Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Competition Analysis by Players

4.1 Global Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Market Size by Players (2016-2021)

4.2 Global Top Players by Company Type (Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3) & (based on the Revenue in Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device as of 2020)

4.3 Date of Key Players Enter into Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Market

4.4 Global Top Players Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Headquarters and Area Served

4.5 Key Players Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Product Solution and Service

4.6 Competitive Status

4.6.1 Artificial Intelligence Based Medical Device Market Concentration Rate

4.6.2 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion Plans

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Elon Musk has axed thousands of jobs at Twitter. Susan Walsh/AP

Twitter has laid off half its workforce including some employees responsible for content moderation.

Some fear this may allow more disinformation on the platform ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections.

Yoel Roth, Twitter's head of safety and integrity, has downplayed these concerns.

Twitter's head of safety and integrity said that election integrity remains a "top priority" despite Friday's mass layoffs.

About half the workforce has been let go just a week after Elon Musk took over. Yoel Roth is one of the more senior executives to survive the cull that has resulted in numerous prominent figures departing.

Activists, advertisers, and public figures have raised concerns about the self-described "free-speech absolutist" Musk's takeover of Twitter. Many fear the prospect of far looser content-moderation standards.

Some say major cuts to Twitter's moderation teams could create ideal conditions for disinformation and hateful content ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections.

At a fundraising event on Friday, President Joe Biden said Musk had bought "an outfit that sends and spews lies all across the world."

Roth downplayed such concerns and tweeted on Friday night: "With early voting underway in the US, our efforts on election integrity  including harmful misinformation that can suppress the vote and combatting state-backed information operations  remain a top priority."

He added that his own trust-and-safety team had remained relatively unscathed amid the layoffs: "Yesterday's reduction in force affected approximately 15% of our Trust & Safety organization (as opposed to approximately 50% cuts company-wide), with our front-line moderation staff experiencing the least impact."

Other departments haven't escaped so lightly. Musk axed Twitter's entire curation team, which worked to counter misinformation. The public-policy team, which is responsible for accrediting politicians' Twitter accounts, also suffered deep cuts, Politico reported.

Story continues

A coalition of civil-rights groups, including the NAACP and the ADL, have called on advertisers to boycott Twitter  citing concerns over a loosening of its content-moderation policies under Musk's leadership.

Representatives of the #StopToxicTwitter coalition met with Musk earlier this week, but said their concerns have intensified in the wake of the mass layoffs.

Free Press, a member of the coalition, said in a statement on Friday that the job made it "impossible for the company to uphold critical brand safeguards and content-moderation standards."

The NAACP president, Derrick Johnson, tweeted: "It is immoral, dangerous, and highly destructive to our democracy for any advertiser to fund a platform that fuels hate speech, election denialism and conspiracy theories."

Companies including General Motors, Pfizer, General Mills, and Volkswagen have reportedly paused their advertising on Twitter following Musk's takeover.

Twitter did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider
In this photo illustration, the image of Elon Musk is displayed on a computer screen where the logo of twitter is reflected. Muhammed Selim Korkutata/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Elon Musk said Twitter's Birdwatch feature will now be called "Community Notes."

The tool lets users add context notes to potentially misleading posts and went public last month.

Musk tweeted it has "incredible potential for improving information accuracy" on the platform.

Elon Musk tweeted Saturday about an expansion of Twitter's Birdwatch feature that he said has "incredible potential for improving information accuracy" as the new CEO faces ongoing concerns over content inaccuracies and moderation on the social-media platform.

Birdwatch will allow users to add context to notes on potentially misleading posts. Twitter will also rename it "Community Notes," and Musk tweeted that the tool has "incredible potential for improving information accuracy" on the platform.

The billionaire made the remarks in response to a tweet from Keith Coleman, the vice president of product at Twitter, who commented on Birdwatch's "usage spike over the past week."

Coleman's tweet included a thread that Alex Mahadevan, the director of MediaWise, wrote that cited publicly available data showing that the number of Birdwatch notes had increased to 131 a day, up from 45 per day prior, during the five days since Musk completed his purchase of Twitter.

Birdwatch notes first became public to users in early October, after the feature was launched in a pilot program in the US in January 2021. According to a blog post Coleman wrote on the Twitter website, the feature "allows people to identify information in Tweets they believe is misleading and write notes that provide informative context."

"We believe this approach has the potential to respond quickly when misleading information spreads, adding context that people trust and find valuable," Coleman wrote.

Among tweets where Birdwatch notes have appeared in the past week is a post from Musk himself. He claimed "Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation."

Story continues

He continued: "Extremely messed up! They're trying to destroy free speech in America."

A Birdwatch note currently affixed to that tweet states: "Multiple advertisers have confirmed they are pausing spending while they see what direction Elon Musk takes with the platform," and links to a Guardian article about General Mills temporarily pulling advertising.

The uptick comes as Twitter reportedly cut off hundreds of employees from operating the site's content-moderation system earlier week, leaving just 15 staffers with access to the program, Bloomberg reported.

Musk later promised civil-rights leaders he would restore access to the content-moderation system, and told advertisers he is considering creating tiers of content moderation similar to movie ratings, according to The Financial Times.

Initially, posts were only visible on a separate Birdwatch site before Twitter integrated them into the platform. According to the company, "Birdwatch is made up of independent contributors, and individual notes are never written by Twitter."

"This is intentional, as it helps ensure our efforts to address potentially misleading information are informed by a diverse group of people who use our service," the company wrote in its October 2022 blog post.

Users can rate notes as "Helpful" or "Not Helpful," and notes surface publicly based on an algorithm that Twitter shared openly on GitHub.

Read the original article on Business Insider
China has further fortified its artificial islands in the South China Sea, with more buildings, radars and aircraft hangars to help project power across the Indo-Pacific, analysts said.

Images taken by Philippines-based photographer Ezra Acayan revealed docks, radars, airports, military camps and large aircraft hangars on the seven Chinese artificial islands.

The photos, released by Acayan on social media last week, also showed multi-storey buildings, paved roads, sports fields, and basketball and tennis courts.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

Buildings and structures are seen on the artificial island built by China on Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands, which are known in China as the Nansha Islands. Photo: Ezra Acayan/Getty Images alt=Buildings and structures are seen on the artificial island built by China on Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands, which are known in China as the Nansha Islands. Photo: Ezra Acayan/Getty Images>

A refuelling KJ-500H aircraft was pictured on the taxiway of Fiery Cross Reef. The KJ-500 is China's third-generation airborne early warning and control aircraft capable of enhancing monitoring in the South China Sea. It is the type of aircraft that has been sent on long-range patrols of the East China Sea and operations in the Taiwan Strait in the past.

One photo on Mischief Reef showed two Type 22 catamaran missile boats, which incorporate stealth features and can carry up to eight YJ-83 subsonic anti-ship missiles.

These boats reportedly chased away Philippine news crews who tried to monitor Chinese movement in the region last year, according to Philippine media reports.

The photographer also captured an image of one medium-sized medium-range Y-8 transport aircraft in a hangar on Mischief Reef.

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The Y-8, which has been continuously upgraded and produced, is a popular transport aircraft with many variants. The hangar where the Y-8 was stationed can shelter aircraft against hot, humid and high salinity environments but its construction does not appear strong enough to defend against enemy strikes.

On a corner of Cuarteron Reef, weapon systems similar to the Type H/PJ-26 76mm naval gun and H/PJ-13B defence gun - along with several soldiers - were seen on the top of two towers which provide basic anti-sea and anti-air firepower, and would serve as the last line of defence in a confrontation.

In the same image of Cuarteron Reef, a large radar similar to the SLC-7 three-dimensional early warning radar was seen on the ground. The anti-stealth radar could detect and track multiple targets and was capable of resisting saturation attacks, Chinese state media reported last year.

On Subi Reef, objects similar to trucks were seen being put on the runway, possibly aimed at preventing foreign aircraft from forcibly landing on the island.

Two medical landing pads - with a red cross painted on a white square pad - could be seen on both Mischief Reef and Fiery Cross Reef. However, there was no visible human presence nearby.

"Looking at the images, the first thing that strikes me is that there's not a lot of activity occurring in these bases. Clearly there are people there, but most of the images suggest a quiet rather than bustling or busy military base. Some of the structures also look in a state of disrepair," said Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

"Having said that - clearly the Chinese have made some progress in terms of making the bases a bit more hospitable," Davis said, referring to the appearance of more trees on the islands.

"In terms of tactical use, these bases allow the PLA Air Force to forward deploy in a crisis to prepared bases, fully equipped with hardened aircraft shelters and other supporting infrastructure, for operations into the South China Sea.

"I think they also act as unsinkable aircraft carriers for the Chinese air force and navy's anti-submarine warfare platforms to hunt submarines in the area."

However, Davis said it was not known how well these bases would survive in a real war.

He said they could be used strategically to contest the transit of another state's aircraft and vessels "potentially under declaration of an air defence identification zone, or more seriously, a blockade".

Brad Martin, a retired US Navy officer and a senior policy researcher at the US think tank Rand Corporation, echoed Davis' views.

"The PLA having a presence on these islands expands its ability to conduct surveillance, potentially threaten shipping, and even reduce warning time should it decide to take military action against the Philippines or [another] littoral state."

Martin, too, believed the strategic advantage offered by the island bases might be offset by their vulnerability during a conflict.

"The islands must be resupplied and reinforced, and the PLA might find that a challenge," he said.

China has built seven artificial islands in the South China Sea, creating more than 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) of new land since 2013, according to the CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. And such moves have heightened fears among rival South China Sea claimants, such as Vietnam and the Philippines.

However, despite the islands being militarised, a Chinese military magazine has openly highlighted their weaknesses because of their considerable distance from the Chinese mainland, their small size and the multiple routes from which they could be attacked.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright  2022 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2022. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Elon Musk is laying off thousands of Twitter workers. Dave Smith/Business Insider

Hundreds of Twitter employees on special visas could be deported after Elon Musk's job cuts.

He cut thousands of jobs with the mass layoffs equating to as much as half of the company workforce.

A Forbes report suggests nearly 700 Twitter employees were on H-1B employment-tied visas.

Elon Musk's cost-cutting plans may have left hundreds of Twitter employees on high-skill work visas on a countdown to deportation.

At least 250 Twitter workers appear to be employed on H-1B visas, according to official records, and now face an uncertain future.

And according to analysis of US Citizenship and Immigration Services data by the National Foundation for American Policy, that number could be as high as 670, or 8% of the company pre-cuts, Forbes reported.

Musk began culling the social-media giant's workforce on Thursday night, Insider reported, with access to work applications like Slack suddenly cut off for many now-former employees.

About half of Twitter's workforce, or about 3,700 people, are expected to have lost their jobs, per Insider. But for some of these workers, the consequences could be even more severe.

According to data from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Twitter has given "initial approval" to 168 H-1B visas since 2020. The company has received approval for 673 such visas since 2009.

Companies give H-1B visas to people from other countries with "highly specialized knowledge" and a relevant bachelor's degree, per USCIS. They are intended to last for three years, but can go up to six.

If sponsored employment is lost, a migrant has 60 days to find a new job before facing deportation. The US allows 65,000 successful applications a year. Workers on H-1B visas are able to stay in the US if they can find new employment, according to "portability" rules.

Records suggest Immigration Services granted "continuing approval" for 242 visas earlier this year, suggesting hundreds of employment-conditional migrants were working at Twitter before Musk's layoffs.

Story continues

Musk asked vice presidents to compile lists of employees deemed least worthy of staying as he endeavors to radically alter the way Twitter works. It is unclear what departments visa-tied Twitter employees work for, or how susceptible their positions are to layoffs.

According to immigration law, Musk must pay the "reasonable costs" of transportation of migrant workers whose employment has been terminated before the end of their authorized stays.

According to multiple reports, Musk himself was able to stay in the United States after finishing his college degree thanks to the H-1B visa. He previously reprimanded Donald Trump in 2017 for Trump's decision to suspend the special work visas.

Musk also faces a lawsuit from former employees for not giving adequate notice over mass layoffs, which may provide some from of respite for vulnerable workers. The billionaire has since tweeted that the company offered everyone who got laid off three months' worth of severance, though some staff have disputed his claim.

Twitter user @maybettl, who said they were laid off from the company this week, tweeted that some staff were offering to be laid off to save their colleagues on work visas. Insider wasn't able to verify this information.

Twitter didn't respond to Insider's request for comment on the number of employees on special work visas, or the number of those employees it had laid off.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Royal Jordanian has signed an agreement with IATA to join a large number of airlines that are now using the IATA Environmental Assessment Program (IEnvA).



This sustainability program will be a key tool for RJ to achieve sustainability in all air and ground operations. Globally, (IEnvA) is used by airlines, aircraft maintenance services, on-board catering services and ground handlers to enhance environmental sustainability.



IEnvA is a system designed to independently assess and improve the environmental management of an airline. It identifies the environmental impact and risks and provides the tools to check the airline's sustainability commitment. The program covers all aspects of sustainability from CO2 emissions to single-use plastics to cabin waste to wildlife trafficking.



It is based on the ISO14000 environmental management standard and covers all flight operations and activities on the ground and in the air in every country in which the airline operates. The full implementation and review can take between six and 18 months. Every two years the process is audited by independent third-party experts and the airline is then IEnvA certified.



RJ Vice Chairman/CEO Samer Majali said: We are pleased to partner with IATA to strengthen our commitment to environmental sustainability. IEnvA will offer RJ different solutions to implement the best practices in environmental management, eventually leading to our goal line to fly net-zero in 27 years from now.



He added that the airline is ambitious to replace jet fuel with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) made from renewable sources. RJ, like many global carriers, is now more focused than ever to invest in projects that help reduce CO2 emissions and implement carbon offsetting to meet climate goals.



Kamil Alawadhi, IATAs Regional Vice-President for Africa and Middle East, said: RJs signing up for IEnvA underlines their commitment to improving the companys environmental management practices, and sustainability efforts in general. We are very pleased that RJ has partnered with IATA and trust us to work with them to further progress. Environmental sustainability is centre stage for the airline industry. IATA is proud to work with its member airline to introduce world-class environmental management practices and tools to support our goal towards a carbon-neutral industry.  TradeArabia News Service
TipRanks

Energy is everywhere, in everything we do; we cant avoid it. The sheer ubiquity of the sector is one major factor drawing investors to it. After all, energy companies will always be able to find customers for their products, and will never lack for sales. Energy companies have also been seen as a hedge against inflation. The energy sector has been riding high this year, with the S&P 500 energy index up 61% year-to-date. So the question for investors is, do energy stocks have more room to run? A
American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2022, Abstract 286

Embargoed until 9:42 a.m. CT/ 10:42 a.m. ET Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022

Research Highlights

A new study underscores the need for ongoing coordinated care for timely treatment of ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), a type of heart attack caused by a complete blockage in a coronary artery.

The study found significantly lower mortality for STEMI patients treated within guideline-recommended time goals.

The data identified concerning trends across the entire episode of care for patients experiencing STEMI, including increasing delays in treatment, greater numbers of untreated patients and increasing risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality.

(NewMediaWire) - November 06, 2022 - CHICAGO A new study finds that timely treatment of ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), a type of heart attack caused by a complete blockage in a coronary artery, requires ongoing coordinated care between emergency departments, paramedics and primary percutaneous coronary intervention facilities, according to researchers.

These findings, presented today at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2022, are being simultaneously published in JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association. The Scientific Sessions meeting, held in person in Chicago and virtually, Nov. 57, 2022, is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements, research and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular science.

To determine whether the early improvements in STEMI care associated with American Heart Association's Mission: Lifeline(R) program have persisted, researchers used data from the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines(R) - Coronary Artery Disease (GWTG - CAD) registry and examined 114,871 patient records from 648 hospitals from April 2018 through September 2021.

The study illustrates significantly lower mortality for patients treated within guideline-recommended time goals. However, the data identified concerning trends across the entire episode of care for patients experiencing STEMI, including increasing delays in treatment, greater numbers of untreated patients and increasing risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality.

Story continues

"The study provides a strong impetus for renewed focus on STEMI systems of care," said James G. Jollis, M.D., lead author on the paper and volunteer chair of the GWTG - CAD system of care advisory group for the American Heart Association. "As a cardiologist, most of the important decisions that affect whether my heart attack patients live or die occur long before they see me. This research amplifies how the system of care relies on family members, telecommunicators, first responders, paramedics and front-line emergency department colleagues to diagnose and implement care that has the most impact on patient care and outcomes. Regional collaboration and common data systems have the potential to improve care quality and patient survival."

The reasons for the delay in STEMI care in recent years are unclear but are perhaps related in part to diminished hospital access and delayed care associated with the pandemic.

In addition, Alice K. Jacobs, M.D., FAHA, professor of medicine at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and past volunteer president of the American Heart Association (2004-05) said, "The difficulty in providing time and space for regular multidisciplinary reviews of the metrics likely played a role. It is noteworthy that inability to sustain uninterrupted process and outcomes measurement and feedback leads to a decline in quality."

This study has several limitations, including the self-reported nature of the registry data by hospitals and missing data for approximately 8% of patients. The regression analyses in this study include only patients for whom full data were available, To the extent that missing data were not a random occurrence, these observations may be biased by the factors that led to data not being reported but is not likely to account for the very large observed mortality differences. Despite these significant limitations, these data represent one of two available contemporary registries of STEMI care in the United States that provides an overview of recent practice

The American Heart Association was directly involved in collection of data, analyses, and review and approval of the manuscript. The Association did not maintain the right to veto publication nor to control the decision regarding to which journal the paper was submitted.

Statements and conclusions of studies that are presented at the American Heart Association's scientific meetings are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the Association's policy or position. The Association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. Abstracts presented at the Association's scientific meetings are not peer-reviewed, rather, they are curated by independent review panels and are considered based on the potential to add to the diversity of scientific issues and views discussed at the meeting. The findings are considered preliminary until published as a full manuscript in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The Association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific Association programs and events. The Association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and biotech companies, device manufacturers and health insurance providers and the Association's overall financial information are available here.

Additional Resources:

About the American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. We are dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities. Through collaboration with numerous organizations, and powered by millions of volunteers, we fund innovative research, advocate for the public's health and share lifesaving resources. The Dallas-based organization has been a leading source of health information for nearly a century. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, Twitter or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.

###

For Media Inquiries: 214-706-1173

Michelle Rosenfeld: 214-706-1099; michelle.rosenfeld@heart.org

For Public Inquiries: 1-800-AHA-USA1 (242-8721)

heart.org and stroke.org
Andrew Haigh quit his job at Twitter after more than six years. Tayfun Coskun/Getty Images

Andrew Haigh said he resigned from his job at Twitter to try to help coworkers keep their own jobs.

The former curation lead said it "wasn't an easy decision" to quit but that it was "the right one."

Haigh left Twitter after his last day on Friday after spending more than six years at the company.

A Twitter employee said he quit a week ago to try to help save his colleagues from being fired in Elon Musk's mass layoffs.



Andrew Haigh tweeted on Friday that he resigned after more than six years at Twitter so that his coworkers might be able to "keep their jobs."



"This wasn't an easy decision but it was the right one at the right time. I left on my own terms and I hoped that in doing so, it meant others might get an opportunity to keep their jobs," he wrote.



Haigh joined the company in 2016 and was most recently a senior curation lead based in London, according to his LinkedIn page.





He said he will be "supporting Tweeps" over the next few weeks and that he wanted to help them as he cared "deeply" about his former colleagues. He also wrote that he plans to take a break from both Twitter and the news cycle.

"I'm hoping to use this time to meet with and learn from people who I respect across journalism and tech before looking for my next challenge somewhere where I can use the skills and knowledge I've gained at Twitter to have a meaningful impact on the world," Haigh wrote.

Twitter laid off thousands of employees on Friday, a week after Elon Musk completed his $44 billion takeover.

Musk tweeted on Friday that he had "no choice" as Twitter was losing more than $4 million a day.



Twitter and Haigh didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 17: Sarah Hyland and Wells Adams attend the 2022 ABC Disney Upfront at Basketball City - Pier 36 - South Street on May 17, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

Dia Dipasupil/Getty

Wells Adams is happily married to the love of his life, Sarah Hyland.

During the 2022 Bachelor in Paradise Red Carpet Tastemaker event on Saturday, the reality star spoke to PEOPLE about his recent nuptials to the Modern Family actress, which was held on Aug. 20 in an outdoor ceremony in Santa Barbara.

While watching Hyland, 31, walk down the aisle on their big day, the Bachelor in Paradise bartender shared that he got quite emotional.

RELATED: See All the Photos From Sarah Hyland and Wells Adams' Stunning Honeymoon in Maldives: 'Paradise'

"There's a picture on my Instagram with me crying and then Jesse Tyler Ferguson was officiating us, and he was crying," Adams, 38, said. "And my best man who's my brother was next to me. He was crying, so everyone was crying."

"She looked beautiful," he continued, adding: "What was going through my mind was this can't be real, this can't be real life. And just how blessed and lucky I am to get to marry my perfect person."

The August ceremony  which hosted around 200 guests, according to Adams  was also a Modern Family reunion of sorts, with Ariel Winter, Nolan Gould, Sofia Vergara, and Julie Bowen in addition to Ferguson all in attendance to celebrate Hyland.

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.

As for his favorite part of the wedding, Adams said it was the moment when he was able to "kiss her the second time."

"We walked halfway down the aisle and kissed again, and we did a church kiss the first time," he told PEOPLE. "And the second time was a real passionate one. And everyone's cheering. So I think that was it."

The preparation leading up to the special day was definitely a team effort from both the bride and the groom, with Adams noting he "was pretty involved, as much as a guy I guess can be involved."

"I was highly involved in the band and the food and the booze, which is important," he explained. "[I] had zero hand in the flowers, which Sarah did all by herself. And if you go look at the floral arrangements, should be blown away. And everyone was like I'm not sure if this color palette will work. And then it turned out to be amazing."

Story continues

RELATED: Sarah Hyland and Wells Adams Are Married!

Adams and Hyland first started dating in 2017, after Hyland had been quite public about her crush on Adams while he starred in JoJo Fletcher's season of The Bachelorette. They were engaged in 2019, and faced multiple wedding delays due to the pandemic before finally exchanging vows, two years after their original date.

After tying the knot, the newlyweds jetted off to the Maldives for their honeymoon last month, with the pair packing on the PDA and enjoying some tropical cocktails under the sun.

"Paradise on Love Island ," Hyland wrote in the Instagram caption at the time alongside a series of photos from the couple's romantic getaway.
Master planning is underway to establish the parameters of the future Battlefields State Park in Culpeper County. It will encompass more than 1,700 acres owned by American Battlefield Trust and preserve the sites of the Civil War battles of Brandy Station and Cedar Mountain.

July 1, 2024, is the formal launch date for the state park, according to a presentation to the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors last week by Chuck Laudner, president of the Friends of Culpeper Battlefields coalition group.

Local coalition leaders are working with officials from the Virginia Department of Conservation & Recreation to finalize details of land to be included in the state park, for which the General Assembly provided funding.

The idea to commemorate and formalize the historic grounds dates back years, Laudner told supervisors.

My very first visit to Culpeper was in 1987, said Laudner. I was living in D.C. at the time, a history buff, came down to Brandy Station. There was just the one marker there  all those years ago to be where we are now, a lot has been invested.

The Brandy Station Foundation, Friends of Cedar Mountain, the Germanna Foundation, the Museum of Culpeper History, Journey Through Hallowed Ground, the Piedmont Environmental Council and others partnered to raise the $17 million needed for ABT to preserve the land, Laudner said.

A change in the administration in Richmond reinvigorated the future Battlefield State Park initiative a year and a half ago, Laudner said. He stated the previous administration informed them a state park would not be possible without strong local supportthat they wouldnt even consider it.

Friends of Culpeper Battlefields, formed several years ago, has endeavored to be that group DCR can rely on, Laudner added. Since the state park was approved by the General Assembly earlier this year, state officials have made several site visits to Culpeper, he said.

The land is still mostly untouched from the battles that raged there more than 150 years ago. Historians, tour guides and landscape architects with the Friends of Culpeper Battlefields are working with the state to draw the park boundaries.

Its land ABT will continue to maintain through 2027 at no cost to the state, and well beyond, Laudner said.

Sites like St. James Church and Fleetwood Hill in Brandy Station will be points of interest, and there will be primitive camping sites, equestrian and walking trails and access to the Rappahannock River, including a spot where people fleeing slavery once crossed.

The park is expected to attract 75,000 visitors in its first year, generating over $1 million from tourists, Laudner told the board.

It will take five years to complete the land transfer from ABT to DCR for the state park and the facility will grow with preserved lands even beyond that, he said. The state is talking about hiring staff over the next 18 months, as well as finalizing locations for visitors centers.

While Civil War Battlefields will be the big ticket for the state park, the area has ties to African American and Native American history as well, Laudner said.

Listing the lands as protected in the countys Comprehensive Plan is appropriate, as is facilitating an appropriate viewshed compatible with the state park, Laudner suggested.

That is our big ask, he said.

Brandy Station faces myriad development pressures, with a variety of data centers and big solar facilities already proposed or approved. Neighbors and the friends groups have been showing up at public meetings for several years asking county officials to maintain the rural character of the area.

There are a lot more stories to tell that will bring people here from outside of the county, Laudner said.

Culpeper Supervisor Tom Underwood said he looked forward to the state park opening, and the board is in the process of updating its Comprehensive Plan. The Planning Commission recently reviewed the plan and held public input and hearingsall with a slant toward keeping rural areas rural and green areas green.

Underwood said some areas of the county would remain relatively undisturbed, but not necessarily near major roads, utility lines or other large infrastructure already in place or in a county-designated technology zone.

Supervisor Gary Deal asked Laudner to expand on his statements about telling the full stories at the state park, including Black history.

Laudner mentioned a Timothy OSullivan photo, preserved in the Library of Congress, that was taken Aug. 9, 1862. It shows fugitive African Americans fleeing Culpeper across the Rappahannock at Remington after the Battle of Cedar Mountain.

There were other battles and skirmishes whose stories will be told, including the charge down the street in the Battle of Culpeper Courthouse. That happened in the center of town between Union cavalry and Confederate soldiers.

The June 9, 1863, Battle at Brandy Station covered the farm fields in northern Culpeper.

The future state park property also contains undisturbed Native American sites, Laudner said.

So yes, it will be Culpeper Battlefields, but we know there is so much more, he said. There is no limit to the stories we can tell.
The Free LanceStar once weighed in on elections by offering candidate endorsements.

These endorsements were based on the [editorial boards] belief that he or she is the best choice for the good of our nation and our community, the board wrote in the newspapers Oct. 30, 2016, edition. It is not a decision made out of party loyalty, or one of selecting the lesser of evils.

That election, however, the board took an unusual position in the presidential race between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump. [W]e do not endorse a candidate for president in the Nov. 8 election. The reason was straightforward: endorsements of political candidates are to be given wholeheartedly and with conviction, and the paper could not do so with either of those two candidates.

We no longer endorse candidates for office, and will not weigh in on who we believe voters should support Tuesday in local and national elections.

We do, however, continue to impress upon people the importance of going to the polls and making their voices heard. Your vote does matter. For too long, too few of us have believed that.

Ever since the turn of the 20th century, American voter turnout has been anemic. In 1896, according to the United States Election Project, 79.6% of the eligible population cast a ballot in the presidential election. By 1920 the total was down to 49.2%.

In the 24 presidential elections since 1920, the percentage of the eligible population casting a ballot for president topped 60% just 11 times. Prior to 2020, the highest turnout was 63.8% in 1960. We have yet to return to the 70% threshold.

Turnouts for midterm elections are, historically speaking, even worse. The last time 60% or more of the eligible population cast a midterm ballot was 1898. It didnt reach the 50% mark between 1914 and 2016.

The 2018 and 2020 elections were record-setters. The 2018 midterms brought out 50% of eligible voters, and the 2020 presidential election brought out 66.7%

The Pew Research Center compared the 2020 turnout with the presidential elections in 49 other countries (the 38 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and select others), and found that turnout was only good enough for 31st place, sitting between Colombia and Greece.

There are a range of explanations for why Americans  who generally believe the U.S. is a beacon for freedom  seem to care so little for their democracy.

Mistrust of government: In the 1960s, young, progressive students and adults angry with an unpopular war halfway across the globe, generated distrust in government leadership not seen since the 1920s. The animus grew with the Watergate scandal. Since the 1980s, its been conservatives who have relentlessly undermined trust in government.

Failure to build a common identity: Americans were once a nation of joiners. Since the 1970s, we have increasingly distanced ourselves from government and others, as Robert Putnam first explained in his 1980 book Bowling Alone. Fewer of us have ties to the military, rather directly or through family members; our communities are radically divided by economics and race; and online life has supplanted family and community life. We simply no longer know our neighbors, which has driven a rise in single-issue voters.

Ignorance of government: Americans distrust of immigrants has soared in recent decades. But immigrants generally have a better understanding of U.S. history and government than do native-born citizens. A 2018 study by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation found that only about one-third of U.S. citizens could pass the U.S. citizenship test. This is an inexcusable failure. (Test yourself at uscis.gov/citizenship/civics-practice-test-2008)

Race to the bottom: Armed with ever-more sophisticated voter data, and a disastrous 2010 Supreme Court decisionCitizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, which allowed unlimited campaign donations by corporationspolitical operatives are using attack ads and negative campaigning tactics to gin up their bases. They know that the extremes will decide elections when turnout is low.

There is a simple solution to everything working against democracy in America.

Stop talking about the government as an outside force. We are the government. And voting is our most treasured right.

Whether we keep or lose our democracy is entirely up to each of us.

There are no excuses: Vote.
LETTERS: DPS can't ban them all; when does this stop?
Millions of people in Colorado and around the world will have a chance to witness a rare lunar event later this week, when the Earth blocks the sun's light from reflecting off of the moon, resulting in the last total lunar eclipse until 2025.
Don OConnor, a Republican, is running for Cerro Gordo County Supervisor District 3.

Bio:

My name is Don OConnor and I am a life long resident of Cerro Gordo County. I am the oldest of four kids born to Jerry and Maxine OConnor. I was raised on a farm in east central Cerro Gordo County and attended school at Rudd Rockford Marble Rock Community School District. My brother still lives on the farmstead we grew up on and farms with his two sons yet today.

I am married to the love of my life Carol and we have two grown married children and 4 grandchildren whom we absolutely adore.

I worked for HyVee Food Stores in my very early days and started my career in the automotive business and spent 34 great years managing and operating dealerships here in North Iowa. After closing out my career there I have enjoyed working for a local community bank here in North Iowa again helping people with their financial needs.

I am very active in the community and am currently volunteering my time for the following service clubs and organizations such as the River City Morning Kiwanis, Mason City Noon Rotary, Rockwell Lions, United Way of North Iowa, North Iowa Fair Association, North Iowa Builders Exchange, Mason City Chamber Ag Committee and Band Fest Committee, Mason City Housing Rehabilitation Committee, River City Rifle and Pistol Club to name a few. I serve on the boards on many of these organizations and truly enjoy giving back to the community that has been so good to me and my family.

1. What made you decide to run? (or if its an incumbent, why did they pursue office initially)

My decision to run for supervisor was not based on any one issue but the opportunity to bring my skills learned over my business career to be able to serve the residents of Cerro Gordo County. I like most others, find myself less than excited about the direction our country is headed and the hardships the price of groceries, gas and everything else is having on our everyday lives.

2. Proudest professional accomplishment (or legislative accomplishment for incumbents)

My 40-plus-year career has allowed me the opportunity to be involved with so many great non profit organizations that provide assistance and opportunities for the citizens of North Iowa. I have spent all my life working with the general public and the relationships, friendship, trust and respect that has been built over those years is the biggest reward I believe one can ask for.

3. What are your top two priorities for 2023?

When elected my goals are simple, we need to make Cerro Gordo County a place our children want to stay, work and raise their families in. We need to continues to provide infrastructure improvements and quality of life opportunities for our citizens, all while being good stewards of the tax payers dollars at the same time.

4. What sets you apart from your opponent?

I believe my business experience is the perfect fit for the role of a County Supervisor. In Iowa the role of a County Supervisor is that of a business manager and the large budget that they oversee here in Cerro Gordo County. I will be able to hit the ground running when elected and will represent all of Cerro Gordo County and will be your voice in county government, that is why my campaign material has included my cell phone for you to be able to call and talk to your elected official about an issue or concern in Cerro Gordo County.

5. Ultimately, why should people vote for you?

I have made it clear I am not a politician and will not make this a career when elected. I got into this race to serve the citizens of our county and use the lessons I have learned as well as the skills I have obtained in my 40+ years spent in private sector business to serve everyone. I believe I have a fresh set of eyes and am not a part of the court house crowd which I believe is truly needed, so I ask for your support electing me to be your next Cerro Gordo County Supervisor in District 3.

Full disclosure: Don O'Connor is the husband of Globe Gazette graphic designer Carol O'Connor.
On Aug. 15, 2019, Sgt. Timothy Hesse Sr., a motor transport operator with the 1133rd Transportation Company, Iowa Army National Guard, joined his wife and children for dinner the night before drill. While the rest of his family went to see a movie afterward then returned to their home in Charles City, Hesse decided to return to the Mason City armory for the night. When he arrived, he noticed a soldier from a different platoon sitting outside on the ground, not moving.

The Guard teaches you how to recognize certain situations and know when somebody is off, Hesse said.

Hesse went to check on the soldier, who said he wasnt feeling good and felt like he was going to pass out. Shortly after, he fell over and began seizing. Hesse sprung into action.

While he was seizing, I grabbed another soldier and told her to come with me, Hesse said. I told her to call 911. I assessed him. He wasnt breathing. He had a faint pulse, then all the sudden no pulse.

Recognizing the danger, Hesse began administering chest compressions and mouth-to-nose resuscitation. He continued to do this for approximately 10 minutes before paramedics arrived.

Hesse said that was the first time he had ever used CPR in a real emergency.

I was nervous and scared, Hesse said. My adrenaline was rushing, but the cops calmed me down. They said I brought him back to life. I got him breathing, thats all that mattered.

When the soldier was released from the hospital, he called Hesse to personally thank him for saving his life.

1st Lt. Elizabeth Holland, Hesses platoon leader at the time, said shes extremely proud of Hesse.

Sergeant Hesse is a good soldier, Holland said. You ask him to do something and he does it. You put him in charge of things and he makes sure it gets done. Hes kind of a more quiet, shy guy, but really easy to talk to. Definitely very caring and dependable.

Not long after the event, Holland knew she wanted to help recommend him for the Iowa Medal of Merit, which is given to members of the Iowa National Guard who, while serving, distinguished themselves through acts of heroism or meritorious achievement.

About eight months later on May 13, 2020, a small group of soldiers gathered in a gravel parking lot at the Camp Dodge Joint Maneuver Training Center to witness Maj. Gen. Ben Corell, adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard, present the medal to Hesse. Corell praised him for his quick, decisive actions. Due to COVID-19, the ceremony was adjusted to allow for social distancing.

In the time since the incident, Hesse has continued to dedicate himself to his fellow soldiers and Iowans by volunteering for state active duty to deliver medical personal protective equipment in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reflecting back, Hesse said his experience in the Iowa National Guard and the support from his family throughout his military career helped set him up for success. His wife, Melissa McGovern-Hesse, five children and grandson attended the presentation.
If you were to take a walk through John Adams Middle School, you would notice the temporary student art installations.

All vary in size, design, materials, and color but the projects have something in common: they all identify issues and address it with a core message.

"That was kind of like our whole focus behind this whole thing, to come together and make a positive impact," said industrial technology teacher Jessica Kingston.

Kingston and Anne Hansen, an art teacher, came together last year to plan a dance and saw their students light up. Seeing something was lacking at the school, the two decided to bring their subjects together.

How they did this was by using a teaching method called project-based learning. (PBL)

"Project-based learning starts with the challenging problem and ends with students creating a public product," said Hansen. "Being an art teacher, public products are something right in my wheelhouse; and we have big ideas but we required the art room and the industrial tech room to make some of these things come to life."

Students in either class had to first learn basic skills and standards in art and industrial tech. The two teachers then assigned groups to create their project.

The class, which is a semester long, focuses in on a mini and a major "PBL cycle." The mini PBL cycle was inspired by an email from Superintendent Pat Hamilton, asking teachers what mattered to them, the students, and community and how could they reflect it everyday.

Using that core message, a PBL experience was created for students. The desired outcome was to have students create public products that promote what students believe matters at John Adams.

After groups selected a challenging problem, they had to work to research and develop a product that was authentic to every member.

"The focus on sticking with something that we felt was extremely valuable for us and them. If you stick with it and guide them, they can get where we want them to go," said Hansen.

Each of the problems related to kindness, gratitude, positive communication, community, or appreciation. Fellow teams also provided peer critique to develop products.

"I really was overwhelmed with the amount of deep thought and quality from eighth graders," said Hansen.

Ava Benson and Claire Sewell created a "kindness pocket" for their product. The pocket, made to look like a back pocket on a pair of jeans, is an interactive wall piece where individuals can pull out slips of paper and be challenged to do acts of kindness.

"We were thinking that you have a little slip inside, and the slip would be like if you were pulling something out of your pocket," said Benson.

"We're going to try and put one at each of the schools in the district so (they can) be more kind," said Sewell. "What we have in mind is emailing the principals and seeing what colors they want and maybe do the school colors."

The two students have seen classmates going up to the pocket and looking inside it. Benson said she saw some even taking kindness slips out of it.

Noticing there wasn't a lot of Riverhawk decor on the walls, Emma Meyer and Mariah Wurtzel wanted to address it with a school spirit sign as their product.

"We decided to do it because we just kind of wanted to bring everyone together for more spirit," said Meyer.

The sign is made up of two pieces, one being the mascot logo and the other is stylized to say "Riverhawks." Their product is now being displayed proudly for the school to see.

"We had to learn to carve out the signs and the letters and then do the mascot is kind of hard to figure out," said Meyer.

Nadia Jackson and Amara Servantz created products to show appreciation to some unsung heroes: the John Adams custodial team.

"We felt that they didn't get appreciated enough because nobody really thanks them for everything they do," said Servantz.

The two eighth graders made framed signs with the custodians names and was decorated with bright colors. One of the custodians had the chance to see the appreciation products during a gallery walk in late October.

"(The custodian) grabbed the sign and then we read him the letter we made and then gave him the sign," said Jackson.

The next step is tackling a major PBL cycle, where students don't have to necessarily make a bigger product but have to think how to make a deeper impact.

Kingston said she hopes the students take away two ideas from PBL: being able to work with other people and driving community impact.

"They can drive something and make an impact, even if it's one person, a group, or a whole school. I think that's, for me, what I hope they take out moving forward," said Kingston.
In 2011, Iowa and Minnesota National Guard aviators stationed in Iraq saw the world through a monochromatic lens. Darkness was their friend. Each night around midnight, they departed Camp Taji in CH-47 Chinooks and flew all night long. They wore night vision goggles, painting the flat terrain in shades of green.

You can see for miles, and when you approach Baghdad, theres just this massive influx of lights, said Master Sgt. Layne Marti, looking back on the operation this summer. And then you look everywhere else and its just dark, black.

Marti, of Donahue, Iowa, served as a flight engineer instructor with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 211th General Support Aviation Battalion. The companys Iowa and Minnesota detachments merged to support Operation New Dawn, which marked the official drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq and the transition from combat operations to stability operations.

Heavy-lift aviation assets were crucial to complete drawdown efforts. Company B provided the only Chinook helicopter support for the entire Iraq theater leading up to the operations official end in December 2011.

A flight record

Between November 2010 and November 2011, Company B flew a total of 7,723 hours between training and combat missions. They moved 49,500 passengers and transported over 4 million pounds of cargo. They set a record of 1,039 flights hours between August and September.

During regular drill weekends, a flight engineer might, on a good year, fly 100 hours, said Marti. We flew 600 hours in nine months, not even a years worth of flying. So, you can grasp the pace of what we were doing over there. It was unprecedented.

Maj. Benjamin Winborn, commander of Company B at the time, described it as more work with fewer resources. The drawdown scaled back the number of Chinooks in the country, but aviation support was still necessary to close down outposts and move troops in a small amount of time.

But beyond the impressive numbers, the deployment had a lasting impact on the Soldiers of Company B. They created a legacy that made waves both in Iraq and around the world.

An inspiration

Before the unit arrived in Iraq, they went through their pre-mobilization process at Fort Hood, Texas. Knowing they would only be flying night missions, they made their call sign night long. Soon after, Sgt. Ryan Hoover and his fellow flight engineers created their slogan: All Night Long. Drawing inspiration from the 1983 musical hit All Night Long, he found a stencil of Lionel Richie and incorporated elements of a flight line to create a logo. It took off from there.

Hoover kind of became our mascot while we were deployed, said 1st Sgt. Charles Iams, who also served as a flight engineer. Everybody knew us around the country. The special operations guys would see our patches and trade stuff with him.

The patch, which features Richie wearing night vision goggles and a Chinook flying overhead, was so popular that it was hard to keep up with demand. Winborn reordered several batches throughout the deployment. The logo can be found stenciled in various places around Camp Taji and Fort Hood, and on the brown undershirts Soldiers wore under their uniforms. There are stickers that have made their way around the world, including on a bike pump station just outside Madrid, Iowa.

Brush with a star

They did a great job of promoting esprit de corps, and people noticed it, said Winborn. After we came back, in 2012, Hoover and I had an opportunity to go out to Los Angeles and meet Lionel Richie. You never know what to expect being around famous people, but he was super nice. Talked to us one-on-one about our careers and family.

During the live interview with CBS, Winborn and Hoover presented Richie with some All Night Long swag. To this day, a music record with Richies autograph and trophies awarded to Company B for their accomplishments in 2011 are proudly displayed side by side in the Davenport flight facility.

While the public recognition and awards were unique opportunities to represent the unit and even the National Guard aviation community as a whole, they were hard earned. Behind the creative stencils and glowing accolades is the hard and often exhausting work that the Soldiers of the 2-211th GSAB put in during their time in Iraq.

Command Sgt. Maj. Chad Stewart served as the production control noncommissioned officer in charge for Company D out of Georgia, which provided maintenance and inspection services for Company B. Keeping 16 Chinooks ready to operate every day was a monumental and often thankless task.

Stewart described the dynamic between the flight engineers and mechanics as an ongoing negotiation, the push and pull between needing to complete missions versus making sure it was safe for the crews to fly. The crews flew until the crack of sunrise and rested for a short time just to do it again the next night, while the mechanics worked to keep the aircraft functional all day and night.

It was a tremendous amount of hours; 12-hour shifts, six days a week, trying to keep up with maintenance, said Stewart. On average, of the eight helicopters flown each day, four needed massive attention when they returned just to be flyable for the next night. It was a constant struggle, but we never missed mission. The mechanics worked their butts off.

The aircraft werent the only things that needed attention. As the platoon sergeant for Company B, Master Sgt. Todd Isely was responsible for taking care of soldiers. Sometimes that simply meant making sure they were fed and well-rested, and other times it was about rearranging flight schedules when soldiers had to attend training or got sick.

When flight crews left in the middle of the night and returned in the morning, it was tricky getting hot dinner or breakfast at normal dining facility hours, so Isely and other staff would make food runs and pack portable coolers with sandwiches and snacks.

Oh my gosh, all the energy drinks, said Isely. They love sugar, caffeine. And the guys really liked shot coffees. Wed go around and barter during the day, offer Gatorade for coffee.

Random attacks

Mostly, soldiers went through their daily routines in peace. In their small amount of downtime, they played bags, participated in poetry nights and spoke to their families when they could. The drawdown in the country meant combat operations were steadily decreasing, but threats remained. Camp Taji was a common target of small, random mortar attacks, many of which were inaccurate.

On May 4, 2011, nearby insurgents fired over 70 mortars and artillery rounds at Camp Taji. Some minor injuries were reported, but Marti said they were very fortunate it wasnt worse.

You hear that distinctive thump, and I remember my friend Landon was like, Oh, that was kind of close, said Marti, and then the next one landed, a little closer. And you kept hearing it in the distance. This was not normal.

He and some other soldiers took cover under a concrete structure on the flight line. One mortar struck not far away and rolled underneath an aircraft, but never went off  avoiding a direct hit.

While Company B didnt lose a soldier that day or throughout the rest of their deployment, they still experienced loss in their lives back home; and in an aviation unit, burnout is an occupational hazard. Stewart admitted it can be hard to retain service members when they cycle through deployments every three to five years.

When you have children, wives, husbands, its difficult to walk away from them every few years and say, This is my last one, said Stewart. And then turn around and leave again.

One way the soldiers in Company B deal with loss and the hardships that come with serving overseas is by being there for each other, whether thats in person or by keeping in touch with a simple text.

Show of support

When Master Sgt. Shad Meyers, one of their flight engineer instructors, passed away in a motorcycle accident two years ago, Iams remembers the amazing show of support at his funeral. Soldiers came to Davenport from across the state, and members of their sister unit in Minnesota traveled hours to pay their respects.

The crew isnt together anymore and the 2-211th GSAB has since been renamed to the 1st Battalion, 171st Aviation Regiment, but the camaraderie they built and the legacy they left in Iraq 11 years ago will last forever. When Iams got married in Jamaica last April, he was surrounded by aviation members  not just fellow soldiers, but people he considers family.

There was a lot of fun, a lot of shenanigans, but there was a lot of work and hard times, said Iams. Those are the people you can depend on to be there when you need somebody to talk to or just sit around and joke about foolish stuff you did on deployment. I would move heaven and earth to help any one of those guys or gals out.

The deployments will keep coming and the faces in the formation will keep changing, but the memories from over a decade ago still remind Company B of what it was like to fly All Night Long.

Winborn remembers it well: the sound of the pilots and crew yelling out pre-flight check lists; the feeling of sweating through your uniform on a hot night as the microclimate cooling system pumped antifreeze to keep them cool; the friendly banter exchanged over the radio and the taste of cold water and energy drinks on a long flight; the constant scanning of the horizon, their necks heavy with the weight of their helmets; and the feeling of protection in the darkness as their worlds turned green.

Im just really proud of what our team was able to do and honored to have been the commander for that time, said Winborn. It was a once in a lifetime kind of thing.
DES MOINES  On a sunny afternoon downtown, Spc. Taylor Lenhart is doing exactly what she joined the Iowa National Guard to do: helping her local community in times of crisis as a citizen-soldier. Lenhart was one of 60 soldiers with the 186th Military Police Company activated to assist at Iowas first drive-through COVID-19 testing site in May 2020.

But up until a week earlier, Lenhart was supporting her community in another way: instructing virtual karate classes.

Lenhart grew up in Ankeny, where she began taking karate classes at the age of 9. By age 22, she had earned a second-degree black belt and was instructing students at Dojo Family Martial Arts for four years. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lenhart and her fellow instructors knew they would have to get creative if they hoped to continue teaching their students while following social distancing guidelines.

We had to move to (videoconference) Zoom classes, which has so far turned out really good, Lenhart said. I help teach martial arts, but what we also teach a lot of is character skills. We help discipline kids and keep order in the house.

Despite the distance, Lenhart said all four Dojo Family Martial Arts locations in the Des Moines metro area have become one big, happy community with an average of 30 students per class. The instructors and students from different locations usually only see each other at combined belt exams, but the virtual classes have made it possible to connect with everyone more often, she said.

Now that shes been called to state active duty, Lenhart said shes grateful for the skills 12 years of karate classes have given her  skills that go beyond kicking and blocking.

I probably wouldnt have joined the military if it wasnt for the confidence karate has given me, Lenhart said. When it comes to moving up the ranks, karate and the military are similar. When youre an instructor, youre in charge. You have to have the confidence to teach others what you already know. The same goes for noncommissioned officers in the Army.

Lenhart is confident in her ability to help in the fight against COVID-19, but her new mission is important on a personal level as well. When businesses began shutting down in Iowa, Lenhart decided to move back home, and she said it ended up being a good decision for her family.

I live with a high-risk person right now, Lenhart said. My mother has muscular dystrophy and has been in a wheelchair since she was 16. Im trying to help them get through this.

Lenhart is dedicated to supporting her family and helping her students maintain their fitness and focus through home care and virtual classes, but now shes supporting them in a different way.

At the drive-through testing site in Des Moines, Lenhart and fellow Soldiers are directing traffic and ensuring the medical personnel can do their job efficiently, all while following no-contact protocols.

Its really nice for us to be here and help things run more smoothly, that way people can get in and out of here fast, Lenhart said.

Above all, Lenhart said she wants people to stay safe. While it can be difficult to be away from her family and students during this stressful time, she said shes proud to help.

I have a duty to my state and country, to the people in this community, Lenhart said. Helping out here is also helping my students get back in the classroom faster.
CEDAR RAPIDS  When disaster struck on Aug. 10, 2020, Iowa National Guard Airmen and soldiers assisted with cleanup operations in eastern Iowa following a severe windstorm that caused widespread damage.

Airmen from the Iowa Air Guards 185th Air Refueling Wing Civil Engineering Squadron based in Sioux City joined Army National Guard soldiers in Cedar Rapids where they cleared downed trees so utility companies could reconnect power.

Senior Master Sgt. Dave Twohig, 185th ARW, was with a team of airmen and soldiers in Cedar Rapids working to restore power.

Ive seen storm damage before, but I have never seen it for miles and miles, like this, said Twohig at the time.

As Guard members cleared streets, civilian agencies are followed behind to reconnect power to tens of thousands of customers.

There is debris strewn all over the place. This is a really tough situation for the people here, Twohig added.

The destruction was due to the weather phenomena referred to as a derecho, which is characterized by a large geographical area of damage caused by extremely high winds. The hurricane-force winds flattened crops throughout southeast Iowa and uprooted trees, causing structural damage to homes and businesses.

Twohig said as a long-time member of the Air Guard, he was happy to help fellow Iowans.

This is what it is all about to us, Twohig said. Everywhere we go, people are waving and honking. Its been humbling.

Air Guard members were equipped with chain saws and skid loaders. Twohig said the resources, combined with Army heavy vehicles, allowed cleanup teams to move quickly through affected neighborhoods.
Public policy should match public opinion.

The majority of Iowans believe that a hard days work should be enough to cover the bills, seniors should be able to afford their prescriptions, and a woman should be able to make her own health care decisions. Instead of listening to what Iowans want, my opponent Rep. Ashley Hinson is pushing an agenda thats out of touch with the majority of Iowans, and she is more focused on impressing her political bosses in DC than serving her constituents.

Sixty one percent of Iowans want abortion to remain legal, yet Rep. Hinson co-sponsored a bill to ban abortions nationwide with no exceptionseven in cases of rape, incest or to save a womans life. And to make matters worse, Hinson has been trying to mislead Iowans about her stance despite numerous fact checks confirming her support for this extreme bill. Politicians like Ashley Hinson have no place in a doctors office making personal health care decisions for Iowa women.

Im tired of my Representative saying one thing here in Iowa and then going to Washington and voting the other way.

I learned about what real service meant from my parents; both of them served in WWII. Growing up on the farm, I learned about a hard day's work and penny-pinching in tough times. When things broke on the farm, we fixed them ourselves. Nothing was ever handed to me. I did farm chores, detasseled and mowed the cemetery, and that helped me pay my way through journalism school at the University of Iowa.

As my parents got older and were both sick at the same time, they relied on the Social Security and Medicare benefits they had earned their entire lives. Thats why it infuriates me that Ashley Hinson supports raising the retirement age, has called initiatives to include dental, vision, and hearing in Medicare coverage socialism, and has bragged about closed door meetings with party insiders in Washington to further undermine these programs.

Iowa families are struggling to make ends meet while big corporations are making record profits. Despite telling Iowans she will lower prices on things like prescription drugs, my opponent voted with the pharmaceutical lobby against bringing down insulin costs and capping drug prices for seniors. Thats not fair and it's not the Iowa way.

Im a lifelong Iowan with a track record of putting Iowa first and working with anyone to get things done, including voting with Republicans to lower taxes and balance the budget in the statehouse. I have voted to cut commercial property taxes to help Iowa businesses and I will work for similar common sense policy in Washington. I will protect the retirement benefits Iowans have earned through a lifetime of hard work. And I will stand up for womens rights to make their own reproductive health care decisions.

I promise to represent Iowa values in Washington as your next U.S. Congresswoman, and humbly ask for your vote on election day.
Gusts of wind nearly topping 70 mph swept through the Helena Valley on Saturday taking with them numerous trees and power lines.

Meteorologist Bob Hoenisch with the National Weather Service Great Falls office said the Helena Regional Airport recorded the largest gust of the day at 68 mph around 10:53 a.m.

The majority of Marysville lost power.

NorthWestern Energy and Helena Fire Department responded to numerous call for service regarding downed power lines around Helena.

NorthWestern Energy's online outage map showed reported power outages affecting upward of 3,000 customers in Helena.

Dispatch received a flurry of calls around noon when the winds peaked. At least a half-dozen wind-felled trees blocked roadways and had to be removed, including on Custer Avenue and Broadway Street.

Dispatch received a call for service on a two-car accident caused by flying debris, and a dumpster blew into the intersection of California Street and 11th Avenue.

"The fire department has definitely been going call-to-call-to-call with these downed power lines. They're working extremely hard today," said Helena Police Capt. Randy Ranalli.

Hoenisch said Montana is no stranger to high winds, but that Saturday's weather was "just a really good set up" for it.

He said a "deep low pressure system kicked out of Alberta" Saturday morning and met with fast winds up to 150 mph about 20,000 feet over the Rocky Mountains.

"We're past the peak, but there will still be high winds throughout the night," Hoenisch said, adding that the wind should slowly decrease into Sunday.
DECATUR  When Jackie Bullard retrieved her mail earlier this week, she found what appeared to be a local newspaper amid the ads and flyers.

The free publication arrived under the banner Macon Reporter and promised Real data. Real value. Real news.

But when Bullard looked closer, she said, she found the stories inflammatory and saturated with bias.

"Unless you were looking for something serious, it would look like a regular newspaper to folks, and the thing that bothered me was first, how easy a lot of people could be tricked by it, and the effect it would have on people with their confirmation biases," said Bullard, one of several residents who contacted Lee Enterprises with concerns about the mailings.

She received two editions of the publication, which contained headlines about crime, sex education in schools and other hot-button issues. In the days leading up to the Nov. 8 election, copies of similar publications have appeared in mailboxes across the state. The publications resemble local newspapers, but their content explicitly attacks Democrat candidates and praises Republican candidates.

The publications have been connected to conservative talk radio host Dan Proft, whose political action committee was also responsible for similar publications highlighted by a 2018 Chicago Tribune investigation. Proft did not respond to attempts to contact him for this story.

Experts say the mailings are misinformation campaigns and orchestrated attempts at purposely trying to mislead people.

Joseph Zompetti, a communications professor at Illinois State University whose research involves persuasion, civic advocacy and rhetorical strategies in political conversation, said the publications are a source of disinformation that in the current political climate and just days before midterm election is much more potent, it's much more volatile, and it amplifies and exacerbates that polarization that already exists.

With names like the Macon Reporter, Sangamon Sun, McLean County Times and Peoria Standard, the publications are tailored to each region. Some Central Illinois residents, like Bullard, said they initially thought the mailings were a free version of their local newspaper that had been tucked in among free advertising mailers.

When they looked closer, they said, they knew something wasnt right.

While the publications claim to be a source of state and local policy news, the majority of the eight-page publication focuses on Chicago and Cook County issues. Most of the quotations used are taken from local and statewide TV and radio news outlets and social media rather than from original reporting or interviews.

It did feel like I just picked up a paper from the 40s, said Jose Perez, a Bloomington resident. Every single person who was of color, and typically all of them were African American, they're always framed in a very bad light. Any white person that is featured in a picture, it is a very positive story about that person. And there's no medium, it is only those two extremes.

Perez said he believes that was intentional, created by someone trying to create fear but associate that fear with people of color causing that fear to come into your community and be worse.

Carla Campbell-Jackson, first vice president of the Bloomington-Normal branch of the NAACP, said the organization has received an influx of calls and messages from people expressing their concerns about the mailings. She described them as propaganda containing dangerous narratives and rhetoric.

That's problematic because, as we know, any type of divisive language or hate speech, it tends to breed intolerance, and this is not the best that we can do as Americans, she said. We have an obligation to each other, because what's included in the papers, unfortunately, it's demeaning to a certain category of people. It's derogatory, and we must demand better.

Murky origins

The publisher is identified as Local Government Information Services. Its website lists 34 publications spread across the state, from north of Chicago to the southernmost tip in Alexander County, and from Quincy to the Indiana border.

The Tribune reported in 2018 that a nonprofit organization called Think Freely Media and a PAC called Liberty Principles helped to fund these publications.

Proft, who identifies himself as a news personality, is a Liberty Principles backer and currently the chair and treasurer of the People Who Play By the Rules PAC. On his radio show, he has said the latter PAC helps to underwrite the LGIS publications.

Proft has previously called the Tribunes coverage of these publications little more than leftist propaganda.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker in September attacked similar mailings that were circulating in the Chicago area, characterizing them as "complete hogwash" and calling Proft a "racist political consultant."

In an interview on Profts radio show aired in September, Bailey spoke in support of the LGIS publications. These newspapers that are circulating the state are full of fact and truth  and Gov. Pritzker has the gall to call it a lie, he said.

Zompetti said the publications' purposeful resemblance to legitimate newspapers is dangerous.

They appear to be based upon the notion of objective journalism. I think the average reader who doesn't really know any better will potentially fall prey to this disinformation, and that's what's really, really alarming to me, he said.

Zompetti said some explicitly liberal-based publications exist, but not nearly to the extent or the scale that the use of conservative newspapers are getting.

The LGIS publishers use of numerous local names and the papers' dissemination across the state, coupled with disinformation campaigns online, on podcasts and even in text messaging, shows a more coordinated sort of comprehensive network of information thats being doled out in an inaccurate manner, Zompetti said.

The average person is probably going to feel that that information is accurate, when in reality, it's all coming from the same source, not two different sources, which creates that illusion of accuracy or objectivity, Zompetti said. This orchestrated campaign and network campaign of disinformation is what's really frightening and alarming to me.

The Twitter accounts linked to the Macon Reporter and McLean County Times have been suspended.

Perez said people have grown fatigued from the morality issues that have been pushed and pushed and pushed to the point where people are exhausted, trying to fight back for what's right.

He called the publications guerrilla media that add hateful mantras and ideology that can wear at people trying to see right from wrong and truth from propaganda.

People's fatigue over trying to discern what is real and what is not is something that I think they're exploiting. And when we tend to be worn out, it's easy to be made afraid, he said. If you can successfully make people afraid, then you have their ear, and they know that.

'No place in civic discourse'

No obvious pattern has been seen regarding where in each community the publications were sent, as not every address received them.

Residents in various parts of Decatur, Bloomington, Normal and Hopedale told Lee Enterprises Central Illinois they received at least one edition.

This doesnt respect the IQ of the community or their level of awareness. This is insulting to both the left and the right, said Mary Campbell, a Normal resident.

Campbell said if misinformation came out from the left, she would call that out, too.

Tim Hunt, another Normal resident, said the conservative politics are not what bother him about the publication.

That's not the issue. This is lying, deceit, fearmongering, he said. It offends me and it has no place in our civic political discourse.

Several Central Illinois residents told Lee Enterprises this week that they are now trying to find a way to ensure they dont receive any more of the publications.

My wife said she felt violated; she felt threatened and violated, Hunt said.

He tried calling the phone number listed in the publication. That leads to an automated message asking about the callers age and enrollment in Medicare. If the caller answers that they are 65 and older and enrolled in Medicare, an actual person answers, making further offers.

If the caller selects the option for under 65, an automated voice offers a free medical alert device. If the caller doesnt speak in response, the automated voice says it is unable to help further and says it will transfer the call, ending with a dead line.

An email sent to the provided address received no response.

That struck me as a scam, Hunt said. Whether this thing is just a fascist rag trying to hyperventilate and scare people to death before the election, or whether it's a fascist rag masquerading in these ways in order to scam people and harvest phone numbers and go wherever, I could not tell you because I did not go deeper.

Lee Enterprise reporters Drew Zimmerman and Brendan Denison and The Chicago Tribune contributed to this report.
SPRINGFIELD  In the Tuesday election, Illinois voters will cast a ballot on a state constitutional amendment, every statewide constitutional office, every seat in the General Assembly and, in 12 counties, a spot on the states Supreme Court.

For more information about voting, including how to and where to cast an in-person ballot on Election Day and before it, you can visit your local election authority. You can find information for all local election officials on the Illinois State Board of Elections website. Information on where your Election Day polling place can be found here.

Governors race: Gov. J.B. Pritzker is facing off against state Sen. Darren Bailey, a Republican farmer from downstate Xenia. The candidates views diverge widely on just about every topic, from abortion to state spending to pandemic response to addressing gun crime. The Libertarian candidate is Scott Schluter.

The candidates differences are demonstrated by Baileys voting record on some of the major policy proposals backed by Pritzker. Bailey was a no vote on almost all of them, saying in one public appearance that hed like to repeal everything Pritzker signed into law during his first term in office.

Pritzkers refrain in recent debates has been that Bailey has no plan for Illinois, and he has painted the Republican as a conservative extremist.

Bailey, meanwhile, has focused his attention on crime, especially in Chicago, taxes and state spending.

Comptrollers race: In Illinois, the position of chief fiscal officer is that of comptroller.

Democrat Susana Mendoza has been elected to that post twice, for a partial term beginning in December 2016 before gaining reelection in 2018. She touts the reduction of a $16 billion bill backlog to a standard 30-day billing cycle, the states largest-ever $1 billion balance in its rainy-day fund and a pension payment that went $500 million beyond statutory levels in the current fiscal year as some of her greatest accomplishments.

Her opponent, Shannon Teresi, is a newcomer to state politics and is the McHenry County auditor. Its an experience, she said, that will help her root out waste, fraud and abuse in state government  one of her most-repeated reasons for running.

The Libertarian candidate is Deirdre McCloskey.

Treasurers race: The race for treasurer  the states chief investment officer  pits two-term incumbent Michael Frerichs against Republican Tom Demmer, a deputy minority leader in the General Assembly and House GOP point person on budget issues. The Libertarian candidate is Preston Nelson.

Frerichs touts more than $1 billion in investment gains as his greatest achievement while emphasizing his administrative work on returning unclaimed property, a state college savings plan and other programs overseen by the office.

Demmer has focused his race on being a statewide check on Democratic power when it comes to tax and budget issues.

Secretary of states race: Incumbent Secretary of State Jesse White is stepping down at the end of his term, creating a vacancy in the office for the first time in 24 years.

The race to succeed him features Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, a former state treasurer from Chicago, and Republican State Rep. Dan Brady, of Bloomington. Each has a long list of initiatives they would like to implement to modernize the office.

While Giannoulias has Whites endorsement, the outgoing secretary has also spoken highly of Brady. And Brady has the endorsement of Republican former governor and secretary of state Jim Edgar.

The Libertarian candidate is Jon Stewart.

Attorney generals race: Democratic Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Republican private practice attorney Thomas DeVore differ starkly on a number of issues, with the AGs response to COVID-19 executive orders leading that list.

DeVore was a frequent challenger of the governors executive order authority throughout the pandemic, while Raoul defended that authority in court.

DeVore has defended his use of the private lawsuit to go after individuals, including the governor and a special education teacher, who he believes have defamed him. Raoul, meanwhile, said its a waste of court resources.

They also differed on the SAFE-T Act, which DeVore wants repealed, and whether the AG should be prosecuting public officials. The Libertarian candidate on the ballot is Dan Robin.

Constitutional Amendment 1: Voters will decide on whether the states constitution will be amended to give a right to workers to unionize.

Supporters of the amendment say it is needed to prevent future governors and lawmakers from attempting to pass right to work legislation, which former Gov. Rauner attempted to do. Right to work laws prohibit employers from requiring membership in a labor union as a condition of employment.

Opponents, meanwhile, argue that passage of the amendment would give public-sector labor unions greater power, which could lead to more expensive government contracts that create upward pressure on property taxes.

* * *

CASH BAIL'S END: While a new law overhauling Illinois system of pretrial detention continues to face scrutiny ahead of its Jan. 1 implementation date, new research suggests that the old cash-based system results in much less pretrial detention than is generally assumed.

Thats according to the Loyola University of Chicago Center for Criminal Justice, which has been measuring the potential effects of the provision commonly referred to as the Pretrial Fairness Act, which will abolish cash bail come Jan. 1.

What weve found is that, while its true that many people are jailed under the current cash bail system, most jail stays are brief, researchers wrote in an Oct. 26 brief that examined data from six counties. Most people pass through jails, being held for relatively short periods before bonding out  and that includes people charged with the kinds of serious offenses that are designated detainable under the PFA.

David Olson, a Loyola professor and Center co-director, spoke to Capitol News Illinois for an episode of the Capitol Cast podcast.

The PFA, passed in 2021 as part of the SAFE-T Act criminal justice reform, will end the wealth-based system that decides whether an individual is released from custody while they await trial.

It replaces it with one that allows judges greater authority to detain individuals who are accused of violent crimes and deemed a danger to the community or a risk of fleeing prosecution. But the new system also limits judicial discretion when it comes to lesser, non-violent offenses.

Under current law, bail hearings typically occur within 72 hours of arrest and last fewer than five minutes. Prosecutors detail the defendants charges and may recommend a bail amount. The judge then decides the conditions of their release, including how much money, if any, the defendant must post before their release.

The new process will allow a prosecutor to petition the court for pretrial detention and a defendant is given the right to legal representation at their first hearing, with the detention hearing typically taking place within 24 or 48 hours of the first appearance in court.

Olson said the research cant predict whether more or fewer people will be jailed while awaiting trial once the PFA takes effect, but the makeup of jail populations is likely to change. Its likely, researchers found, that lower-level defendants will spend less time in jail, while stays may get longer for those accused of violent crime because they can no longer free themselves on bail.

One study estimated that a judge would not have been able to detain the defendant in 56% of arrests that occurred statewide in 2020 and 2021 had the PFA been in place.

But another analysis showed only 19% of individuals with pending felony cases were in jail custody while awaiting trial on average from 2017 through 2019, with another 17% on electronic monitoring or pretrial supervision.

That means about 64% of individuals awaiting trial for felony charges over that timespan were living in the community without any sort of supervision, the study found.

* * *

MADIGAN PLEA: Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and his longtime political ally Michael McClain entered not guilty pleas Tuesday to bribery and corruption charges involving utility giant Commonwealth Edison and telecommunications company AT&T Illinois.

Both were charged previously in the ComEd scandal, but federal prosecutors last month added new charges involving AT&T after that company entered a deferred prosecution agreement and agreed to pay a $23 million fine.

ComEd entered a similar agreement in July 2020 and agreed to pay a $200 million fine.

In those agreements, the companies admitted they engaged in yearslong schemes to influence Madigan by making payments or awarding jobs and contracts to his associates in exchange for favorable legislation.

In the case of AT&T, the alleged payments to a Madigan associate were aimed at influencing Madigan to support passage of a 2017 carrier of last resort, or COLR, bill that gives the company the opportunity to opt out of a requirement that it offer landline service to any customer in its service territory who requests it, if approved by the Federal Communications Commission.

In the case of ComEd, that involved the 2011 Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act, which established a formula-based system of setting utility rates that effectively bypassed the Illinois Commerce Commission. It also involved the 2016 Future Energy Jobs Act, which, among other things, provided ratepayer-funded subsidies to two nuclear power plants owned by ComEds parent company Exelon.

The 23-count indictment, which was unsealed Oct. 14, charges both men with multiple counts of bribery, racketeering, wire fraud and use of interstate commerce facilities to carry out illegal activity.

Both Madigan and McClain waived their rights to appear at the arraignment Tuesday, which was conducted by teleconference in federal court in Chicago. Their not guilty pleas were entered by their attorneys.

Madigan has consistently denied any wrongdoing, saying the alleged bribes had no influence on his legislative decisions, and he has defended the utility legislation as good public policy.

His arraignment came exactly one week before the Nov. 8 general election in which Republicans are hoping to make gains in the General Assembly by tying Democratic incumbents to the so-called Madigan Machine.
Providing a safe and nurturing environment for children with autism, developmental delays and other special needs is what Adair Behavioral Services, LLC focuses on as its therapists work with families whose children need the specialized care the North Tazewell, Virginia clinic offers.

Adair Behavioral Services, LLC was a recent recipient of a $10,000 Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA) Seed Capital Matching Grant.

Adair Behavioral Services, LLC is providing specialized services which not only help the families and the children they serve, but which also create jobs at the same time, Jonathan Belcher, VCEDA executive director/general counsel, said. The new business, which projected eight full-time employees and three part-time employees within five years has already exceeded its total employment goals in part-time employment with nine currently hired and is well on its way to achieving its five-year projection, with five full-time employees now employed.

Renee Adair noted the North Tazewell clinic, located at 146 Bluemont Lane, provides care for children who have been referred by their primary care physicians. Plans are also in the works to open a second clinic, Mountain View Behavioral & Educational Services, LLC, just across the state line to enable the clinic to serve children with West Virginia insurance.

As the only ABA therapy clinic in the Tazewell area, we receive an average of two physician referrals a week for services, Adair said.

Services are available for children from ages birth to 18. Currently, Adair said the clinic has 15 children in its early intervention programs and 20 who come after school for therapy.

Adair is a licensed and certified behavioral analyst, special education teacher and teacher of the blind. She completed her undergraduate degree in special education at James Madison University; earned her masters degree at Radford University; became certified to teach the blind through George Mason University; and earned her certifications as a behavioral analyst from Virginia Commonwealth University.

I had a vision of what I wanted the clinic to look like and I invested everything I own to get it going, she said. The VCEDA grant gave me the ability to take the vision I had in my head and make it a reality.

Adair noted she used the VCEDA funds primarily to complete and equip a sensory gym. Floor mats and equipment ranging from ball pits and climbs to a padded slide and a fidget wall to allow children the opportunity to safely get sensory input were installed.

All behavioral, educational and social skills services are individualized to meet the needs of each child learner, with services focused on capitalizing on an individual childs strengths, while working to increase independence in more challenging areas.
Whatever one might think of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, theres no denying the man is telegenic.

Thus it seems only natural that the Virginia Tourism Corporation chose to include him in a promotional video. Youngkin, with shirt collar casually unbuttoned, delivers a hearty welcome to the travelers who will see this short playing in Virginia airports and tourism welcoming centers.

In Virginia, theres a million different ways to say welcome, the governor congenially intones, and I want to be one of the first.

The video has stirred controversy because Poolhouse, the Richmond advertising firm that received the $268,600 contract from a state agency to produce it, worked on Youngkins gubernatorial campaign. Elsewhere on this page, columnist John Long argues persuasively that this tempest in a teapot has little steam, as the video definitely is not a campaign video.

Yet the advert does inspire a question, one the tourism agency should have considered more deeply: when Youngkin says Welcome to Virginia, who is he welcoming?

After all, the governor has unwisely made the stamping out of divisive concepts like discussions of racial injustice and the trampling of rights afforded to transgender students part of his brand.

His appointees have deepened the problem. For example, State Health Commissioner Colin Greene dismissed the notion that racism has ever been a source of health disparities for Black Americans, and Board of Historic Resources member Ann Hunter McLean asserted slavery wasnt the main cause of the Civil War.

Greene walked back his comments after a rebuke from Youngkin, while McLean resigned.

The diverse faces whose smiles are showcased in the Welcome to Virginia video broadcast an appeal to all comers, yet the governors mere presence somewhat undercuts that message.

Bear with us here: the Roanoke Times mailbag brings in books on a constant basis.

Recently the post office delivered Nothing Special by author Desiree Cooper and illustrator Bec Sloane.

This gorgeous picture book contains a tale of a 6-year-old Black boy from Detroit who has traveled to Virginia to summer for a week with his grandparents. Young Jax, worried hell be bored while away from his citys amenities, discovers he loves helping grandpa and grandma catch blue crabs and shuck corn. Its as sweet a story as they come.

Serendipitously, it was poignant to discover Nothing Special lying atop the Roanoke Times copy of When Aidan Became a Brother, another sweet picture book about an all-Black family that the Roanoke County school district yanked from a library shelf because the protagonist is a transgender boy  exactly the kind of book banning Youngkin has thrown his weight behind.

The story in Nothing Special at first seems free of divisive context in the troubling way Youngkins administration has defined it. But in the back of the book, journalist and community activist Cooper discusses the Great Migration that took place from 1910 to 1970, in which millions of Black American families left southern states to escape Jim Crow oppression.

Cooper writes that like many other Black families in the North, hers would travel south every summer to attend family reunions and church homecomings.

Little is said about the annual reverse-migration that has become central to black nostalgia, writes Cooper, who intends Nothing Special as an homage to that tradition.

In sharing that family anecdote, Cooper also imparts an important history lesson, one every Virginia child should know. Its appalling to think that, because aspects of that lesson are upsetting, elected officials that share the mindset of the Roanoke County School Board might instead prefer to keep the book out of the hands of children.

And yet: welcome to Glenn Youngkins Virginia.
I typed 4885 Grandin Road, Lenoir, NC, into my phone, accessing directions, and soon I was off on a pleasant trip through a part of Caldwell Countys Patterson community. Perfect weather, not much traffic, lots of lovely rolling hills. My destination was the entrance to the new Broyhill State Forest. Michael Cheek, Assistant Regional Forester of the North Carolina Forest Service, had agreed to serve as tour guide during my site visit.

Michael had said Id cross a metal bridge. To my left would be Grandin Acres, a wedding and event venue; to the right, Broyhill State Forest. He hadnt mentioned there might be two goats on high alert at the end of the metal bridge. I had to wonder: Was there a third one nearby? Was I in danger of coming face to face with a troll?

Up ahead was a truck. Leaning on it was a man in a uniform. Must be Michael. I parked and was just getting out of my SUV when the opposite of a scary troll appeared. Two opposites, in fact. A pair of super friendly, rather wet and dirty dogs. One was a tall brown poodle mix. The other was a long-haired something or other that made me think of Benji from the 1974 movie of the same name. The blissful mutts were eager to join Michael and me as we headed into the forest. Michael explained that the goats and dogs belonged to the Grandin Acres farm.

A few weeks prior, a number of dignitaries, among them North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler; Hunt Broyhill and family; North Carolina Land and Water Fund director Will Summer; and Bill Holman, NC State Director of The Conservation Fund, had been at the same location for a Sept. 22 Broyhill State Forest celebratory event. I bet a couple of dogs showed up for the party, as well.

Now it was my turn to see a little of the 402-acre property currently owned by national nonprofit land trust organization The Conservation Fund but soon to be transferred to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for protection as a state forest thanks to funding from the North Carolina Land and Water Fund and Salisbury residents Fred and Alice Stanback, whose philanthropic efforts promote and support environmental education and stewardship. Simply put by Michael, the forest will be state owned.

According to information from The Conservation Fund, the effort will help protect water quality, wildlife and natural resources, while also securing new recreational access for the community.

Whats the hold-up? I asked Michael. Why isnt the forest opened to the public yet? He explained there was an old pond with an old dam on the property. A high-hazard dam, said Michael. It needs to be removed before the forest comes under state ownership.

As we walked and the dogs darted on and off the trail, Michael said the area used to be owned by the Broyhill Family Foundation, which does a lot of charitable work around Caldwell County, he said, adding that the money paid to the foundation for the forest will be used for the organizations charitable recipients.

According to broyhillfamilyfoundation.org, the organization, established in 1946 by the founders of Broyhill Furniture Industries, supports, through endowments, programs and scholarships offered by various North Carolina colleges and universities; funds health care research and programs at medical facilities in North Carolina and beyond; and through grants, aids nonprofit, charitable organizations primarily in Caldwell County.

This was some of the original land that the Broyhill family had around the turn of the century for use in their furniture making, said Michael. Historically, its been a working forest. He drew attention to the fact that the forest service has records of the Broyhills harvesting trees and then planting trees on the property.

Michael pointed to lines of pines that had been installed where mature trees had been taken down for use in furniture manufacturing.

Looking around, it was clear that a decision had been made a long time ago to give back to the land rather than simply take from it. The forest was dense with trees, vegetation, and wildlife. Other than the overjoyed canines, no wildlife greeted us, but Michael assured me that all the expected forest creatures were in the vicinity: deer, turkey, squirrels, and so forth. He said hed heard there were bears in the woods.

The Broyhill Foundation wanted the forestry service to take over and maintain the heritage, said Michael. Among the ways to preserve the area will be prescribed burning.

Most special, Michael announced, is the road network through the property, one which well maintain, he stated. Well open the road system and clear it.

Hikers and foot traffic will be welcome but no ATVs.

Michael then described a major importance of the land. Connecting large, conserved properties. There are about 2,500 acres, a research forest, just to the east of us and larger game lands [overseen by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission] to the west.

To our right, I noticed a pool of water just off the trail. Michael said it was a tributary of Kings Creek.

Another important aspect of this [forest] is its protecting headwater streams of Kings Creek, which flows into the Yadkin River, an important drinking water source for this region.

We trudged on. Michael indicated there was much hemlock on the property. Well do some hemlock restoration and treatment, he said. Hemlocks right now have declined from HWA (Hemlock Woolly Adelgid). Its a great opportunity to conserve them in this area.

HWA is an invasive insect that attacks North American Hemlocks. Theres a chemical treatment that will kill the woolly adelgid, Michael reported, and you can put out natural predators  different types of insects that feed on the HWA.

When the time comes for the forest to open to the public, there will be a kiosk with a forest map, rules, and so on installed at the trailhead. This will be the fifth state forest that Michael and a forester who works under him will oversee and work to protect.

You have to hand it to the Broyhill family for taking care of the forest that took care of them and for continuing to support the county in which the familys furniture industry took root and thrived.
Maiden Police Chief Tracy Ledford keeps an obituary in his desk. The clipping is a memorial to the life of a 17-year-old who died from an overdose in the Maiden community in February.

Ledford said he keeps the obituary to remind him that drug overdoses can happen anywhere. He said this case was difficult for him as a parent of two teenagers.

We're starting to see younger and younger people experiment with drugs in a way that we've not seen in the past, Ledford said. Because now fentanyl can come in a pill form that they interpret as being something safer than drugs that they've seen in the past. It's not a needle. It's not a pipe. It's a pill.

In the past two years, at least 113 people have died from drug overdoses in Catawba County. The majority of those deaths were attributed to fentanyl, law enforcement officials said.

Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid used as a pain killer.

Maiden Police Capt. Jamey Fletcher said the pills can come in various shapes and colors, so there is no way to tell which pill contains fentanyl until it is too late. Jaleel Smith, an investigator with Maiden police, said being able to make an arrest in connection to the teens death brought some satisfaction to the department.

Madison Dare Winslow, 23, of Lincolnton, is charged with death by distribution in the Maiden teens death. Winslow is also charged with four counts of conspiracy to traffic opium or heroin, possession of a Schedule II controlled substance with intent to sell or deliver, maintaining a vehicle, dwelling or place for the use or sale of a controlled substance and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

Winslow is one of three people charged with death by distribution in Catawba County, Capt. Aaron Turk of the Catawba County Sheriffs Office said.

Turk said death by distribution is a relatively new charge. Turk said N.C. General Statute 14-18.4 allows law enforcement agencies to charge people with death by distribution if it can be proven that a person sold drugs that led to an overdose death.

When investigating an overdose death, officers collect evidence at the scene, interview witnesses and look at cellphone records to determine who sold the drugs, Turk said.

If we can get to the point where we've established that the person in question has died of a drug overdose and identify one or more dealers, Turk said, then we begin to look and see if there's some connection between a purchase and the death by way of a finite timeline.

Another major component in overdose death investigations is the autopsy and toxicology results, Turk said.

Turk said the sheriffs office warns people not to use or come in contact with fentanyl, because it is the most dangerous drug someone might choose to ingest. He said a single use of fentanyl can be lethal.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, 2 milligrams of fentanyl is enough to kill a person, depending on body size, tolerance and past usage.

Darien Brooke Greer, 28, is charged with death by distribution in the overdose of Brianna Culpepper, 25, of the town of Catawba.

Our familys hurt. It's just terrible, Culpeppers aunt, Julie Wright, said. It's just an awful situation altogether. Fentanyl needs to come off the streets and those who are accountable should be in jail.

Culpeppers family has been fighting for Greers arrest since she died, Wright said.

Wright said on Jan. 19, 2021, her son went to check on Culpepper and found her dead on the bed in her camper. She had been dead for several hours, Wright said.

We just wanted answers. We weren't told anything, Wright said. (Investigators) confiscated her telephone and were able to get information from there. The next thing we hear, they have a grand jury indictment. But I think it took my sister pushing the issue over and over again for someone to be held accountable for selling this fentanyl.

Wright said Culpepper struggled with substance abuse, specifically alcohol, in the past, but was working to better her life. She said Culpepper moved to North Carolina from Florida in September of 2020 for a fresh start. Culpepper had a car, a job and a camper on her familys property, Wright said.

Culpepper was on probation and was passing all of her drug tests, Wright said. The family stayed in contact with the probation officer assigned to Culpepper to ensure she was staying sober, Wright said.

I hope more people get charged with death by distribution, Wright said. I hope more people are held accountable for doing this because it's killing these kids.

The third person charged with death by distribution in 2022 was Manuel Alejandro Acevedo.

Acevedo, 34, was arrested on Sept. 16 by the Hickory Police Department. He is charged in connection to the death of Jenny Powell who died on Feb. 7. Acevedo was also charged with possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver heroin, selling heroin and felony probation violation.
" " People walk part of the original "Trail of Tears" route at Pea Ridge National Military Park, Garfield, Arkansas. National Parks Service

Of all of the tragic chapters in Native American history, none reveals the brutal, state-sanctioned persecution of native peoples quite like the Trail of Tears. In 1838 and 1839, tens of thousands of Native Americans were forcibly removed from their tribal homelands in the American Southeast and shipped like cattle to "Indian Territory" west of the Mississippi. Historians estimate that up to 15,000 men, women and children died en route to these first Indian reservations.

Gregory Smithers is a professor of American history at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he specializes in indigenous histories, particularly the Cherokee, whose homelands used to stretch from North Carolina and South Carolina through Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and Texas. Smithers explains that from the birth of the United States, federal and state governments wrestled to establish a workable "Indian policy."

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The ultimate goal of such an Indian policy was to gain access to fertile farming lands held by native tribes in the Eastern United States, Smithers says. The proposed methods for acquiring those lands ranged from violent confrontation to peaceful diplomacy to underhanded coercion.

George Washington's administration favored an "integration" approach, avoiding armed conflict by "civilizing" the tribes and integrating them into the American economy and political system. Thomas Jefferson voiced his ulterior motives for supporting the civilization of tribes, arguing that if Indians could be convinced to buy goods on credit, they'd become indebted and be forced to sell off their lands.

The integration method quickly lost favor by the early 19th century, says Smithers, and growing segments of Americans in the Midwest and the Southeast were "unhappy that the U.S. was spending what they saw as their 'treasure' on Indians that couldn't be reformed and didn't have the same capacity to live in a republican society as White people."
Jordan Bardella elected him as the new president at the Saturday congress of the French sovereignist right-wing National Consolidation.

The result of the vote was announced by the outgoing president, Marine Le Pen announced, who continues to politicize as the faction leader of the opposition party in the National Assembly.

In practice, the 27-year-old member of the European Parliament was already handed over the leadership of the party by Marine Le Pen a year ago, when she started preparing for the April 2022 presidential election, in which she ended up in second place.

Bardella is the first president of the party founded by Jean-Marie Le Pen in 1972 who is not a member of the Le Pen family, although he previously lived with one of Marine Le Pens nieces.

84.84 percent of the 40,000 party members voted for him, while his challenger, Louis Alliotthe mayor of southern Perpignan, former partner of Marine Le Pen, won 15.16 percent of the vote.

Marine Le Pen announced in September that she does not want to take back the party leadership, but at the same time she does not want to leave political life, and she did not rule out running for the fourth time in the presidential election in five years.

The fact that the party president does not bear the name Le Pen is a sign of openness and confidence on the part of Marine towards the new generation

Jordan Bardella told the AFP news agency.

I am a candidate for continuity, looking to build on the incredible legacy that Marine is passing on

he added.

The new party leader has previously indicated several times that he wishes to support Marine Le Pens candidacy for the 2027 presidential election.

After Marine Le Pen lost in the second round of this years presidential election With Emmanuel Macron on the other hand, he led the campaign before the National Assembly elections in June. The National Compact managed to increase its number of representatives tenfold in the elections: it was able to send 89 representatives to the 577-member National Assembly, making it the largest independent opposition faction in the lower house.

In recent months, the strengthened National Consolidation has chosen the constructive opposition role to emphasize the change of image and the ability to govern.

However, this process and the change of leadership at the head of the party were disrupted by the racist incident in the National Assembly on Thursday. While a black representative of the opposition  radical left  Disobedient France, of Congolese origin, Carlos Martens Bilongo asked the government about the Ocean Viking ship operated by the French humanitarian organization SOS Mediterranee, which is lost off the coast of Sicily with 234 migrants on board and waiting to dock, one of the representatives of the National Consolidation, Gregoire de Fournas, shouted at him that Go back to Africa! (quil retourne en Afrique!).

The representative  who would have been Jordan Bardellas spokesperson if he had been elected president  was punished by the National Assembly with a two-week temporary suspension and the withdrawal of half of his parliamentary fee for two months.

Jordan Bardella grew up in a northern suburb of Paris, where his Italian immigrant mother raised him alone.

Every day I saw from the window or when I entered the building that there were drug dealers everywhere. I also saw groups of 5, 6 and 7-year-old girls wearing headscarves every day

said the new party president at a recent rally, where he also talked about how he decided to join Marine Le Pens party at the age of 16 after the 2005 suburban riots.

Le Pen transformed opposition and protest politics into governing politics, Bardella emphasized.

In recent months, the new party chairman has shown a rapprochement with the party advocating the unification of the right wing Eric Zemmourfor the party of the right-wing publicist Visszhoitas, which reached 7 percent in the first round of the presidential election, one of the main themes of which Renaud Camus writers theory of the great population exchange, according to which Muslim immigrants are gradually displacing the natives of Europe. Marine Le Pen has so far rejected cooperation with the party to the right of National Collapse.

(MTI)
Houston, Texas - The Nebraska bowling team finished in seventh at the 2022 Track Kat Klash with a record of 8-5 and total pinfall of 9,943. The Huskers are now 28-11 on the year.

NU started Sunday's play with a best-of-seven Baker match win against Louisiana Tech (4-3). The Big Red took the first two wins (209-156) and (214-187) before falling to La. Tech in the third (202-247). The Huskers then won the next four games (222-216), (219-255), (193-203) and (194-181) to advance and face Maryland Eastern Shore.

Nebraska started with a loss in the first game (179-201), then came back to win the next two games (220-200) and (197-186). Maryland Eastern Shore then responded with three game wins out of the four remaining in the match (181-193), (156-162), (182-169) and (170-234) to surpass the Huskers.

The Huskers and Bulldogs then battled in a round two showdown. The Huskers took the first game (212-201) and fell in the second game (194-216). NU then came back strong with the final three wins (204-181), (230-179) and (222-162) to close out the fifth game and claim seventh place.

Nebraska finished 8-5 overall at the tournament with a total pinfall of 9,943.

Freshman Jillian Martin (216.20 average) took sixth in the individual portion of the event, while senior Crystal Elliott followed closely in the top rankings receiving 11th overall with an average of 212.20. Senior Kendyl Hofmeister averaged a 199.20 to finish 26th overall.

Up next, Nebraska returns to the lanes Nov. 11-13 at the Motiv Ladyjack Classic in Kenosha, Wis.

Track Kat Klash Final Standings:

No. 7 North Carolina A&T

No. 1 McKendree

No. 12 Delaware State

No. 5 Sam Houston

No. 15 Maryville

No. 14 University of Maryland Eastern Shore

No. 3 Nebraska

No. 8 Louisiana Tech

No. 21 Central Missouri

No. 17 Tulane

Southern University

No. 24 Lincoln Memorial

No. 23 Monmouth

No. 20 Lewis

Texas Southern

University of Alabama Birmingham

Prairie View A&M University

Alabama State University

Upper Iowa

Alabama A&M
Traffic tickets: You get a ticket for speeding 10-15 mph over the posted speed limit. If you pay the ticket and its costs, you do not have to spend your time going to court. The charge will not cause you to lose your license. However, you may incur license points. What should you do?

This column does not advocate hiring an attorney unless you need to hire one. But an attorney can appear in court for you so the charge can be reduced modestly with the DAs and judges agreement, granted routinely if you have a clean record, and assuming you had a good attitude when you received the ticket. If you take these steps, you do not incur any drivers license points toward having your license suspended for an accumulation of license points.

It is not a question of if a driver is going to drive over the posted speed limit; it is when, and you do not know when you are going to need to avoid the impact of a second ticket.

Attorneys who handle these cases charge modest fees. You will generally have no long-term damage to your drivers license status if these circumstances exist.

What if you get a ticket in another part of the state? You can hire an attorney in that area of the state, so you do not have to attend the court hearing, and the attorney fees are modest. Ask your attorney for a referral to an attorney in that part of the state or contact the NCBA Lawyer Referral Service at 800-662-7660 for a referral.

What if you get a ticket out of state? The officer tells you can pay the ticket and not go to court. Should you do it? Likely, no, before you check with your insurance company and see how that ticket conviction will be reported to North Carolina. Most citizens do not realize that out-of-state ticket convictions are reported to your home state. And those convictions count on your drivers license points.

The problem is you do not find out about it until you get a letter from Raleigh telling you your license, with a previous ticket conviction you forgot about, or a new one, combined with that out-of-state ticket, results in your license being suspended or otherwise adversely impacted.

If you get an out-of-state ticket, contact your insurance company and an attorney in the county in which you received the ticket in that other state. You may receive State Bar sanctioned letters from attorneys who handle traffic tickets who can likely help you, and it is highly unlikely you will have to appear in court if you hire one. The local attorney can likely have the charge modestly reduced with the appropriate agreement of the DA and the judge, assuming you have a clean driving record, and you exhibited no attitude issues to the office when you received the ticket. So, the ticket conviction will not be reported to North Carolina in a way that results in an adverse impact to your license.

Expungement: If you apply for a job, a background check may be conducted to see if you ever had any criminal charges. Even certain old non-violent charges can follow an otherwise industrious family person and prevent them from getting a job.

If you feel that a certain old non-violent misdemeanor or felony conviction, or any dismissed charge, may be holding you back, ask an attorney to determine if that charge can be expunged (taken off the public record, assuming no subsequent convictions), after a (long) prescribed statutory period, so it does not keep you from getting a job. Which is why elected officials of all stripes voted to allow for an extremely limited number of qualifying convictions or charges to be expunged.

Remember: An informed choice is a smart choice.
Guitarist Bob Margolin said his life changed when he first heard Muddy Waters.

He had been exposed to the blues on a college radio station. And when Muddy Waters came on, he wanted to learn how to do what he did.

His voice was so powerful, and his slide guitar player was great, Margolin said. I soon found it was Muddy playing slide, too.

Margolin would soon end up on the same stage as Waters and play on several albums with him.

In a recent interview, he spoke about what he learned from the blues legend, about the trio he founded with a pair of local musicians, and about an episode that seems like it came straight out of Spinal Tap.

How did you get your start in music?

I started playing guitar in 1964 when I was 15, inspired by Chuck Berry. I was in bands throughout high school and college but really fell in love with blues music when I heard it on a college radio blues show.

Who are some of your musical influences?

Muddy Waters ... I was in blues bands from 1970, and we had the opportunity to open shows for Muddy. He could see that I was trying to play what he called old-school Chicago blues, and he was very encouraging to me. That was a thrill. In August 1973, I was invited to join his band. Many thrills.

How would you describe your own music?

In a word, bluesrootsrockacousticelectric.

What would you say are some of the more important lessons you learned from playing with Muddy Waters?

Be punctual, always play my best. Listen and interact on the bandstand. Try to be nice to everyone.

What would you say distinguishes the Chicago blues from other kinds of blues?

Old-school Chicago blues  like Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf and Elmore James  is electrified Delta blues with a band and drums. Later versions include the guitar influence of B.B. King, with string bending and vibrato  like Otis Rush, Magic Sam and Buddy Guy.

How did the Bob Margolin Trio come about?

The trio, which now I do for gigs I can drive to, is me plus Tad Walters on harp or guitar and Chuck Cotton on drums. For the primitive style I play, I dont need a bass player. Its nice to have Tommy Brill added on upright bass, though, and were doing some shows like that now. I enjoy having relatively few people on the stage. Most of the time these days, I fly somewhere and am a guest with a band or a bunch of musicians.

If you could open a show for any artist, who would it be and why?

Thats a very interesting question because I cant think of anyone whos still alive. At 73, Im often the oldest on a show. In the last few weeks, I played before Jimmy Vaughan twice and once before the exciting King Solomon Hicks. Those were big fun.

Do you have a favorite song you like to perform?

Actually, Ive been enjoying and getting great audience response to Steady Rollin On. I recorded it on my new acoustic duo album, So Far, with harp master Bob Corritore. Its autobiographical, and when I open a show with it, Im giving myself to the audience, both musically and socially.

Whats the funniest or weirdest thing that has ever happened at one of your shows?

November, 1978. In the deepest basement beneath the Hammersmith Odeon, Londons venerable venue, a maintenance engineer sat amid the furnaces and steam pipes. A concert was about to begin upstairs, but that had nothing to do with him until he heard American voices cussing nervously, coming closer. As he put down his magazine, he found himself facing Muddy Waters and his blues band, toting guitars, harmonicas and drum sticks. Young Bob, one of the guitar players, asked, Sir, can you direct us to the stage?

Like rats in a maze, the band had taken a wrong turn between their dressing room and the bandstand. It was time to play, and we were quite lost. The janitorial gentleman patiently ran down complicated directions, and we thanked him and set out again. We didnt believe it could possibly be that hard to find our way, but we had to admit it was when we came around a corner and saw our cellar dweller again, right where wed left him.

This time we followed his directions more carefully and did our show, opening for Eric Clapton, who used his fame to expose Muddy to a much larger audience than Muddy could draw on his own.

I recalled this with a smile just a few years later in the mid-80s, the first time I saw the movie Spinal Tap, which satirizes the saga of a fictional archetypal rock band. Theres a scene in the movie of the band getting lost in the basement of a performance venue, between the dressing room and the stage.

Though Spinal Tap were British rockers and Muddys band were American bluesmen, I had to think, Been there, done that. In the years since, in Muddys band and then leading my own, Ive occasionally found that my life feels like a blues Spinal Tap.

Whats next for you?

I am Steady Rollin  that nickname is not just a stage joke . For most of November, Ill be on the Last Waltz Tour 2022 that features some of todays best-known Americana musicians. And on and on, Amen.
Is Fleetwood Macs landmark album Rumours better than To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar? Should Tapestry by Carole King be ranked higher or lower than Thriller by Michael Jackson?

Rolling Stone magazine has some answers in a new book thats sure to spark conversations  The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Its where youll find that Bruce Springsteens Born to Run fittingly sits just ahead of Ready to Die by The Notorious B.I.G., at No. 21 and No. 22, respectively.

Every record on here is in some ways on for different reasons, said Jon Dolan, the reviews editor at Rolling Stone who helped create the book. We are really happy, to be honest, about the whole list.

But if you disagree with the rankings, dont blame the folks at Rolling Stone. Blame Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Iggy Pop. Nile Rodgers, Questlove, Billie Eilish, Herbie Hancock, Saweetie, Carly Rae Jepsen, Lin-Manuel Miranda and members of Metallica and U2, among dozens of other artists. They were among the judges.

The books editors reached out to about 500 voters from the world of music  artists, journalists, record label figures and Rolling Stone staffers  and asked for their top 50 albums (Stevie Nicks kindly offered 80). They got some 4,000 albums and created a spreadsheet with weighed points.

On every page, the artists make a fascinating musical tapestry. Take a section in the lower Top 100  at No. 86 is The Doors self-titled debut, followed by Bitches Brew by Miles Davis, Hunky Dory by David Bowie and, at No. 89, is Baduizm by Erykah Badu, connecting gems of classic rock, jazz, prog-rock and R&B.

Is there a person who loves all those things equally? Probably not. But we hope theres people who could definitely want to try them all out and see what they think, Dolan said. Thats the goal: making connections and being introduced to new things.

Dolan was impressed by some established artists embracing modern music, like John Cale of the Velvet Underground championing FKA Twigs and Nicks ranking Harry Styles Fine Line quite high.

Its sweet when these people who have been around are not just pooh-poohing the younger generation, he said. Its neat when people are voting for things outside of their genre and what youd expect.

The books origins started in 2003 when the magazine published its first 500 list, putting The Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band at No. 1. It was a pretty Beatles-heavy list, with three more Fab Four albums making the top 10.

It had kind of the perspective of a 45-year-old male rock fan who was open minded, who liked rap a little bit, but kind of patting it on the head, and liked R&B, but was kind of dismissive of the more recent stuff, he said.

We really wanted to break away from that perspective and think the list could actually have many perspectives converging.

Joni Mitchells Blue shot up on the new list, going from No. 30 in 2003 to the top 10 now, and Prince and the Revolutions Purple Rain went from No. 76 to No. 8. Another big gainer was Lauryn Hills The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which zoomed up from the 300s in 2003 to Top 10 now.

Certain albums become kind of new classics, said Dolan. It is something thats kind of evolving and up for grabs. And we wanted to kind of at least imply that in doing this one.

The new list is more inclusive of genres other than rock and so pushed some iconic albums down, such as AC/DCs Back in Black which went from No. 77 to No. 84, now nestled between Dusty in Memphis by Dusty Springfield and John Lennons Plastic Ono Band. (Im pretty sure they would accept that company, Dolan said.)

Some artists catalogues have also shifted. Bob Dylans Blood on the Tracks leapfrogged his Blonde on Blonde and Highway 61 Revisited this time, and the Beatles Abbey Road became their top album in the book, over Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Rubber Soul and Revolver.

The warmth and the beauty and the sweetness of Abbey Road maybe in a way wins out over this sort of landmark sonic inventiveness of Revolver because people love to listen to it.

Theres been some online griping about the list, like that only The Stranger from Billy Joel made the list and no entries from non-Western artists, Fans of U2 might be mad that The Joshua Tree dropped out of the Top 100 and fans of electronic music might bemoan that there are only eight electronic albums.

But Rolling Stone says the list is a snapshot as music marches onward. While the albums were being tabulated this time, Taylor Swifts folklore and Bob Dylans Rough and Rowdy Ways came out, and Dolan suspects both might have made the book if theyd only come out earlier.

Because the list is so stylistically diverse and open-ended, I think were kind of implying that its always a work in progress, he said. In 20 years, Rolling Stone, whatever entity it is, will do this again at some point.
An electioneer yells at a voter to cast his ballot for his party. A poll observer gets suspicious when someone showing up to vote reads their name to the poll worker from what looks like an index card with writing on it. Those incidents have taken place in Forsyth County during early voting, but local election officials and party leaders say things have largely run very smoothly here. You might expect otherwise, reading press coverage that talks of election workers living in fear of violence. It probably helps that North Carolina doesnt allow ballot drop-boxes that have raised the ire of many who claim that former President Donald Trump was robbed in the 2020 election. Still, just up the road in Surry County, the head of the county GOP allegedly tried to have the election director fired last spring for refusing his demand to have voting machines opened and checked for the presence of a modem. Election equipment is not equipped with modems and cannot be connected to the internet.

Most of the stuff we have heard has been trivial, county elections director Tim Tsujii said, just days before the end of early voting on Saturday. We have not had any incidents reported by observers (inside the polling place). We have gotten very few calls about activities outside. It has been a relatively quiet election. Perhaps the most serious thing that happened, at least from the point of view of the voter, was outside the early voting site at Old Town Recreation Center. There, an emergency medical crew in an ambulance showed up to treat a man who injured himself falling. The connection to election shenanigans? The man fell when he was turning around to tell a campaigner to quit following him. According to (the mans wife), the voter felt intimidated because the electioneer was following the husband, and as the husband turned around to tell the electioneer he didnt want the flyer, that is when he tripped. Tsujii said he knew nothing more about the incident except that there was medical assistance provided. Its easy to find news stories on the internet about voter intimidation. In Arizona, a group was banned from coming within 75 feet of ballot drop boxes after they were accused of intimidating voters. You hear all these stories about what is happening in other jurisdictions, and we havent had any of that here, Tsujii said. Part of the reason for that calm is that the elections office has a good working relationship with the political parties, Tsujii said. Each party can send election observers into the polling places. The observers just sit and watch, but they can raise concerns if they see anything that looks out of kilter. Take that incident of the index card. That was reported to election officials by an observer, but on closer inspection turned out to be totally innocuous: A voter who couldnt remember how they had written their name on the registration form was simply reading the name off their own voter registration card. Another incident: A Republican complained about a Democratic campaign worker, saying that the Democrat was handing out what looked like the image of an official ballot. On checking, Tsujii said, it was obvious that the paper was not a copy of a ballot but a flyer encouraging voters to vote for Democrats and bearing a statement clearly stating its origin. I got a phone call from the Democratic Party about how some of the GOP poll workers had name tags that said they were Republican observers, Tsujii said. They wanted to know if it was OK. Its no secret that many in the GOP subscribe to narratives about how the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. Ken Raymond, the head of the Forsyth GOP, said he believes there were major questions that went unanswered in that election. I believe these questions must be answered, and there will always be a cloud over the 2020 election, Raymond said. He cites the movie 2000 Mules as demonstrating evidence of ballot-box fraud. The movie has been thoroughly debunked by a number of fact-checking groups, who say that it does not provide the proof that the filmmakers allege of ballot harvesters depositing multiple ballots at different drop box locations. Significantly, Raymond believes the Forsyth County Board of Elections operates openly and transparently. After all, Raymond formerly chaired the local elections board.

I am in regular contact with our Republican board members fairly often, Raymond said. They tell me everything is going great. They have never had any issues with anything that goes on down there. I have not heard any complaints or problems from anyone. At the same time, Raymond said, he believes the way to cultivate trust in the electoral process is for people to get involved and become poll observers or poll workers so they can see for themselves how things operate. Raymond said hes talked with Tsujii about the need for people campaigning outside the polling place to mind their actions: He told us to remind greeters to offer voter information, but dont be so overzealous as to chase them down and cause them to hurt themselves, he said, referring to the tripping incident. Dont pursue them into the polling place. Raymonds counterpart among the Democrats, Kevin Farmer, said he was busy but had time to answer a couple questions by email. Asked if Tsujiis assessment that polling inside the voting places had been largely without problems, Farmer agreed: There have been some minor issues, but they were quickly addressed, Farmer said in an email. Similarly, Farmer said no major incidents occurred among people campaigning out in front of the polling places: There were some minor disputes that were eventually resolved by actual face to face conversation, Farmer wrote.

Meanwhile, over in Surry County, Huff said early voting has been quiet and orderly, and that critics of the voting process have been telling people to vote only later on election day. She said the parties will have observers at the polls but thinks voting will turn out to be orderly. Here, Tsujii points out that he cant do anything about some complaints. For instance, someone complained about the wording on what looked like a handmade sign posted at the Kernersville voting site. But as with similar complaints made to Winston-Salem officials about signs attacking candidates posted in the right of way, free speech rights curb what anyone can do about such a sign. Tsujii draws a line between what happens on the side of the polling place where campaigning is not allowed, and activities outside the building that are beyond his jurisdiction as long as people observe the boundary around the polling place  typically 50 feet  within which campaigning cannot take place. But Fred Falin, one of the lead poll workers at the Southside branch library early voting site, said workers can still get drawn in by trouble outside. Theyre here because were here, he said. We did have one person who was screaming at people from the other party. I knew the man from many years ago. A librarian called police, who came over and talked to the man. Falin said he doesnt know the details, but the man was no longer there. The man who was yelling was a Democrat, Falin noted. Talking to Falin, one gets the impression that election workers have seen it all:

We had one over-the-top guy one evening who was very insistent that he wanted a picture of his ballot, Falin said. But you cant do that. I turned on my most stern voice and told him that he could not take a picture. Occasionally we have someone who says they want a receipt. We dont do receipts. Election workers are allowed to help people vote if they ask for it. For instance, some people with vision problems, or problems controlling their hands, may need help filling in the little ovals that designate ones choice of a candidate. In case youre wondering, at the close of each day during early voting, the ballots would be locked up inside the tabulator and collected the following morning. We are here to make sure every registered person in the county is able to vote, he said.

An electioneer yells at a voter to cast his ballot for his party.

A poll observer gets suspicious when someone showing up to vote reads their name to the poll worker from what looks like an index card with writing on it.

Those incidents have taken place in Forsyth County during early voting, but local election officials and party leaders say things have largely run very smoothly here.

You might expect otherwise, reading press coverage that talks of election workers living in fear of violence.

It probably helps that North Carolina doesnt allow ballot drop-boxes that have raised the ire of many who claim that former President Donald Trump was robbed in the 2020 election.

Still, just up the road in Surry County, the head of the county GOP allegedly tried to have the election director fired last spring for refusing his demand to have voting machines opened and checked for the presence of a modem.

Election equipment is not equipped with modems and cannot be connected to the internet.

Most of the stuff we have heard has been trivial, county elections director Tim Tsujii said, just days before the end of early voting on Saturday. We have not had any incidents reported by observers (inside the polling place). We have gotten very few calls about activities outside. It has been a relatively quiet election.

Perhaps the most serious thing that happened, at least from the point of view of the voter, was outside the early voting site at Old Town Recreation Center. There, an emergency medical crew in an ambulance showed up to treat a man who injured himself falling. The connection to election shenanigans? The man fell when he was turning around to tell a campaigner to quit following him.

According to (the mans wife), the voter felt intimidated because the electioneer was following the husband, and as the husband turned around to tell the electioneer he didnt want the flyer, that is when he tripped.

Tsujii said he knew nothing more about the incident except that there was medical assistance provided.

Its easy to find news stories on the internet about voter intimidation. In Arizona, a group was banned from coming within 75 feet of ballot drop boxes after they were accused of intimidating voters.

You hear all these stories about what is happening in other jurisdictions, and we havent had any of that here, Tsujii said.

Part of the reason for that calm is that the elections office has a good working relationship with the political parties, Tsujii said.

Each party can send election observers into the polling places. The observers just sit and watch, but they can raise concerns if they see anything that looks out of kilter.

Take that incident of the index card. That was reported to election officials by an observer, but on closer inspection turned out to be totally innocuous: A voter who couldnt remember how they had written their name on the registration form was simply reading the name off their own voter registration card.

Another incident: A Republican complained about a Democratic campaign worker, saying that the Democrat was handing out what looked like the image of an official ballot. On checking, Tsujii said, it was obvious that the paper was not a copy of a ballot but a flyer encouraging voters to vote for Democrats and bearing a statement clearly stating its origin.

I got a phone call from the Democratic Party about how some of the GOP poll workers had name tags that said they were Republican observers, Tsujii said. They wanted to know if it was OK.

Its no secret that many in the GOP subscribe to narratives about how the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

Ken Raymond, the head of the Forsyth GOP, said he believes there were major questions that went unanswered in that election.

I believe these questions must be answered, and there will always be a cloud over the 2020 election, Raymond said. He cites the movie 2000 Mules as demonstrating evidence of ballot-box fraud.

The movie has been thoroughly debunked by a number of fact-checking groups, who say that it does not provide the proof that the filmmakers allege of ballot harvesters depositing multiple ballots at different drop box locations.

Significantly, Raymond believes the Forsyth County Board of Elections operates openly and transparently. After all, Raymond formerly chaired the local elections board.

I am in regular contact with our Republican board members fairly often, Raymond said. They tell me everything is going great. They have never had any issues with anything that goes on down there. I have not heard any complaints or problems from anyone.

At the same time, Raymond said, he believes the way to cultivate trust in the electoral process is for people to get involved and become poll observers or poll workers so they can see for themselves how things operate.

Raymond said hes talked with Tsujii about the need for people campaigning outside the polling place to mind their actions:

He told us to remind greeters to offer voter information, but dont be so overzealous as to chase them down and cause them to hurt themselves, he said, referring to the tripping incident. Dont pursue them into the polling place.

Raymonds counterpart among the Democrats, Kevin Farmer, said he was busy but had time to answer a couple questions by email. Asked if Tsujiis assessment that polling inside the voting places had been largely without problems, Farmer agreed:

There have been some minor issues, but they were quickly addressed, Farmer said in an email.

Similarly, Farmer said no major incidents occurred among people campaigning out in front of the polling places:

There were some minor disputes that were eventually resolved by actual face to face conversation, Farmer wrote.

Meanwhile, over in Surry County, Huff said early voting has been quiet and orderly, and that critics of the voting process have been telling people to vote only later on election day. She said the parties will have observers at the polls but thinks voting will turn out to be orderly.

Here, Tsujii points out that he cant do anything about some complaints. For instance, someone complained about the wording on what looked like a handmade sign posted at the Kernersville voting site. But as with similar complaints made to Winston-Salem officials about signs attacking candidates posted in the right of way, free speech rights curb what anyone can do about such a sign.

Tsujii draws a line between what happens on the side of the polling place where campaigning is not allowed, and activities outside the building that are beyond his jurisdiction as long as people observe the boundary around the polling place  typically 50 feet  within which campaigning cannot take place.

But Fred Falin, one of the lead poll workers at the Southside branch library early voting site, said workers can still get drawn in by trouble outside.

Theyre here because were here, he said. We did have one person who was screaming at people from the other party. I knew the man from many years ago.

A librarian called police, who came over and talked to the man. Falin said he doesnt know the details, but the man was no longer there. The man who was yelling was a Democrat, Falin noted.

Talking to Falin, one gets the impression that election workers have seen it all:

We had one over-the-top guy one evening who was very insistent that he wanted a picture of his ballot, Falin said. But you cant do that. I turned on my most stern voice and told him that he could not take a picture. Occasionally we have someone who says they want a receipt. We dont do receipts.

Election workers are allowed to help people vote if they ask for it. For instance, some people with vision problems, or problems controlling their hands, may need help filling in the little ovals that designate ones choice of a candidate.

In case youre wondering, at the close of each day during early voting, the ballots would be locked up inside the tabulator and collected the following morning.

We are here to make sure every registered person in the county is able to vote, he said.
Novant Health Inc. has debuted new bariatric surgery services at Forsyth Medical Center, primarily as part of an initiative to make a weight-loss option more accessible in the Triad.

Bariatric surgery involves operating on the stomach and/or intestines to help patients lose weight. It is considered an effective and durable treatment for severe obesity and related medical conditions.

In addition to weight loss, the procedure offers other health benefits that include: decreased risk of heart disease; joint pain; high blood pressure; sleep apnea; several types of cancer; and in some cases, reducing or curing Type 2 diabetes.

The surgeries became available at Forsyth on Nov. 1. The surgeries have been available at Kernersville Medical Center since 2013.

More than a third of adults in the United States have obesity, which is an underlying condition for many of the health problems our patients experience, Chad Setliff, president of Novants greater Winston-Salem market, said in a statement.

Weve established several weight-loss clinics across the area.

The results have been truly life changing for our patients, who now have convenient access to customized nutrition and exercise plans, counseling support and if needed, surgical care, Setliff said.

The surgeries are being performed by Drs. Joshua Rickey and Paul Chandler of Novant Health Salem Surgical Associates, using robotic-assisted bariatric procedures at Forsyth Medical Center.

The practice has locations in Clemmons and Winston-Salem.

If surgery is recommended, we want to do everything possible before, during and after their procedure to establish a pattern for lifelong success, added Chandler.

Novant also offers bariatric surgery at its hospitals in Charlotte, Huntersville, Matthews and Salisbury.
OMAHA  About one in eight deaths of Nebraskans ages 20 to 64 in recent years can be attributed to alcohol use, according to a study published last week.

The study, from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, looked at wide-ranging deaths that could be linked to drinking, such as motor vehicle wrecks, suicides, falls and cancer.

Chris Wagner, the executive director of Project Extra Mile, a coalition that aims to reduce alcohol consumption, said the Nebraska numbers were not surprising.

I think its not shocking, sadly, when you look at our state, he said. Were really typically in the top five worst binge-drinking states in the country, and thats where a lot of these harms come from.

Its primarily because alcohol is relatively cheap in our state, and its pretty much everywhere, he said.

Another CDC report released Friday found that the nationwide rate of alcohol-related deaths increased 26% to about 13 deaths per 100,000 Americans in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thats the highest rate recorded in at least 40 years, said the reports lead author, Merianne Spencer.

Excessive drinking is associated with chronic dangers such as liver cancer, high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease. Drinking by pregnant women can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth or birth defects. And health officials say alcohol is a factor in as many as one-third of serious falls among the elderly.

Its also a risk to others through drunken driving or alcohol-fueled violence.

The alcohol-related death rate had been increasing for the past two decades, by 7% or less each year. The year 2020 marked a jump of more than 3 times.

Such deaths are 2 times more common in men than in women, but rose for both in 2020, the study found. The rate continued to be highest for people ages 55 to 64, but rose dramatically for certain other groups, including jumping 42% among women ages 35 to 44.

The study that looked at state deaths determined that about a quarter of deaths of Nebraska adults ages 20 to 34 from 2015 to 2019 can be attributed to excessive alcohol use.

That figure was similar to the nationwide number.

Nebraska also closely matched the nationwide percentage of alcohol-related deaths for adults ages 35 to 49 and 50 to 64 years old, which are 17.5% and 9.5%, respectively.

Wagner said people usually think about the harm of alcohol and driving but dont often consider the effects of alcohol on their long-term health. He said people can make healthier choices to help themselves, but to decrease the states 700-plus annual alcohol-related deaths, policy changes should be made to increase the price of alcohol and decrease the availability, among other measures.

Weve seen in Nebraska over 20-plus years, lawmakers have consistently enacted policies that benefit the alcohol industry and those that sell alcohol, but dont take into account public safety and health consequences, he said. Weve been moving in the wrong direction for a number of years.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
It took nearly a year for Kelly Macauley to realize the health plan she bought while shopping for insurance coverage last October was not, in fact, insurance. Sure, red flags popped up along the way, but when she called to complain, she said, she was met with explanations that sounded reasonable enough and kept her paying her $700 monthly premiums.

She said she was told that her medical bills werent being paid because the hospital was submitting them incorrectly. That Jericho Share, the nonprofit that sent her a membership card reading THIS IS NOT INSURANCE, was just her policys underwriter, not the actual insurer. That she hadnt received a policy welcome packet because the company was saving paper and passing those savings on to customers.

Then, this summer, the 62-year-old retired teacher who recently moved from the Philadelphia area to South Carolina, learned her plan had paid only $120 of the bill for her hip replacement last year, leaving her with a balance of over $40,000. She said shed been assured the procedure would be covered when she was shopping for insurance. But it turns out that the plan she purchased wasnt insurance at all but rather part of something called a health care sharing ministry.

Health care sharing ministries are an alternative to health insurance in which members agree to share medical expenses. They are often faith-based and can be cheaper than traditional insurance, although they dont necessarily cover their members medical bills, according to a Commonwealth Fund report.

That was never, ever mentioned to me, Macauley said. I honestly believed I was buying legitimate medical insurance.

What to watch out for during open enrollment

Beginning Nov. 1, millions of Americans will purchase health insurance for 2023 in a period known as open enrollment. Through the federal and state insurance marketplaces, consumers can shop for Affordable Care Act-compliant health insurance plans and find out whether they qualify for financial assistance.

But experts caution that the rush to buy coverage also presents an opportunity for people selling alternative products, such as short-term health plans and health care sharing ministries, that are often cheaper than comprehensive coverage but provide far fewer protections. Though those alternatives are themselves legal, experts caution that misleading marketing can direct consumers shopping for comprehensive coverage into buying health plans that exclude protections for preexisting conditions and leave patients vulnerable to large medical bills.

Its a prime time to go looking for consumers who are out shopping for insurance and take them down the wrong path, said JoAnn Volk, co-director of Georgetown Universitys Center on Health Insurance Reforms.

Volk identified telltale signs of that wrong path: if the person selling you a plan starts asking about your health history, or if they refuse to send you information about the plan altogether, or they agree to provide that information only after you give them your payment information. According to a 2021 secret-shopper report on misleading marketing practices, which Volk co-authored, one broker incorrectly cited HIPAA, the law to protect patient privacy, as a reason to not share information about the health plan.

Just made-up stuff, Volk said. If youre committing fraud, there are no boundaries.

In a statement to KHN, Jericho Share spokesperson Mark Hubbard said the organization couldnt discuss Macauleys case without her prior written approval but doesnt tolerate any misrepresentation or unethical conduct on the part of its programs.

Nationwide, lawmakers and regulators are taking notice of how health care plans are sold. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, is investigating complaints about the marketing of Medicare Advantage plans. And in May, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services noted that complaints about marketing practices for Medicare Advantage and Medicare prescription drug benefit plans rose from 15,497 in 2020 to at least 39,617 in 2021.

Scams involving health care have increased exponentially, said Delaware Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro, who also chairs the anti-fraud task force of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Multiple factors are causing the increase, Navarro said. Rising health care prices can drive up the cost of regulated health plans, such as those that are compliant with the Affordable Care Act. Higher costs push more Americans to look for cheaper alternatives that usually dont provide as much coverage and can confuse consumers. Those types of plans proliferated under President Donald Trumps administration, Navarro said.

I dont want to sound political, said Navarro, an elected Democrat, but the previous presidential administration was really pushing the skinny plans and the alternatives to the ACA, and I dont necessarily think that they understood the fraud that was associated with these plans.

Finally, Navarro said, because states are the primary regulators of insurance, tamping down on health care scams can be like playing a game of whack-a-mole  when one state takes action, scammers move to another one to open shop.

Dealing with scams

To fight that tactic, Navarro said, insurance regulators nationwide have created what he described as a confluence page to share among themselves information about bad actors. For consumers, Navarro said, regulators are talking about creating a public lookup tool to search for complaints against health insurance brokers, similar to the BrokerCheck tool created by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to monitor stockbrokers.

For now, he suggests working with health care navigators, who help consumers enroll in plans through the official health insurance marketplace, healthcare.gov. Also, regulators have been taking legal action on misleading sales tactics. In August, the Federal Trade Commission won $100 million in refunds for consumers it said were tricked into sham health plans. Last year, the Massachusetts attorney general won $515,000 in consumer relief from an insurance company accused of deceptive sales practices.

Court filings from October indicate the California attorney general is investigating Jericho Share  the health care sharing ministry that Kelly Macauley said she unwittingly bought a plan from  to see whether it is in compliance with the states requirements for health care sharing ministries.

Jericho Shares spokesperson, Hubbard, said the organization is responding appropriately to the attorney generals inquiry.

Macauley reached out to KHN after reading a June investigation about consumers who said they thought they were buying insurance only to later learn they had been sold memberships to that health care sharing ministry.

Hubbard noted that since that story was published, Jericho Share automatically provides refunds in 72 hours for new consumers requesting one within 30 days of signing up, no longer allows outsourced marketing for enrollments, and added a member guide and pop-up on its website stating that Jericho Share is a health care sharing ministry.

The company did reply online to Macauleys bad review on the Better Business Bureau website, asking for more information about her case. She said she supplied that information but never heard back.

After Macauley unsuccessfully attempted to cancel her Jericho Share plan with the company directly, she said, she called her credit card company to stop it from approving any more charges by the company. When she described her situation, Macauley said, the sympathetic credit card representative told her, This is fraud, and offered to try to get Macauley all of her premiums back.

Even if that effort is successful, Macauley will be left with the tens of thousands of dollars of medical charges she incurred while unknowingly uninsured.

She is on the market for health insurance again and plans to choose a company shes heard of before.

Whatever it costs, Macauley said, I just want to know I really have insurance.

___
The Apple 14 Pro (and its more basic sibling, the iPhone 14) have impressed us already with excellent performance from the processor and the camera. But if you're not after the best iPhone around, you still have plenty of choices, including the Pixel 6 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. They both offer everything you could want in a device, from high-end performance to beautiful cameras, and Android users looking for the best around would be smart to put one in their pockets.

The sheer amount of smartphone competition means you get great options at whatever price suits your budget, regardless of whether your biggest concern is an AMOLED display, 5G data or a cracking camera.

To help you figure out the best of the best, we rounded up our picks for the best phone to buy. These phones are three of our top picks.

The best iPhone you can buy: Apple iPhone 14 Pro

Apple's iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max introduce sweeping changes like the "Dynamic Island," a new 48-megapixel camera system and Apple's new A16 Bionic processor. All the upgrades come together to make for an experience that feels fresh and fast. The upgrades to the main camera allow it to take some truly stunning photos, making the phone a solid option for those of you into your mobile photography.

As Apple's top phone it doesn't come cheap  especially if you want the larger Max model  but if you're looking for the best all-around performance in an iPhone, then the 14 Pro is the phone to get.

Best Android phone Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

Samsung's latest flagship superphone, the Galaxy S22 Ultra, has an impressive lineup of specs, including a quadruple rear camera, a big, vibrant display and the S Pen stylus you might remember from the Galaxy Note series. It comes with a high price, but those of you looking for one of the best Android phones around should have this on your short list.

Still a top iPhone rival: Google Pixel 6 Pro

The Google Pixel 6 Pro's unique design, great software additions, superb camera quality and solid all-around performance have already earned the phone an excellent rating in our full review. With performance that's every bit as good as its design, it's the best phone Google has ever made. The main camera is on par with the best iPhones.

And at $899 for the base 128GB model, it trounces its premium phone rivals in price. (Bear in mind, too, that Google's Pixel 7 was released Oct. 13, so those of you eyeing up the Pixel 6 Pro right now might want to check out the latest model as well.)

___
Sen. Adam Morfeld issued a demand for a retraction against a Lincoln radio station for posting an article claiming without substantiation he was being investigated for sexual assault.

The letter from Daniel Gutman, an attorney representing Morfeld and his campaign for Lancaster County Attorney, also requests that KLIN and "Drive Time Lincoln" host Jack Riggins preserve documents and communications leading up to the Friday afternoon show where the allegations aired after circulating on social media for several days.

Morfeld, a two-term state senator from Lincoln running for county attorney as a Democrat, said the allegations made by an unidentified woman were categorically false.

"These are complete lies," he said Saturday in a phone interview. "As somebody who experienced sexual assault as a child, they are particularly painful."

Pat Condon, an incumbent Republican seeking a second term as the lead attorney in an office where he has spent more than three decades, did not return the Journal Star's phone call Saturday seeking comment.

The two will square off in Tuesday's general election after a contentious and at times ugly race.

The allegations that led to the reaction from Morfeld's campaign appear to have originated in a Facebook post Wednesday by Matt Innis, a former chair of the Lancaster County GOP and unsuccessful U.S. Senate candidate.

Innis claimed he heard about an investigation focusing on Morfeld from two sources inside the Lincoln Police Department.

The Nebraska Freedom Coalition, a committee of conservative activists that back right-wing causes and candidates, the same day called on Morfeld to address the unsubstantiated reports in a news release sent to several media outlets and posted on Twitter.

An LPD spokesman told a Journal Star reporter Wednesday that there was nothing to the rumored investigation. "The Lincoln Police Department is not investigating a sexual assault allegation against Adam Morfeld."

The following day, LPD, which like other law enforcement agencies does not typically discuss ongoing investigations and has broad authority under state law to withhold records related to investigations, again threw water on the social media rumors.

"The Lincoln Police Department will not provide details regarding any sexual assault case due to confidentiality," Captain Todd Kocian said in an email. "We have not in the past nor will we in the future.

"What can be stated is that there is no investigation involving Senator Morfeld named," Kocian wrote, adding the police department encouraged anyone with information to come forward and make a report.

On Friday, the allegations that had been shared on social media gained a new platform when Riggins, a former interim communication director for the Nebraska Republican Party who was removed from that position this summer after posting images depicting illustrations of sexual acts on the party's Twitter account, interviewed a woman who said she had been sexually assaulted by Morfeld.

The woman, who used the alias "Ruth," told Riggins she was cornered, raped and choked by Morfeld in a bathroom, and said Morfeld threatened her if she told anyone.

"Ruth" did not specify where the alleged assault took place, nor when, only telling Riggins the alleged attack took place "some time ago."

The woman said the rumors of an investigation earlier in the week referred to by Innis and Nebraska Freedom Coalition did not involve her allegations, but led her to make a report to Lincoln Police at some time Thursday.

A YouTube video shared on social media Saturday from an anonymous account appears to capture a report being filed with LPD on Thursday, though it does not provide a timestamp. The video also does not include any details about when or where the alleged assault took place.

The Journal Star could not verify the authenticity of the YouTube video.

A duty commander for LPD said the department's public information officers would handle any questions about the report Monday.

The woman's allegations were the focus of a story posted to the KLIN website at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, shortly after her appearance on "Drive Time Lincoln."

The radio station indicated it was seeking confirmation of the police report and would "deliver updates as they come," but the story remained unchanged more than 24 hours after it was posted.

After remaining silent on the unsubstantiated reports for much of the week, Morfeld took to Twitter on Saturday afternoon, saying allegations were "part of a broader false and defamatory narrative" led by Innis and the Nebraska Freedom Coalition.

"Allegations deserve to be investigated, but I will not stand by while baseless, undocumented, anonymous allegations are created by well-known political operatives and opponents," Morfeld said.

The 37-year-old executive director of Civic Nebraska also shared a copy of the retraction letter sent to NRG Media, which owns KLIN. The letter demands the radio station remove the story from its website and "immediately cease any future releases containing this false information."

"The story is false and misleading," Gutman wrote. "Despite the headline, KLIN has no idea if a police report was actually filed, and if so, whether the allegations have any basis in fact.

"KLIN's knowing and coordinated falsehoods are particularly egregious given the severity of the allegations asserted, including sexual assault and rape," Gutman added.

The letter also instructs KLIN, "its employees or agents (including Jack Riggins)" to preserve any emails, text messages and social media postings related to the story, a request that typically precedes litigation.

The story was removed from KLIN's website for several hours Sunday afternoon, before it was published again shortly before 4 p.m.

An editor's note indicates KLIN was seeking records related to other allegations made against Morfeld -- claims he says are also false -- and clarified that the woman's report was filed anonymously.

This story updated at 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 6, to reflect changes made to KLIN's story about allegations against Lancaster County attorney candidate and state Sen. Adam Morfeld.
OMAHA  Stronger enforcement of a Nebraska Humane Society policy to deter owner-surrendered pets except in emergency situations is creating huge problems for already strapped rescue groups in the Omaha area.

People have nowhere to put their animals, said Joni Cisney of Homeward Bound in the Heartland Animal Rescue Inc. Everybody is full to the brim. Its so horrific out here, and animals are suffering every day.

Most small organizations like Cisney's dont have the resources to handle the influx of pets created by the NHS crackdown. A tough economy and people returning to work after the pandemic has heightened the problem.

Terri Larson of Muddy Paws Second Chance Rescue said she receives calls every day from people who have tried to take a pet to NHS and have been turned away. Instead of the usual 120 to 150 animals on her books, her rescue now has around 240.

There are no options for people, she said.

Pam Wiese, NHS vice president of public relations and marketing, said her non-profit organization is facing the same challenge as the smaller rescue organizations. There simply is not enough room.

Even with some newly created kennels, NHS is nearly full with 575 animals, down from last months 675. A certain number of kennels have to be saved for cruelty cases or the stray animals that NHS is obligated to pick up through its contract with the City of Omaha and Sarpy County.

Wiese said its been a long-standing policy to try to divert owner-surrenders. Its just been followed more strictly post-COVID-19. Part of the problem, as with many companies, she said, is that NHS has struggled to fill open staff positions.

Were trying some new things to divert people from leaving animals at the shelter, she said. What were really trying to do is use us as a last resort instead of a first choice.

That may mean asking an owner to list a pet on the NHS rehoming website and keep it until its found a new home, asking friends or family for help or posting on social media about an animal needing a home.

A pet food pantry, for instance, can provide help for people who cant afford to feed their animals.

As opposed to bringing in a pet, and saying, I cant have it any longer, were trying to help people rehome on their own if at all possible. If they cant and have tried all of the resources, then we will take the pets, Wiese said.

NHS also is recommending rescue groups to owners who cant keep a pet, which adds to the overwhelming influx to those organizations.

Its a mess, said Debbie David, owner of Hands, Hearts and Paws Rescue.

Adoptions are incredibly slow, she said. Requests for intake whether it be shelters or owner surrenders or puppy mills are at an all-time high.

Eryn Swan, who operates Hops + Co. Small Animal Rescue, said pet overpopulation has always been a problem. But it seems to have grown worse the past few years.

Rescues are trying their best to answer the need, but Swan said there always seems to be more animals than they can handle. That NHS is following a more strict policy isnt helping.

We feel like were bailing out a sinking ship with a shot glass, Swan said. Spay and neuter is everything. Thats going to limit the number of animals out there.

However, the Humane Society closed its low-cost spay and neuter clinic in April, again due to staffing shortages, Wiese said. NHS is also not spaying and neutering all the animals it adopts out.

All cats are being fixed, as well as bully breeds, puppies and dogs with behavior issues. Those with no issues are being done when possible. But she said waiting to be fixed can hold up the adoption process and slow the creation of a space for another animal.

NHS doesnt want to have to euthanize any animals to create space. Right now, they have an 86% live release rate.

Owners are being offered a voucher for $500 for spaying and $300 for neutering instead of those procedures being done by NHS. Wiese said $52,800 in vouchers have been redeemed in 2022.

A spot check of the costs involved in spaying a 1-year-old 35-pound dog ranged from $110 to $600. One animal hospital said it had no openings until January.

Were asking the public to step up and make an appointment with their veterinarian, Weise said. Were hoping the public does that. The redemption rate shows that the public is doing this. We dont have another answer.

Homeword Bounds Cisney said the spay and neuter clinic was crucial for rescues, especially those working to contain the high number of feral cats in Omaha.

What we really desperately need out here is for the humane society to come out with a lot of us to do spays and neutering, Cisney said.

Swan said its too easy for even the best-intentioned owner to accidentally let a pet out or have it escape from a yard while its in heat and become pregnant.

That animal would then contribute to the overpopulation problem. Swan said that risk is too high not to provide that service.

To me, its just scary and not the responsible thing to adopt out animals that are not spayed or neutered, she said.

NHS recently hired another veterinarian and veterinary tech and plans to add another to reach its usual staff of five. That will enable them to spay every animal that is adopted. Wiese said the spay and neuter clinic will reopen, likely in 2023.

Wiese said she understands that rescues are feeling frustrated with the NHS. Swan said the shelter needs to operate with more transparency, especially with rescues.

You guys are the one with all the huge funding and giant volunteer base and you are handing out our names where we have nominal budgets and limited fosters, Swan said. It doesnt feel good.

NHS has a budget of $14 million per year, with about 40% coming from donations. But Wiese said they also have a utility bill every month of $40,000.

Thats just some perspective, she said.

Muddy Paws Larson and Homeward Bounds Cisney said they are doing everything they can to help pet owners in a bind. Larson said her rescue assists with medical expenses and offers free behavioral training for its animals. They spay or neuter every adopted pet.

Larson said her groups medical expenses were $70,000 the past few months, due in large part to the rehabilitation of dogs with parvo that it does in conjunction with NHS.

But Larson said owners have to step up, too. She recommends getting training if having issues with a pet or not waiting until the last minute to find a new home for a pet if they have to move and a dog or cat cant come along.

Unfortunately, a lot of people think pets arent a commitment for the life of the pet, she said. I think thats part of the problem. People arent problem solving and working through some of the issues with their pets. They figure, rehome them.

Cisney said something needs to be done to ease the situation because its reaching a breaking point. Rescues fear Nebraska will have the same issue as some states in the south, which have much larger problems with stray animals.

Its absolutely horrifying, Cisney said. Its not the good life. The animals are getting the shaft and nobody is paying attention. Its really damaging and dangerous.
The rights to free speech, a free press, free assembly, freedom of religion and to bear arms werent included in the Constitution as it was originally drafted in 1787. They had to be added as amendments two years later so enough states would ratify the Constitution that created the United States of America.

The right to vote, however, was included by the 55 delegates who were enshrining representative democracy as the heart of the new nation.

But that right was severely limited, as state legislatures generally restricted voting to white males who owned property, some states even using religious tests to ensure that only Christian men could vote.

So began an ongoing, nearly 250-year struggle to expand voting rights to all Americans, with the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote in 1920, the 24th amendment banning poll taxes designed to keep Blacks from voting in 1964, the Voting Rights Act providing non-constitutional protections and voting access in 1965, and the 26th Amendment lowering the voting age to 18.

Tuesday, Americans will again have an opportunity to exercise that right that has been fought for and defended from the nations inception. But only about half of all voters are expected to cast a ballot in elections for governors, Congress, state legislatures and local offices across the country.

If that national mark hits 50.1%, it will match the modern turnout record for a midterm election.

As it did four years ago, Nebraskas turnout is, commendably, expected to exceed the national mark, matching the 58% of registered voters who cast ballots in 2018.

That turnout is being driven by high interest in an election that will give Nebraska a new governor, revamp the Legislature, give voters the chance to weigh in on voter ID and raising the minimum wage and decide a pair of very close contests for seats in the House of Representatives.

And those races, at the state, district and local levels, are driven by contentious issues like reproductive rights and high property taxes to public safety and the preservation of democracy, another fight over the right and system that will bring voters to the polls.

There is, by design, far from unanimous agreement on how those issues should be addressed, or who should address them. That, at their core, is what elections are for.

But, contrary to the concerns of the small minority of election deniers and those who allege, without evidence, massive voter fraud, widespread agreement exists that as many Americans as possible should cast ballots Tuesday.

As it has since its inception, the Journal Star editorial is among those who are urging Nebraskans to make their voices heard at the polls and exercise the long-fought-for right that is the heart of our democracy.
As Wisconsinites head to the polls on Tuesday they may only spend four or five minutes with their ballot.

Theyll mark their votes, get a sticker and check the results that night.

But their ballots have a much longer life cycle, with checks and balances in place along the way to ensure theyre counted correctly.

Before they are handed to voters, ballots are designed and tested, then distributed to local clerks and secured. Their movements over days and weeks before and after Election Day are documented.

Despite the safeguards, disinformation about ballots has swirled since the 2020 election. Republicans led by former President Donald Trump have made all sorts of fantastical claims such as supposed late election night ballot dumps in Milwaukee.

The phenomenon is easily explained by a state law that prohibits the counting of absentee ballots before Election Day, meaning clerks must juggle in-person voting with hundreds or thousands of absentee ballots that must be taken from envelopes and fed through counting machines, often at the end of a long day of voting.

Design and prep work

The life cycle of a ballot starts shortly after the previous election.

Counties began preparing the ballots for the Nov. 8 election as soon as the candidates emerged from the August primary.

Most counties rely on a printing company for both ballot design and production. Dane County is one of the few that design them in house, County Clerk Scott McDonell said.

They arent printed on regular paper someone might use at home. The paper is thicker, designed specifically for the tabulator machines. Each has black hash marks along the bottom that tell the tabulator where to look for votes.

Various conspiracy theories about paper ballots used in the 2020 election have been debunked, including in Arizona where a group unsuccessfully looked for water marks or bamboo fibers in the paper, supposedly because of unfounded suspicions they were produced in China.

From the moment a municipal clerk receives the ballots, usually a few days before absentee voting, the practice of documenting their every move begins.

In Portage, about 45 miles north of Madison, the election materials are stored in a vault in city hall, said Portage City Clerk Marie Moe, president of the Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association.

Clerks test the ballots and tabulators before the election, including a test thats open to the public and must take place within 10 days of the election. The tests ensure machines read everything correctly.

Absentee voting has its own rules

Once the ballots are tested, they can be sent to absentee voters, which Moe and other clerks have been doing for weeks. Since Sept. 22, theyve been required to send them within one business day of receiving a request.

Before someone can receive an absentee ballot in the mail, they must first make a written application request, which can be mailed or done on the states myvote.wi.gov website. Clerks dont send them out until staff verify the voters eligibility and log the request into their system.

That does not apply if a voter is registered as being indefinitely confined. These voters automatically receive ballots without request  but then lose that status if a ballot isnt returned. In those cases, clerks send out a notice to the indefinitely confined voter. If they dont reapply for that status within 30 days of receiving the notice, they will be removed from the indefinitely confined list.

In every case, an election worker initials the ballot, a key step that makes it a live ballot that can be cast. Theyre folded and placed into envelopes with postage, and then bundled together and given to postal workers.

A recent court ruling means absentee voters will not be able to spoil their original ballot and vote in person if they want to change their vote. Fewer than 1% of ballots had been spoiled in recent major elections.

Many groundless conspiracy theories have targeted the absentee process, but clerks and officials have defended the safeguards. No widespread fraud with mail voting has been found in Wisconsin.

How in-person absentee voting truly works

Starting Oct. 25, Wisconsinites were able to vote early, in person, which is, in effect, another way to vote absentee.

Each morning of early voting, Moe and her staff take about 20 ballots out of the vault for each precinct, a step that is documented like nearly everything else over the next several weeks.

Documentation is a huge, huge thing that I dont think people think about in general, she said The inspector statement is kind of like the diary of Election Day.

When they check in for early voting, voters have to state their name and address, and present their ID. Staff verifies the voter information in WisVote, Wisconsins online election management system.

Once signed in, staff initial the ballot, and the voter can then make their decisions.

Portage and Madison use ExpressVote machines for some early voting. Theyre also used on Election Day by people with disabilities who require assistance. This varies by municipality, and absentee ballots mailed to voters are often perforated, unlike Election Day ballots, to make them easier to fold for envelopes.

On the ExpressVote machines, voters insert a blank ballot and use a touch screen to make their choices. The machine prints their choices onto the paper thats returned to the voter, which is sealed in an absentee envelope. An election worker or clerk can sign as the witness.

Under Wisconsin law, clerks cant start counting absentee ballots  be they in-person or by mail  until Election Day. Some large municipalities, like Milwaukee, use central locations to tally absentee votes. Thats how a large number of votes can be reported late at night all at once.

On Election Day

By the time Tuesday rolls around, more than a half million Wisconsinites will have voted. But many more will do so on Election Day.

At the states 3,700 polling places, workers verify a voters registration and correct polling location. Two workers initial a blank ballot, making it active before handing it off to the voter.

Voters then enter the booth and make their decisions.

The next stop is the tabulator.

Voting tabulators have been targets of disinformation, but researchers and clerks have said theyre simply large counting machines that are faster and more accurate than people.

This machine has no modem to it, Melissa Kono, clerk for the Town of Burnside in Trempealeau County, said of her tabulator. It cant be hooked to the internet. Even if it could, I dont have internet here. So theres no transmission capability for this machine.

The machines use the cartridges  which can look like a flash drive or handheld video game cartridge  to know who the candidates are and where they appear on the ballot. The company that programs them does so on computers that arent connected to the internet and are monitored by security cameras.

The tabulators also check for any errors, like too many votes cast for a particular race, and voters can correct those errors. If theres no problem, the votes are counted and the ballot dropped into a locked bin. In Wisconsin, whether someone voted is public information, but who they voted for is not.

Voters then get an I Voted sticker and carry on with their day.

But the ballot still has a ways to go.

Counting the absentee ballots

On Election Day, voters might see workers run a handful of ballots through a tabulator that dont appear to come from voters. What theyre doing is counting absentee votes, clerks told Wisconsin Watch. The activity is documented on the inspector logs that are later sealed with other election materials.

Once the polls close, election workers as a team open the tabulators to remove the ballots. Some might have been removed previously to make room in the bins. A step that, like nearly all others, will be documented.

Workers then check for registered write-in candidates and verify that the number of ballots cast equals the number of votes the machines recorded. If the numbers dont match, election workers will double check the voting machine bins and review the poll books. Sometimes a discrepancy must be addressed with a random draw down of ballots.

Workers check the count totals for in-person and absentee voters to find the group with the discrepancy. Ballots are placed in a box and workers randomly remove ballots, which are marked as removed due to an excess number of absentee ballots. This is done publicly, but without explanation.

The ballots are retained, but not counted, and marked as removed.

Long-term storage

Even after being cast and counted, a ballots life still isnt over.

Theyre once again placed into bags and locked with a security seal like all the other election materials. Used and unused ballots are secured in separate bags, the number of each documented.

Each county handles the long-term storage and collection of materials differently.

In Columbia County, where Moe works, all the sealed election materials are taken to the county clerk the next day.

Dane County municipalities hold onto their ballots unless the county needs them. McDonell said hed like the county to keep them once a $12 million secure storage facility is built.

By law, ballots with a federal office must be held for 22 months and 12 months if they involve only state or local offices. The retention is mostly to preserve evidence in the event of a law enforcement investigation or a recount. The day after the election, the Wisconsin Elections Commission randomly selects contests and polling places for audits.

McDonell said the ballots are eventually shredded and discarded when legally allowed.

When the calendar turns to Nov. 9, voting in the midterm election will be over, but clerks wont have long before the work starts all over  just 105 days until the next election.
RACINE  A special, popup chef demonstration and gourmet dinner on Wednesday, Nov. 9, will benefit the community causes supported by the Kenosha-based Mary Lou & Arthur F. Mahone Fund.

Gateway Technical College Culinary Arts Presents an Evening with The Bartolotta Restaurants: A Benefit for the Mahone Fund will be held in Gateways Breakwater Dining Room in the Lake Building, 1001 S. Main St., Racine.

Doors will open at 5 p.m., with a chef demonstration at 6 p.m. and dinner to follow. Admission is $125 per person, with all proceeds benefiting the Mahone Fund.

This exclusive dinner is limited to the first 50 reservations. Go to eveningwithachef.eventbrite.com to purchase tickets

The cooking demonstration will feature chefs from the award winning, Milwaukee-based Bartolotta Restaurants cooking alongside students from Gateways Culinary Arts Program and from the Kenosha Unified School Districts Tremper High School.

This event is so exciting because it both raises money for educational scholarships through the Mahone Fund and also gives an opportunity for students to learn from high-level professionals, said Ardis Mahone-Mosley, event co-chair. The students at the culinary program at GTC worked with the chefs from The Bartolotta Restaurants throughout the process and gained experience and connections in an industry they are interested in joining.

The three-course menu to be served in the Breakwater restaurant following the demonstration includes: Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup with shaved black truffles and roasted chanterelle mushrooms; Beef Wellington with mushroom duxelles, potato puree and roasted garlic brussels sprouts; and Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee with berry garnish. Wine and other beverages will also be served.

Chef Aaron Bickham, executive corporate chef for The Bartolotta Restaurants, said the menu was designed to follow the Gateway Culinary Arts curriculum, challenging the students to use knife, cooking, and baking skills. Chef Bickham will be working with the students along with The Bartolotta Restaurants Executive Chefs Matt Baier of Downtown Kitchen and Michael Genre of Harbor House.

After the dinner is served, the students and their families will have the opportunity to discuss what they learned and ask questions of the professional chefs.

We at The Bartolotta Restaurants believe it is more important than ever to help nurture and develop the next generation of chefs and cooks, Chef Bickham said. Partnering with a program like the Mahone Career Exploration Organization allows our team to have a hands-on experience with students interested in the culinary arts. They can watch and learn from working professionals in the industry and we are there to answer any questions they may have about working in restaurants, getting their foot in the door, what qualities and skills people are looking for when hiring, and what it takes to be successful in the restaurant industry.

Teri Jacobson, event co-chair, said, the Breakwater restaurant at Gateways Racine campus is an ideal location to host this unique event showcasing The Bartolotta Restaurants commitment to education and the community.

Our supporters will get a unique opportunity to watch a demonstration by some of the areas best chefs, eat some amazing food in a great setting, and support two great educational programs  GTC and the Mahone Fund, Jacobson added.

Terry Simmons, dean of Gateways School of Protective and Human Services, called the event a valuable experience for a great cause.

This event is incredible opportunity for our culinary arts students to collaborate with industry professionals, Simmons said. We are so appreciative to have great partners like the Mahone Foundation and The Bartolotta Restaurants.

Founded in 1999, the Mahone Fund celebrates and perpetuates the legacy of the late Kenosha social justice leaders Mary Lou and Arthur F. Mahone. The nonprofit funds mission is to provide educational opportunities for economically and academically deserving youth, while also supporting healthy lifestyle initiatives in communities of color. The fund is a component of the Kenosha Community Foundation. Go to mahonefund.org for more details.

The Bartolotta Restaurants is a nationally recognized restaurant and catering organization cofounded by four-time nominated and two-time James Beard Award- winning Chef Paul Bartolotta and his late brother, Joe Bartolotta. Since the opening of its flagship restaurant, Ristorante Bartolotta dal 1993, The Bartolotta Restaurants group has grown to become the premier culinary brand in the Greater Milwaukee region, offering first class service and cuisine across a portfolio of 17 one-of-a-kind restaurants and catering facilities, including fine dining, upscale casual, upscale food hall, and quick- casual concepts.

Visit bartolottas.com for more information.
ROCHESTER  Former President Donald Trump has re-upped his endorsement of conservative write-in state legislative candidate Adam Steen in the final week before Election Day.

In a new prerecorded robocall, Trump again attacks incumbent Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, calling Vos a horrendous RINO, shorthand for Republican In Name Only. The former president tells voters to write-in Steen and calls Vos an absolute disaster  Vos has really let you down on voter integrity and just about everything else.

Vos is among the most effective conservative legislators and leaders in state history, having played major roles in the passage of the last two legislative maps that have benefited Republicans, the union-busting Act 10 a decade ago, and the December 2018 lame duck legislative session where Republicans passed bills that weakened the powers of the attorney general and governor after Republicans lost those seats but before Democrats were sworn in.

A number of bills the Republican state Legislature passed following the 2020 election, which included added steps to getting absentee ballots and other election law tightening measures, were vetoed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

The Burlington native fell on Trumps bad side as Vos refused to support Trumps ongoing attempts to have the results of the 2020 presidential election overturned.

Vos called the new robocalls not surprising because Donald Trump is singularly obsessed on the 2020 election  It is the only reason Adam Steen is running and the only reason he is a potentially viable candidate. Vos said it would involve violating his oath of office to uphold the Constitution to support Trumps attempts to overturn the election now two years after the fact.

An excerpt from Donald Trump's robocall re-endorsing Adam Steen Hello, Wisconsin. This is your favorite president  I hope  Donald J. Trump calling about a very important election happening in your state: 63rd Assembly District this Tuesday, Nov. 8. This is a really, really important one. A proud small-business owner and farmer named Adam Steen is running against a horrendous RINO, Robin Vos, an absolute disaster. And its going to be a historic write-in campaign. Robin Vos has really let you down on voter integrity and just about everything else. As your next state representative, Adam will work with Janel Brandtjen (a state representative who has supported efforts to overturn the 2020 election), an incredible woman, to stop voter fraud in Wisconsin  and restore free, fair and honest elections, something Robin Vos will never, ever do  This Tuesday, send a message to all RINOs out there  these are real sellouts to our country and to our party, theyre losers by any standard  you want a true patriot, Adam Steen, to represent the 63rd Assembly District.

In an odd three-way race including two write-in candidates, the better Steen performs in Tuesdays election, the better odds a Democrat  Joel Jacobsen, a former City of Burlington alderman  has of winning the seat.

Vos declined to answer if he would be able to support Trump should he run for president again in 2024. He did say that the race against Jacobsen and Steen hasnt been about Donald Trump but rather should be about more locally relevant issues.

The campaign so far

Steens campaign has been based largely around election integrity and the claims that Trump actually defeated Joe Biden in 2020  even though multiple recounts, bipartisan and nonpartisan reviews, and court cases have affirmed that Biden did win and there is no evidence of widespread fraud.

Steen supports an election system in which all voters excluding members of the military have only one day to vote and must vote in person, which would likely disenfranchise thousands around the state, and all ballots are counted by hand, which would almost certainly delay when election results are able to be tabulated and announced.

Vos defeated Steen in an Aug. 9 Republican primary by fewer than 300 votes, the closest election Vos has experienced since first running to represent state Assembly District 63 in 2004. Steens campaign was boosted by a late endorsement by Trump, who won District 63 in both of his presidential runs.

Following the loss in the primary, Steen launched a write-in campaign. Seeing the split within the GOP, Jacobsen launched a write-in campaign of his own. Jacobsen had been on the ticket as a Democrat in each of the last two election cycles, but never came close to unseating the incumbent Vos.

While Jacobsen and Steen would likely both be longshots on their own to win in the 63rd District, the Democrat has a chance of winning the traditionally red district in part because Steen will likely win thousands of conservative votes that likely would have otherwise gone to Vos. If Democrats get out and vote for Jacobsen on Tuesday, they could end up winning a surprise seat in the Assembly thanks to Steens write-in effort.

Trumps robocall does mention or allude to Jacobsen at all.

Asked for comment Saturday, Jacobsen said in an email Mr. Trumps robocall is a new aspect in this three-way race for the 63rd Assembly (District). I am the only candidate standing up for womens reproductive rights decimated by an archaic 1849 law. I am the only candidate intent on the restoration of democracy and voter rights destroyed by the Republican Party in Wisconsin over the past 11 years. I am appealing to my fellow Dems as well as Republicans who respect democracy and equal rule of law.

The 63rd Assembly District generally includes the southern half of Racine County west of Highway 31, including much of Mount Pleasant, Sturtevant, Union Grove, Yorkville, Burlington and Rochester.

Steen, with the support of MyPillow Guy Mike Lindell, had asked for Trump to rally in-person in Racine County before Tuesday, but that never materialized while Trump has hosted other rallies around the country as he appears to be gearing up for a 2024 presidential run.

In an advertisement recorded by Lindell in support of Steen, Lindell called Vos the biggest threat to election integrity in our country.

Lindell, through right-wing cable news and the internet, is among the nations most prominent supporters of theories regarding how the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.
RACINE  Democrats made their closing arguments to voters in a rally in Racine on Saturday at the Dr. John Bryant Community Center, 601 21st St.

Candidate after candidate told voters: Reproductive freedom, social security and funding for schools are all on the ballot on Election Day.

Gov. Tony Evers Do the Right Thing bus tour has been traveling through Wisconsin cities, towns and villages since Oct. 27 to rally the vote.

Roads

What have Democrats done in the last four years?

Evers pointed out, We fixed the damn roads, to applause and cheers. He said that, since taking office, the state has repaired 5,000 miles of roads  the same distance as driving from Racine to Miami Beach.

However, I have no idea why youd want to go to Florida these days, he joked, an apparent quip about Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a possible candidate for president in 2024.

Evers also included in the list of accomplishments:

Expanded broadband access to 387,000 households.

Lowered tax rates by 15% for the middle class with an eye towards another 10% in the next budget.

Increased funding for the UW system and technical schools to help make up for the cuts made by previous governor, Scott Walker, with an eye toward another $2 billion during his next term for public schools.

Weve been able to create the strongest economy ever, Evers said, with the lowest unemployment and the highest number of people working.

GOTV

Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, dressed for knocking on doors to GOTV (Get Out the Vote) asked those at the rally to continue working, to continue making phone calls and knocking on doors to get everyone possible to the polls on Tuesday.

This is the moment in Wisconsin that we are going to look back on and we are going to have to ask ourselves the question, Did we do everything we could to prevent Republicans from seizing illegitimate control and permanently undermining our democracy in Wisconsin? she said.
1. Yes. Using marijuana odor to determine probable cause is vital to police investigations.

2. Yes. As the ordinance is written, it targets police; that shouldnt be allowed to stand.

3. No. The council should leave the ordinance alone and respect the will of the voters.

4. No. The council should repeal the ordinance altogether. It conflicts with state law.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say how the council should proceed on addressing the ordinance.

Vote

View Results
A Chinese doctor takes a blood sample from a patient in Bangou, Cameroon, Oct. 29, 2022.(Photo by Kepseu/Xinhua)

by Arison Tamfu

YAOUNDE, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- As early as 6:00 am, Berline Fangan had already taken her seat at a makeshift but comprehensive Chinese clinic just outside Bangou sub-divisional hospital in Cameroon's West region.

The mother of two was nervous and in pain as she explained that her untreated 10-year-old joint pain was wearing her down. She said she had been treated by doctors over the years, but the prescribed drugs were not effective.

"It (drug) relieved me a bit...but five minutes later the pain comes back," the 53-year-old widow told Xinhua as she and hundreds of Cameroonian residents of Bangou and Bamendjou sub-divisions of the Upper Plateau division of the region waited for a team of Chinese specialized medics who had arrived at the region on Friday for a two-day free consultation and treatment campaign.

Bangou and Bamendjou, with a population of over 100,000, are surrounded by many rural communities with abundant wildlife and dispersed settlements, and have only two hospitals. Villagers are often troubled by such health problems as gastritis, typhoid, malaria, cataract, rheumatism. But most of them cannot afford medical services.

"My brother informed me of the health campaign. I left Douala (Cameroon's commercial hub, more than 200 km away from Bangou) at midnight and arrived here at 6:30 in the morning," said the retired history teacher and father of five who said he has been suffering from nerves and cramps since 2016.

Martine Kouamo stood looking dejected as she watched her 10-year-old son Christian Djomo who was suffering from testicular pain. His twin sister was suffering from neck strain, and one part of her body was not stable, she said.

"I tried to use traditional medicine (on Djomo) for three years in vain. I think Chinese doctors will help because they work well," Kouamo said.

As the sun rose over Bangou and Bamendjou, a good number of patients began taking turns to register, consult and then receive treatment from doctors in various departments, who were here as members of the 22nd Chinese medical team to Cameroon.

Fangan was among the first patients to be consulted.

She was carefully administered an acupuncture treatment, an ancient Chinese method of treatment in which fine needles are inserted through the skin at specific points to treat various physical conditions.

"As I speak to you the pain is gone," Fangan said after the treatment. "I feel better. In the morning I couldn't swing my neck like this...but now I can swing behind, left and right without problem."

After being examined, little Djomo was given medicine that he hoped would heal him. "I feel about better," he said.

For the first time since 2016, Justin Kouamou, 71, felt relieved when his sickness was detected through an echography. Before this, he had visited doctors several times, but results were not satisfactory.

"The Chinese doctors inserted needles in my skin and it magically alleviated my pain. I am still amazed by the wonders of that treatment," Kouamou told Xinhua two days after he was administered an acupuncture treatment.

Over 1,600 patients were consulted and treated during the campaign that ran from Oct. 29-30, said Paul Sikapin, mayor of Bangou council.

"I asked firmly that such a campaign should be organized next year," Sikapin said.

Fabrice Dubila, a medical doctor in Bangou sub-divisional hospital, said Cameroonian and Chinese doctors worked shoulder to shoulder in treating patients and offering much-needed medical services during the campaign.

"This is a great opportunity to learn from our colleagues overseas. So far we have collaborated on the diagnosis of some patients and I have also learned some other diagnostic techniques I can use to diagnose some particular diseases notably lipoma and other pathologies. I think it is a very good opportunity to have witnessed acupuncture here in Bangou," Dubila said.

Theodore Datouo, deputy speaker of Cameroon's National Assembly who is also a member of parliament of Upper Plateau constituency, said, the campaign was a mark of friendly relations between Cameroon and China.

"China has always assisted Cameroon in the health sector and this time it is the turn of West region to benefit," said Datouo, the main organizer of the campaign.

"This campaign is for the wellbeing of the population, the health of the population and when the population is healthy, economic development will follow. We thank China for this cooperation and the Chinese medical team in Cameroon," he added.

Guo Jun, head of the Chinese medical team in Cameroon said, China has already dispatched 22 medical teams and 736 medical professionals to Cameroon since 1975 to diagnose diseases, relieve patients' pains, improve local health conditions and local medical level.

"Today's free clinic is just an example. In the future, we will further deepen cooperation, contribute to promoting medical assistance projects and stimulating China-Cameroon friendship," Guo said.

Besides the free clinic, the Chinese medical team, along with Beijing Urban Construction Group, donated drugs and protective materials to local hospitals. 

A Chinese ophthalmologist checks a patient's eyes in Bangou, Cameroon, Oct. 29, 2022.(Photo by Kepseu/Xinhua)

This photo taken on Oct. 29, 2022 shows Justin Kouamou speaking to Xinhua in Bangou, Cameroon.(Photo by Kepseu/Xinhua)
MANAMA, Bahrain  Pope Francis shifted gears Saturday in his visit to Bahrain to minister to the Gulf's Catholic community, presiding over a huge open-air Mass and then meeting with young people to give them a bit of fatherly advice: Don't just Google your questions about life decisions, he told them. Instead, find a parent, teacher or grandparent who can offer guidance.

After focusing on relations between Catholics and Muslims the first two days of his four-day visit to the tiny kingdom, Francis on Saturday was treated to the multiethnic diversity of the Gulf region's Catholic community. It's made up mostly of South Asian migrant workers who often leave behind their families to work in construction, oil extraction, domestic and service industries.

An estimated 30,000 people, some traveling from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Gulf countries, packed the Bahrain national stadium for Francis' big Mass. The English-language liturgy was clearly geared toward the foreign workers, with popular English hymns and prayers in Malay, Tagalog and Tamil and a priest offering English translations of the pope's native Spanish homily.

"This is actually a very huge honor," said Bijoy Joseph, an Indian living in Saudi Arabia who attended. "This is like a blessing for us to be part of our Holy Father's papal Mass in Bahrain."

Francis is on the first-ever papal visit to Bahrain, a Sunni-led island kingdom the size of New York City that lies off the coast of Saudi Arabia. The primary aim was to participate in a government-sponsored interfaith conference to promote Catholic-Muslim dialogue.

But for the final two days, he focused on ministering to the Catholic community, a minority in the country of about 1.5 million.

In his homily at the stadium, Francis urged the Catholic faithful to do good "even when evil is done to us."

"There will be cases of friction, moments of tension, conflicts and opposing viewpoints, but those who follow the Prince of Peace must always strive for peace. And peace cannot be restored if a harsh word is answered with an even harsher one," he said. "No, we need to 'disarm,' to shatter the chains of evil, to break the spiral of violence, and to put an end to resentment, complaints and self-pity."

After the Mass, Francis met with several hundred young people at the Sacred Heart school, which dates back to the 1940s and is affiliated with the church of the same name that was the first Catholic church built in the Gulf. The school boasts more than 1,200 students and faculty from 29 different nationalities and a variety of faith groups, including Muslims studying alongside Christians.

Teenage girls in saris danced for him, alumni offered testimonies and students offered words or wishes to him in over a dozen languages.

Francis urged them to forge a future where such friendly interfaith relations remain the norm. And then he offered some personal advice, saying he too was once an adolescent and never made a big decision alone.

"Before you go to the internet for advice, always seek out good counselors in life, wise and reliable people who can guide and help you," he said, listing parents, grandparents or a spiritual guide.

And then revisiting an exhortation from one of his first meetings with young people as pope, Francis urged the students to always keep adults on their toes.

"We need your creativity, your dreams and your courage, your charm and your smiles, your contagious joy and that touch of craziness that you can bring to every situation," he said. Such craziness, he said, "helps to break us out of our stale habits and repetitive ways of looking at things."

Francis wraps up his visit Sunday meeting with priests and nuns at the Sacred Heart church.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D.  South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem described the U.S. border with Mexico as a "war zone" last year when she sent dozens of state National Guard troops there, saying they'd be on the front lines of stopping drug smugglers and human traffickers.

But records from the Guard show that in their two-month deployment, the South Dakota troops didn't seize any drugs. On a handful of occasions, they suspected people of scouting for lapses in their patrols, but mission logs don't contain any confirmed encounters with "transnational criminals."

A presentation from the deployment noted that Mexican cartels were assessed to be a "moderate threat" but were "unlikely" to target U.S. forces.

Some days, the records show, the troops had little if anything to do.

"Very slow day. No encounters. It has been 5 days since last surrender," wrote one Guard member whose name was redacted from a situation report created as the deployment neared its end in September 2021.

For Noem, who is up for reelection Tuesday amid speculation she could be a 2024 White House contender, the deployment was an eye-catching jump into a political fight more than 1,000 miles from her state. Noem justified the deployment  and a widely criticized private donation to fund it  as a state emergency. Dangerous drugs, she said, made their way to South Dakota after coming over the southern border.

But the documents obtained by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington through an open records request cast doubt on whether the deployment was effective at stopping drug trafficking, even as Noem claimed that Guard members "directly assisted" in stopping it.

Most drugs don't come through unwatched expanses of the border or the Rio Grande where the Guard members were stationed, said Victor Manjarrez, a former Border Patrol senior officer who is now a professor of criminal justice at the University of Texas at El Paso. They are smuggled into the United States at established border checkpoints, he said.

South Dakota Guard members were stationed at observation posts where they parked Humvees or other military vehicles alongside the Rio Grande. They watched for groups of migrants to report to Border Control, which would then take them into custody. On several occasions, they reported groups of hundreds of people migrating, and at one point, a Guard member performed CPR on a child who drowned.

During the two-month deployment, the Guard logged 204 people who were turned back to Mexico and 5,000 others who were apprehended by the Border Patrol to evaluate for asylum claims. Those apprehensions were a small fraction of the more than 162,000 encounters Border Patrol reported during July and August in the Rio Grande Valley Sector  the 34,000-square-mile swathe where the Guard was stationed.

Noem last year joined with seven other Republican governors to harden the border through Texas's Operation Lone Star. The state-backed mission sought to discourage migrants by making arrests under Texas laws.

The mission gave Republicans occasion to deride President Joe Biden's border policies, but the operation has not curbed the number of people crossing the border. It also faced criticism for being a rushed mission that gave members little to do while potentially running afoul of federal law.

Noem's decision to send 48 Guard members was met with particularly harsh criticism because she covered most of its cost with a $1 million donation from a Tennessee billionaire who has often donated to Republicans. Top brass from the National Guard Bureau and an aide to South Dakota U.S. Sen. John Thune, a fellow Republican, questioned what legal authority the state had to accept a donation to fund the deployment, the recently released emails show.

Congress later banned such private donations for Guard deployments.

Noem's administration has insisted that the National Guard, with its military training, was best-suited to tackle what she called "a national security crisis."

"It literally is a war zone," she told reporters this July.

During the two-month deployment, Guard members reported spotting 11 people they deemed to be scouting for lapses in surveillance. On another occasion recorded in the logs, Guard members pointed flashlights at five people with backpacks crossing the Rio Grande who then retreated. Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Marlette, the head of South Dakota's Guard, later told a South Dakota legislative committee they were likely carrying drugs.

Those were the only times the Guard members reported suspected drug trafficking.
All around us, trees are turning out their best work of the year. They have summoned up every last molecule of energy and changed their leaves to the reds, oranges and yellows that we adore.

But it is a bit of a wistful dance, as they will soon have to put away their party dresses and hunker down for the coming winter.

The temperatures are biting below freezing at night. Our neighbors are busy putting away lawnmowers, patio furniture and hoses. We cant stop it. Winter is coming.

And with winter, many people experience sadness, some because of a psychological process called SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder, where reduced levels of sunlight reduce feelings of happiness. Others simply grow melancholy because the vibrancy of life that we usually see outside our windows has gone to sleep.

The apostle Paul, famous for his letter-writing campaigns when he couldnt be encouraging his fledgling churches in person, sent off a letter to Timothy, one of his favorite co-pastors. And in a departure from Pauls usual bravado and unrelenting directives to keep the faith and fight the good fight, Paul begged Timothy to visit.

Specifically, Paul asked Timothy to come before winter. And if he wouldnt mind, When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all, the parchments (2 Tim. 4:13). Paul was aware that Timothy would have to manage two long sea voyages, as well as two lengthy overland commutes, in order to make the journey from Ephesus, Turkey, to Rome, but so strong was Pauls need that he asked anyway.

Paul, preaching the God of heaven and earth instead of the god of Roman government, was placed on trial and then sentenced to shiver in a barren prison cell. He longed for the company of his friend Timothy in his last days. It wasnt that his Lord and Savior wasnt at his side, but Timothy would be the palpable presence of Christ.

From the beginning, we were created in community. We were always meant to need one another, from the highest appointed official in the land to the shivering child on the street corner lacking a roof. It is one of our highest callings to provide love and companionship to one another.

I received a call from a long-ago friend the other day. We hadnt spoken in years. As we caught up, she relayed her frustration at being location-bound as she awaited the hoped-for, but not assured, call from the kidney transplant team. She never put it into words, but Im fairly certain she was asking me to come before winter.

Is there someone who needs you to come before winter?

Is there someone whom you need to come to you before winter?

Grace be with you in your journey. Not all the leaves have fallen.
Responses to the Wisconsin State Journals candidate questionnaire. The election is Nov. 8.

Josh Kaul

Party: Democratic

Age: 41

Address: Madison

Family: My wife Lindsey and I have two sons, Simon and Henry.

Job: Attorney general

Prior Elected Office: Wisconsin attorney general, 2019present

Other Public Service: Assistant U.S. attorney in the District of Maryland; law clerk to the Honorable Michael Boudin, then-chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Education: Yale University; Stanford Law School

Eric Toney

Party: Republican

Age: 38

Address: Fond du Lac

Family: Not married

Job: Fond du Lac County district attorney

Prior elected office: Ive served as the Fond du Lac County district attorney since January 2013.

Other public service: Current President of the WDAA; served as chairman of the Legislative Committee and Communications Committee; volunteer judge and trainer for Teen Court; board member of the Fond du Lac Running Club and ASTOP (sexual assault survivor advocacy nonprofit); member of the Fond du Lac County and Eastern District of Wisconsin bar associations

Education: Bachelors degree in history and political science from St. Norbert College; law degree from Hamline University

Q&A

Why are you the best candidate for this office?

Kaul: I am the best candidate because of my experience, my priorities and my track record of getting results for Wisconsinites as AG. I was a federal prosecutor in Baltimore, where I worked on complex investigations and prosecuted murderers, gang members and drug traffickers. As an attorney in private practice, I went to court to challenge laws that restricted access to voting. Under my leadership, the Wisconsin Department of Justice has investigated and prosecuted some of the most serious offenses in the state. DOJ launched a statewide sexual assault kit tracking system, and I successfully fought to get the legislature to make changes to the law that will help prevent a future backlog of untested sexual assault kits. My administration has worked to hold opioid companies accountable for their role in the opioid crisis, helping to secure hundreds of millions of dollars to support the fight against the opioid epidemic in Wisconsin. DOJ has also worked to make our schools safer during my time as AG, including by launching the Speak Up, Speak Out program, which provides an option for reporting school safety concerns.

Toney: Ive seen our justice system as the son of a cop, a criminal defense attorney, and now in my 10th year as a District Attorney. I have prosecuted every type of case imaginable from cold case homicide, violent gun crime, sexual assault, drug conspiracies, drug deaths, domestic violence, and racketeering. I have personally used the resources that our DOJ has to offer and know how to work with our cops to best deploy them. I am respected by my peers and serve as the president of the Wisconsin District Attorneys Association, a bipartisan group. Im law enforcements choice for attorney general with bipartisan endorsements of more than 100 sheriffs, district attorneys and police chiefs, along with the Wisconsin Fraternal Order of Police, the Wisconsin Troopers Association, and the Milwaukee, West Allis, Kenosha and Racine Police Associations. I will stand with our cops, prosecute crime and defend the rule of law to ensure equal justice under the law for all.

What is the most important issue in this election and how would you address it?

Kaul: Public safety is the most important issue in this election. The criminal justice system in Wisconsin has been underfunded for decades, and, throughout my time as attorney general, I have supported additional funding for the justice system. While some notable progress has been made on this issue in the last four years, including the addition of approximately 70 Assistant DA positions across the state and an increase in funding for law enforcement training, much more needs to be done. I support increasing shared revenue so local governments are better able to fund critical services, including local law enforcement. The Safer Wisconsin plan I proposed last November would invest $115 million into public safety, including through funding for, among other things, community policing and prosecution; law enforcement officer recruitment, retention, and wellness; violence prevention and victim services programs; and mental health crisis response programs. The crime-fighting budget I proposed for DOJ for the next biennium likewise includes grant programs to improve public safety, as well as additional funding for the Wisconsin State Crime Labs and for special agents in DOJs Division of Criminal Investigation, among other things.

Toney: Public safety will always be my number one priority. I refuse to accept the historic violence and drug epidemic as the new normal and we will end it. I will work with the legislature to obtain original prosecution authority in Milwaukee to take on cases the Milwaukee County District Attorneys Office is unable or unwilling to prosecute. By protecting Milwaukee, we protect all of Wisconsin because that crime spreads across our state. I will fight to improve our cash bail laws to ensure judges must consider the dangerousness of criminals when bail is set and fix our statutes to ensure we can also hold dangerous criminals with no bail. I will fully fund police and prosecutors at the DOJ to better assist local law enforcement. My opponent has said he wants to eliminate cash bail, he has defunded the police and prosecutors at our DOJ, and mismanaged our crime labs by testing thousands of less items and taking longer to test categories of items, including DNA.

Should abortion be legal in all cases, illegal in all cases, or something in between? Explain.

Kaul: I am pro-choice. The decision whether to have an abortion is deeply personal, and should be made by women together with their doctors. For the freedom, equality, and health of women in Wisconsin, we must restore access to safe and legal abortion. To do that, we must repeal or block enforcement of the 19th century criminal abortion ban. As attorney general, Ive been leading the fight in court to block enforcement of Wisconsins abortion ban with no exceptions for cases of rape or incest. I have called for the state legislature to repeal that draconian 19th century ban, and I will not divert Wisconsin DOJ resources from investigating and prosecuting serious crimes to investigating and prosecuting doctors, nurses, or anyone else for potential violations of the ban.

Toney: Im proudly pro-life and I will defend the rule of law, regardless of my personal opinions. If the governor signs exceptions into law, I will defend them as attorney general. Unlike my opponent, I will not pick and choose when to enforce the rule of law based on my personal beliefs. The rule of law is what separates America from so much of the rest of world and we dont pick and choose when to enforce it based on personal opinions. It is the responsibility of district attorneys to address any violations of this law and I trust them to enforce the law while using their discretion on a case-by-case basis as they do with any other violation.
A partnership between the League of Women Voters of the La Crosse Area and the Tribune brings you weekly messages from local residents who vote.

Why do they do it election after election? They share their often-inspiring reasons.

This series will continue on Tuesday, election day. And we hope it moves you to visit the polls, if you have not voted yet.

To those who have voted early, we offer a collective high five. There are so many important federal, state and local races, including critical school and public safety referendums. Your voice needs to be heard now.

Here are just a few reasons to vote, offered by your neighbors through our weekly series:

Voting is one of the ways that I as an ordinary citizen can express my ideas and support those who share them. I spent 19 years in Zululand, South Africa, where only white people had the opportunity to vote, and I found that very offensive.  June Kjome, 101, of La Crosse

I vote because I want my voice heard. I believe every vote counts and I want mine to help make a difference. I vote to participate in our democracy at all levels of government. I want a say in our government and the policies and laws they pass.  Hugo Guerrero of Onalaska

I vote because I would like to see change and be the change in our world!  Hailey Brueggen, Holmen, UW-La Crosse student

I see promise and opportunity all around me. In our democracy we strive for success in all we do. I vote because I believe we are best when all eligible voters participate in having their voices heard thru the ballot box.

We are an imperfect union striving to improve.  Michael Murphy of Onalaska

I vote because I want to participate in electing informed public servants who listen to their constituents and believe that we are all in this together. I do not take for granted the sacrifices that have been made by previous generations to form a government of, for and by the people. The experience of joining peacefully with my friends and neighbors on Election Day is a celebration of our freedom. Count me in! Jane Powell, La Crosse

I became a naturalized citizen in 2003. I did not know the importance of what it meant to become a U.S. Citizen then, and all the rights and privileges one has afforded to them. There are too many to name, but to name a feweligibility for financial aid to help pay for college, along with the ability to receive certain scholarships and fellowships. One of the basic criterions in receiving financial support is citizenship. Now more than ever, as a U.S. Citizen, I am more aware of whats at stake in elections and the countrys future.

Its a basic civic duty to vote. I acknowledge those who fought tirelessly for this opportunity and for those who continue do so every day. I cannot stress enough the importance of voting. Your voice matters, your vote matters!  Jose Rubio-Zepeda of La Crosse
Photo: The Canadian Press CUPE members and supporters join a demonstration outside the office of Parm Gill, Member of Provincial Parliament for the riding of Milton, in Milton, Ont., on Friday.

UPDATE: 11:40 a.m.

A "frenzied and sleep-deprived" Ontario Labour Relations Board hearing to determine the legality of a strike by education workers stretched into a third day on Sunday, with a lawyer representing the government arguing it doesn't matter whether the contract that now binds 55,000 employees was negotiated with their input or imposed upon them.

Ferina Murji said strikes are prohibited in the midst of any contract, not just one that was ratified by union membership.

"A collective agreement is a collective agreement is a collective agreement," she said.

Murji made the comments on the third day of arguments before the board after thousands of workers walked off the job on Friday in protest of government legislation that imposed a contract on them and took away their right to strike.

The government is seeking a ruling that their walkout is illegal, while the Canadian Union of Public Employees  which represents education workers  contends the job action is a form of legitimate political protest.

The strike closed numerous schools across the province Friday, with even more set to shut on Monday should the work stoppage continue.

"With 55,000 people not attending schools across the province, that means millions of students and their parents are left with nowhere to go, are left not learning, not getting the education that the Education Act ensures they will get," Murji said, stressing the importance of the board's intervention.

Board Chair Brian O'Byrne heard arguments over the course of 16 hours on Saturday, with the hearing stretching into early Sunday morning, before resuming just hours later, at 7 a.m.

As Day 3 of the hearing got underway, O'Byrne noted the "frenzied and sleep-deprived context of the hearings," which he said he hoped to wrap up on Sunday.

"I do accept that Bill 28 is in writing. But it is not a voluntarily negotiated agreement," CUPE lawyer Steven Barrett said on Saturday.

"It is deemed to be a collective agreement under Section 5 ... but to call this a mid-contract withdrawal of services, as if this was a collective agreement freely negotiated, is a fundamental absurdity."

Barrett told O'Byrne that should he deem the strike legal, the job action could continue until the government repeals its new legislation or until the union and government negotiate its end.

The government's new law has set fines for violating the ban on strikes of up to $4,000 per employee per day -- which could amount to $220 million for all 55,000 workers -- and up to $500,000 per day for the union.

CUPE has said it will fight the fines, but will also pay them if it has to.

ORIGINAL: 9:25 a.m.

A lawyer representing the Ontario government says it shouldn't matter that the contract that now binds 55,000 striking education workers in the province was imposed on them and not negotiated.

Ferina Murji says strikes are prohibited in the midst of any contract, not just one that was reached through collective bargaining.

She made the comment on the third day of arguments at what the chair of the Ontario Labour Relations Board described as a "frenzied and sleep-deprived" hearing to determine the legality of the walkout.

Brian O'Byrne heard arguments for 16 hours on Saturday, with the hearing stretching into the early hours of Sunday morning and resuming hours later.

Thousands of workers, including education assistants, custodians and librarians, walked off the job on Friday in protest of government legislation that imposed a contract on them and took away their right to strike.

Union lawyer Steven Barrett argued Saturday that "to call this a mid-contract withdrawal of services, as if this was a collective agreement freely negotiated, is a fundamental absurdity."
EIR Press Conference: A Nuclear War Cannot Be Won and Must Never Be Fought

Nov. 5, 2022 (EIRNS)On November 5, Executive Intelligence Review (EIR) convened an extraordinary three-hour press conference bringing together an international group of speakers with scientific, military, intelligence and political backgrounds, all dedicated to the principle stated by President Ronald Reagan in his 1984 State of the Union Address that A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. Speaking to both the people of the United States and Soviet Union, President Reagan continued: The only value in our two nations possessing nuclear weapons is to make sure they will never be used. But then would it not be better to do away with them entirely? Indeed, it would. However, 38 years after that momentous statement, the ship of state in the West has been hijacked by geopolitical madmen recklessly steering us towards a thermonuclear war which would bring about the extinction of the human race. Can this insane process be reversed?

The purpose of this press conference, as well as prior and future conferences hosted by EIR and the Schiller Institute, is to demonstrate to the world that there is a movement of sane people in the West not only opposing extinction warfare but proposing positive ideas to bring about a prosperous and harmonious future for current and future generations. Will this movement succeed? As many of the speakers made clear, that will be determined by the willingness of ordinary citizens to quit being spectators sitting on the sidelines and join in the fight. What follows is a brief summary of the opening remarks of each speaker participating in the press conference.

The first speaker, Diane Sare, is currently campaigning for the office of U.S. Senator for New York as a LaRouche independent candidate. Given the blackout of Sares campaign by the mainstream media, she began her remarks by referring to a statement she had written asking if the suppression of her campaign was a prelude to nuclear war. She wrote the statement in the context of viewpoints expressed by leaders in the West that Russia cannot win its war with Ukraine when it should be obvious to anyone that Russia cannot afford to lose. She pointed out the farcical candidates debate, from which she was excluded, between her two opponents in the Senate race where the Republican criticized the Democrat for not being tough enough on Russia. Sare then used as a metaphor the fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen The Emperors New Clothes to demonstrate that the purpose of the story was not to expose the vanity and corruption of the emperor, but the corruption of the people of the village who played along with the lie that the emperor had new clothes when they knew very well he was naked. This is similar to the situation today with the recent revelation that then British Prime Minister Liz Truss sent a text message to U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken seconds after the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines It is done. The question she posed, given this revelation, is will people be more enlightened than the village people of Hans Christian Andersens fairytale?

The next speaker, Steven Starr, retired director of the University of Missouris Clinical Laboratory Science Program and expert on nuclear war, gave a chilling presentation, which included a powerful slide show, demonstrating conclusively that a thermonuclear war would lead to the extinction of the human race and most animal life on the planet Earth. He explained that the destructive power of thermonuclear weapons today far exceeds those used against Japan in World War II. One warhead detonated over New York City would create a firestorm which would incinerate everything in a 150 square mile radius. Were a missile attack against the United States to be detected, the President would receive a 30-second briefing on the nature of the attack and then have at most a 2- to 3-minute window to decide how to respond! Were a counterattack ordered, missiles would be in the air within two minutes with no way to recall them if the warning turned out to be false. The aftermath of a thermonuclear war would be a nuclear winter with 70% of sunlight being blocked in the Northern Hemisphere and 35% in the Southern Hemisphere for a period of at least ten years, making it impossible to grow crops. This would lead to mass starvation and possible human and animal extinction.

Former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer and chief UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter followed with a presentation aimed at shaking people out of their complacency regarding the dangers of nuclear war. He began with the assertion that the majority of American people are ignorant of the reality of nuclear conflict. The son of an Air Force officer stationed in Germany during the Cold War, whose responsibilities included nuclear weapons delivery, Ritter grew up acutely aware that nuclear annihilation could happen at any time. After joining the Marine Corps, he was assigned to a nuclear artillery unit which constantly trained to carry out attacks. He then went on to become a weapons inspector during the 1980s at the height of the dangerous very period where Soviet SS-20 and U.S. Pershing II intermediate missiles could reach targets within seven minutes eliminating any chance for reasoned deliberation on how to respond to an attack. In Ritters words, The 1980s was all about dodging nuclear Armageddon. He believes one of the most underappreciated moments in history is when President Reagan signed the INF Treaty with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev because this event saved the world from nuclear suicide. However, with the collapse of the Soviet Union we no longer respect Russia and are now reconstituting intermediate nuclear weapons. Ritter ended his presentation as a warning to those in the West who believe a nuclear war against Russia is winnable by describing the Russian system called the dead hand. Were a successful decapitation strike carried out against Moscow, the dead hand system would automatically launch communications rockets which would travel across the territory of Russia activating a retaliatory second strike which would mean the end of the world.

French Col. Alain Corvez (ret.), former advisor to the General-in-Commander of the UNIFIL in Lebanon and former international relations advisor to the French Foreign Ministry, began his remarks by expressing gratitude for participating in an event where speakers know what theyre talking about. The problem in his opinion is that leaders in the West know nothing about nuclear war. He recounted Charles de Gaulles intention to constitute a nuclear force (force de frappe) under the sole control of France strictly for the purpose of nuclear deterrence. De Gaulle was well aware that a nuclear war would result in the deaths of hundreds of millions of people. He questioned whether todays leaders have any understanding of the fact that a nuclear war cannot be won and that as a consequence the nature of war has been fundamentally changed. Even a war with a small nuclear armed power like North Korea would have unimaginable consequences.

Colonel Richard Black (ret.), U.S. Marine Corps combat veteran, former chief of the Army Criminal Law Division at the Pentagon and former Virginia State Senator, began by stating that we are in a footrace with the globalist demons intent on starting World War III. According to Black, given that there may be a shift away from support for the Ukrainian regime were the outcome of the midterm elections to favor the Republicans, as is highly likely, there is an effort by NATO to accelerate the war. As empirical evidence of this accelerated war drive, Black cites events such as the Sept. 26 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage (including British Prime Minister Liz Trusss It is done text message to Secretary of State Tony Blinken), the Oct. 8 attempt at blowing up of the Crimean Bridge across the Kerch Strait and the foiling by Russian security forces of sabotage attempts deep within Russian territory. Black believes the intention is to trip up the Russian leadership causing an overreaction which creates the pretext for a counterattack by NATO. He also pointed to the recent highly unusual surfacing of two U.S. nuclear armed attack submarines as an intended signal to Moscow that NATO has the capability to launch a nuclear Pearl Harbor at any time. He stated that President Biden has the capability of ending the war at anytime but right now is not listening to the American people but only to the globalists. Black ended his remarks by voicing his opinion that the Schiller Institute is the preeminent voice for peace in the world today and thanked the young gutsy Schiller Institute activists for their interventions confronting the warmongers.

The next speaker, Jacques Cheminade, is a three-time candidate for the French presidency and leader of the Solidarite et Progres party as well as a leader of the Schiller Institute. Cheminades remarks were very brief, expressing his full support for Diane Sares Senate campaign in the Nov. 8 U.S. election. What she expresses as her political objectives echoes the voice of people he has met in France who are suffering the same hardships as the American people. She is the only candidate campaigning for peace, stability and cooperation for the entire world. Cheminade advised all New Yorkers to vote for Sare to help bring about peace and the best of all possible worlds.

Dr. Cliff Kiracofe, former senior advisor to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and president of the Washington Institute for Peace and Development, began by stating his opinion that a diplomatic process is the only way to end the war in Ukraine and the sooner this diplomatic process takes place the better. Russia, having a policy of what Kiracofe characterized as old school diplomacy, is open to negotiations. However, the Ukrainian government at this point is refusing to negotiate, and without negotiations diplomacy is impossible. France and Germany failed to advance the Minsk II process which was endorsed by the UN Security Council in 2015. As a consequence Ukraine has lost the Donbass territory (formerly known as Novorossiya) which has been incorporated into Russia. The question now is will Russia launch a winter offensive to absorb more territory and would this lead to a general European war or even nuclear war? Kiracofe ended by stating his belief that as peace advocates we must insist on a diplomatic process now.

General Dominique Delawarde (ret.), former French liaison officer to the U.S. Armys Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, began by thanking Scott Ritter for his exemplary work which is followed very closely by his colleagues in France. He also stated that as a citizen of the world he endorses Diane Sares Senate campaign; that she is a rare candidate who understands that Russia cannot afford to lose the war with Ukraine and that miscalculations would have potential catastrophic consequences. He expressed his fear that the globalists in the West directing foreign policy unless stopped are leading us to war. He ended his remarks by noting that Sare deserves to be Senator as she represents a powerful voice for peace and, as in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, we must be willing to compromise.

Retired CIA analyst Ray McGovern started by recounting his experience as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Cuban Missile Crisis at which time he was stationed near Key West, Florida. He then amplified remarks made earlier by Scott Ritter regarding how close we came to nuclear war with the Soviet Union, a nation President Reagan had labeled the evil empire, in 1983. In particular, McGovern singled out a NATO exercise in 1983 called Able Archer which simulated a nuclear attack against the Soviet Union. At the time serving as a CIA intelligence officer, a colleague named Mel Goodman sounded the alarm bells to his superiors that the Soviets saw this exercise as a serious threat and if we didnt tone it down it could trigger a nuclear war. Whereas Bob Gates refused to heed his warnings, he went over Gatess head to William Casey, who did listen to him seriously, to our great fortune. The problem now in the current political climate is that very few people know whats really going on. That means those who do know have to get off their butts and do something. McGovern then explained what he calls the Noah principle: No awards for predicting rain, awards only for building arcs. This means each person has to get off their derriere and do their part in helping to building the arc (i.e. do something!). And although we cant expect immediate success, by being faithful and telling the truth we set an example for future generations. McGovern ended his remarks by calling out the older generation with a little bit of gray in their hair. According to McGovern these people have an advantage because while the actions of younger people may be dismissed by the general population when they get arrested or beaten up, most people dont like to see old people getting beaten up. Under todays circumstances its important for older people to put this advantage to good use and get out there and do something!

The final speaker was Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder and chairwoman of the Schiller Institute. Echoing several of the prior speakers, she started by saying that we are in the most dangerous moment in history and most people know nothing. During the 1980s, during the Pershing Missile crisis, hundreds of thousands of people were in the streets protesting. Today very little is happening. Her late husband, Lyndon LaRouche, created the basis for a new security architecture during that period based on a policy that became known as the Strategic Defense Initiative which was formally adopted by President Reagan on March 23, 1983. With the ongoing collapse of the trans-Atlantic financial system, to prevent World War III we need a new security architecture which takes into consideration the needs of all nations. To succeed, the West must be a part of this new security architecture. She expressed her belief that the reason she is on the Ukraine governments Center for Countering Disinformation hit list is precisely because of the role the Schiller Instituting is playing in this process. Zepp-LaRouche ended her remarks by wholeheartedly wishing Diane Sare success in her Senate campaign.
Russian Ambassador Urges U.S. To Study Lessons of Cuban Missile Crisis

Nov. 5, 2022 (EIRNS)During a working visit to San Francisco this week, Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov spoke to reporters about the sorry state of U.S.-Russia relations, and called on the U.S. to use the lessons of the Cuban missile crisis.

[F]rankly speaking, we need ... to look closely at the outcome of the Cuban Missile Crisis to figure out how the two countries managed to solve the problem. Perhaps, the time has come to look back at history and try to use the lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis? We were on the brink of a nuclear conflict back then. Still, the two governments found the strength to take a step back or to meet each other halfway in order to resolve the issue, and they succeeded,

he stressed. The situation has certainly changed, we cant simply say that things are the same as they were 60 years ago. Perhaps, new schemes need to be found. For our part, we are ready to hold an open conversation at least on stabilizing Russia-U.S. relations, Antonov noted, according to TASS news agency.

The alarming situation in the Ukraine conflict requires a negotiated solution, he argued, criticizing the U.S. latest decision to provide more supplies of weapons to Ukraine.

Our so-called partners continue with a wrong policy believing that the problem can be solved on the battlefield and keep spending more energy and means. Now they are amassing armed forces near the Russian borders. The developing situation is extremely alarming. In fact, in Ukraine, on the Ukrainian soil, we are fighting not against the Ukrainians, but against the collective West, which tries to undermine the foundations of Russia, to exhaust us, to deplete us of all economic and military resources and to stage a situation, in which Russia would never have a chance to negotiate equally with the Western countries on the international arena,

he stressed.

We firmly believe that the dialogue between our countries is necessary, Antonov added.

It is necessary not only in the interests of Russia and the United States, but in the interests of the entire international society. Everyone is looking at us, as permanent members of the UN Security Council, two great powers, which are responsible today for the peace on the planet and, in line with the [UN] Charter, bear a particular responsibility for international peace and stability.... We are faced with many issues that we can jointly solve in the sphere of strategic stability, in the sphere of nuclear weapons non-proliferation, global cyber security and climate change.

As for Putin meeting with President Joe Biden at the G20, he told reporters that Russia has not received any concrete proposals regarding this issue, and does not see a possible improvement of the Russian-American relations at least in the mid-term perspective under the current diplomatic conditions. He also made clear he has no expectations that the current Russophobic consensus will change after the midterm elections, whatever their outcome.
EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR SUNDAY NOVEMBER 6, 2022

Globalists Nuclear Chicken Game Can Be Crushed!

Nov. 5, 2022 (EIRNS)An extraordinary press availability organized by EIR on Saturday, Nov. 5, brought together military, security and diplomatic experts from both sides of the Atlantic with gray-haired and gutsy young citizen activists, Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche and the independent U.S. Senate candidate in New York Diane Sare to strategize together on how to catalyze the biggest worldwide non-violent movement in history to save humanity from a nuclear catastrophe.

The tense but animated discussion, extending well-beyond its expected two hours, established two critical ideas for participants and the hundreds of live viewers alike:

1) That the danger of nuclear war, which stems not from Russia and China but from the policies and actions of the bankrupt Wests fanatic drive to maintain hegemony through military means, is extreme, and must be remedied. That no tactical or limited nuclear war is possible; our only options are peace or nuclear Armageddon, which would destroy life on this planet; and 2) That there are qualified and moral people, young and old, prepared to lead others, as the temperament of citizens on both sides of the Atlantic begins to shift from passivity to militant action to overturn the rules-based order of finance and war which is behind the threat.

The discussion remoralized and energized the speakers, the journalists and activists who asked questions and offered their thoughts after them, and viewers alike. Particularly notable were the exchanges between the senior retired French military officers and their American counterparts, and the interventions of very serious young leaders from the Schiller Institute and several different organizations. The seed crystal of Zepp-LaRouches call for a movement of world citizens to secure humanitys durable survival is growing by leaps and bounds.

None too early. The day before EIRs conference, the Pentagon flaunted its expectations of permanent war in Europe, announcing it will stand up a permanent headquarters, inside Germany, to oversee military aid to Ukraine for the long term. (Was Germany even consulted about these plans for its territory?)

The day before that, the head of the U.S. Strategic Command, Navy Adm. Charles Richard, the man who commands U.S. nuclear forces, issued a wild call to ramp up U.S. nuclear armament production in a mobilization not seen since the Moon landing project. This madman called Ukraine merely the warm-up for the big one: confrontation with China. His call was enthusiastically endorsed by the Wall Street Journal.

Former senior CIA analyst Ray McGovern, a founder of the anti-war Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), at one point in EIRs conference had posed the problem: When the Russian leadership looks at the U.S., they ask themselves, who is in charge? The President? Or is it the Strategic Command? That is what makes the situation so absolutely delicate, he warned.

The world is sick of such warmongering! Russias Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov reiterated again this week from San Francisco, that Russia firmly believes that the dialogue between our countries is necessary. It is necessary not only in the interests of Russia and the United States, but in the interests of the entire international society.

When Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met in Beijing on Nov. 4, the two echoed the doctrine on which EIRs press conference was organized: that nuclear war cannot be won and must never be foughta commitment reported by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which Western media outlets then reported as a Chinese rebuke of Russia and President Putin, because, they lie, the Russians are the ones threatening nuclear war, not anyone in the West!

When his time came to raise a question, political activist Kim Dotcom asked each panelist in EIRs press conference to state in 60 seconds what they believe to be the cause of NATOs proxy war in Europe?

That is the crucial question; to answer that is to identify the solution, as Helga Zepp-LaRouche did in response. The cause of the war is the epochal change opened by the majority of humanity coming together to create a new economic system to replace the collapsing Trans-Atlantic financial system, she responded. Nations across the world are working to create new currencies, based on a basket of commodities. Geopolitics, seeking to maintain the rule of a few, has to stop, that is what is leading us to nuclear war. The days of blocs are over. Humanity must come together to create a new international security and development architecture in which all nations participate as equals.

That is the significance of Diane Sares Senate campaign, Mrs. LaRouche noted. She represents what the United States must be. If the U.S. adopts the policies of the new paradigm for which Sare has made herself the spokeswoman, anti-Americanism will vanish, and the United States, like all nations, can prosper under this new architecture!
Latin America's first renewable fuel-powered, trash-trapping wheel is cleaning one of Panamas dirtiest rivers.

A local environmental group led the anti-pollution effort.

The wheel is powered by water and solar energy. It pulls waste out of the Juan Diaz River. Most of the waste comes from the capital area of Panama City where about 2 million people live. Thousands of kilograms of trash flow down the river into the ocean each year.

Robert Getman is the leader of the project.

"Cleaning beaches is good, he said, but it is more effective and cheaper to trap garbage in rivers because when it reaches the ocean, the environmental and economic cost becomes too high."

The environmental group Marea Verde launched the wheel, which is named Wanda Diaz, in late September. By the middle of October, Wanda had gathered 28.6 cubic meters of plastic bottles from the water.

The Juan Diaz River is one of the most polluted in Panama. Waste systems in the area are poor, and land development is not well supervised. The river also passes through Panama City, one of Central America's largest cities.

Still, the waterway and its mangrove trees are home to lizards, turtles and birds.

Over five years, Marea Verde projects have slowed the spread of trash along Panama's rivers and coastline.

Before the coronavirus pandemic struck, the group launched its "Barrier or Trash" technology, a floating device. It captured more than 100 metric tons of waste in the Matias Hernandez River between 2019 and 2020.

The Baltimore Bay "Trashwheel" in the United States was the model for Marea Verdes Wanda machine. Wanda even has cameras with artificial intelligence that can recognize and sort different plastics.

"We want to raise awareness that we can prevent the death of this very important river," said Marea Verde leader Sandy Watemberg. She expressed her hope that the wheel will help.

But she also pointed to the need for those who use single-use plastics to rethink their behavior.

"The most important thing is to achieve a change in habits," she said.

Im Caty Weaver.

Elida Moreno reported this story for Reuters. Caty Weaver adapted it for VOA Learning English.

_____________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

beach n. an area next to the sea, lake or river that is covered with sand or small rocks

cheap v. not costly

garbage n. waste, things that are thrown away

artificial intelligence n. an area of computer science that deals with giving machines the ability to seem like they have human intelligence

sort v. to separate and put things in order, often grouping similar things together

achieve v. to get or reach something by working hard

habit n. something that a person does regularly.

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Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.
A new study carried out in the West African nation of Mali found that an experimental drug protected adults against malaria for at least six months. The one-dose drug is the latest possible treatment for the disease spread by mosquitos.

Malaria killed more than 620,000 people in 2020 and sickened 241 million. They were mainly children under the age of 5 in Africa.

The World Health Organization is releasing the first malaria vaccine for children. But it is just 30 percent effective and requires four doses.

The new study tested a very different idea. The drug gives people a large dose of lab-made malaria-fighting antibodies. The vaccine depends on the immune system to make enough of those same infection-blockers after vaccination.

Dr. Kassoum Kayentao is with the University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies in Bamako, Mali. He helped lead the study in two small villages in Mali. He said the available vaccine doesn't protect enough people.

During malaria season in some places in Mali, people are bitten by infected mosquitoes on an average of twice a day.

The experimental antibody was created by researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. It is given intravenously, or directly into the veins.

The drug would be difficult to release to a large amount of people. But scientists are also testing a shot version of the treatment, which would be easier to give out.

The U.S. government research was published Monday in the New England Journal of Medicine and was presented at a medical meeting in Seattle.

The antibody works by breaking the life cycle of the parasite, which is spread through mosquito bites. It targets parasites early before they enter the liver, where they can grow and multiply. The drug was created from an antibody taken from a volunteer who received a malaria vaccine.

The research involved 330 adults in Mali. The study participants got either one of two different antibody doses or a placebo  a substance given to a patient like a drug but has no physical effect on the patient. All participants were tested for malaria infection every two weeks for 24 weeks. Anyone who got sick was treated.

Infections were found by blood test in 20 people who got the higher dose. Infections were found in 39 people who got the lower dose. Eighty-six people who got the placebo became infected during the study period.

The higher dose was 88 percent effective, compared to the placebo. The lower dose was 75 percent effective.

Protection might last during the several months of malaria season.

The cost is not yet known. But one estimate suggests lab-made antibodies could be given for just $5 per child per malaria season.

Dr. Johanna Daily is with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. She was not involved in the study. She said lab-made antibodies are used to treat cancer, autoimmune diseases and COVID-19.

The good news is now we have another, immune-based therapy to try to control malaria, she said.

Im Dan Novak.

Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by The Associated Press.

______________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

dose  n. the amount of a medicine, drug, or vitamin that is taken at one time

antibody  n. a substance produced by the body to fight disease

immune system  n. the system that protects your body from diseases and infections

vein  n. any one of the tubes that carry blood from parts of the body back to the heart

cycle  n. a set of events or actions that happen again and again in the same order

parasite  n. an animal or plant that lives in or on another animal or plant and gets food or protection from it

multiply  v. to increase greatly in number or amount

participant  n. a person who is involved in an activity or event

therapy  n. the treatment of physical or mental illnesses
An off-duty Merrionette Park police officer and a man were shot after a traffic crash on the citys Far South Side Saturday evening, officials said.

About 5:30 p.m., the officer, 51, was eastbound on 103rd Street when someone in a white Chevrolet that was also eastbound began firing shots at her and continued east, where it plowed into a black Ford car in the 2300 block of East 103rd Street, said Chicago Police Sgt. Rocco Alioto

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Thats when the officer stopped, announced her office and an exchange of gunfire erupted, Alioto said.

The officer was shot in the neck and a 43-year-old bystander was hit in both legs, according to the sergeant.

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The officer went to the nearby 4th District Chicago police station and Chicago police took her to the University of Chicago Medical Center, said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford. Alioto said her condition had stabilized.

The 43-year-old man shot was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center by ambulance and his injuries were not thought to be life-threatening, Langford said.

The shooter ran away and was not in custody while a second person inside the Chevrolet was taken into custody at the scene, Alioto said.

Two of the three occupants of the Ford were taken to Trinity Hospital suffering from injuries in the crash and were expected to survive, according to Langford.

Detectives were investigating.
In the digital age, it has become easy for students to find and copy published material. But copying another persons writing without giving them credit can get students into big trouble.

Copying another persons writing without giving them credit is called plagiarism.

Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster says the word "plagiarism" comes from the Latin word plagiarius. It means "kidnapper. But now we use it to describe someone who steals words rather than children.

In the United States and other Western countries, universities have rules for avoiding plagiarism. But learning to correctly follow these rules can be difficult for some international students.

Intellectual property

Why do universities and publishers care so much about copying even very small parts of someones writing?

American copyright law protects original works of authorship including books, movies, music, images and artworks. It also extends protection to computer software and architecture. The owner can sell the work or permit others to use it.

The idea is that copyright helps society make progress. If people can make money by owning their creations, called intellectual property, then more people will want to create original works.

The law permits the unlicensed use of copyrighted works, called fair use, for activities including criticism, comment, news reporting, education and research. However, there are some limitations.

In education, students can include a very small part of copyrighted works in their writing and research if they provide credit, or citation, to the original creators.

Many universities, such as Harvard, even urge students to give credit to information or sources of ideas they get from conversations with professors or other students. Harvard even warns students about copying themselves. That is, they cannot hand in the same work for more than one class without the permission of their instructors.

A failure to do so is considered plagiarizing.

How can professors know if a student is plagiarizing?

Just as it is easy to copy, it is also easy for professors to know if a student has plagiarized.

First, there are computer programs that compare students papers to large databases of published writing. The programs can identify whether students have copied published writing. Second, if English is not a students first language, a professor might recognize a change in vocabulary and writing style. This could bring more attention to the students paper.

The punishment for plagiarism can vary. Professors could simply warn a student not to do it again, lower their grade, or they may fail the student in that class. In more extreme cases, a student may be temporarily banned or expelled from school.

Cultural differences

Some international students in the U.S. struggle to avoid plagiarism and learn the rules of citation. Part of the difficulty is due to cultural differences.

Some cultures do not have a long historical and legal tradition of protecting intellectual property. In these cultures, knowledge has been considered something common to everyone, without ownership. In others, copying is seen as showing respect for the writing and thinking of experts rather than themselves.

If English is not a students first language, sometimes, finding words to express complex ideas could be difficult. Thus, copying becomes the way the students try to express their ideas.

Steven Horowitz is a professor of Legal English at Georgetown Law in Washington, D.C. In an email to VOA Learning English, he said, I've talked with students from Middle East cultures who have explained to me that they often are not expected to cite because a lot of things they quote are so familiar to everyone that there is no need or expectation of citing.

Horowitz said, I know on occasion some international students will use quoted text because they feel like their own words can't do justice to the meaning in the quoted text and feel like it's not their place to suggest alternative text.

It's often a challenge to explain to international students the need for citation even in sentences when you don't use quoted text, he added.

Tools to avoid plagiarism

There are free tools to make citations easier for students and to avoid plagiarism. Zotero is a free, open-source program that helps organize all the research a student may use. For example, it can automatically create citations and combine them into a list. The Purdue Online Writing Lab, or Purdue OWL for short, is another free resource.

Many universities also have writing centers where students can learn the citation rules. And another way for students to learn how to avoid plagiarism is to read published papers and pay careful attention to how information is presented. Students should observe when and how citations are used. This can help them learn the rules of citations.

Finally, remember that in educational, or academic, writing, it is better to cite too much than too little.

Im Andrew Smith.

And I'm Jill Robbins.

Andrew Smith and Jill Robbins wrote this story for VOA Learning English.

Quiz - How to Avoid Plagiarism Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

_____________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

original -adj. never having been done or created before, not a copy of something else

authorship -n. indicating that a person is the creator of a work

citation -n. an indication of a source or reference from which words or ideas have been copied

style -n. a particular design or pattern or way of doing things

grade -n. a score or rank teachers assign to students for their coursework, such as a percentage or letter ranking

quote -n. a copy of the exact words someone has written or spoken

do justice to -v. give enough respect to or fully explain

alternative text -n. other words used to express the same idea

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Tuesday, November 8 is Election Day in the United States.

This year, American voters will be taking part in what is known as midterm elections. The elections are called this because they happen nearly two years  or about the middle point  into the term of the U.S. president.

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are elected every two years. So in the midterms, all 435 House seats are decided. In addition, every two years one third of U.S. Senate members are either elected or leave their seats at the end of the term.

American voters will also be choosing governors, state lawmakers and local officials. The election results will decide which party controls Congress, as well as state offices and legislatures.

In order to vote in federal and state elections, a person must be a U.S. citizen and be at least 18 years of age. The person also has to meet the state residency requirements. In every state except North Dakota, people must also register to become voters.

This year, more than 80 million Americans will have the chance to vote in a language other than English. That is because U.S. federal law guarantees that certain groups of people can receive language assistance in the voting process.

Gabe Osterhout is a researcher at the Idaho Policy Institute at Boise State University. He said, The idea was to take groups that were historically excluded from the electoral process, and the mission was to make it more accessible for some of those groups.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law to protect the right to vote for African Americans mainly in the South. The act was expanded in 1975 to include certain language minorities. These included Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Latinos and Asian Americans.

Jim Tucker is a lawyer with the Voting Rights Project at the nonprofit Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. He noted that for citizens with limited knowledge of English, voting information can be a barrier to the ability to participate.

How do officials decide on languages?

Every five years, the U.S. Census Bureau chooses which minority language groups will receive help with information in their native language.

That decision is based on whether more than 5 percent of eligible voters in an area speak limited English, or if there are more than 10,000 eligible voters in an area with limited English ability. Local elections officials are then required to offer voting materials, including ballots, in that second language.

In December 2021, the U.S. Census identified 331 areas that meet the requirements ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Most of the covered areas, called jurisdictions, are in three states, California, Florida and Texas. Those states must provide Spanish-language voting materials in every statewide election.

Registration and voting data from November 1996 and 2000 found evidence that the addition of a second language has positive effects on the voting rates of covered linguistic minorities.

The research was carried out by professors Michael Jones-Correa and Israel Waismel-Manor. It found that voter turnout among Latinos was 11 percent higher in areas covered by the language requirements than in those that did not provide materials and assistance in Spanish. The professors also found that voter registration among Latinos was 15 percent higher in areas that provided language assistance than those that did not.

Tucker observed large participation increases in all four groups covered under the language requirements. These include American Indians, Alaska Natives, Latino or Spanish-speaking voters, and Asian Americans who speak Asian languages since 1975.

The Voting Rights Act was supposed to end by 1970, but it has been extended five times. The last extension, for 25 years, came in 2006.

I'm Jill Robbins.

Dora Mekouar reported this story for VOA News. Hai Do adapted the story for Learning English.

_______________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

residency - n. the state or fact of living in a place

accessible - adj. easy to appreciate or understand

participate - v. to take part in an activity

eligible - adj. able to do or receive something

positive - adj. good or useful
Researchers say they have discovered new evidence that Mars once had a large northern ocean. The finding adds to existing evidence that ancient Mars had the right conditions to possibly support some form of life.

Today, Mars has a cold, desert climate. Any water is believed to be in the form of ice because of the planets extremely cold temperatures. But there is a rich amount of evidence suggesting that rivers, lakes and even oceans once existed on Mars.

For example, a 2015 study by the American space agency NASA suggested that 4.3 billion years ago, Mars likely had an ocean that covered nearly half of Mars northern hemisphere.

Another NASA-supported study, published in January, estimated that three billion years ago, the climate in much of the planets northern hemisphere was very similar to present day Earth. The study noted that at the time, Mars likely had a much thicker atmosphere than today and had an active, northern ocean.

Now, two American researchers have released a set of maps they say provides new environmental evidence of a large ancient ocean on Mars low-lying northern hemisphere.

The team collected data from satellite images of Mars. They then combined these images to create topography maps of the planets northern hemisphere.

Using these maps, the researchers said they were able to piece together evidence of shorelines that sat at the edge of a huge body of water about three-and-a-half billion years ago.

The scientists recently published their findings in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.

The team said it used software developed by the United States Geological Survey to map data collected by spacecraft operated by NASA. The research uncovered more than 6,500 kilometers of ridges that are believed to have been formed by flowing water.

The scientists say the ridges likely represent the leftover evidence of eroded river systems and an ancient ocean floor. The team said its research also suggested large levels of sediment, providing further evidence of a large ocean.

Benjamin Cardenas was a co-writer of the study. He is a professor of geosciences at Penn State University in Pennsylvania. He said in a statement the area of Mars studied  now known as Aeolis Dorsa  contains the densest collection of water-formed ridges on the planet.

Cardenas said the studys findings demonstrate the possible ocean in that area of Mars was very active and interesting. It was dynamic. The sea level rose significantly, he said. Rocks were being deposited along its basins at a fast rate. There was a lot of change happening here.

Cardenas added that areas on our own planet containing water-formed ridges and sediment provide researchers with much useful information about an areas climate and life forms. If scientists want to find a record of life on Mars, an ocean as big as the one that once covered Aeolis Dorsa would be the most logical place to start, he said.

The team noted that the major goal of NASAs Mars explorer, Curiosity, is to look for signs of ancient life on the planet. Currently, Curiosity is operating within the planets Gale Crater, which is in the southern hemisphere of Mars. In the past, researchers have also found evidence of past water systems around Gale Crater.

In addition to providing more evidence of a large ocean, Cardenas suggested the new study also provides useful information on Mars ancient climate and developmental history. Based on these findings, we know there had to have been a period when it was warm enough and the atmosphere was thick enough to support this much liquid water at one time, he said.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from Penn State, NASA the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets and Arizona State University.

Quiz - New Evidence for Large Ancient Ocean on Mars Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

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Words in This Story

topography  n. the shape and other physical characteristics of a piece of land

shoreline  n. the edge of a sea, lake or wide river

ridge  n. a long, narrow piece of land

erode  v. to rub away over time

sediment  n. the material that sinks to the bottom of a liquid

dynamic  adj. continuously changing or developing

deposit  v. to leave something somewhere

logical  adj. reasonable and based on good judgment

______________________________________________________________________

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The Alaska Native village of Shishmaref sits on the sinking barrier island Sarichef in the Chukchi Sea near the Bering Strait. The island lies between the United States and Russia, where it is increasingly threatened by the effects of climate change.

The village is home to about 600 members of the Inupiat People. They live simply, without running water and other modern technology.

Rising sea levels, flooding, increased erosion and loss of protective sea ice and land is a huge concern for the villagers. Some want to leave.

In fact, the community has voted in support of proposals to resettle elsewhere. Yet, more than six years after the last vote, Shishmaref remains in place. The planned move costs more than the village can pay.

So, the community carries on toward a troubling future.

The villagers continue their traditions. They celebrate birthdays, baptisms and school graduations. Their lives center on their homes, the local school and one of the worlds northernmost Christian churches.

Aaron Silco leads the local Lutheran Church. He called the concern about the shrinking land and floods too much of a burden for the community. He said if the villagers think about climate change too often, it will hurt their ability to live their lives. It will take away from things such as birthday parties, funerals and sporting events.

There is still life happening, Silco said.

Rich Stasenko agrees. He moved to Shishmaref in the 1970s. He calls the community resourceful and resilient.

I dont see victims here, he said.

The problem

In the 30 years since 1992, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association says temperatures in Alaska have gone up by 1.4 degrees Celsius.

That area of the Arctic had been warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. Now it is warming three times faster.

The island already does not have much space where people can live. It is only about five kilometers long and 400 meters wide. It used to be protected by a large layer of ice that is melting. The lack of ice means more flooding and more problems from storms. The sea is reclaiming the coast. About 14 homes had to be moved inland in 2002.

There are many towns in Alaska like Shishmaref that are having problems due to warming weather. Most of the people that live in the small towns are native people who are related to the first people to live on the islands.

The U.S governments accountability office says climate change is expected to make their problems worse.

Lloyd Kiyutelluk is president of the local tribal council.

Im scared that we will have to move  he said. He does not want the government to say the situation is an emergency  but the way things are, were getting storms that weve never seen before.

Government leaders warned that the island would have a problem during a storm in September. Officials said it could bring the worst flooding in 50 years. As the storm moved through the Bering Strait, it cut electricity, destroyed an important road and flooded a human waste treatment center.

Molly Snell, 35, talked about the storm. She said she hoped the village would not be forced to evacuate.

The right storm, with the right wind could take out the whole island, she said. She said the island is more vulnerable due to climate change.

Who is to blame?

Over time, the community has changed its ways. However, the people of Shishmaref have not contributed much to climate change. Most of the greenhouse gases to blame are produced by populations in Europe and continental North America.

Elizabeth Marino calls that situation an example of climate injustice.

Marino is an anthropologist, or an expert on humans and their communities. She studied the people of Shishmaref and wrote a book about her findings.

Im Dan Friedell.

Dan Friedell adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press.

________________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

erosion n. the gradual destruction of something by natural forces such as wind and water

baptism n. a ceremony that makes a person a member of the Christian church

graduation n. the act of receiving a diploma from a school, college or university

church n. a building used for Christian religious services

burden n. something difficult to manage, accept or deal with

resilient adj. able to become strong again after something bad happens

layer n. a piece of material that lies on top of or below something else

council n. a group of people who are chosen to make rules, laws or decisions about something

evacuate v. to remove someone from a dangerous place

vulnerable adj. easily hurt or harmed

contribute- v. to help to cause something to happen

______________________________________________________________________

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Oregon is home to hundreds of mushroom species and is one of the most diverse places in the world for fungus. In the Mid-Willamette Valley, there is no shortage of mushroom enthusiasts.
That carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases trap heat is something scientists have known about for more than a 150 years. The underlying concept behind climate change is simple enough that school children can replicate the chemistry and physics and so can you.

The why and how it happens is only a bit more complicated.

EDITORS NOTE: This story is part of an ongoing series answering some of the most fundamental questions around climate change, the science behind it, the effects of a warming planet and how the world is addressing it.

Just as a greenhouse traps heat or a blanket keeps you warm, carbon dioxide, methane and other gases  nicknamed greenhouse gases  trap heat from the sun that would otherwise bounce back into space. The blanket or greenhouse arent perfect analogies but they give the right sense of what is happening, said University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann.

Without the greenhouse effect, Earth would be freezing, scientists said. The greenhouse effect, which is natural but then put on steroids by carbon pollution, is responsible for conditions that make life on Earth possible.

But there can be too much of a good thing. Scientists point to the runaway greenhouse effect on Venus as a case example. In fact, former top NASA climate scientist James Hansen, often called the Godfather of global warming, initially was studying what was happening on Venus before he turned to his home planet and accurately warned people about a smaller scale version happening here.

Heat from the sun comes through the atmosphere and then bounces back as infrared radiation, a different wavelength than it came in on. If you put your hand over a dark rock on a warm sunny day you may be able to feel that heat heading off Earth. The greenhouse effect is when that heat tries to escape Earth, but some of it is trapped by different chemicals in the atmosphere, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide and methane.

In the 1820s, French mathematician and scientist Joseph Fourier figured that something keeps Earth warmer than a bare rock out in space: Our atmosphere.

Our atmosphere, thrown as a barrier across the terrestrial rays, produces a local heightening of the temperature at the Earths surface, Irish physicist John Tyndall said in 1862, identifying water vapor and carbon dioxide as natural greenhouse gases trapping heat. Then in 1896, Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius took it one step further and calculated that changes in carbon dioxide may affect the climate.

Many classroom and even home kitchen experiments can show this with two plastic soda bottles, some carbon dioxide, air, a strong light bulb or flame and a thermometer. Heat up a bottle with regular air and one filled with carbon dioxide in similar ways, take their temperatures and after a while the carbon dioxide filled one should warm noticeably more.

Thats because of the geometry, spin and vibration of carbon molecules block the specific infrared wavelength of light thats trying to escape Earth, Mann said. Its a different wavelength than the light heading into the sun.

Greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, correspond to sort of holes in the light spectrum that would otherwise allow heat to escape, but they block the exits, Mann said.

But if there are natural greenhouse gases why do small changes in carbon dioxide levels matter?

Earths carbon dioxide levels are about 420 parts per million, compared to 280 before the industrial revolution and the Earth has warmed about 2 degrees (1.1 degrees Celsius) in that time. Mann suggests another home experiment. Take a clear bowl of water. Put a few drops, say 0.4% of the water, of black ink in it.

And the water turns black now, Mann said. Certain chemicals can have a very potent impact in very low concentrations. Its true of cyanide. Thats why we avoid cyanide in even lower concentrations than that. And the ink experiment really drives how much of an influence a small number of very potent molecules can have... And thats whats going on here.

Follow APs climate and environment coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @borenbears

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about APs climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
A 2018 J.B. Pritzker campaign volunteer who was indicted last year for allegedly ripping off the Illinois State Police Merit Board is now at the center of a campaign tussle over whether she should face additional charges  a question that has roiled the Nov. 8 race for attorney general.

But it may take a judge to determine the next move.

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Republican challenger Thomas DeVore has accused Democratic Attorney General Kwame Raoul of burying a potential fraud case to prevent Pritzker and other fellow Democrats from further political embarrassment. But Raoul insists there was no effort to try to cover anything up and that hes declared conflicts of interest because other cases his office is handling could be viewed as having an impact on the potential fraud case.

Ive got nothing to hide, Raoul said.

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In the middle of the political squabble is Jenny Thornley, the merit boards former chief financial officer who was charged in September 2021 with padding her paycheck with an extra $10,513 in unauthorized overtime. She has pleaded not guilty in Sangamon County court to counts of theft, forgery and official misconduct.

[ Former Illinois State Police Merit Board financial officer accused of filing false overtime reports ]

While Thornley has been charged in that case, DeVore has maintained enough evidence exists to pursue additional fraud charges over tens of thousands of dollars spent on workers compensation and disability benefits she received. But DeVore contended that a case against Thornley is not moving forward because of Raouls Democratic ties to Pritzker. The Tribune disclosed in December that Thornley has been under scrutiny for receiving the benefits and that a merit board memo noted a ranking insurance agency official viewed Thornleys collection of benefits as a clear case of fraud.

An insurance agency spokeswoman said the department does not comment on pending workers compensation investigations. Thornleys attorney could not be reached for comment.

Raoul disputes DeVores position and said the attorney generals office is fighting Thornley in other civil matters, including a federal civil court case in which she charges wrongful termination from her merit board job. Raouls office said it is recusing itself from the criminal prosecutions because it does not want to be in a position that might give even the appearance of leveraging a criminal case against Thornley to resolve a civil case or vice versa.

The payroll case is being prosecuted by the states attorneys appellate prosecutor. It wound up there after the Sangamon County states attorney also recused himself because he is prosecuting a case in which a member of Thornleys family is allegedly a victim of a hit-and-run accident.

[ Former state official who allegedly falsified overtime now under scrutiny after collecting more than $71,000 in workers comp and disability benefits ]

The workers comp questions arose because, just as the internal probe of the payroll allegations against her was wrapping up, Thornley alleged her boss sexually assaulted her. Pritzker became entangled after it was revealed Thornley emailed top Pritzker aides and even texted his wife, M.K. Pritzker, about the allegations. M.K. Pritzker texted Thornley back, I best not get involved and advised Thornley to contact the administration and follow proper procedures.

An outside investigation determined Thornleys sexual assault allegations were unfounded, yet the state said last week it has paid more than $87,000 on her workers comp case alone  including more than $63,500 on disability benefits and nearly $21,000 to investigate her claim and determine it was false.

Seeking to press Raoul to act, DeVore distributed a copy of a July 29 email to the attorney generals office from David Robinson, the appellate prosecutors chief deputy. DeVore urged more action while noting the email indicated the appellate prosecutor needed a judicial order that expanded its authority to include the Thornley benefits. Robinson did not return messages left for him.

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But shortly after the email was sent, Raoul said, his office reached out to both the states attorney and the appellate prosecutor. Raoul said the appellate prosecutor officials indicated they wanted to reserve the right to use the workers comp issue as either an aggravating factor in the payroll padding case or to charge Thornley in a separate case.

Raoul called that approach perfectly appropriate and logical given the appellate prosecutor already is handling the payroll case. But Raoul said his office will not weigh in on that decision because we have a conflict. Plain and simple.

How, or if, a potential benefits fraud case could move forward may take a legal road map because of differing legal viewpoints.

Special prosecutor Jonathan Barnard, who is handling the Thornley payroll padding case for the appellate prosecutor, said his office would need approval from a judge to take up any additional workers comp matter. That would require a motion in court, such as from a states attorney, because the appellate prosecutor cannot expand the scope of its authority unless a judge OKs it, Barnard said.

That has not happened, said Barnard, former Adams County states attorney, adding: Our appointments are case specific.

Sangamon County States Attorney Dan Wright, a Republican who recused himself from the original Thornley payroll case, said he has seen nothing beyond the January memo about the workers comp allegations, but that he would recuse himself again if an actual investigation into alleged benefits fraud by Thornley were to come before him.

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Ty Fahner, a former Republican attorney general, said one way to address the matter would be to let the courts figure it out by asking a judge to determine who should handle or review the potential benefits fraud.

Kwame could do it, the local states attorney could do it, a state legislator could go in and say, Do your job,  by filing a motion naming who is not performing the duties that they should do, Fahner said.

In turn, Raoul cited a statute dealing with appointments of attorneys and special prosecutors when conflicts exist, saying that any person of interest can petition for a special prosecutor. Nothing prevents the state appellate prosecutor who has a current case with this defendant from going to the court to take up the benefits issue.

Retired jurist Gino DiVito, a Democrat who served as an Illinois Appellate Court justice, held a similar view.

If the appellate prosecutor requires authority to act, DiVito said, they should be the ones to make that request of a judge. It appears to me to be such a simple request that they should do it.

In January, Pritzkers Department of Central Management Services, which handles state benefits, sent a memorandum to Raoul that recapped Thornleys case and concluded it is clear that the sexual assault did not occur, according to the document obtained by the Tribune.

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Most, if not all, of the more than $87,000 spent on the workers comp case does not include the roughly $550,000 the merit board has spent on its outside investigation that looked into Thornleys sexual misconduct allegations as well as her payroll case.

RLong@chicagotribune.com

DPetrella@chicagotribune.com

@RayLong

@PetrellaReports
MILAN (AP)  Italy's new far-right led government adopted a measure Friday formalizing the closure of its ports to rescue ships run by humanitarian groups as four vessels with more than 1,000 migrants continued to press for a safe port.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi told reporters Italy would allow a German migrant rescue ship to arrive in Sicily to land minors and those with medical emergencies, but he said the ship must then return to international waters with the rest of the migrants.

Piantedosi said the German-flagged Humanity 1, carrying 179 people, forced the situation by entering into territorial waters.'' But he emphasized Italy's position that it is the flag country of each charity-operated ship that must intervene to provide a safe port  and not Italy.

The fate of the other ships was not addressed, but Piantedosi said France had indicated it could accept the possibility to disembark" the Norway-flagged Ocean Viking, which has 234 people on board.

The Humanity 1 was on its way to the Sicilian port of Catania, Piantedosi said, adding it would be allowed to remain in Italian waters only long enough to disembark minors and people needing medical care.

The move came after France and Germany asked Italys new government to grant a safe port to more than 1,000 people rescued by humanitarian groups in the central Mediterranean, some of whom have been stuck at sea for more than two weeks.

The posture adopted by Premier Giorgia Meloni's new government marks a return to the anti-NGO position adopted by Matteo Salvini, now a deputy premier, when he was interior minister in 2018-2019.

Salvini, currently the infrastructure minister in charge of ports, welcomed the new decree in a Facebook post, saying it would ensure that foreign ships cannot arrive solely in Italy with their illegal immigrants.

"If there are minors or the sick on board they may disembark, as it should be. All of the others aboard a German ship leave Italian waters and go toward Germany,'' Salvini said.

Humanitarian groups caring for the rescued migrants on four ships in the central Mediterranean have sounded the alarm about deteriorating conditions, including people sleeping on floors in the cold and spreading fevers. A German charity, Mission Lifeline, reported that its ship was in extreme danger with 95 rescued people on board, half of them women and children, and bad weather forecast.

Piantedosi drafted new measures contending the non-governmental groups violated procedure by not properly coordinating their rescues, setting the groundwork for Italy to close the ports.

At the same time, Italian authorities continue to allow the arrivals of people rescued at sea by Italian patrols, including 456 arriving in Calabria on Thursday and some 6,000 over the last week.

Charities have denied circumventing procedures, and say it is their duty to rescue people in distress at sea. According to the U.N. refugee agency, coastal states are obligated to accept people from rescue ships as soon as practicable, and governments should cooperate to provide a place of safety for survivors.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Friday that international law makes clear that Italy, as the closest port, must let the ship in. He cited the Ocean Viking operated by the group SOS Mediterranee, which has one of its headquarters in France.

We have no doubt that Italy will welcome the ship ... that Italy will respect international law, he told French news broadcaster BFM TV.

He also said France and Germany have told Italy that they are both ready to receive some of the migrants so Italy wont bear the burden alone.

The German Foreign Ministry also asked Italy to intervene quickly to help those aboard the German-flagged Humanitarian 1. The boat was carrying 100 unaccompanied minors as well as a 7-month-old baby, the SOS Humanity charity said.

They continue to be exposed to the elements, having to spend the cold nights on deck. Still, they are sleeping on the floor while winds and waves are increasing, said spokesman Wasil Schauseil, adding that the state of limbo was adding to their mental stress. Fever was also spreading among the rescued people, with COVID tests turning up negative.

Also at sea is the Doctors Without Borders-run ship Geo Barents, also flagged by Norway, with 572 people on board, including 60 unaccompanied minors as well as families with children and the elderly. Another German-based charity, Mission Lifeline, said that its ship Rise Above picked up 95 people in three operations Thursday, and that neither Italy nor Malta had responded to requests for a port.

The proportion of women, children and babies is unusually high, comprising about half of the people on board. We are particularly worried about the health of the eight babies as well as the small children. Many had been at sea for days at the time of the rescue and are extremely exhausted,'' said Heremine Poschmann, a Mission Life spokeswoman.

The Rise Above is in extreme danger, Poschmann said, with bad weather forecast in the coming hours and with 104 people total on board a relatively small boat at 25 meters (82 feet) long. Normally they would transfer rescued people immediately to other bigger charity boats, but the other three are already at capacity, she said.

The migrants rescued at sea have mostly traveled through Libya, often being subjected to torture by human traffickers along the way, as they seek a better life in Europe.

Follow all AP stories on global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration.
In the convoluted, opaque world of American health care, Chris Harsy did exactly the kind of time-consuming legwork youre supposed to do before getting a medical procedure of any import.

He still ended up with an approximately $3,100 surprise bill from UW Health and months of hassle.

Harsy, 37, of Cross Plains, emailed SOS on Sept. 8 to say hed been fighting with the Madison health care behemoth for about a month now on why I was billed around $3,000 after an entire day was spent going back and forth with UW Health and my insurance company and both of them talking to each other and agreeing that a procedure wouldnt cost me anything.

That entire day was April 7, and was in response to getting an initial, $10,000 out-of-pocket cost estimate for a colonoscopy, he said.

Harsy had the procedure done on April 15 and was a little miffed when more than two months later he received the $3,100 bill, which he said the person who provided the initial estimate later repeatedly admitted was a mistake.

Everybody had all of my medical records and information when this estimate was given and nothing during the procedure changed to rectify charging me $3,000, he said. I even told UW Health that OK, if this is what everyone is agreeing on, then I will go ahead with the procedure.

Harsy made clear that he had no complaints about his care, which he called excellent. The doctors and nurses are great, he said, and everyone involved was very personable and their bedside manner is wonderful.

It was the business and financial side to UW Health that has some work to do, he said.

Harsy filled out release-of-information forms for UW Health and his insurer, Anthem, allowing both to talk to SOS about his situation and the private health information it entailed.

In response, UW Health media relations manager Sara Benzel on Oct. 5 provided what she said was the organizations statement for now: UW Health provided an original estimate to the patient for a diagnostic colonoscopy that was comparable to the ultimate out-of-pocket cost. We are actively working on the patients behalf to rectify this with the payor.

A little more than a week and a half later, Harsy got a letter from UW Health with an update saying that we are appealing the claims with Anthem as we believe they provided incorrect information to us as well as yourself and had since put a hold on its $3,100 bill.

Anthem was responsive as well, saying that it was looking into the situation, but declining to get into the details.

Finally, on Halloween, Harsy emailed to say that a UW Health patient account manager had told him his bill was being erased and that Anthem and UW Health had provided him with the wrong information.

UW Health informed the patient that he will not be responsible for any out-of-pocket costs associated with this procedure, UW Health said in a statement Friday. We work with our payor associates to ensure patients have accurate information on all care and procedures, including accurate estimates for cost expectations. We continue to work together to make this a seamless and consistent process for our patients.

We apologize for the frustration this situation has caused for Mr. Harsy and we are pleased that we could resolve this issue for him, Anthem said in its own statement the same day. After careful review of Mr. Harsys case, we have determined that a miscommunication occurred and it was unclear that his procedure could be subject to the out of pocket costs of his health plan. As a result, Anthem will fully cover his procedure with no cost to Mr. Harsy.

Send us an SOS Since September 2007, SOS has helped save Wisconsin State Journal readers more than $205,947.03 and solved hundreds of problems. You can send an SOS using any of these methods: Email: sos@madison.com Online form: http://go.madison.com/sendSOS Phone: 608-252-6198 Mail: SOS, Wisconsin State Journal, P.O. Box 8058, Madison, WI 53708
Christmas joy should be for everyone.

Paola Moya believes this. But as a family outreach worker for Reach Dane, shes seen many families worry theyd have to tell their kids there wouldnt be presents.

For the last four years, Moya has worked to connect Reach Dane families with the Empty Stocking Club, a nonprofit dedicated to making sure each child has a toy for Christmas. The organization served 2,617 families last year.

Christmas shouldnt be different for families who live in poverty, Moya said. Im glad Im part of that bridge.

The Empty Stocking Club started in 1918 amid the flu pandemic. Wisconsin State Journal editors saw people in great need and sought to help them. They appealed to generous readers, who provided money and allowed the paper to give out toys, food, clothes and more.

There is still great need 104 years later.

Today, the organization uses donations to purchase quality toys. For the third year, the Empty Stocking Club is collaborating with the Madison Reading Project to also provide books. So, each child will receive one toy and one book.

To make all this happen, the Empty Stocking Club relies on Wisconsin State Journal readers and other donors.

Donations can be made using the envelopes in todays paper. People can also donate at emptystockingclub.com. Families who want to apply to receive toys can also visit the website. The application deadline is Dec. 7.

In the past, donations have come from parents in the names of their own children, as a way to honor kids who otherwise wouldnt receive gifts. Theyve been made in honor of people who have died. Children have given money on their birthdays instead of asking for presents. Former teachers who appreciate the importance of promoting literacy have donated.

The money allows the Empty Stocking Club to buy high-quality toys, said Lynn Wood, the organizations executive director.

There are brand new toys, and we try to make sure its a substantial toy, she said. This is intended to be the major gift.

Some families use the Empty Stocking Club for several years, while other recipients are parents who have found themselves facing hardship and need support for a year, Wood said.

This provides an extra opportunity for the parent to not have to worry about that one thing, Wood said. And the joy it brings to the child is invaluable.

Reach Dane provides early childhood services and support to about 1,000 children from birth to 5 years old. Moya has connected many of their families with the Empty Stocking Club, which provides the families with toys. Moya said she is impressed that the toys are high quality and educational.

It really alleviates the stress on parents, she said.

Last year, Moya worked with a single mother of six children who had lost her job due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The family ended up in a shelter, and Moya said the mom was going to tell her children that Santa could not find them there.

The Empty Stocking Club provided toys for all the children.

She cried tears of happiness, Moya said. That family touched my heart in so many ways.
We love free speech.

We hate those incessant campaign ads  especially the nasty and misleading ones that flood the airwaves, social media and our mailboxes before elections.

The problem isnt the First Amendment, which lets everyone have their say in a free society.

The problem is anonymous speech backed by tens of millions of dollars. Dark money groups that dont specifically urge people to vote for or against a candidate dont have to report their donors or spending  even though they clearly hope to impact the outcome of elections.

That needs to change so our democracy isnt hijacked by hidden voices with gobs of secret money. Wisconsin and America need much better disclosure laws that force these shadowy political players to take responsibility for what they say.

Congress already requires federal candidates to stand by your ad, which works well. When U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, or his Democratic challenger, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, run a political ad, they have to identify themselves and say I approve this message.

This direct and clear connection between the speaker and his speech discourages mudslinging and wild claims that cant be easily defended.

Similarly, when Gov. Tony Evers and his challenger Tim Michels run ads, they have to disclose (though not as explicitly) that their messages were paid for by their campaigns. Voters also can find out who is directly giving them money, including small individual donations up to $20,000. The public also can learn that Michels has spent nearly $18.7 million of his own money on his campaign.

Advocacy groups that urge a vote for or against a candidate have to report their donors and spending, too.

The problem is dark money groups that raise and spend whatever they want without much disclosure or accountability for what they say. Glaring loopholes in state and federal law give them a pass on transparency if they dont specifically urge voters to support or oppose a candidate.

This lets anonymous voices and donors say outlandish things about candidates and political causes without having to show their faces and accept responsibility.

Dark money groups are cowardly and corrosive for our democracy. Our state and nation shouldnt let them take anonymous potshots at candidates just before people vote.

Making matters worse in Wisconsin was a Republican-backed bill in 2015 that allowed these dark money groups to coordinate with candidates as they target their opponents with political ads.

The solution is to require disclosure of all donors and donations before elections, even if an ad doesnt specifically urge a vote for or against someone.

The Disclose Act, which passed the Democratic-led House but was blocked by Republicans in the Senate, would improve transparency for voters at the federal level. It would require interest groups to stand by all of their political ads. It also would help protect elections against foreign meddling.

At the state level, the Democratic-sponsored Senate Bill 531 would require more disclosure of political ads 60 days before an election.

Disclosure used to be a broadly bipartisan goal. Back when former Republican Gov. Scott Walker was a state lawmaker, for example, he and others in the GOP understood the danger of anonymous electioneering. Walker warned that foreign sources could secretly funnel money into Wisconsin to influence voter decisions.
People gather at the Katyn monument during the 150th anniversary celebration of St. Adalbert's Cemetery in Niles on All Souls Day, also called the Day of the Dead, Nov. 2, 2022. (Pam DeFiglio / Pioneer Press)

Its a gloriously sunny day in November, but the stone angels face remains in shadow. She holds a hand to her face, perhaps trying to hide her feelings.

A sculptor created her probably a century ago, sitting atop a gravesite in St. Adalberts Cemetery in Niles. The cemetery is marking its 150th anniversary, and some people, including me, are driving around it on this All Souls Day, also called Day of the Dead, visiting historic sites courtesy of a cemetery tour map.

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The stone angel, portrayed as a girl of five or six, isnt on the grave of a famous person, but she has a story to tell. Shes part of the monument of a family that enjoyed fairly long lives  except for one. A black-and-white oval photo shows a beautiful 23-year-old woman named Marie, with her birth and death dates below it: 1882-1905.

I just happened randomly on this monument, but I imagine the sorrow of Maries father Vaclav, 1854-1922, and mother Marie, 1856-1934, at having lost their daughter at such a young age. Did they mourn her for the rest of their lives? I silently honor the younger Marie, who missed out on so much.

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Cemeteries can be like that. Gazing at graves can put you in a kind of reverie, imagining the life stories of people with only weather-beaten stone markers for clues.

St. Adalbert's Cemetery and Mausoleum, which was founded by Polish and Bohemian/Czech church pastors in 1872, marked its 150th anniversary on All Souls Day, also called Day of the Dead, Nov. 2, 2022. (Pam DeFiglio / Pioneer Press)

As you drive through the cemetery, Deacon Glenn likes to say, you know two things about the people buried here  that they were loved and cared for by their families, and that they shared the common faith memorialized in these stones, said Ted Ratajczyk, executive director of Catholic Cemeteries of Chicago, with a nod to Deacon Glenn Tylutki, outreach coordinator for Catholic Cemeteries, who was standing next to him.

Both of them had come to St. Adalberts for the 150th anniversary celebration, and were handing out brochures explaining that in 1872, Polish and Bohemian church pastors in Chicago joined forces to buy the original 12-acre plot that became St. Adalberts Cemetery because, essentially, they needed someplace to bury their parishes dead. Today, its more than 250 acres, stretching from Harlem Avenue east to Milwaukee Avenue, and from almost Touhy Avenue (7200 North) to almost Devon Avenue (6400 North).

More than 323,000 people are buried here.

Thats more than 10 times the population of Niles, and it isnt even the only cemetery in Niles, which is why Niles folks like to joke, if you will, that there are many more residents below ground than above it. Ones gotta have a sense of humor about these things or they can get pretty grim pretty fast.

Anyway, the Bohemians and Czechs later built their own cemeteries, such as Bohemian National Cemetery on Pulaski Road, and St. Adalberts became known as predominantly a Polish cemetery, at least for North Side Poles. On the South Side, Poles buried their loved ones at Resurrection Cemetery in Justice or Holy Cross in Calumet City.

Polish immigrants built cradle to grave protection for their community, creating hospitals, churches, schools and cemeteries in Chicago neighborhoods in an effort to create a Poland abroad, said Dominic Pacyga, professor emeritus at Columbia College, who has written several books on Polish-American history in Chicago.

The idea was to also imbue the children and grandchildren with a sense of Polishness, he said. These were rural people who came from a very different culture, moving to an industrial city that was hostile to them, and they were working unskilled jobs on the lowest rung of the ladder. It was important to them to create a sense of community.

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Judging from the many, many Polish names on graves at St. Adalberts, they succeeded.

St. Adalbert's Cemetery and Mausoleum, which was founded by Polish and Bohemian/Czech church pastors in 1872, marked its 150th anniversary on All Souls Day, also called Day of the Dead, Nov. 2, 2022. This is the monument to St. Maximilian Kolbe. (Pam DeFiglio / Pioneer Press)

Continuing my tour, I visited the monument to St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest imprisoned at Auschwitz during World War II. Kolbe offered his own life to the Nazis if they would spare a man who had a wife and children; the Nazis accepted the deal. I got goosebumps the first time I heard that story.

On the east side of the cemetery, visible from Milwaukee Avenue, a stark black granite cross, perhaps two stories high, towers above everything around it. Angel wings, carved in a flowing contemporary style, stand behind the cross, and a Madonna figure in front embraces a person in Pieta-like fashion.

This is the monument to victims of the Katyn massacre, a name that still hurts Polish hearts. In 1940, the Soviet Union conducted a mass execution of many thousands of Polish prisoner-of-war military officers in the Katyn forest near Smolensk, Russia, according to britannica.com.

The story doesnt end there.

Wojciech Seweryn, a Polish Chicago artist with ties to Niles, designed and created the Katyn monument at St. Adalberts partly as a tribute to his own father, who was killed at Katyn. In April 2010, Seweryn told his daughter, here in the Chicago area, how excited he was to travel on a plane from Warsaw to Smolensk with the president of Poland and dozens of Polands top leaders for the 70th anniversary of the massacre.

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The plane crashed. Everyone on board was killed. At the same place where thousands of Polish leaders were killed 70 years earlier.

Poles and Polish-Americans reeled in shock. It was so eerie, so unbelievable that such a tragedy-upon-a-tragedy could happen. Even now, 12 years later, flowers and candles were lined up in front of the monument, and people stood before it paying their respects.

I walked away from the Katyn monument, walked through other parts of the cemetery, slightly disoriented by the dissonance between the warm sun and the vast expanse of stone monuments stretching in every direction, with each one, each name, telling a story. A story here of a husband who died decades before his wife; a story there about two children in a family who both died. Walking among hundreds of graves, I felt the sorrowful energy of so many people who had lost their loved ones. It was getting overwhelming.

Getting back in the car, I drove through parts of the cemetery unfamiliar to me, then came around a bend and saw something that created a wave of relief. I smiled; the heaviness vanished. It was a place Id been to many times, though I usually approached it from a different direction. It was my own familys plot in St. Adalberts Cemetery.

I got out, and visited, as I have so many times before, my Polish grandparents, my aunts and uncles, my mom and my (non-Polish) dad. There is no sadness here; only comfort, only joyful memories of Christmas Eve dinners, parties, graduations, Sunday suppers and all kinds of get-togethers. All these relatives are still alive in my memories; I think of them and pray for them, and other relatives and friends on the other side, every day. The love is alive, not buried in a plot of land. But, once in a while, going to the plot of land helps bring back the memories, and the joy.

For the other 320,000 people resting at St. Adalberts Cemetery, some since 1872, I offer the wish that they, too, are rememberedeither by dear ones, or descendants, or just a person walking by who takes the time to push the overgrown grass off a headstone, read the name and think about that person and their story.

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Pam DeFiglio is a senior content editor for Pioneer Press/Chicago Tribune. pdefiglio@chicagotribune.com
The only lasting truth is change

This week Timothy Ellis, intern minister of the Magic Valley UU Fellowship, will be exploring Octavia Butlers Parable of the Sower. Well look at Butlers focus on the divine as a force of change. Well also bring in our Universalist ancestors who sought to focus their efforts on the present world rather than the afterlife.

Our service Sunday will be both in person at our location 160 Ninth Ave. E. in Twin Falls and on Zoom. To access Zoom, please email mvuuf83301@yahoo.com for sign-in information. In the subject line write Zoom Service November 6th.

Newcomers of all religious paths or none at all are always welcome. Unitarian Universalists believe in the dignity of every person regardless of race, creed or none at all, immigrant status or sexual orientation.

Everyone is welcome, no exceptions. We believe in justice, equality and compassion in human relations, and acceptance of one another. We are handicapped accessible in rear.

Please park in the rear of the building or on the street in front or the side of the building. Child care is available.

Join us at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

For further information, please call 208-613-3852, email us at mvuuf83301@yahoo.com or visit magicvalleyUU.org. When calling, please state your name in order to be connected.

Gifts of Love ingathering, All Saints Sunday at Ascension

The November ingathering at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension will be for Gifts of Love, a local non-profit program. Now in its 25th year, Gifts of Love provides a wide variety of books, decorative or smaller items, in new or like-new condition, to four local care facilities. Gifts for all ages are welcome as well as gift-wrapping supplies and monetary donations. Donations would be appreciated by Nov. 20th, so that items can be sorted, packaged and delivered to the facilities in early December. Volunteer assistance would be appreciated also; please contact Nadine Adams, 208-308-4924.

All Saints Day will be celebrated with Holy Communion at 9 a.m., Sunday morning, followed by an all-parish potluck brunch.

Services are online as well as in person. To view, click on the link at episcopaltwinfalls.org or go to Ascensions YouTube channel The Episcopal Church of the AscensionTwin Falls.

Neighbors in Need at Ascension Episcopal Church will be selling raffle tickets for two embroidered wall hangings/youth sized quilts, donated by members of Community Quilts. Raffle tickets are $1 apiece, or 6 for $5. Raffle tickets may be purchased after church and also from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the parish office, Monday through Thursday through Nov. 10th. The drawing will be held Saturday Nov. 12 in Boise. The quilts are on display in the gathering area of the church.

Ascension Episcopal Church is handicapped accessible and is located at 371 Eastland Drive N. More information about Ascension can be found at ascension.episcopalidaho.org or 208-733-1248.
Yes, Tuesday is Idahos general election.

With the feel of a Republican primary.

Join us Tuesday night  and into Wednesday  for comprehensive election coverage. The up-to-the-minute vote. Full coverage of the state superintendents race. Live blogging and instant analysis.

The divisions and the disputes within the Idaho GOP will go a long way toward determining next weeks winners. And up and down the ticket, the results will tell us a lot about the states predominant  but splintered  political party.

Governor

Nothing here suggests a close race. Republican incumbent Brad Little appears to be coasting to a second term.

But watch the margins Tuesday night. And watch how independent candidate and serial protester Ammon Bundy fares. If Bundys share of the vote clears 10%, which isnt out of the question, that would signal some lingering unrest on the right. And that could weaken his position heading into the 2023 Legislature  and beyond.

Attorney general

No statewide race has exposed the split within the Idaho GOP more than this one. Boise attorney Tom Arkoosh  who voted in the Republican primary in May and entered the race as a Democrat in July  is banking on crossover appeal. He has secured endorsements from a host of big-name Republicans, such as former Gov. Phil Batt, former Secretary of State Ben Ysursa and former attorney general and Supreme Court justice Jim Jones.

If Arkoosh pulls the upset  and hed be the first Democrat to win the a.g.s race since 1990  his unexpected win could provide the playbook for future candidates.

If Republican Raul Labrador wins, the margin still matters. A win with a 60% landslide would represent a strong mandate from the right and a sharp rebuke of the mainstream Republicans who supported Arkoosh. And perhaps, it positions Labrador for another gubernatorial run in 2026.

A narrow win isnt nearly the same look for Labrador.

Its quite possible that both Little and Labrador win on Tuesday  and still underperform, compared to expectations.

State superintendent

Democrats nearly won this race in 2014 and 2018. Both times, Republican Sherri Ybarra won despite running low-key and low-budget campaigns.

After ousting Ybarra in May, Republican Debbie Critchfield has continued to run a highly visible campaign, padding a considerable fundraising edge over Democrat Terry Gilbert.

Perhaps that all adds up to a Critchfield win, and not much of a nailbiter. Unless the school choice issue changes the equation.

Gilbert is campaigning hard against the forces he calls voucher vultures, and that rhetoric will shore up his support among Democrats. Critchfields position on school choice is nuanced  or, her critics might say, tortured. Will this cost Critchfield support from conservatives who prefer a hardliner-friendly GOP education platform, and skip voting in this race entirely?

SJR 102

The constitutional amendment could be the darkhorse race to watch Tuesday night. This amendment would allow the Legislature to call itself back into session, rather than having to wait on orders from the governor.

The 2021 Legislature passed SJR 102 with only a smattering of Republican opposition. But dont be fooled. This issue pits the next generation of the Idaho GOP against its old guard.

New state party chair Dorothy Moon, a former legislator, paints the amendment as a meaningful separation of powers. Republican critics  including former Gov. Butch Otter and former House Speaker Bruce Newcomb, among others  label it a big-government power grab.

The state Senate. All 105 legislative seats are on the ballot  but 48 candidates are running unopposed, leaving a scarcity of compelling Statehouse races.

But four competitive races in swing districts are really important, since theyll go a long way toward determining the balance of power in the Senate.

Republicans are running conservatives in three of these races: former Sen. Dan Foreman in a Moscow-area district; Rep. Codi Galloway in West Boise; former mayoral candidate David Worley in a Pocatello-based district. (The Republican Senate nominee in the fourth swing district, Rep. Laurie Lickley of Jerome, is getting heat from both sides. Planned Parenthood is attacking Lickleys votes on anti-abortion legislation, while some conservatives dismiss Lickley as a left-leaning Republican who will support the Senates moderate status quo,)

Wins from Foreman, Galloway or Worley would continue the Senates conservative shift, which began with a series of upsets in the May GOP primary. These wins could also affect the outcome of Senate leadership elections in December, moving the caucus to the right. And these wins would illustrate that conservatives can win legislative races in places such as Latah, Ada or Bannock counties, where successful Republican candidates have tended to skew moderate.

Community college trustee races

Its hard to believe that races for these nonpartisan, volunteer seats have become political battlegrounds, but here we are.

A trio of contentious trustee races could recast the volatile politics at North Idaho College  again. Four College of Western Idaho trustee races pit a status quo slate, including three incumbents, against a hardline group of challengers running as a Republican team.

Kootenai County is the O.G. epicenter for trustee turbulence. Three GOP-endorsed candidates were elected in November 2020  leading to the firing of a president, an exodus of senior staff and ongoing questions about NICs accreditation. This time around, defenders of NIC are launching a spendy campaign opposing the current slate of GOP-endorsed trustee candidates.

After the 2020 NIC races, and a series of legislative upsets in May, these trustee races have almost an existential feel. They could represent an attempt by moderates to wrest away supremacy of what is now a conservative-controlled county.

The stakes may not be as high in the Treasure Valley, But Idahos Future PAC, formed on Oct. 21, has quickly raised $52,000 to campaign for the status quo candidates, and against the candidates running as a GOP ticket. What is the impetus for change? asked Todd Cranney, the PACs chairman.

Cranney, a Republican, says his group views the trustee races as nonpartisan. But its big-money donors include former gubernatorial candidate Tommy Ahlquist and Boisean Larry Williams  a well-heeled, and frequently conservative, GOP donor.

In Idaho politics in 2022, every election divides Republicans, to some degree. Tuesdays vote tallies will attach some numbers to this divide.
BOISE  A high-profile Idaho attorney who has defended in state and federal courts some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation is among the latest attorneys to quit state employment.

Former Deputy Attorney General Megan Larrondo is one of eight attorneys and a handful of other staffers who have left or are leaving the Idaho attorney generals office following Raul Labradors win over five-term incumbent Attorney General Lawrence Wasden in the Republican primary in May. More departures are expected.

Information obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request shows that Larrondos job ended Monday. Court documents filed Friday in both U.S. District Court in Idaho and the Idaho Supreme Court show filings requesting Larrondo be removed as attorney of record in the states abortion cases. The state and federal courts have yet to make final rulings in those cases.

Labrador, a former U.S. representative who has said voters are looking for an aggressive, conservative attorney general, has promised to make the office more partisan should he win in next weeks general election. In a series of recent interviews, he denigrated attorneys working in the office, telling the Lewiston Tribune that the Attorney Generals Office needs to have better lawyers.

People started running for the door when Lawrence lost in the primary, said Jim Jones, a former Idaho attorney general and former chief justice of the Idaho Supreme Court who still has ties to the legal community. Labrador is going to clean house and get rid of anybody who doesnt see things his way. Big mistake. Hes going to have a lot of problems if he wins.

The attorney generals office has 132 attorneys. Deputy attorneys are typically assigned to specific agencies and become familiar with the legal details of that agency. Another 94 staffers fill other roles.

Labradors spokesman, Brent Littlefield, said in a statement the eight attorneys who have left represent only 6% of the attorney workforce in the office, signaling a low attrition rate. Attrition in the office has reached as high as 20%, with Wasden saying low pay made it difficult to retain attorneys.

Raul Labrador looks forward to working with team members at the Attorney Generals office to build a culture of service and an office which is responsive to the people, Littlefield said. As a Constitutional office led by an elected official, and one tasked with defending the laws passed by elected Legislators, there is inherently a political component to the work.

Other high-profile attorney departures include former Chief Deputy Brian Kane, who left last summer to become the executive director of the National Association of Attorneys General.

Deputy Attorney General Leslie Hayes is leaving later this month, and former Deputy Attorney General Emma Nowacki left last summer. The two attorneys took part in the Legislatures ethics hearing involving the actions of Lewiston Republican Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger with a Statehouse intern. Von Ehlinger resigned last year after lawmakers on the ethics committee recommended he be banned from the Statehouse. He was later convicted in state court of raping the intern and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Darrell Early, the former chief of the Natural Resources Division at the office and an expert on Idahos agreement with the federal government involving nuclear waste stored at the U.S. Department of Energys eastern Idaho site, also left last month after more than 20 years with the attorney generals office. The 1995 agreement has prevented Idaho from becoming a nuclear waste dump.

Its institutional memory you hate to see walk away, said Jones, noting he considered the number of departing attorneys following the primary unusually high.

Larrondo and Early could not be reached for comment.

Wasden is well known for his strategy of simply calling legal balls and strikes, sometimes irritating lawmakers who have complained that the attorney generals office frequently interprets the law contrary to what lawmakers want to hear.

Lawmakers have ignored Wasdens warnings about passing unconstitutional legislation, and hired their own attorneys. Taxpayers are on the hook for paying those attorneys, as well as millions of dollars in attorney fees to the winning side when Idaho loses court cases challenging the constitutionality of its laws.

Most recently, in August, Idaho officials agreed to pay $321,000 in legal fees after lawmakers in 2020 made it more difficult for transgender people to change the sex listed on their birth certificates despite a U.S. court ruling banning such obstacles. The state previously paid $75,000 after losing the initial case in 2018.

Labrador, who ran for governor four years ago but lost to current Gov. Brad Little in the Republican primary, has said he wouldnt put politics above the law and would work with lawmakers to draft bills that would survive court challenges.

Labrador faces Democrat Tom Arkoosh in the general election. Arkoosh said he spent years as an independent but registered as a Republican to vote in the May primary. He switched to the Democratic party to run for attorney general, saying he was concerned Labrador would run the office as a shameless political opportunist if elected.

Arkoosh has made a spirited campaign effort, getting support from dozens of former Republican officeholders or officeholders retiring this year. The former county prosecutor has also picked up endorsements from former law enforcement officers and Jones serves as his treasurer.

Arkoosh has tried to parlay those endorsements into a wider conversation about what voters want in the deeply conservative state that hasnt sent a Democrat to the attorney generals office since 1991.
TWIN FALLS  A video of a confrontation between a Hailey man and abortion-rights protesters during the July 15 Idaho GOP Convention sheds light on the confrontation, police say.

Eric Parker, the subject of an investigation conducted by the Twin Falls Police Department, shot the video of the confrontation that took place at the College of Southern Idaho.

In his report, Officer Braxton Christensen wrote that Parker appears to have his cellphone camera near his chest when the video was taken as he talks to a female protester, while an older man stands nearby.

Two signs  held by protesters  came at Parker at a high rate of speed and get right into his face, the police report says. He (Parker) extends his arm and hits the signs out of the way. A bunch of people then begin yelling that he hit them. Mr. Parker argues that he did not and that he hit the signs out of his face.

A witness told police that Parker hit the signs in a way that they struck the protesters face.

He stuck his arm out and smacked her through her poster, said one statement.

Others who provided a statement to police offered differing accounts.

While we were peacefully protesting a man hit (a woman) in the face, one witness wrote.

Christensen, who took the initial report on Oct. 15, wrote that he didnt have proof of a crime and that the parties provided conflicting information. For example, the protester who talked to police said she ran up to Parker with her sign and threw water on him to protect the older man apparently seen in Parkers video, when the video seems to indicate Parker was not posing a threat to him.

Police have given results of the investigation to city prosecutor Shayne Nope, who would determine whether any charges should be filed against Parker or the protesters. Nope said he wanted to also conduct his own investigation, but it appears to be at a standstill.

Twin Falls City spokesman Joshua Palmer said Nope told him that he had not been able to arrange a meeting with Parker or the protester, and said he would send letters to the parties involved.

Parker, meanwhile, said that Nope has not contacted him. One protester involved with the confrontation said Saturday that she received an email from Nope saying charges would not be filed.

Christensen noted in his report that Nope would decide whether Parker should be charged with battery for potentially hitting the signs which caused them to hit the protester.

However (the protester) might also be charged with battery for hitting Parker with the signs and throwing water on him, he wrote.

The investigation shows several people defended Parker.

Cory Chappell, a delegate at the GOP Convention, said he saw water being thrown on Parker and an older gentlemen start arguing with him. He said no blows were thrown and the alleged victim had not a single blemish under or around any part or portion of her eyes.

Parker, upon seeing comments on social media that he assaulted a woman at the protest, came into the police department to file a report on Oct. 16, the investigation shows.

The woman talked with the officer at the time of the incident and also came to the police department the evening of Oct. 16. The officer said there appeared to be a slight mark under the victims right eye, but was unable to determine if it was makeup or a possible injury. The woman had also posted pictures on social media of what she said was bruising on her face.

The police report states that several police officers were monitoring the abortion-rights protest.

At about 6 p.m., an officer was called to have him meet with a CSI security director because a protester wanted to file a battery complaint against a man who was later identified as Parker.

On Oct. 18, Twin Falls Police Detective Ken was asked to review the investigation. Rivers, in a post on social media, asked that the public contact him with information regarding the incident.
BOISE  Money is at the heart of a debate over solar energy in Idaho.

Dozens of Treasure Valley residents argued during a three-hour hearing before the Idaho Public Utilities Commission Thursday that Idaho Power undervalued customer-generated solar power in its study for the state regulators.

The gathering in Boise followed two similar hearings the week before in Twin Falls and Pocatello.

Idaho Powers net-metering study, requested by the PUC and released in June, proposes changes to the compensation structure for excess energy produced by customers with on-site generation, which most commonly applies to rooftop solar but can also include windmills, geothermal and small hydro facilities.

Customers with on-site generation receive a credit from the utility on their bill when they produce more energy than they need.

While retail rates for homeowners are typically between 8 cents to 10 cents per kilowatt hour, depending on how much energy is used, Idaho Power valued excess power from on-site generation, like rooftop solar, at 2.8 cents to 4 cents per kilowatt hour in its study.

The proposal from the states largest electric utility to slash the credit in half stirred a debate over how much rooftop solar is worth and what can be done to incentivize the renewable source of energy in efforts to mitigate climate change.

Lisa Young, director of the Idaho Chapter of the Sierra Club, a nationwide environmental organization, testified at the hearing.

She said the utilitys proposal to sharply reduce the price of the excess energy it buys from homeowners will discourage further rooftop solar development. She also said it would protect the companys interests in owning and profiting from solar power.

Idaho Power, like electric utilities across the nation, has been actively trying to suppress installations for over a decade since customer-owned energy doesnt yield as much profit, Young said. With the worsening climate crisis, we should begin to make solar power more affordable and accessible and not less.

Young argued the PUC should consider a different study from an independent third party instead, referencing a report from Crossborder Energy, a Berkeley, California, consulting company for the energy industry, that was paid for by environmental groups and solar companies.

The study was submitted to the Idaho Public Utilities Commission in September along with comments from the Idaho Conservation League.

Crossborder Energys report concluded that excess power from on-site generation is worth 18.3 cents per kilowatt hour, about five times more than Idaho Powers valuation.

Jordan Rodriguez, a spokesperson for Idaho Power, told the Idaho Statesman in September that while few people were involved in rooftop solar two decades ago, the utility now has about 12,000 customers generating power from panels on their homes.

He said the utility supports rooftop solar but wants to make sure the pricing is fair for all customers.

The underlying issue for this whole case is that we are using a customer-generation or net-metering policy that was created about 20 years ago when there was just a very, very small handful of people using on-site generation, Rodriguez said. Our study shows that current pricing policies overcompensate customers with solar at the expense of customers without.

James Taylor, from Caldwell, was the first to testify at the Thursday hearing. He installed solar panels on his home in 2016 and will be grandfathered in.

During previous rulings, the PUC granted legacy status to eligible residential and small general-service on-site generation systems as of Dec. 20, 2019. It also granted the status to eligible commercial, industrial and irrigation systems as of Dec. 1, 2020. Systems connected after those dates would be subject to future changes.

If I generate a kilowatt of power, I should be compensated for a kilowatt of power, Taylor said.
Some 640,000 Pennsylvanians voted ahead of the Oct. 25 debate between Democratic hopeful John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz, who are running for an open U.S. Senate seat. It was the only debate during the campaign.

Tuesday, Libertarian Marc Victor dropped out of Arizonas U.S. Senate race as he endorsed Republican Blake Masters. Victors decision to get out of the race two weeks after Oct. 12, when early voting began in the Grand Canyon State, likely didnt hurt the incumbent Democrat, Sen. Mark Kelly.

Dont tell me that early voting is a good thing. Things happen in the last weeks of campaigning.

Modern campaigns go right up to the last minute and yet voting starts sooner and sooner every year, remarked Pete Hutchison, president of the conservative Landmark Legal Foundation.

Four weeks to vote?

We live in a high-tech world, yet progressives have been pushing for a voting regimen that befits the age of the horse and buggy.

According to NBC News, more than 24 million Americans voted before Nov. 1 for the Nov. 8 election.

If they voted for someone who loses their support before Election Day, theyre pretty much out of luck.

The easier do-gooders try to make the system, the riskier it looks.

Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that election officials should not count ballots submitted without the required date on the envelope.

The American Civil Liberties Union isnt happy. No one should be disenfranchised for an irrelevant technicality, the organization tweeted.

Well, if those voters went to the polls, there wouldnt be an issue.

Cable news anchors act as boosters for early voting  with little recognition of the downside.

CNN This Morning anchor Don Lemon asserted this week that governments goal should be to make voting as easy as possible.

As easy as possible? Hmmm. That would be: Not watching debates and not being fully informed.

Hutchison sees a future when people vote early because its so easy. He noted, Were going to end up voting halfway through campaigns.

Thats not a good thing, because Hutchison maintains, The earlier we vote, the less we know, the less informed we are, the less educated our vote.

Think of the sacrifices our forebears made to expand the right to vote, because the franchise is precious. Now the goal is to make the exercise of voting not more robust, not more informed, but as easy as possible.
A Springfield, Ohio, man spotted a van  guess what color  that he thought was trying to kidnap a girl, and he ran off to chase it in the most modern of ways: Livestreaming the whole thing on Facebook. The van got away, but the man posted the video, which went locally viral.

Here we must commend Springfields WHIO TV 7 for checking to see if, indeed, there had been any substantiated reports of actual or near-kidnappings. Police lieutenant Lou Turner told reporter Katy Andersen that the cops had received not a single complaint. Lets hear it for a reality check!

The two-minute story is a great piece of paranoia-puncturing  until the very end, when Anderson says, Anyone who sees something suspicious or is a victim to a crime like this is urged to call police immediately to report it.

A crime like this? A nonexistent, did-not-happen crime like this?

The fact that the reporter ended her otherwise sensible story this way means that Frank Furedi has a deep point that we should pay heed to. Furedi is a professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Kent in England. He wrote Paranoid Parenting back in 2002, long before most of us (except for Nick Gillespie in 1997) started noticing the trend that would later be dubbed helicopter parenting.

But more recently, Furedi wrote, How Fear Works. And one of the fear-reinforcing trends he noticed was the way a certain type of story becomes popular in a culture. And in ours, the story of a kid snatched off the street and sold into sex slavery is one that is so incredibly resonant the media relies on it as a surefire hit.

From Liam Neeson movies to Law & Order episodes to Halle Berrys Kidnap, its a reliable fictional plot. But its also a staple of the news, whether the story is real and tragic, like the terrible case of 6-year-old Faye Swetlik, who was murdered last week, presumably by her neighbor, or whether there is no story there at all.

When there actually is no story, the media is faced with a problem: How do you report when nothing happened? Easy! You report on what MIGHT have happened, had the worst-case scenario occurred. To wit: At the beginning of every school year, I wait for a story somewhere in America where a bus driver accidentally drops a kid off at the wrong bus stop.

This completely anodyne event is often reported as not only newsworthy but also as a near-death experience. The reporter interviews a grim-faced cop, relieved nothing terrible happened, and a mom usually says something like, When I think of all the HORRIBLE THINGS that COULD have happened, we are just thanking God our child is safe.

As if kidnappings and murders are so common that the odds are stacked against any child walking home half a mile.

So, reporters take a story of safety and turn it into one of danger, reinforcing the storyline were getting addicted to: A child outside is a child threatened.

Some readers buy mystery novel after mystery novel because they love the genre. Romance readers buy a new romance every week. They KNOW the brash young billionaire is going to marry the secretary or the governess or maybe the horseback riding teacher. They just want to hear that story again.

In America, for some reason, we are hungry for sickening stories of innocence violated. When, instead, weve only got the story of some plain old van, we turn it into the story of innocence that wasnt violated but could have been so it qualifies as a cautionary tale.

If you are victim of a crime like this, good news: You are not the victim of a crime! But your brain is being kidnapped and held in a dystopian story cycle from which there is no escape.

Unless you stop watching.
Martinsville native Philomena Walker-Keller has just gotten her doctoral degree -- and has no plans to retire, despite dealing with multiple sclerosis.

Walker-Keller spent most of her adult life living in New York and moved to New Jersey in March, but her childhood roots reach back to Martinsville.

I did not see myself, as a young African-American kid who grew up in that town and that time, as being able to have a voice in nursing or in anything else, Walker-Keller said. And so I had no interest in living there or working there or even visiting for a number of years.

However, since then Walker-Keller has come back to Martinsville to visit some of the people she knew who had inspired her when she was younger. She said that when she returned, she saw many opportunities that she would like to help advance.

So many people inspired me, Walker-Keller said. My mother was a big inspiration in my life. She lost her mother, Hester Stultz Walker, when she was 17 years old.

After her mother passed away, Walker-Keller and her four sisters were separated and went on different paths, she said. Walker-Keller went off to college, and even though the siblings were no longer living together, they sent letters and visited each other to stay in touch.

Walker-Kellers grandmother, Hetty K. Stultz, had formal education to the fourth grade but spoke very well and was soft spoken like Walker-Kellers mother. Two things that she finds herself saying that she learned from them are 'You dont have to yell to get your point across' and 'You dont have to speak ugly to anyone.'

So, I have tried to remember that and I dont always practice it the way she [her grandmother] did, but I do always remember it, Walker-Keller chuckled. And I strive to be like those two ladies who were my had-to-be cheerleaders. I was born to them, so they had to cheer me on.

Walker-Keller's unwavering dream was to become a nurse. I never wanted to be anything else  Theres nothing better, she said.

Walker-Keller began her undergraduate schooling at Tennessee State University in the first class of its accelerated nursing degree program. Due to financial issues, she had to transfer mid-way through the program and finished at Rockingham [North Carolina] Community College, she said.

She went on to get her bachelors and masters degrees in nursing education from American Sentinel University and in February of this year, at the age of 74, received her doctoral degree in health systems leadership from Chamberlain University with a focus in chronic disease self-management, education and support.

Walker-Keller is a nursing administrator at a hospital in New York City which means she works to further the goals of each unit in the hospital and help improve the organization overall. She works full time and every shift including days, evenings and nights so that she can stay in tune with whats going on, she said.

And with everything shes got going on in her life, she does it while navigating living with multiple sclerosis.

The multiple sclerosis makes it hard to get around, so she walks with a cane. She has not exerted herself physically more than that until recently, when she had to run across the hospital to deliver blood to a patient before it was too late.

I ran that day, ran with a cane, Walker-Keller said. So, it can be done.

And recently she has taken dancing back up.

I love trying new things that I thought were gone because of my physical challenges, Walker-Keller said. But Im learning every day that these things are still available in a different way.

Walker-Keller said she doesnt see herself ever retiring.

I will change what Im doing, but I dont expect to ever retire  With my disease as a challenge, it has its moments, but I dont allow it to dictate or control what Im going to do, she said.
Behind a plain door in a unpretentious office on Main Street in Martinsville is a charitable powerhouse which has given more than $52 million to support Baptist education.

The Charles B. Keesee Educational Fund was recently honored by Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and The College at Southeastern with their Presidents Award.

Since 2006, the Keesee Fund has given more than $20.2 million to support thousands of Southwestern students in their educations, a press release from Southwestern states. This year, the Keesee fund has awarded more than 1.6 million in scholarships to over 320 Southeastern students.

Thanks to the Keesee Funds additional gift of $5 million, Southeastern is establishing two new scholarships that will provide $250,000 in student scholarships each year. The first of these scholarships, the Binkley-Keesee Scholarship, is named after the Keesee Fund and Southeasterns second president, Olin T. Binkley. The second scholarship, the Vernie Lewis Scholarship, is named after longtime Keesee trustee, Vernie Lewis, and will financially assist Southeasterns female student population.

The Fund

The Keesee Fund began by providing loans towards education at Baptist schools and has changed to provide grants.

In 1890 Charles Keesee moved to Martinsville where he got his wealth as one of the founders of American Furniture. The Keesees had no children themselves, so they decided to set up a foundation to help educate people going into Baptist ministry, Charles B. Keesee Educational Fund Vice President Douglas Ramsey said.

The Keesees were members of the First Baptist Church in Martinsville, so Baptist ministry is what the foundation focuses on. He [Keesee] would say that they had these preachers that came through  and he was always impressed with their passion, but they were lacking in education, Ramsey said.

The fund was established in 1941 after Kessee died in 1940. When his wife, Olivia Simmons Kessee, died, her will also left money to the fund. Charles Kessee was a native of North Carolina and Olivia Kessee a native of Floyd. This is one of the reasons the aid the foundation provides began in Virginia and has stretched out to cover additional states but remained based in the same vicinity.

The fund began by providing loans to students who were attending a Baptist university in Virginia, primarily Bluefield University and Averett University. The student would then pay back the loan unless he went into ministry and stayed in ministry for a minimum of three years, in which case the loan was forgiven.

That was one way they could help educate students, Ramsey said. They could also help people going into the ministry  I think Mr. Kessee would be very surprised if he were here today and see what its done and how far its come, because now its nothing like that.

The help

The model that they work off of now is fully grant-based for students who are seeking education to work in paid Baptist ministry, meaning they intend to go into church staff, missionary work or other vocational services in Baptist ministry. Students from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia may be eligible.

The fund used to provide aid for masters degrees but has expanded to grants for doctoral degrees as well. The recipients must be seeking specific degree programs with areas of study in topics such as divinity, Christian education, church music, intercultural studies, church planting, Islamic studies, missiology, worship and more that are listed on the fund website cbkeesee.com.

Applicants must send in an application with references, essays, financial information, proof of Baptist church membership, be attending school in-person and students must maintain a grade point average of at least 2.5. Students must reapply each year, and grants are available for up to eight semesters for masters degrees and six semesters for doctor of ministry degree.

Students must also be attending the following schools: Baptist House of Studies at Duke University, Campbell Divinity School, Gardner-Webb Divinity School, Gateway Seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Rawlings School of Divinity at Liberty University, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and The John Leland Center for Theological Studies.

The Vernie Lewis Scholarship at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary benefits students at Campbell University, Gardner-Webb University and Baptist House of Studies at Duke Divinity School. Lewis was an employee of the fund from 1970 until 2019 when she had to stop working because of cancer. She died in 2020.

The fund also provides scholarships to Fork Union Military Academy and Hargrave Military Academy, Averett University and Bluefield College, where the money is given to the colleges and they are in charge of selecting the students.

Current Keesee board members include Rev. Douglas T. Ramsey, G. Paul Fletcher, Dr. David D. Burhans, Betty B. Pigg, Martha W. Medley, Georgia P. Compton, Rev. John T. Fulcher, Ryan R. Hutchinson and Dean Andrew H. Wakefield.

. Sandra Prillaman is the executive director of the Keesee Fund.

As of Oct. 31, the funds value totaled $65 million, and staff members are in the process of approving applications for spring 2023 grants. As of the 2022-23 school year, the fund has awarded educational grants to more than 16,000 students since its creation for a total of approximately $51,921,000 in aid money for grants excluding the money used for loans in the past.

At Southeastern

Outside of the support from Southern Baptists through the Cooperative Program, no other group has had a bigger impact on Southeastern and her students than the Charles B. Keesee Educational Fund, stated Southeastern President Danny Akin.

In addition to the scholarships, the Keesee Fund contributed to technological and audio-visual upgrades in Southeasterns classrooms, library resources for Southeaterns prison programs and mission trip and Holy Land tour scholarships for Southeasterns students.
The 18th Chinese American Film Festival and the Chinese American Television Festival kicked off in Los Angeles Friday evening.

Several hundred elegantly gowned and tuxedoed Chinese and Hollywood celebrities and guests assembled in Sheraton Los Angeles San Gabriel for the cultural event, which aims to promote film and television industry exchanges and cooperation between China and the United States.

More than 400 film and television works will be screened at the festivals. A total of 10 films won the Golden Angel Award at the event this year, including "My Country, My Parents," "Nice View," "Schemes in Antiques," "Sunshine of My Life," and "Between Us."

The festival awarded the Most Popular U.S. Films in China awards to Universal Pictures' science fiction action film "Jurassic World Dominion" and the animated comedy film "The Bad Guys," Legendary Pictures' epic science fiction film "Dune," and Warner Bros. Pictures' fantasy film "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore."

Zhang Ping, Chinese consul general in Los Angeles, said at the opening ceremony that the event was an important platform for film and television industry exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.

In her speech at the opening ceremony, U.S. Congresswoman Judy Chu, praised the "incredible" organizers of the event which shows the power of film and culture.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a motion that declares the month of November 2022 as Chinese American Film Festival and Chinese American Television Festival Month in the most populous county in the United States.

Founded in 2005 by EDI Media Inc., the annual event is usually held in November in Los Angeles.
A Martinsville man was found not guilty and acquitted Thursday in Henry County Circuit Court of attempted capital murder of a Henry County Sheriffs deputy.

In April 2021, Derrick Devon Martin, 52, stole a Henry County ambulance and led police on a 45-minute chase before he was caught by a dog in a field on County Line Road, a press release from the Patrick County Sheriffs Office stated.

In addition to the attempted capital murder charge, Martin also faced charges of assault and battery of a law enforcement officer and a rescue squad member, grand larceny of a motor vehicle, felony destruction of property, carjacking, destroying property and eluding police at speeds greater than 20 mph.

At the end of the trial, the jury found Martin not guilty and acquitted him of the attempted capital murder charge and carjacking, dismissed the two assault and battery charges against a law enforcement officer and a rescue squad member, and found him guilty of eluding police, grand larceny and the two property damage charges.

The incident in 2021 began when Henry County deputies attempted to arrest Martin in relation to a stolen truck, according to the release. Police say Martin became combative and resisted arrest and after he was apprehended he became unresponsive and appeared to be experiencing a medical emergency.

Deputies administered Narcan and Martin was loaded into a Henry County ambulance, the release stated.

For the next 45 minutes, Henry County deputies and Virginia State Police chased Martin, who was driving the ambulance, throughout northwest Henry County, along Fairystone Park Highway, Stones Dairy Road, Orchard Drive and finally onto County Line Road.

Patrick County deputies picked up the chase when Martin entered their jurisdiction and after the police cars and the ambulance traded paint a few times, Patrick County Sheriff Dan Smith said, one of the Patrick deputies managed to run Martin off the road near the 3500 block of County Line Road.

Smith said Martin continued through a field for a ways before jumping out of the ambulance and attempting to flee into the woods.

Patrick County deputies released a K9 and Martin was apprehended and taken to Sovah Hospital in Martinsville, where police say he was treated for minor injuries, released and jailed in the Henry County Jail.

Other recent court and arrest cases

EDITORS NOTE: The Martinsville Bulletin reports arrest reports in Martinsville, Henry and Patrick counties, except some juvenile cases and traffic citations other than DUI. Claims in civil suits may be reported, except in custody cases. The newspaper does not omit any names that qualify to be included. This information is compiled from documents provided by the law enforcement agencies of each jurisdiction.

Henry County Circuit Court

Troy Renard Dodson, Martinsville, on Oct. 31: Two counts of distribution of cocaine were dismissed.

Sampson Carlos Dodson, Martinsville, on Nov. 2: Sentenced to 20 years with 12 years suspended and $1,755 in fines and costs for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, an amended charge of possession of a firearm by a felon. A charge of possession of a firearm by a violent felon was dismissed.

Christopher Nathaniel Harr, Bassett, on Nov. 2: Sentenced to five years and 10 days with four years and nine months suspended for grand larceny of a motor vehicle, an amended charge of failure to appear.

Corion D. Manns, Henry, on Nov. 2: Sentenced to six months and 20 days with three months suspended and $1,357.12 in fines and costs for assault and battery and two counts of failure to appear.

Torshazo Daquan Williamson, Charlotte, North Carolina, on Nov. 2: Sentenced to 20 years with 19 years and nine months suspended and $4,088 in fines, restitution and costs for two amended charges of accommodation distribution of a scheduled I/II controlled substance.

Eric Lee Baliles, Stuart, on Nov. 2: Sentenced to five years with four years suspended for eluding police.

Robert Tilghman Coles, Martinsville, on Nov. 2: Sentenced to 12 months suspended and $270 in costs for obtaining money by false pretense. Charges of forgery, utter a forged check and larceny of checks were dismissed.

Martinsville Circuit Court

Dearlejay Phillip Hodge, Martinsville on Nov. 1: Sentenced to 26 years and six months with 25 years and one month suspended and $2,885 fines and costs for DWI third or subsequent offense, elude or disregard police, drive under revoked or suspended license, possession of cocaine, possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

Henry County Sheriffs Office arrests

Robert Alan Wells, 38, on Oct. 28: Probation violation.

Jadyn Smith, 19, on Oct. 28: Simple assault.

Michael Devon Penn, 47, on Oct. 28: Drunk in public.

Leonard George Tucker, 47, on Nov. 2: Contempt of court.

Kayla Nicole Pasquariello, 28, on Nov. 3: Shoplifting.

Triston OBryan Dodson, 24, on Nov. 3: Drunk in public, possession of drugs.

Eric Lee Hawkins Jr., 30, on Nov. 3: Drunk in public, possession of drugs.

Martinsville Sheriffs Office arrests

Diana Gene Hawks, on Oct. 24: Two counts of probation violation.

Demetrius Antonio Hunt, on Oct. 24: Trespassing.

Markirian Mekhi Penn, on Oct. 24: Three counts of failure to appear.

Demarcell Leigh Houp, on Oct. 24: Three counts of probation violation.

Shantel Marie Hairston, on Oct. 25: Intoxication in public.

Christina Kaur Singh, on Oct. 25: Possession of schedule I/II drugs, possession of a firearm while possessing drugs.

Ezequiel Hernandez Gutierrez, on Oct. 25: Malicious assault.

Buford Leander Preston, on Oct. 25: Fugitive.

Michael Rufus Seay, on Oct. 26: Unauthorized use of an animal.

B. Lair Nicole Martin, on Oct. 27: Trespassing.

Bryan Matthew Short, on Oct. 27: Violation of probation.

Jeremy OBrien Huffman, on Oct. 27: Intoxication in public.

Stephen Allen Workman, on Oct. 28: Failure to appear.

Richard Lemons, on Oct. 29: Failure to appear.

Joseph Lamount Ott, on Oct. 30: Assault and battery of a family member.

Patrick County Sheriffs Office arrests

Carolyn Sue Vernon, 40, Stuart, on Oct. 26: Two counts of abuse/neglect of a child.

Chester Dwayne Vernon, 59, Stuart, on Oct. 26: Two counts of abuse/neglect of a child.

Jessica Conner Ratliff, 38, Patrick Springs, on Oct. 27: Fail to comply with a court order.

George Kevin Rucker, 39, Address unavailable, on Oct. 27: Probation violation.

Jordan Anthony Capps, 21, Spencer, on Oct. 28: DWI first offense, reckless driving.
Karen Zehr, wife of the late Francis Zehr, was recognized by the Henry County School Board Thursday night at a regular meeting.

A resolution honoring the life and memory of Francis Zehr was presented to Karen Zehr noting his combined 46 years of service to Henry County Schools as a teacher and school board member.

Zehr was elected for three terms on the school board and served until his unexpected death due to a heart attack on July 29.

Members of the school board expressed their profound feeling of loss and our deep appreciation for all that Francis Zehr has contributed to the school system and the Henry County Community, said Director of Communications Monica Hatchett.

The resolution was approved unanimously.

In other matters, the Board:

Watched a short video presented by the Bassett JROTC showing how their program is developing.

Heard a presentation from Hatchett regarding the proposed 2023-24 school calendar. Hatchett said the new calendar was developed with input from members of the school community and keeps the Wednesday before Thanksgiving as a full day student-teacher holiday. It includes additional teacher work days in the school year, maintains a week-long spring break and begins the school year on a Wednesday and ends the year before Memorial Day.

Approved a bonus for Henry County Public Schools employees using ARPA funds and agreed to forward an appropriation request of $769,673.07 to the Henry County Board of Supervisors to fund the bonus.

Awarded a contract to KNA Contracting Inc. of Wirtz for $3,014,036 for renovations to Area C at Bassett High School.

Heard from Nadia Wilson who told the Board her child had autism and needed to wear a life-saving tracker and wasnt allowed to use it, despite the allowed use of cellphones and iPads that also allow the user to be tracked.

Heard from Rev. Tyler Millner who said it was important for all segments of the community to be treated equally and that he wanted to encourage the board to take the responsibility to help generate more positive energy in the community for education.

Learned of the following future dates: Dec. 1, 6 p.m., monthly meeting in the Summerlin Meeting Room; Jan. 5, monthly meeting, 6 p.m., Summerlin Meeting Room; Feb. 2, 9 a.m., monthly meeting in the Summerlin Meeting Room.

Additionally, the following staff changes have been announced:

Janice Largen will be principal at Stanleytown Elementary School. Largen has been a teacher and administrator since 2004.

Elizabeth Shively will be Director of Pupil Transportation. Shively, a Henry County native, comes to HCPS with 23 years of experience in pupil transportation in the region.
King Mohammed VI of Morocco delivered, on Sunday, a speech to the Nation on the occasion of the 47th anniversary of the glorious Green March.

Here follows the full text of the Royal speech:

Praise be to God,

May peace and blessings be upon the Prophet, His Kith and Kin

Dear Citizens,

The commemoration of the forty-seventh anniversary of the Green March comes at a crucial time in the process to firmly establish the Moroccanness of the Sahara.

Whereas the glorious, epic Green March made it possible to liberate that part of our territory, the continuing marches I have been spearheading aim to make sure our citizens lead a dignified life, especially in those Saharan regions, which are dear to my heart.

Hence, our action to defend the Moroccanness of the Sahara is based on a holistic approach that combines not only political and diplomatic action, but also efforts to promote economic, social and human development in the region.

The development program for the southern provinces, signed during the ceremony I presided over in Laayun, in November 2015, and in Dakhla, in February 2016, is part of that endeavor.

Dear Citizens,

This is an integrated development program, with a budget in excess of 77 billion dirhams. It aims to launch a real socio-economic dynamic, create jobs and investment opportunities, and provide the region with the infrastructure and facilities it needs.

It is an ambitious program which responds to the concerns and aspirations of the inhabitants of our southern provinces. The regions local governments and elected officials are in charge of implementing the projects included under the program.

Seven years into the program, it is gratifying to note that the expenditure commitment rate stands at about 80 per cent of the total budget allocated to it.

The Tiznit-Dakhla highway is in its final stages, the regions connection to the national electricity grid has been completed and the communication networks consolidated and extended.

Similarly, the solar and wind power plants programmed have been completed as well.

The construction of the major Dakhla-Atlantic port will begin soon, once the various studies and administrative procedures are completed.

As regards the economy, which is the main driver of development, a number of projects have been completed concerning the valorization and processing of fish products  an industry that provides thousands of jobs to the regions inhabitants.

In the agricultural sector, more than six thousand hectares have been developed in Dakhla and Boujdour and placed at the disposal of young farmers from the region.

The implementation rate of most projects planned in the phosphate, water and sanitation sectors is quite high.

In the social and cultural sectors, many achievements have been made in the areas relating to health, education and training, support for self  employment initiatives, and the promotion of the Hassani language and culture  both of which are key constituents of our cohesive national identity.

In this regard, and in keeping with a spirit of national responsibility, I invite the private sector to continue to be engaged in productive investment in these provinces, particularly in projects of a social nature.

I also call for new prospects of action to be opened up in order to promote the development dynamic in our southern provinces, especially in the most promising sectors, the blue economy and renewable energy.

Dear Citizens,

Throughout history, the Moroccan Sahara has served as a link between Morocco and its African roots at the human, spiritual, cultural and economic levels.

Through our development agenda, we seek to consolidate this historical role and make sure the region is more open to the future.

This approach is in line with the special relations Morocco enjoys with other African countries, and which I am keen to strengthen in order to serve our peoples shared interests.

In this regard, and together with my brother, His Excellency Muhammadu Bukhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, we launched the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline Project (NMGP).

Today, I am pleased to note the progress made in this major project, in line with the terms of the contract signed in December 2016.

The Memorandum of Understanding signed recently in Rabat with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and in Nouakchott, with Mauritania and Senegal, is a key building block in the completion of this project.

That signing reflects the commitment of the countries concerned to contribute to the completion of this strategic project, and attests to their desire to see it through.

Considering the special importance I attach to the partnership with West African countries, I consider the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline Project to be more than just a bilateral project between two sister nations.

In fact, I want this to be a strategic project that benefits all of West Africa  a region which is home to more than 440 million people.

The NMGP provides opportunities as well as guarantees in terms of energy security and economic, industrial and social development for the fifteen ECOWAS Member Countries, as well as for Morocco and Mauritania.

This is a project for peace, for African economic integration and for co- development: a project for the present and for future generations.

Given the continental dimension of the NMGP, I consider it to be a major flagship project which will link Africa to Europe.

I also commend the support of regional and international financing institutions, which have expressed their wish to participate in its implementation.

I should like to stress how keen we are, in Morocco, to continue to work closely, responsibly and with the utmost degree of transparency with our brothers and sisters in Nigeria, as well as with all partners, in order to implement the NMGP as soon as possible.

I also wish to point out, once again, that we are open to all forms of constructive partnership for the implementation this major African project.

Dear Citizens,

To continue to be faithful to the spirit of the Green March and to its everlasting oath, we need to remain mobilized and vigilant in order to defend our nations unity, achieve greater progress and strengthen Moroccos bonds with its African roots.

Let us take this opportunity to pray that Almighty God bless the soul of the architect of the Green March, my revered father, His late Majesty King Hassan II  may he rest in peace  and of all our valiant martyrs.

I also wish to pay tribute to our Royal Armed Forces, the National Police, the Royal Gendarmerie, the local authorities, the Auxiliary Forces, and the Emergency Services for their dedication, under my leadership, in defending our countrys unity, security and stability.

Wassalamu alaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh.
A woman removes a girl's face mask as she plays on a plaza in Beijing, Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

Chinese health officials gave no indication Saturday of any relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions, following several days of speculation that the government was considering changes to a "zero-COVID" approach that has stymied economic growth and disrupted daily life.

The officials said at a news conference that they would "unswervingly" stick to the policy, which seeks to stop cases from coming into the country and snuff out outbreaks as they are uncovered.

The announcement was not a surprise and doesn't preclude the possibility that discussions are taking place behind closed doors. But there has been no official confirmation of talks, and most analysts believe any change will be gradual with major easing unlikely until sometime next year.

The speculation rallied stock markets in China this week, with investors as well as the public latching onto any hints of possible change. The death of a 3-year-old boy in a quarantined residential compound fueled growing discontent with the anti-virus controls, which are increasingly out of step with the rest of the world.

Anyone entering China must quarantine at a designated hotel for seven to 10 days. People in the country line up several times a week to get a virus test at outdoor booths, to meet a requirement for a negative result within the last 72 hours to enter office buildings, shopping malls, restaurants, parks and other public places.

A worker wearing a protective suit watches as people line up for COVID-19 tests at a coronavirus testing site in Beijing, Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

Tuo Jia, a National Health Commission official, acknowledged complaints in some cities about the zealous enforcement of the zero-COVID policy and said that local authorities need to balance epidemic prevention with economic development.

"We must conduct prevention and control resolutely, decisively, scientifically and accurately, and resolutely clean up and stop all forms of simplification, a one-size-fits-all approach and excessive local measures," she said.

Scattered outbreaks across the country continue to prompt travel restrictions and lockdowns. China on Saturday reported identifying about 3,500 new cases the previous day, including about 3,000 who tested positive despite not having any COVID-19 symptoms.

In the city of Guangzhou in the southeast, Haizhu district suspended bus and subway service for three days and urged residents to stay home as it conducts mass testing of its 1.8 million people. One person per household is allowed out each day to shop for necessities.

People wearing face masks sit on a bench at a pedestrian shopping street in Beijing, Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

People wearing face masks walk through an outdoor shopping complex in Beijing, Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

A woman wearing a face mask sits on a bench at an outdoor shopping complex in Beijing, Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

Restrictions are also in place in parts of the Inner Mongolia region in the north and the Xinjiang region in the west, where 43 new high-risk areas were designated Saturday in Urumqi, the regional capital.

Wang Guiqiang, director of the infectious disease department at Peking University First Hospital, told the news conference that the vaccination rate for people above 80 years old needs to be raised. China does not have a vaccine mandate.

A health official said that 90% of the population is fully vaccinated, including 86% percent of those above 60, but did not provide a figure for those above 80.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who made a one-day visit to Beijing on Friday, told reporters that China had agreed to approve the German-developed Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for foreigners and that he hoped its use would be expanded to the Chinese public.

It wasn't clear when the approval would come. China has approved only domestic vaccines so far, which use an older technology that has typically proven less effective at preventing the spread of the disease than the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Twitter has announced a subscription service for $7.99 a month that includes a blue check now given only to verified accounts as new owner Elon Musk works to overhaul the platforms verification system just ahead of U.S. midterm elections.

In an update to Apple iOS devices available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the U.K., Twitter said users who sign up now for the new Twitter Blue with verification can receive the blue check next to their names just like the celebrities, companies and politicians you already follow.

But Twitter employee Esther Crawford tweeted Saturday that the new Blue isnt live yet  the sprint to our launch continues but some folks may see us making updates because we are testing and pushing changes in real-time. Verified accounts did not appear to be losing their checks so far.

It was not immediately clear when the subscription would go live. Crawford told The Associated Press in a Twitter message that it is coming soon but it hasnt launched yet. Twitter did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Anyone being able to get the blue check could lead to confusion and the rise of disinformation ahead of Tuesday's elections, but Musk tweeted Saturday in response to a question about the risk of impostors impersonating verified profiles  such as politicians and election officials  that Twitter will suspend the account attempting impersonation and keep the money!"

So if scammers want to do this a million times, thats just a whole bunch of free money," he said.

But many fear widespread layoffs that began Friday could gut the guardrails of content moderation and verification on the social platform that public agencies, election boards, police departments and news outlets use to keep people reliably informed.

The change will end Twitters current verification system, which was launched in 2009 to prevent impersonations of high-profile accounts such as celebrities and politicians. Twitter now has about 423,000 verified accounts, many of them rank-and-file journalists from around the globe that the company verified regardless of how many followers they had.

Experts have raised grave concerns about upending the platforms verification system that, while not perfect, has helped Twitters 238 million daily users determine whether accounts they get information from are authentic. Current verified accounts include celebrities, athletes and influencers, along with government agencies and politicians worldwide, journalists and news outlets, activists, businesses and brands, and Musk himself.

He knows the blue check has value, and hes trying to exploit it quickly, said Jennifer Grygiel, a social media expert and associate professor of communications at Syracuse University. He needs to earn the trust of the people before he can sell them anything. Why would you buy a car from a salesman that you know has essentially proved to be chaotic?

The update Twitter made to the iOS version of its app does not mention verification as part of the new blue check system. So far, the update is not available on Android devices.

Musk, who had earlier said he wants to verify all humans on Twitter, has floated that public figures would be identified in ways other than the blue check. Currently, for instance, government officials are identified with text under names stating they are posting from an official government account.

President Joe Bidens @POTUS account, for example, says in gray letters it belongs to a United States government official.

Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, who has 7.8 million Twitter followers, told the AP, I could actually just delete my Twitter account, I never use it. I find it really healthy to delete social media from my phone for periods of time."

"But its also a really powerful tool to connect with people, so I appreciate that and I try to use it as that and not as something thats veering me off course of the journey that Im on in life, he said.

The announcement comes a day after Twitter began laying off workers to cut costs and as more companies are pausing advertising on the platform as a cautious corporate world waits to see how the platform will operate under its new owner.

About half of the companys staff of 7,500 was let go, tweeted Yoel Roth, Twitters head of safety and integrity.

He said the companys front-line content moderation staff was the group the least affected by the job cuts and that efforts on election integrity  including harmful misinformation that can suppress the vote and combatting state-backed information operations  remain a top priority.

Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey took blame for the job losses.

I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly, he tweeted Saturday. I apologize for that.

Musk tweeted late Friday that there was no choice but to cut jobs when the company is losing over $4M/day. He did not provide details on the daily losses at Twitter and said employees who lost their jobs were offered three months pay as severance.

He also said Twitter has already seen a massive drop in revenue as advertisers face pressure from activists to get off the platform, which heavily relies on advertising to make money.

United Airlines on Saturday became the latest major brand to pause advertising on Twitter, joining companies including General Motors, REI, General Mills and Audi.

Musk tried to reassure advertisers last week, saying Twitter would not become a free-for-all hellscape because of what he calls his commitment to free speech.

But concerns remain about whether a lighter touch on content moderation at Twitter will result in users sending out more offensive tweets. That could hurt companies brands if their advertisements appear next to them.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Saturday urged Musk to ensure human rights are central to the management of Twitter. In an open letter, Turk said reports that the companys whole human rights team and much of the ethical AI team were laid off was not an encouraging start.

Like all companies, Twitter needs to understand the harms associated with its platform and take steps to address them," Turk said. Respect for our shared human rights should set the guardrails for the platforms use and evolution.

Meanwhile, Twitter cannot simply cut costs to grow profits, and Musk needs to find ways to raise more revenue, said Dan Ives, an analyst with Wedbush. But that may be easier said than done with the new subscription program for blue checks.

Users have gotten this for free, Ives said. There may be massive pushback.

He expects 20% to 25% of Twitters verified users to sign up initially. The stakes are high for Musk and Twitter to get this right early and for signups to work smoothly, he added.

You dont have a second chance to make a first impression, Ives said. Its been a train-wreck first week for Musk owning the Twitter platform. Now youve cut 50% (of the workforce). There are questions about just the stability of the platform, and advertisers are watching this with a keen eye.

AP Business Writer Stan Choe in New York and Associated Press Writer Jenna Fryer in Charlotte, N.C., contributed to this story.
Today, The Tribune continues its 18th annual series of articles looking back at the news and newspaper advertisements from Mooresvilles newspaper of 100 years ago.

These news items, with original headlines, are from The Mooresville Enterprise, predecessor to The Tribune. They are transcribed, edited and introduced by local historian O.C. Stonestreet.

Sept. 14

Editorial

The Consolidated Community Fair to be held at Mooresville will attract hundreds of people to our city on the 12th and 13th of October. The premium lists have been mailed out and many hundreds of dollars will be passed out in premiums. Th splendid success of the fair last year means a bigger and better display this year. Farm and dairy products, as well as the pure-bred cattle and stock, are worth spending much time and money to see. In every phase of the undertaking, there will be some one to take care of the throngs of people who will be here. The ladies of the Civic League keep an open community house for the women with babies, with rest rooms and every convenience for comfort and rest. The big show, however, will be held at the Stewart Park grounds.

And the earth trembles, especially when the loud blasts are fired by the rock quarry being worked within a stones throw of the center of town. The noise has shattered the nerves of some of the good women of the city and the concussions have loosened numerous window panes. This blasting business in the center of population should be prohibited. There may be no danger in the shattered rock as they are scattered over the fac of the earth and the housetops, but the nerve-racking business has got a good many of us old quiet-loving people all stirred up.

Sept. 21

A Real Fisherman

George Morrow, who expounds the law at intervals during the fishing season, has wonderful luck when he spends a few hours on the creek banks. It is well known that George has for years conjured fish when he drops a line in the water, but his catch is always phenomenal. On Monday he spent a greater portion of the day at the court house in Statesville on professional business concerning the legal end of his affairs and then ran down on Fourth Creek to his old haunts and threw in a line. It was then that the fish began to bite, and within a very little while, he had landed four of those beautiful carp, the net amount of the bunch weighing 23 3/4 pounds.

He did not tell us this story, but the man who weighed the fish told us about it. He had the goods and Fred Brown and other neighbors indulged in a genuine home fish fry as a result of the catch.

Sept. 28

Hotel Project for Mooresville

C. A. Burgess and John Coolidge, of Virginia, two enterprising young men of the Old Dominion, spent Tuesday here with some of our representative citizens looking over the field with a view to securing options of certain properties in the hope that a project for a commodious modern hotel to be built for the accommodation of tourists and others. Just what action was taken in the matter has not been given to the public, but it is sufficient to say that there is considerable interest in the hotel proposition and when outside parties are concerned sufficiently to investigate, it is presumed that this is a highly desirable location for the tourist hotel. Climatic and health conditions are superior to many other locations and, with all our progressive movements, makes Mooresville enviable in many respects.

The Mooresville-Statesville Road

The Thompson-Caldwell Construction Company is making wonderful progress with their section of the Mooresville-Statesville hard-surfaced highway. They have only about half a mile of concrete yet to put down until they will be ready to finish with the asphalt top. The road force is now working this way from Shepherds and are at a point directly opposite the Ketchie place, leaving only a short strip yet to be concreted.

It is said they have sufficient material on hand to finish this section and within the next four weeks, weather and other conditions permitting, the road will be open and their part of the ten-mile contract from the Mecklenburg line to Shepherds through Mooresville will be complete.

The R. M. Hudson Company is also making considerable headway with their section from Shepherds towards Statesville. The concrete has been laid from where the Thompson-Caldwell Company began, to a short distance beyond the road crossing at the county homefour miles from Statesville. This company is now putting down the asphalt top, and are working towards Statesville from the beginning at Shepherds. The asphalt has been laid as far as Blue Door or old Vanderburg Church grounds, and the work is going right along. It is the purpose of the company to Reach Statesville with a complete job not later than Christmas.

Back Again! The Dixie Minstrels

A mammoth minstrel, musical comedy, vaudeville revue. L. J. Allison, of the Allison-Rudisill Production Co. is back with us this year and has already started rehearsals for a play under the auspices of the Fair Association. The show this year will be a much larger production, using twenty-one young men and eighteen young ladies. The first part will be a black and white minstrel and the second will be a musical comedy revue.

Mr. Allison is pleased with the rehearsals and wishes to state that the good people of Mooresville have a big treat in store when the show is produced the 9th and 10th of October.

Oct. 5

Mount Mourne School Opens

Mount Mourne School opened Monday with an enrollment of 100 pupils. This is an exceedingly good number for the first day, considering the great amount of farm work now pressing. In a few weeks, however, it is expected that the number will greatly increase.

The faculty is composed of the following: H. M. Long, Cornelius, principal and high school instructor; C. K. Sherrill, Cornelius, high school instructor; Miss Eva Bell, Mount Mourne, primary department; Miss Ruth Henderson, Davidson, lower grammar grades; Miss Lelia Kistler, Mooresville, higher grammar grades. A highly successful school year is expected for Mount Mourne.

H. M. LONG, Prin.

Modern Improvements at Commercial Hotel

The owners of the Commercial Hotel of this city are having plans drawn whereby there will be many modern improvements in the architecture of the building, as well as other changes. It is the purpose of the property owners to change the lobby into a spacious room and to probably make changes in the dining room with a portion of the first floor arranged for bedrooms. Private baths are contemplated in the changes, and in addition, there are to be built commodious sample rooms built in the rear of the hotel proper.

The hostelry as it now stands is being equipped with large box springs and the best mattresses that are made, with all modern, new furnishings in each room. Mrs. Flowers, the proprietress, is quite proud of the new furnishings and is very much gratified that soon the hotel will be equipped with modern conveniences as becomes a city of Mooresvilles pretentions.
I lost one George, literally, a few weeks after I found the second one.

My bearded dragon lizard George, being Australian, decided to go on walkabout and never came back. The second George is a deployed Army National Guardsman I adopted through Soldiers Angels, a nonprofit dedicated to providing aid, comfort and resources to the military, veterans and their families.

One of the volunteer opportunities they offer is to write letters and send care packages to make sure service members receive mail while deployed in foreign countries or while their vessels are at sea. Some service members dont have families who write to them often, or have families at all, if they enlist straight from foster care.

Patti Patton-Bader, founder of Soldiers Angels, has deep ties with military service as the great-grandniece of Gen. George Patton. When her son was deployed to Iraq in 2003, he mentioned he was one of the few soldiers in his unit who received packages. She organized neighbors who adopted his whole platoon. The organization grew to have volunteers in all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and 31 foreign countries.

I left high school with an Army ROTC scholarship, which I gave up after my freshman year. The combination of attending university in Colorado, the stress of my parents separation, plus the guilt I held at leaving my younger sister alone to deal with it caused me to rethink the choices I made at 16 and 17. I also discovered that giving and taking orders wasnt something I did well  I have a cussed independent streak  which another service member told me a while ago might have gotten me in trouble. Repeatedly. If Id actually joined the Army.

I write letters and send service members goodie boxes, either hygiene items in high demand or snacks, playing cards, games and silly toys to raise morale. I remember getting mail once a week as a kid, if the mail plane wasnt diverted because of inclement weather or for an emergency in another village in southwest Alaska. The boxes of books from the Alaska State Library in Juneau opened up the small world I inhabited 21 months out of 24 in an isolated village of about 600 inhabitants. I think letters from volunteers remind deployed service members that they havent been forgotten back in the states.

I write letters to complete strangers which are perhaps a tad too honest about my life. I write about being the live-in caregiver for my 88-year-old Korean War veteran dad, the good, the bad and the ugly. I make light of my dogs pulling me around and over early one morning when I wasnt paying enough attention to what they scented. The bone-bruised knees served as penance for the lack of eyes in the back of my head. I describe the copious amounts of dog hair I have to scrape out of the HVAC intake filter. I forgot how bad Siberian Huskies shed. I write about how I feel having moved back here to the foothills, where I attended high school before leaving for college, not just once, but twice. And I write about growing up in the Alaskan Bush, waiting for letters from extended family in the Lower 48.

When I first adopted George through Soldiers Angels, I sent pictures of bearded dragon George and me walking up our gravel road, with the lizard perched on top of my head or on my hydration backpack. Sadly, I have not seen even a scale since late July. National Guardsman George prefers to communicate via email. Hes dyslexic and prefers word processing programs, which catch any grammatical errors. (Dont worry, he gave me permission to share that.) He once told me I didnt have to send him mail if I was falling behind with the other, one-off letter writing team. Since email doesnt count for the nonprofit metrics, I write postcards when Im pressed for time. I wish I could find local ones to send him, showcasing the beauty of the area. George once said he likes that I share the not so shiny parts of my life in my letters. It makes me more real, a person rather than just a signature on a page. Though I will admit to quietly tucking away never-to-be mailed pages from multiple letters to service members.

There are so many deployed service members waiting that I attempt to adopt the maximum of three. There are 11 other teams, plus donation options for corporate and individual levels. Sometimes I have adoptees like George for eight or more months. A couple of times Ive had an adoptee for only one to two months before they redeploy home. I currently have both an Army and Navy service member in addition to the Army National Guardsman. Some adoptees never correspond, deployed in remote areas with limited computer access or just not having enough time in the day to respond. Some service members have sent me back the blank greeting cards I tuck in their letters to use as they wish. Its always nice to get a letter back, but I never expect it.

Theres another reason Ive been volunteering with Soldiers Angels since 2020. My dad finally started talking a bit about his own experiences in the Army during the Korean War. The little he shared made me realize he wasnt the only service member I could help and support. I felt guilty that I didnt continue my familys tradition of military service into the third consecutive generation.

While I moved here to help take care of my father, I havent found my own home yet. So I write others far from their own bases and neighborhoods. I write because I know just how big a smile a small piece of mail can produce to someone staring at six more months of an already long deployment far from the comforts of home.

For more information about Soldiers Angels, including various volunteer opportunities with the organization, visit soldiersangels.org.
Mary Gail Sullivan, director of Environmental & Lands Permitting and Compliance at NorthWestern Energy, recently received the Henwood Award  the hydropower industrys highest honor  at a conference in Sacramento, California.

According to a National Hydropower Association newsletter, the Dr. Kenneth Henwood Award is presented each year to an individual who has demonstrated unwavering commitment to the industry.

Ive had a tremendous career, but even as I look forward to spending more time with my grandkids, I dont plan on quitting my advocacy or support for hydropower. I plan to keep pushing for hydro to be the resource of choice to address the climate crisis, Sullivan said at the award ceremony.

Sullivan, who was joined in California by her two daughters, joined the ranks of influential industry champions and reflected on the proceedings with humility, the newsletter added.

It feels like this award will give people at NorthWestern Energy, and others, the confidence to be involved, and I want to be seen as someone who made a difference. I like the idea that Im moving hydropower forward as a resource for future generations, Sullivan said.

After graduating from the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation-University of Montana with a degree in outdoor recreation, Sullivan was hired by the Environmental Department at the Montana Power Co., where she held various positions, including coordinator of Land Use and Recreation, director of Environmental Permitting, and, ultimately, director of Hydro Relicensing for nine hydroelectric projects on the Missouri and Madison rivers. It was in this role that Sullivan fostered innovative stewardship solutions for the protection, mitigation, and enhancement of the river along its 525-mile route.

Sullivan transitioned into a new role as the director of Environmental Compliance, a position that demanded her expertise in auditing both safety and environmental function areas. From this role, Sullivan became director of Internal Audit, supervising a team of accounting personnel, before accepting a job with NorthWestern Energy as manager of the Environmental Department.
Even with no presidential or U.S. Senate race in Montana on the ballot Tuesday, enthusiasm for voting seems strong  at least in these parts.

People are on a mission, said Linda Sajor-Joyce, who oversees elections as clerk and recorder in Butte-Silver Bow County. The ones Ive talked to who come in, theyre saying, You know, its important I get my say.

The midterm election cycle has gotten intense attention nationally in this era of polarization, and spending on state and federal races is expected to break records and top $16.7 billion, according to the nonpartisan organization Open Secrets.

For years, there has always been at least one statewide race on the ballot in Montana. Thats because U.S. House members are elected every two years and for three decades, Montana had only had one seat.

But Montana gained a House seat following the 2020 Census so there are now two districts. In the eastern district, incumbent Republican Rep. Matt Rosendale faces Democrat Penny Ronning, Independent Gary Buchanan and Libertarian Sam Rankin.

In the western district, Democrat Monica Tranel, a Missoula attorney, faces Republican Ryan Zinke, a former congressman and secretary of the interior. Libertarian John Lamb, a farmer and business owner, is also on the ballot.

The new western district includes Butte, Deer Lodge, Dillon, Bozeman, Missoula, Browning, Libby, Hamilton, Kalispell and Polson.

At the statewide level, Montana has grown increasingly red. Republicans won every statewide office on the ballot in 2020 and increased their majorities in the Legislature. U.S. Sen. Jon Tester is the lone Democrat holding a statewide elected office in Montana.

But the new congressional district presents unknowns and Democrat strongholds remain, including in Butte-Silver Bow and Anaconda Deer-Lodge counties. They were among the seven Montana counties Joe Biden got in a state Donald Trump won by nearly 17 points in 2020.

In the Montana Legislature, Republicans control the Senate 31-19 and have a 67-33 majority in the House.

There are several contested legislative races in areas of southwest Montana that include Anaconda-Deer Lodge, Butte-Silver Bow, Beaverhead, Granite, Jefferson, Madison and Powell counties.

One race, for Senate District 39, opened up in late May when Democratic Sen. Mark Sweeney of Philipsburg died unexpectedly at the age of 62. He narrowly won the seat in 2020.

In a vote among commissioners from four counties that was weighted for population, Democrat Jessica Wicks of Anaconda was chosen to serve District 39 this summer and fall, but voters will decide Tuesday who holds the seat through 2024. Democrat Jesse Mullen, a businessman from Philipsburg, is running against Republican Terry Vermeire of Anaconda, a commissioner in Anaconda-Deer Lodge County.

In area Montana House races, Democrat Derek Harvey of Butte faces Republican James Kephart of Butte in House District 74 in a repeat of 2020. Harvey won easily then, getting 65% of the vote to 35% for Kephart.

Democratic state Rep. Donavon Hawk is seeking re-election in House District 76 and faces Republican Suzzann Nordwick.

Longtime Butte legislator Jim Keane, a Democrat, did not seek re-election in House District 73 and Democrat Art Noonan, a former legislator, was running to succeed him. But Noonan died in late September at age 70.

Local Democrats tapped Butte teacher Jennifer Lynch, the daughter of the late, renowned lawmaker J.D. Lynch, to be on the ballot in District 73 and she faces Republican Jason Freeman of Butte on Tuesday.

In House District 77, Democratic Rep. Sara Novak of Anaconda is seeking re-election and faces Republican John Fitzpatrick of Anaconda. Novak defeated Republican Heather Blom in 2020 but it was relatively close  53% to 47%.

In District 72, Republican Rep. Tom Welch of Dillon faces Democrat Holt Gibson on Tuesday.

Three Republican representatives in the region are unopposed: Ken Walsh of Twin Bridges in District 71, Marta Bertoglio of Clancy in District 75 and Gregory Frazer of Deer Lodge in District 78. Frazer flipped District 78 from blue to red in 2020.

At the county level, there are only a handful of contested races in Butte-Silver Bow and Anaconda-Deer Lodge counties  the only two city-county consolidated governments in Montana. They elect most of their countywide officials in presidential election years.

There are six Council of Commissioner seats on the ballot in Butte-Silver Bow but only two races are contested, both in districts that cover portions of Uptown Butte.

In District 10, Bill Andersen is seeking a fourth term and faces Brian McGregor. Tommy Walker and Nate Watson are vying for the District 11 seat that Cindi Shaw has held for 16 years. She did not seek a fifth term.

There is one countywide race in Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, that for justice of the peace. Kenneth L. Walund faces Kevin C. Morley for that post. The only other contested race is for District 4 commissioner, which pits Tom Gallagher against Paul Smith.

There are three contested sheriffs races in the region, including Jefferson and Madison counties where incumbents Craig Doolittle and Phil Fortner, respectively, did not seek re-election. The candidates in those races all work for their sheriffs departments.

In Jefferson County, Lt. Tom Grimsrud faces Capt. Chad Cross, who is also a detective in the department. In Madison County, deputies Chris Tenny and Duncan Hedges are on the ballot.

Three are running in Beaverhead County to replace retiring Sheriff Paul Craft. Republican David Wendt, a deputy with the department, faces Libertarian Jack Nicholas and Independent Chris Brozzell. Local races are partisan in largely Republican Beaverhead County.

There is another contested race in Jefferson County, where Dan Hagerty and Mary Jancaro Hensleigh are running for District 1 commissioner. Both live in Whitehall.

Besides sheriff, voters in Madison County will decide three other contested races. Ronald Nye and Heidi Woods square off for District 2 commissioner; Brian Conklin and Bill Todd are running for District 3 commissioner; and Marc Glines is seeking re-election as justice of the peace and faces Jordan Allhands.

In Granite County, Justice of the Peace Debbie Fratzke is running for another term and faces Jason Aaron.

Also in southwest Montana, there are countywide or municipal measures regarding marijuana in Beaverhead, Granite, Madison and Powell counties.

In Butte-Silver Bow, election officials expect turnout to at least be in the same range as the last midterm election in 2018, when 71 percent of the countys 22,931 registered voters cast ballots.

Sajor-Joyce said the county mailed out 13,470 absentee ballots on Oct. 14 and as of late this week, 7,624 had been filled out and returned via mail or drop-off. Thats a return rate of about 57 percent, but by Tuesday, she expects it to be closer to 62 percent.

But a lot of people will vote in person on Tuesday and Sajor-Joyce expects overall turnout to be about 70 percent, which is just about average for a midterm.

She does caution voters not to mail back ballots at this point and instead drop them off at the courthouse Monday or Tuesday or at the Butte Plaza Mall on Election Day Tuesday. Most in-person voting in the county on Tuesday will take place there.
Voters in two largely Democrat counties and two solid Republican counties will decide who will represent a large swath of southwest Montana in a state Senate race that wasnt supposed to be on the ballot this year.

The seat in Senate District 39 became available after the sudden passing of Democrat Mark Sweeney in May, whod held the seat since 2020.

Jesse Mullen, 38, a newspaper owner and manager, was chosen to run for the Democrats, and Terry Vermeire, 68, whos served on the Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Commission since 2012, was chosen to run for the Republicans.

Senate District 39 encompasses Granite County and parts of Powell, Butte-Silver Bow and Anaconda-Deer Lodge counties.

Vermeire said he was originally worried about being tarred and feathered in Anaconda because it, along with Butte, is a Democratic stronghold. However, he said hes gotten support from friends who are Democrats.

And theyre going on what Ive done for the community rather than what party Im affiliated to, Vermeire said.

Although they have fewer people, Granite and Powell counties both have strong Republican voter bases.

WHO ARE THEY?Mullen, of Deer Lodge, is the CEO of Mullen Newspaper Company, which he founded in 2019. A former journalist, his company owns several papers in Idaho, Nebraska, Colorado and Montana, including the Silver State Post in Deer Lodge and the Seeley Swan Pathfinder, which the company bought in August.

His brother and business partner, Lloyd Mullen, also owns the Port Townsend Leader in Washington.

It went from a small company with two full-time employees to having close to 100 employees in five different states. And a lot of those jobs go directly into our (Senate) district, Mullen said, adding that hes consolidated the companys accounting and graphic design department into the district.

Unlike his opponent, Mullen has never been elected to public office. However, he did reorganize and recreate the Powell County Democrats before Sweeney passed.

Democrats had a presence in Powell County for first time in more than 40 years, Mullen said.

Hes also said hes been involved in a variety of volunteer activities, including being president of the Philipsburg Rotary Club, being on the Discover Deer Lodge Board and some others.

He said that after Sweeney passed away, a few people approached him running for the Democrats. I looked at Senate as another opportunity to serve and do good work for our community, Mullen said.

Vermeire, an Anaconda resident, worked for the Montana Power Company for 25 years and owned his own graphic design firm, Vermeire Graphics, for 21 years before selling it last year.

Ive only lived here for 45 years, but I love this little part of our state, Vermeire said. Southwest Montana is the best place there is.

Vermeire points to his years long experience as an Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Commissioner as an example of what hed like to do for the district.

I think Ive got the knowledge, set of tools, and I know how to work with other people, Vermeire said. Governments move at a slow pace. I learned that in my first couple of years as a commissioner.

There are a lot of balls you got to keep moving at the same time or a project never gets done, never gets before the commission, never gets to the planning stage. Im detail-oriented, I know how to keep the balls rolling.

He said the commission has concentrated on paying off debts in the past six to seven years, making Anaconda-Deer Lodge County debt-free. He also said he played a key role in upgrading the countys sewer system, water mains and street lights.

MONTANA STATE HOSPITAL AND MONTANA STATE PRISON

Both candidates said their first priority is improving and protecting Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs and Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge.

They said the state should seek re-accreditation at the hospital and keep the facility open.

The hospital lost accreditation from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in April after federal officials found deficiencies in patient health and safety protocols that resulted in preventable patient death and injuries.

Vermeire thinks the root cause of the problem at the hospital is staffing.

One thing I brought up with some of the Senate majority leaders is wages, Vermeire said. Im quite aware of the wage problem, not just at those facilities but at almost every department at the state.

Although some have talked about moving or closing the prison or hospital, Mullen and Vermeire are against it.

That would be devastating to Deer Lodge, Vermeire said. Half of the employees out of the prison live in Butte and Anaconda, so the economic impact would be devastating to the whole district.

Mullen criticized officials like Gov. Greg Gianforte and Department of Corrections Director Brian Gootkin for posing for silly photo ops,  like in October when Gianforte visited the prison to announce its new coding program  while things at the prison continue to go downhill.

They completely eliminated or nearly eliminated mental health care, COs (correctional officers) are being attacked, former COs are suing and employees with 13 years out there are walking off the job, Mullen said. It takes 20 years to earn your pension and theyre quitting at 13 because theyre not willing to put up with the b-st out there, Mullen said.

He said he intends to fight like hell to get the Montana State Hospital re-accredited and improve the building, as well as improve workers conditions at the Montana State Prison.

With whats happening, its too important to not have somebody in Helena who can be a bulldog for our district, he said. We cant let a legislator in there who is going to sit back and do what the party tells him to do or is afraid to get up and be a little loud and advocate for our district, and I know I have ability to do those things.

OTHER ISSUES

Mullen opposes passing amendments that would change the state constitution. This, he said, includes the section of the constitution that protects citizens right to privacy, including medical privacy in women seeking abortion.

The GOP needs two more seats in the state Legislature to establish a supermajority that would allow it to pass constitutional amendment ballot referrals without any Democratic votes.

On his website, Mullen says women have a fundamental right to make their decision on their own without governmental violation.

Mullen also said he believes in what the Democratic Party stands for in terms of social services, support for workers and public access to public lands. He also said hes against at-will employment, which allows employers to fire employees without any reason as long as its not illegal.

This is a position he had before running for office that he said he thinks led to unions endorsing him, he said.

If elected, he said he would seek bipartisan legislation to end corporate monopolies in the meat-packing industry so local farmers and ranchers can be on an even playing field.

We have to provide incentive for ranchers, he said.

He said hes already talked about solutions with legislators on both sides of the aisle, and that theres a ton of bipartisan potential.

Mullen also believes strongly in transparency and what he calls a government that works in the light.

He said Sweeney inspired him to run for office and was a role model for government transparency. Mullen said that when he was a reporter, Sweeney always got back to his requests for comment within 24 hours, something that was rare for other politicians. He hopes to emulate this if elected.

Vermeire said one issue he thinks will be especially difficult to legislate is abortion. Vermeire considers himself a moderate and said although he personally leans toward being pro-life, with exceptions for minors, rape, incest and in cases where the mothers health is at risk, he wants to vote how his district wants him to.

He said hes been invited to dinner parties and spoke at one where there were 26 people. He said he asked people to raise their hands to signal who was pro-abortion rights and who was anti-abortion, and 24 of the 26 raised their hands for pro-abortion rights.

If elected, Vermeire said he wants to put a poll on his website asking constituents to weigh in on abortion to inform how he votes if and when the issue comes up.

Aside from the issues in the Montana State Hospital and Montana State Prison, Vermeire is big on economic development. He believes the surplus of Montanas budget, which is more than $1 billion, should not go to special projects in any particular part of the state.

Those are essentially taxpayers dollars, Vermeire said. So they should get relief on their property or income taxes. They should see or feel however that moneys used, and it should benefit all the tax payers.

He said hes familiar with the infrastructure challenges facing local and state government and would seek money for projects in the district, including in Philipsburg, Drummond and Deer Lodge.

Vermeire emphasized that he wants to invest in the district to not only benefit, but to incentivize kids to stay here when they become adults.

I want to see positive growth in the district and I want to help make that happen, not only for the district, but for the whole state by investing in the people that are already here, and businesses that are already here, so they can expand, prosper and create jobs, Vermeire said.
Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua on Saturday said that the country will provide new opportunities for the world with its new development, and promote the construction of an open world economy.



Since the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) came into effect, the Chinese government has taken a series of practical measures to fulfill its market opening commitments and obligations under the RCEP agreement, Hu said when addressing the Forum on RCEP and Higher-level Opening-up, which was held in Shanghai on Saturday.

China is ready to work with other member states to further upgrade the development of the RCEP, deepen regional cooperation on industrial and supply chains, align high-standard economic and trade rules, and strengthen regional connectivity, Hu said.

He also noted that the country is actively advancing its accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, carrying out negotiations on joining the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement, and signing free trade agreements with more willing trading partners.
WAPELLO  Eight separate proposed ordinance amendments passed their first readings by the Wapello City Council on Thursday. City Clerk/Maintenance Director Mike Delzell said the amendments were part of the citys regular re-codification that incorporates changes in state law into the local ordinance book.

According to the meeting agenda, the amendments made changes to city ordinances pertaining to alcoholic beverage control; interference with official acts; public disorder; low-speed electric bicycles and fully controlled-access facilities; abandoned vehicles; failure to assist; and peddlers, solicitors and transient merchants.

City officials only raised questions over two of the proposed amendments  abandoned vehicles and peddlers/solicitors/transient merchants. In both cases, the officials asked for clarification, which Delzell provided.

He said the proposed amendment to the abandoned vehicle ordinance would remove a publication requirement from the books. The peddlers/solicitors/transient merchant amendment apparently would incorporate new state rules that prevent local governments from regulating lemonade and other stands often operated by kids.

We didnt anyway, Mayor Shawn Maine pointed out after hearing Delzells explanation, explaining the citys original ordinance had been aimed at door-to-door solicitations, such as vacuum cleaner sales.

We still have all that in there, Delzell assured the council.

The council must still pass two additional readings of each amendment before they go into effect. However, the council could waive the third and final reading following approval of the second reading, which will likely be on the councils Nov. 17 meeting agenda.

In other action, the council again postponed a decision on vacating and selling a portion of platted-but-undeveloped Spring Street to an adjacent landowner.

Amber Buffington and Kevin Murphy had requested the action so they could construct a building. The council had initially delayed a decision until it could obtain an appraisal, which was recently completed by local realtor Duane Boysen.

According to council member Brett Shafer, the appraisal had determined the value of the full lot to be $4,200, although he indicated it could be higher because of nearby utility hookups.

Shafer said Buffington and Murphy did not need the full lot, so a pro-rated cost might be necessary. However, he suggested the city delay making a final decision until a permit is pulled that would confirm a building would be constructed on the site.

Buffington and Murphy, who attended the meeting, agreed; and Maine said the issue would now remain dormant until the building permit was pulled.

The council did agree to move forward with obtaining a proposal to cut down several trees in the city but will seek help from state forester Lisa Louck before making any decision on a group of seven cottonwoods in the North End Park.

Nearby residents have raised concerns about the health of those trees and the potential damage to homes and other private property if one or more of them fell.

Shafer told the council he wanted to seek Loucks advice on the potential to save some or all of the cottonwoods through pruning or other efforts before making a final decision on removing them.

The rest of the council agreed but decided to still seek bids on removing them, with the understanding the bids could be amended later if trimming became an option.

The council also agreed to purchase a Lucas device, a chest-compressing machine used for cardiac patients, for the citys backup ambulance from Stryker Medical, Chicago, IL., for $17,826.

Council member Tony Hammer also praised the citys response to the Oct. 30 Shelley Day/Walk the Block celebration, citing the effort his wife, Kara, and council member Sarah Chaney made in co-organizing the event.
WAPELLO  Louisa-Muscatine School District transportation officials and the Iowa State Patrol (ISP) have launched a public awareness and enforcement effort to reduce a noticeable rise in school bus warning device violations.

In a recent email, L-M Transportation Director Tyler Hinkhouse explained he had received a number of reported violations near the rural Letts school campus, with key hotspots on Iowa Highway 92, about one-half mile west of the U.S. Highway 61 overpass; Stewart Road in Muscatine County, between 57th Street and Fruitland Road; and 67 Avenue, between 57th Street and Fruitland Road.

This grouping of violations is the most Ive dealt with at one time for the district since 2013, Hinkhouse reported in his email.

Law enforcement has responded to the complaints by issuing citations. Although the exact number was not provided, a staff member at ISP Post #13 in Mount Pleasant agreed there had been multiple citations issued in the past two weeks.

Hinkhouse said the violations varied.

These are violations from the rear, vehicles overtaking the bus, with either the amber lights flashing or the red lights flashing with the stop arm extended, he said.

He said three violations were reported on Oct. 6, four on Oct. 21, two on Oct. 24, one on Oct. 25 and one on Oct. 28. There was also an incident on Oct. 26 that Hinkhouse highlighted in his email.

Wednesday, the 26th, a marked state patrol car was parked a few hundred feet south of the stop off the right shoulder. The bus approached the location and was getting ready to stop to unload a student. The trooper had entered the travel lane and a vehicle (that had moved into) the left (passing) lane drove right through with the amber lights flashing. The trooper stopped with the bus as the red lights flashed. As soon as the lights went off on the bus, the overhead lights on the patrol car went on, and they took off after the violating vehicle, Hinkhouse reported.

Although many drivers likely realize passing a stopped bus from either direction when its red lights are flashing and stop arm extended is illegal, both Hinkhouse and Trooper Jason Marlow, public resource officer-ISP, District 13, pointed out Iowa state law also prohibits passing or overtaking a school bus when the amber lights are active.

The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) webpage of school bus safety (https://iowadot.gov/schoolbus/highway-safety/requiredstopping) describes common scenarios that require stopping for school buses.

Hinkhouse wrote in his email that amber light violations appeared to be the most common offenses, especially for drivers who are following school buses.

However, apparently drivers receiving citations for this and other school bus passing infractions have been learning their lesson.

The Post 13 staffer indicated there did not appear to be many repeat violators, with both local and non-local drivers cited for violations.

Meanwhile, Marlow said Post 13 troopers would continue to monitor the situation, using both marked and unmarked patrol cars.

Every Trooper in District 13 (is) aware of this, he wrote in an email.
If you're up for some tranquil beauty and a bit of history, why don't you try a short hike on the mostly-shaded History Trail at Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park in St. Helena?

The park is named for Edward Turner Bale, who entered California from England in the 1830s and later married into General Mariano G. Vallejo's family, securing a land grant of four leagues in the Napa Valley.

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The Bales constructed a grist mill using water from Mill Creek where many locals congregated to learn the latest news and have their grains stone-ground at the same time. The park's little hike is approximately 1.1 miles and leads to the Pioneer Cemetery. It also connects you to Bothe-Napa Valley State Park.

As you begin to walk the History Trail, Mill Creek produces shimmering reflections of the blackberry, oak, alder and bay trees, which thrive there. Amongst the shadows along the creek a subaqueous gold tone prevails, while a breeze gently ruffles the surface like dappled nectar. A rhythmic murmur high in the canopy of trees mimics the creek sounds below.

A lovely spice bush was in evidence. Considered one of the showiest California native shrubs, it was laden with spice-scented red booms and plump flower buds waiting to open. Those searching for a bush that attracts pollinators need look no further, since it brings birds to its seeds and butterflies to its nectar. The elixir of Mill Creek's water, ever more precious in these perilous times, provides a peaceful entrance to the trail.

On this cool morning hike under the shade of Douglas fir, tan oak, madrone, maple and coast redwoods there were still wildflowers scattered along the path. Sticky monkey flowers stood out with their cheery orange-yellow hue. There were velvety yellow Mariposa lilies and blue-violet brodia.

Recognizing the soapy-clean scent of elderberry flowers, I kept my eye out for them, and sure enough, bunches of the flowers hung on branches of the plant, hich was, and still is today used for making the indigenous people's clapper sticks for music and ceremony.

The distinctive banana-shaped flowers of the buckeye tree were blooming above as well. They silently whispered their story from times past when the chestnut-colored seed, which comes later, was consumed much like the staple food acorn, by hulling, grinding, leaching prior to cooking.

Surprisingly, just ahead, as the trail turned dusty, dry and rock-strewn a silvery-grey damselfly glided then lit, again and again like a pixie tour-guide pointing the way with lacy wings. Next, a common buckeye butterfly performed the same task held by the damselfly! It repeatedly fluttered, then landed showing off its lovely markings before taking its leave.

Along with its prolific plant life, the History Trail is also a bird lover's paradise with many species in evidence. Great pileated woodpeckers were grub-hunting amongst the downed wood, which allowed for some fun bird watching. Omnivorous California quail were out foraging for seeds and spiders, while entertaining black and white nuthatches performed feats of daring as they traversed the trees upside-down.

Another perk of this short-but-sweet hike was my first sighting of a lazuli bunting! This brilliant blue songbird with patches of orange and white was busy foraging in the understory searching out seeds and bugs.

As the trail leads to the tiny pioneer cemetery, it's natural to spend some time reflecting on the past. Old headstones mark the long-ago here where the ground is scattered with white morning glories like angels. Some of the Tucker family who are well-known in this valley rest here. According to the Napa Valley Historical Society's Karen Burzdak and Research Librarian Kelly O'Connor, Reason and George Tucker, who were involved in the first rescue party of the Donners rest here.

If you are out and about on a weekend, the newly-refurbished historic mill is operating once again, and it's a sight to behold. Here is where you will witness up close and personal the Rube Goldbergesque-like features of the working mill and gain knowledge of a whole new vernacular of milling terms such as elevator, bolter and hopper to name but a few. You will also learn where some familiar old sayings originated, such as, "put your nose to the grindstone," "milling around," "back to the old grind" and more.

The mill was an essential gathering spot for settlers in the surrounding area during the mid to late 1800s. Corn, barley, oats and wheat were professionally ground into meal or flour via enormous quartzite French Buhr millstones. It worked then, as it does now, power-driven by the tremendous waterwheel and gears, which turned the top stone. The miller pours grain into a hopper, which is placed above the millstones when the turning action of the top stone grinds grain on the stationary bottom stone, known as a bedstone. Skilled millstone employees called dressers were needed to keep the ingrained cuts sharp on the 42-inch stones.

But before the pioneers arrived, the Napa Valley was home to around 1,000 Wappo people who lived and thrived in the area. According to the Napa County Historical Society, in order to gain an understanding of an even older grinding stone than that of the Bale Grist Mill there is a Wappo grinding stone near the old county courthouse at the corner of Third and Brown Streets. The indigenous people once relied upon mortar and pestles to grind seeds and acorns, however, the enormous Wappo Grinding Stone with its numerous grinding holes is unique in that it may have been a communal grinding stone in use for around 1,000 years.

The Bale Grist Mill History Trail has a lot to offer during a relatively short hike. Wear your sturdy hiking shoes and be ready to learn from the layers of history here on this distinguished trail with its flora, fauna and a past laden with both turbulence and romance that is now a California Historical Landmark.

The Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park, at 3369 St. Helena High North, is open on weekends and Monday holidays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Info, 707-963-2236.
Napa has become the latest city to begin celebrating Dia de los Muertos, paying tribute to traditional culture and folklore as much as the holiday honors the departed.

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Over five hours on Saturday, crowds braved rainy and cloudy weather to join the citys inaugural festival marking a holiday that largely originated in Mexico and honors the dead. Festivities at Veterans Memorial Park, Dwight Murray Plaza and Brown Street ranged from mariachi, Aztec ceremony and folklorico dance to poetry, painting and crafts.

Its about cultural awareness and understanding and acceptance, Katrina Gregory, city recreation manager, said about the effort to honor a Latino community that comprises 40% of Napas population.

The Dia de los Muertos altars known as ofrendas were much in evidence on Saturday  from a community altar at Dwight Murray Plaza where families were invited to bring items of their loved ones, to individual creations by Unidos Middle School displayed within the Avenue of Young Artists, a showcase on the Brown Street promenade that also featured community quilt making, story-time readings and other activities.

Downtown Napa becomes a daytime Halloween haunt On Saturday, a downtown known for fine food and wine became a Halloween-tinged hub for hundreds of kids  or the young at heart.

Students in the Napa Valley Unified School District had roles in adorning the Saturday celebration. In addition to the array of ofrendas, children from Willow Elementary and other campuses took part in creating papel picado, the art of cutting symbols into colorful paper, with the resulting work being displayed along with altars during Dia de los Muertos.

Napa scheduled its festival after the holidays traditional observance at the beginning of November to foster a higher community turnout on the weekend. Planners included members of the Napa school district and Napa Valley College, as well as First 5 Napa County, the Childrens Museum of Napa Valley, and residents who have organized previous local Dia de los Muertos celebrations.
Whitney Farris has been running a city of Napa vacation rental in a secluded area of Brown Street, about half a mile from downtown, since late 2019.

A Napa native, Farris also owns three other short-term rentals  a term which generally applies to properties rented for fewer than 30 days  in Bodega Bay, Mount Shasta and Phoenix. She personally manages the two North Bay units, and a management company handles the two others.

Her olive-green Napa rental is shaded by trees; the front door is several feet away from Brown Street and up seven steps from the sidewalk level. The rental includes a full kitchen, indoor and outdoor dining areas, three bedrooms and a sizable, spa-equipped backyard. An additional bedroom can be found in a backyard studio unit, and Farris provides her customers with electric bikes to get around Napa.

Farris said her customers tend to be older couples coming to Napa for special occasions, such birthdays that end in a 0." She also sees many groups of women who come to Napa to wine taste and roughly range in age from 30 to 65.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought some turbulence to Farris short-term rental business in 2020 and early 2021, she said. But that pandemic-caused gap in demand essentially ended in the summer of 2021. And now the vacationers have swarmed back.

Its just been nonstop busy, Farris said. Im booked out probably six months in advance.

That upsurge in demand for legal rentals comes with the high likelihood that the underground short-term rental market will increase as well. No municipality in the county  except Napa and St. Helena  has issued permits for such rentals, and they are banned in unincorporated areas. Enforcement is largely complaint-based, and work on the issue amounts to less than 20 hours per week across all the countys various government bodies.

City and county officials do attempt to track  with outside help  illegal units, and say the number appears to be well below 2019 levels. But the tracking is done via sites like Airbnb and Vrbo. It's still possible that if the owners of these units try to be somewhat subtle, they wont be tracked or, very possibly, found out.

Vacation rentals in Napa

In the 2019 Netflix comedy movie Wine Country, a group of six longtime friends decide to spend a weekend in the Napa Valley. They come to Napa to commemorate the 50th birthday of one of the lead characters. But they also have personal problems and various hijinks to work through while they go through stereotypical scenes of vacationing in Napa, involving wine, fancy food and roving around in scenic Napa Valley locations.

As such, pretty much the entire film is staged within the natural beauty of the various parts of the valley  there are scenes filmed on location in Calistoga and at three Napa wineries. But another prominent setting is the enormous vacation rental house where the friends stay. Indeed, the very first scene involves one of the main characters moving the trip forward by searching through an AirBnB-esque internet platform to find and rent the house.

In real life, the home in question is located in Los Angeles. But the movie version sits atop the rolling hills and sun-soaked vineyards of Napa County. It features a pool, a zen area with a Buddha statue, a gourmet kitchen, a fire pit and a very slow Wi-Fi connection so the characters are just gonna have to talk to each other, says the fictional owner, played by Tina Fey.

But if the house depicted in the film actually existed in Napa, running it as a short-term rental would likely be illegal. Thats because short-term rentals are banned in unincorporated Napa County, Calistoga and Yountville. Even in the city of Napa and St. Helena, where short-term rentals are technically allowed, only a few people are supposed to be able to stay in them.

The city of Napa, for example, only allows 41 non-hosted or whole house short-term vacation rentals and 60 hosted rentals  which means the owner needs to reside at the rental unit and sleep there while its being rented. St. Helena only permits 25 short-term rentals.

American Canyon hasnt permitted any short-term rentals, though theyre technically legal through a conditional use permit in two neighborhoods at the south-eastern side of the city.

Farris is one of the lucky few with one of the city of Napas 41 non-hosted rental permits, and she paid a high price for it to the previous owner. She bought the Brown Street home for $800,000, and paid an additional $400,000 to the owner to transfer the non-hosted permit over. The house was already being used as a short-term rental before Farris bought it, she said, so it came furnished, immediately ready for guests.

Linden Fowler, alternatively, holds one of the 60 hosted rental permits, which is attached to the home he was born and grew up in. He said he first tried out Airbnb in 2012 on a trip to Rio De Janeiro and had a great time. As a host, he enjoys meeting people who rent out his room, and he likes to share his hometown with his guests.

Ive world traveled and Ive realized how valuable it is to just be comfortable with other cultures, other languages, because there is a universal language, Fowler said. And thats just like, common respect and empathy. If you dont speak the same language, we can use a translation app, we can work on this together to figure it out. I think thats where a lot of my guests get comfort.

Legally permitted rentals are, however, generally the exception in Napa, where the quantity of illegal rentals has generally remained larger over the years.

Farris said she doesnt believe Napas governments do a good enough job policing the illegal rentals, though she doesnt believe theyve had a direct effect on her business because of the high demand. She added that shes worried about illegal rentals not receiving required inspections, and she generally believes short-term rentals should be at least somewhat limited because of the impact they may have on neighborhoods.

Fowler also said he thinks the unfortunate impact of the illegal short-term rental market is that it gives short-term rentals generally a bad reputation. Like Farris, he also worries about the lack of city inspections such illegal rentals receive.

Fowler and Farris also collect a 13% hotel room tax also paid by bed and breakfasts and hotels  known as the Transient Occupancy Tax  which illegal operators dont pay.

Im pro short-term rental, but they do have their place and it's not everywhere, Farris said. Personally, I wouldnt want one right next door to me. I totally get the pushback.

Napa County enforcement

Over three million tourists flock to the Napa Valley each year. And roughly one third of those visitors stay overnight, according to Visit Napa Valley.

Napas local hotel industry largely facilitates the high demand for overnight wine country tourism. A 2018 Visit Napa Valley report notes that the local tourism industry generated $2.23 billion that year, with nearly 70% of that total  $1.55 billion  coming from overnight hotel guests. That in turn raised $85 million in tax revenue for Napas local governments, the report says.

Vacation rentals, including illegal short-term rentals, also serve many tourists. In a 2019 response to a Napa County Civil Grand Jury report that told the city and county to do more to enforce their short-term rental ordinances, Napa city staff estimated there were approximately 200 illegal short-term rentals in operation within city limits, using a short-term rental monitoring software known as Host Compliance, now run by Granicus. Now, using that same software, the city generally sees less than half that amount flagged by the system.

The number of illegal short-term rentals in the unincorporated areas of Napa County has also dropped considerably over the past three years, according to county data.

A county consultant estimated there were 450 illegal short-term rentals operating in the unincorporated county in 2019. David Morrison, Napa Countys interim CEO, who served as planning director at the time, said in a July email that the county was aware of 129 illegal short-term rental units that were operating in June. By Sept. 5, that number had dropped to 111, according to David Giudice, the countys code compliance manager.

As one part of the response to the grand jury report, Napa County switched to using the Host Compliance monitoring software in late 2019.

In terms of the drop in the number of known short-term rentals, I think there are several factors, Morrison wrote in an email. Certainly, more active enforcement is one contributor. The pandemic has certainly affected lodging and visitation throughout the region. I also suspect that because the County monitors on-line advertising of short-term rentals, that some short-term rental operators have gone underground. Rather than advertising on the Internet, they may be advertising in other media and/or relying on word-of-mouth, which would make it harder for us to track them.

With few statewide guidelines or rules, cities and counties have also largely been left to regulate the short-term rental market. Because the rules are local, so is enforcement.

Actual enforcement of illegal short-term rentals falls to code compliance officers strapped with several other duties. The 2019 grand jury report noted the county had six full-time code compliance officers responsible for covering roughly 8,000 parcels spread over more than 750 square miles, according to the report. And the city of Napa had three similar staff members.

Compliance staff also works on unpermitted construction, fire vegetation enforcement, substandard housing, illegal grading and vegetation removal, land use and permit compliance, nuisance complaints, and many other investigations, Morrison noted in an email.

Both the city and the county now pay for the Host Compliance service  the city pays about $16,000 annually, while the county pays about $22,000  to track advertising of short-term rentals, send out warnings and alert code enforcement of repeat offenders for further action, which Morrison said cuts down on the workload.

Host Compliance monitors over 70 short-term rental platforms on an on-going basis, said a Host Compliance spokesperson in an email. Properties who remove and repost their listing are captured. Screenshots are captured of the listing and are taken at random times in order to capture evenings, weekends, etc. All properties that have been advertised at some point in time are documented and retained in a master dataset of every short-term rental property regardless of their active/inactive status.

Morrison estimated that only 0.1 of a full-time employee is dedicated to short-term rental enforcement. That means that approximately four hours is spent, per week, on the task.

Vin Smith, the city of Napas community development director, said two code enforcement officers who previously monitored illegal short-term rentals for the city of Napa retired during the pandemic, which means the city lost some enforcement ability. He estimated that, across four employees, the equivalent to about 25% of a full-time employee  or 10 hours per week  is assigned to monitoring the citys short-term rental program.

In St. Helena, senior planner Aaron Hecock is the sole staff person who monitors short-term rentals in the city. He said St. Helena basically deals with illegal rentals on a complaint-driven process, given that they dont have a dedicated code enforcement office, but he hasnt had any problems with short-term rentals in a while.

We really dont get that many in the city limits, Hecock said. Everybody pays attention to what their neighbors are doing, so we hear about it.

With the reemergence of tourism, he said he expects those complaints will pick back up relatively soon. But hes hoping high profile lawsuits that have been pursued in Napa will encourage people to not run such illegal businesses.

We've had six figure settlements with folks, Hecock said. We really hope that acts as a deterrent.

Napa Mayor Scott Sedgley said the Napa City Council has often tried to find a difficult balance between allowing short-term rentals to exist as a legitimate business and option for tourists, but not to the extent where the quantity significantly impacts the quality of life for local residents.

In some ways it's a good problem to have, when people want to come and stay in your community and enjoy what you have to offer with the hospitality side, the recreational side, biking and hiking and all those things, Sedgley said. Were fortunate that we have the problem that people want to come to Napa. But how do we manage it is the question. We cant let it get so burdensome that the quality of life is just lost because it's totally a transient population.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.
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Scholz says Germany will allocate another 10 million to ensure grain supplies from Ukraine

Azerbaijan opens fire on Armenian border positions

Parapolitika: U.S. drone base is being set up near the Greek city of Larissa

Belgium to send to Ukraine 100 instructors who fought in Afghanistan

U.S. household spending up $433 for the year
The Pentagon has sent NASAMS air defense systems to Ukraine.

The United States sent eight NASAMS (Norwegian Advanced Surface to Air Missile System) anti-aircraft missile systems (SAMs) to Ukraine, which can be delivered in the near future, said Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plum, TASS reported.

As a Pentagon spokesman clarified, about eight systems are on the way. I dont know exactly where they are in the supply chain right now, but they are on their way. And I think thats important, Plum said.

He believes that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) will face serious problems in the implementation of anti-missile systems on its territory. Plum pointed to the lack of an anti-missile shield in Ukraine.

One of the problems Ukraine faces is that it will not be able to provide comprehensive protection. You cannot have a shield. And if you had 10 or 20 or 30 systems, where would they go? What will you protect? he added.
Inside an exhibit booth of about 20 square meters, people stopped at handmade Afghan carpets and rugs, admiring the unique design, softness and natural dyes that had made the crafts among the finest in the world for centuries.

"One large carpet usually takes a family six to nine months to weave and these beautiful and durable carpets show the heritage of craftsmanship passed down through generations of families in Afghanistan," said Ali Faiz, a 28-year-old merchant who participated in the China International Import Expo (CIIE) for the third time.

Carpets used to be among Afghanistan's most important trade and export goods. But the industry is declining due to decades of conflicts and Western sanctions. When Faiz brought the carpets to the Chinese market, he also took with him the hope of people in the war-torn country.

Since it was launched in 2018, the CIIE has been carrying the hopes of people, both in China and the other countries, to advance shared prosperity and progress through international trade and business cooperation.

And this global fair has turned Faiz's dream for a better life into reality.

A MARKET FOR THE WORLD

Through the CIIE, Faiz has received orders for over 2,000 carpets, which he said have brought a year's worth of income to more than 2,000 Afghan families. Thirty-eight-year-old Boston Barati's family is one of them.

Growing up in a slum on the outskirts of the Afghan capital Kabul, Barati learned carpet weaving when he was a child and never thought he could own a workshop before his carpets were sold to China.

Walking through a courtyard in Kabul packed with wool threads, several weavers were busy knotting yarn around the warp which made the base of a carpet before they used dyed yarn as a pile to create the carpet's design. Barati was sitting next to them, drawing carpet patterns with a computer.

"My life was changed after I started exporting the products to China," Barati said. "I built this house and bought a new car thanks to our successful business in China."

Faiz and Barati were not the only ones to seize the moment for a changed future. Since the debut of the CIIE, China has been encouraging and assisting companies from the least developed countries to join the expo to seize opportunities presented by China's development.

At the ongoing exhibition, from Afghan handicrafts to Rwandan coffee, from the cutting-edge medical instruments designed in Silicon Valley to giant mining equipment in Brazil, enterprises across the globe are exploring the opportunities in China, the second largest economy in the world, to grow their international businesses.

The CIIE has become a showcase of China's new development paradigm, a platform for high-standard opening-up, and a public good for the whole world, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday when addressing the opening ceremony of the fifth CIIE via video.

"The most important thing about the Chinese economy is that it's predictable," said Khairy Tourk, a professor of economics at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. "It is enjoying a steady and positive growth, a stable currency, and a financially strong foundation. That's why China is a very attractive country to invest in."

A MARKET SHARED BY ALL

Since its first edition, the CIIE has demonstrated China's commitment to high-level opening-up and widening market access to the rest of the world, contributing to global growth with the country's high-quality development.

"The CIIE is bringing the best of innovation from the world to China, but also showcasing the best of innovation of China to the world," said Fabrice Megarbane, L'Oreal North Asia Zone president and chief executive officer of L'Oreal China.

Five years on, China has been forging ahead towards shared growth with all partners having the same vision. Eyeing China's huge and more open market, comprehensive industrial system, and ever-improving business environment, many foreign-funded businesses are doubling down on their investments in the country.

Conducting business in China for 65 years, ZEISS, the world's leading enterprise of optical and optoelectronics technology, has a strong and firm mission for the future in China, the company's largest single market.

Last month it launched a 25-million-U.S.-dollar project in Suzhou city, a manufacturing hub in southeastern China, aiming to provide localized research and development and manufacturing services for all business segments of ZEISS. The company said the new project would empower it to offer better solutions and innovations to its global market.

The global crisis, trade problems and the COVID-19 pandemic haven't softened the company's business in China, said Maximilian Foerst, president and CEO of ZEISS Greater China.

The Chinese market is "becoming larger and larger every single year, which means that (the market in) China is growing faster than the rest of ZEISS," Foerst added.

Many transnational corporations share similar views on the prospects of China's development. According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, foreign direct investment in the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 18.9 percent year on year to 155.3 billion dollars in the first three quarters of 2022.

By amplifying the interplay between domestic and international markets and resources, China will work with all countries and parties to share the opportunities in its vast market on its journey toward realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.

"We will step up efforts to cultivate a robust domestic market, upgrade trade in goods, develop new mechanisms for trade in services, and import more quality products," Xi said.

A MARKET ACCESSIBLE TO ALL

For ZEISS, the rapidly growing industry of new energy vehicles in China has become the company's new source of growth in the future. It has been building up teams to focus on x-ray technologies for new energy vehicles, particularly batteries.

"Why are we doing it in China? Because I'm pretty sure China is the largest single market of new energy vehicles," Foerst said, adding that "the products we develop here will go into the factories the Chinese companies are building up in Europe, the U.S., and the rest of the world."

For years, China has been striving to create a more favorable environment and easier access for foreign companies to tap the potential of the Chinese market. As a result, more transnational companies such as Volkswagen have decided to expand their business in China.

This year, a total of 145 nations, regions and international organizations, and enterprises from 127 nations and regions will participate in the week-long CIIE that kicked off on Saturday.

"I think there are no other ones in the world which are able to bring so many industries, so many country representatives and have this dialogue that allows us really to look at opportunities," Megarbane said.

After 25 years of development, L'Oreal has made China its second biggest market in the world. "We still see a lot of potential and opportunities," Megarbane added. "That's the sense of our investment."

Among the participants at the CIIE, Japanese companies are expecting to increase their exports to China as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership that took effect on Jan. 1 has substantially reduced taxes.

Meanwhile, the world's largest free trade agreement also encouraged more companies from Singapore, New Zealand and other regional countries to explore the Chinese market. And close connectivity, such as the China-Laos railway, has put trade on a fast track.

In September, the first freight train carrying containers from Kashgar city in China's Xinjiang arrived in the border town of Hairatan in Afghanistan.

"It is a milestone and a positive step towards boosting trade and economic relations between Afghanistan and the neighboring countries," said the local governor, Qudratullah Abu Hamza.

"Opening up is going to benefit China a lot, and it is also important in terms of South-South cooperation, where African countries, Latin American countries and Southeast Asian countries can have more access to China," said Costantinos Bt. Costantinos, a professor of public policy at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia.

After the operation of the freight train service, Faiz would not have to ship his carpets all the way to Shanghai via Istanbul in the future. Moreover, his dream and the dreams of the people in Afghanistan will be more closely connected with the aspirations of the Chinese people.

As Xi has said, "the Chinese Dream is after all a dream of the people." It can be fulfilled only when it is linked with the people's yearning for a better life.
A high-ranking Turkmen official spoke again this week about the prospects of exporting gas directly to European markets via the Trans-Caspian pipeline, but with a lack of enthusiasm that probably should have worried Brussels, Eurasianet reported.

Speaking at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, or ADIPEC, Shahim Abdrakhmanov, deputy prime minister in charge of oil and gas, said the idea of building the TPC is not off the table.

Turkmenistan supplies energy through major gas export pipelines to the north, which is Russia, to the east, which is China, and also Iran. And now we are building the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) gas pipeline. The implementation of the TAPI will relieve pressure from the Asian markets, and the released volumes can be redirected to the European market," Abdrakhmanov was quoted as saying by RIA-Novosti.

Another priority, according to the deputy prime minister of Turkmenistan, is the development of domestic energy infrastructure, such as the 800-kilometer East-West gas pipeline linking all of the country's gas fields, which is now under construction.

Last week, there were more encouraging words from Batyr Amanov, chairman of the state gas company Turkmengaz, who spoke of hopes for exports to Europe.

Turkmenistan is a reliable gas exporter and a key player on the global energy scene, and it has great prospects for natural gas supplies toward Europe, he said at an oil and gas conference in Ashgabat. However, the remarks were evasive.

In a somewhat unexpected way, Turkmenistan is finding that it has gas consumers, albeit buying modest quantities, among its closest neighbors. During his visit to Ashgabat last month, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev made it clear that he would like to start importing Turkmen gas. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said earlier in October, when Turkmen President Serdar Berdymukhamedov was visiting Astana, that his country is interested in reaching a long-term agreement to import 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas a year from Turkmenistan

Kyrgyz Energy Minister Taalaibek Ibraev said his government is in talks with Turkmenistan to buy 350 billion cubic meters of gas and 2 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in addition.

This is more than a little disconcerting because Ibraev said in April that a June 2021 deal to import 270 million cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan fell through because it was deemed "economically unprofitable." It is possible that now something similar to what happened last time will happen again: the gas will be transferred to Uzbekistan, which will then compensate Kyrgyzstan with a financially equivalent amount of electricity, which is already the biggest concern for Bishkek. But this is pure speculation.

Berdymukhamedov signed a decree Oct. 28 authorizing increased electricity supplies to Uzbekistan. Turkmen state media reports did not mention the volume or amount of money, but an Uzbek presidential spokesman said last month that Tashkent expects to purchase 4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity from Turkmenistan.

Afghanistan and Iran are other countries that currently buy electricity from Turkmenistan.

Even though the issue of the Trans-Caspian pipeline may be somewhat hidden, it does not mean that there is not some activity around the energy potential of the sea. Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan are reportedly actively discussing the possibility of involving the Russian energy giant LUKOIL in joint exploration of an underwater hydrocarbon field that was once a source of contention between them.

It became something of a major breakthrough in early 2021, when Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan finally, after decades of low-level hostility, gave up their exclusive claims to the field, known variously as Dostlug (Druzhba), and decided to act together.

Speaking at the Eurasian Economic Forum in Verona on Oct. 28, Azerbaijani Deputy Energy Minister Elnur Soltanov made it clear that LUKOIL could indeed take the initiative to develop the field.

Azerbaijan is preparing for closer cooperation with Turkmenistan in other areas. The Russian news agency Voice of the CIS reported on October 27 that Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR is ready to open an office in Ashgabat.

This news was reported by Emin Alekperov, deputy head of the SOCAR Science and Technology Department, who intriguingly answered the question of the "Voice of the CIS" about the prospects of the Trans-Caspian pipeline.
Authorities in Kyiv have begun planning the evacuation of about three million of the city's remaining residents in the event of a total power outage, the NYT reported.

"40 percent of Ukraine's energy infrastructure is damaged or destroyed, with municipal workers building 1,000 heating shelters to use as bunkers while engineers try to fix bombed-out power plants without the necessary equipment.

To try to prevent a total grid failure, Ukraine's national energy company said Saturday that it would continue to impose rolling blackouts in seven regions.

The damage has forced officials to consider the possibility that further damage could make them unable to provide basic services.

We understand that if Russia continues such attacks, we could lose our entire electricity system," said Roman Tkachuk, director of security for the Kiev city administration.



Kyiv officials have been told that they will likely receive at least 12 hours' notice that the grid is on the verge of failure. If it comes to that, Tkachuk said, "we will start informing people and asking them to leave."

At least for now, the situation is manageable, and there are no signs that large numbers of civilians are leaving Kyiv, he said.



"If there is no electricity, there will be no water and no sewage," he said. "Therefore, the government and the city administration are currently taking all possible measures to protect the electricity system."
Australia beat Fiji in nailbiter to win HK Sevens

Australia celebrate their win in the Hong Kong Sevens final against Fiji. Photo: AFP
During a live broadcast about crime and insecurity, a parrot amusingly sat on a TV reporter's shoulder before stealing his earpiece and flying off with it. While journalist Nicolas Krumm was live on air addressing the increase in robberies, a parrot came near his shoulder and surprised him by removing his earpiece. The amusing incident was caught on camera, and it demonstrates that Nicolas Krumm was live-broadcasting about robberies and security in Santiago de Chile when destiny intended for him to get a surprise visitor. The parrot was sitting on the journalist's shoulder when the footage was shot, and the journalist immediately began signalling the cameraman. The bird abruptly took two steps to his right and removed the ear pod, which happened with incredible speed. https://twitter.com/Jaynes__World/status/1588840347278639105 Many people are raving about the clip on the internet, and it may have been among the funniest things to ever happen live on television. The video is being widely shared on all major social media platforms globally, despite the fact that it is in Spanish. (ANI)
Every human faces challenges on a daily basis and the king of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan is no different. Be it his life problems or be it his relationship with his family, Baadshah of Bollywood opened up on several key points inch by inch. During an #AskSRK session on Twitter, a fan questioned the 'Chak De India' actor, "Hope you're doing good ShahRukh Sir. #AskSRK All the way from United States, what motivates you to overcome the problems you've faced so far and be like a Baadsha (KING). Pathan please respond." The actor responded, "One has to believe that good will always outweigh the bad..." During the 15 minutes, #AskSRK session the 'Don' actor answered several questions about his career and his family. Another fan asked him about his younger son AbRam, "How's Abram, what does he think of your stardom post your birthday?" 'Pathaan' actor replied, "He is a kindly child and feels happy so many people come to say hello to his dad..." Another fan questioned SRK about his on-screen collaboration with south actor Vijay, "@iamsrk sir whenever we see your photo with @actorvijay sir, we feel that you both share a great respect for each other. #AskSRK when we can expect a Vijay-SRK combo and your thoughts on actor vijay." To which he replied, "He is really cool guy...films happen when they happen so...if they have to they will." A user asked him one word for actor Salman Khan to which he responded, "Awesome and very kind ( sorry two words) but bhai hai na." SRK's charismatic personality radiates in the massive fan following. The superstar has given the audience memorable films like 'Baazigar', 'Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na', 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge', 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai', 'Kal Ho Naa Ho', 'Veer Zara', and many more. Meanwhile, on the work front, he will be next seen in director Siddharth Anand's upcoming action thriller film 'Pathaan' alongside Deepika Padukone and John Abraham. The film is all set to hit the theatres on January 25, 2023, in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. Recently, on his birthday, SRK unveiled the teaser of 'Pathaan', which received massive audience responses. Apart from that, he also has Rajkumar Hirani's upcoming film 'Dunki' alongside Taapsee Pannu and south director Atlee's upcoming action thriller film 'Jawan' opposite south actor Nayanthara, which is all set to hit the theatres on June 2, 2023, in his kitty. (ANI)
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday called for strengthening cooperation on wetlands conservation and scaling up wetlands action across the world.

He made the remarks while delivering a speech via video at the opening ceremony of the 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP14).

In his speech, Xi noted that it is important to build global consensus on prizing wetlands, show respect for nature, minimize disruption and damage caused by human activities, and protect the ecological security of wetlands in order to leave the beautiful wetlands to future generations.

"It is important that we advance the global process on wetlands conservation, redouble efforts to preserve authenticity and integrity, include more important wetlands in nature reserves, improve cooperation mechanisms and platforms, and increase the coverage of wetlands of international importance," Xi said.

He also called for enhancing people's well-being globally by leveraging the role of wetlands in promoting sustainable development, tackling climate change, protecting biodiversity, and delivering more benefits to people around the world.

Historic achievements have been made in wetlands conservation in China. The country has increased the area of wetlands to 56.35 million hectares, put in place a protection system and enacted a Wetlands Conservation Law, according to Xi.

The president further noted that China will pursue a modernization of harmony between humanity and nature, and promote high-quality development in the wetlands conservation cause.

China has recently drawn up a layout plan of national parks. Under the plan, China will designate a number of national parks, accounting for about 10 percent of the country's land area. About 11 million hectares of wetlands will be incorporated in the national park system, with a focus on developing wetland national parks including the Three-River-Source National Park, the Qinghai Lake National Park, the Ruoergai National Park, the Yellow River Estuary National Park, the Liao River Estuary National Park and the Songnen Plain Crane Homeland National Park.

A national wetlands conservation plan and major conservation projects will be implemented, Xi added.

China will promote international exchanges and cooperation to protect the four bird migration routes passing China and to build an international mangrove center in Shenzhen, Xi said, adding that China supports the convening of a conference of the World Coastal Forum.

"Let us join hands to write a new chapter in global wetlands conservation," said the Chinese president.

Themed "Wetlands Action for People and Nature," the COP14 is scheduled to run from Nov. 5 to 13 in China's Wuhan and Switzerland's Geneva.
Hollywood actor Winston Duke, is all set to collaborate with actor Ryan Gosling in the upcoming action thriller film 'The Fall Guy', Universal's big-screen take on the 1980s adventure television series. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the action movie, which also features Emily Blunt, is being directed by Bullet Train's David Leitch. The production of the film began this week in Australia. "Unlike the original 1980s show that starred Lee Majors, the story doesn't focus on a stuntman with a side hustle as a bounty hunter. Instead, the script by Drew Pearce focuses on a battered and past-his-prime stuntman (Gosling) who finds himself back on a movie with the star for whom he doubled long ago and who replaced him. The wrinkle, however, is that the star has gone missing," The Hollywood Reporter reported. Duke is all set to portray the role of the stuntman's best friend and the film is all set to premiere on October 6, 2023. As per reports by The Hollywood Reporter, Gosling plays a wounded and past-his-prime stuntman who finds himself back in a movie with the actor he worked with long ago and who replaced him. The feature film is doing away with the side gig but preserving the name and stunts. The star is no longer there, which is the issue, the reports added. Meanwhile, Duke will be also seen in Marvel's Wakanda Forever' which is all set to hit the theatres on November 11, 2022. (ANI)
In the weeks before Queen Elizabeth's death, the late monarch had found a new pal in Hollywood star Tom Cruise, suggests a new report. According to Page Six, she and the 'Top Gun' actor "really hit it off" over the summer, a source told a British media outlet. The Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations that marked her 70th anniversary on the throne had been attended by Cruise; however, the ailing royal was unable to meet the 'Mission Impossible' star as she suffering from mobility issues. "The Queen let it be known that she was really disappointed not to have met Tom at the pageant, so he was invited to have a special tour of Windsor Castle with everything laid on for him. Afterwards, just the two of them had tea together," the source said, reported Page Six. The visit was a success, with Cruise given the chance to fire a ceremonial gun. "She loved seeing him and they really hit it off, so much so that she invited him back for lunch. He was even allowed to fly in by helicopter," the source added. This newly-formed friendship could have continued with a lunch date, but it could not as Elizabeth died on September 8 at the age of 96, before they could reunite. Cruise had spoken of his admiration for the Queen during a television interview that happened before the Platinum Jubilee's Gallop Through History equine pageant in May. "She's just a woman that I greatly admire. I think she is someone who has tremendous dignity and I admire her devotion. What she has accomplished has been historic," he said at the time, as per Page Six. (ANI)
According to Deadline, the iconic comedian will return to 30 Rock next Saturday, being joined in his third go-round by musical guest Black Star.

Chappelle's show will be the first hosted in the wake of the 2022 midterm elections in the USA, and it certainly won't be the first show of the sort the comic has hosted.

He last took upon the hosting duty on 'SNL' in November 2020, just a matter of days following Joe Biden's victory in the Presidential election over Donald Trump.

For that show, the comic was joined by musical guest Foo Fighters, having also hosted back on November 12, 2016 -- which marked the first show since Trump's election triumph, reported Deadline.

Chappelle's 'SNL' return is sure to be watched closely given the controversy he's courted in recent years, particularly with jokes aimed at the trans community.

He stirred massive controversy in 2021 with his Netflix special 'The Closer', which included homophobic and transphobic comments that stirred anger within Netflix.

At the time, Netflix's co-CEO and chief content officer, Ted Sarandos defended Chappelle's right to wade into the incendiary territory but he wound up apologizing to Netflix employees for the tenor of his initial comments after employees expressed outrage.

As per Deadline, Chappelle's upcoming return to 'SNL' was announced on the last episode hosted by comedian Amy Schumer, who is likewise on her third outing as host. (ANI)
Negi, who was 106 years old, passed away in the early hours of Saturday.

The CEC met bereaved family members and expressed his grief. He also offered floral tributes and said Negi had deep belief in democracy and always insisted the generations to exercise their voting rights for a strong governance.

He said the true tribute to the departed soul would be to follow his appeals and the people of Himachal Pradesh should come out to vote in large numbers on November 12 for the assembly elections.

The CEC said Negi will always be remembered for his contribution as an election icon and a motivator.

His commitment for voting could be seen that even before his demise, he opted to vote through postal ballot as he was not feeling well for quite some time.

Chief Secretary R.D. Dhiman and Chief Electoral Officer Maneesh Garg also paid homage to him.

--IANS vg/pgh

( 216 Words)

2022-11-05-21:40:05 (IANS)
The 10th anniversary of the International Buddhist Confederation was celebrated at Samrat Hotel in Delhi on Saturday. The officials and members of this Confederation from home and abroad took part in the event. Deputy Secretary General of International Buddhist Confederation, Dhmand Porge, who came here from Sri Lanka, said "This Confederation is very old, it has been celebrating its anniversary for many years. The message of peace is to be given to the whole world and we have got Buddhism from India as a gift." The International Buddhist Confederation in Delhi is the largest religious Buddhist Confederation in India. The architect of the International Buddhist Confederation is Lama Lobzang. This Confederation is named as the first organisation that unites Buddhists from all over the world. As many as 300 Buddhist organisations are working with the Confederation and about 40 countries are working with this Confederation. --IANS moin/uk ( 160 Words) 2022-11-05-22:02:02 (IANS)
The Traffic police department thanks the Telangana government for providing hi-tech patrolling vehicles like Innova Crysta cars and bikes.

Saikanth, working as a Sub-inspector (SI) in traffic police presently posted in Asif Nagar, since 2014 said, "The Director-General of Police (DGP) Mahender Reddy provided him two-wheeler vehicle. It is very easy to discharge our duties in the area. For 30 km, the government is providing petrol allowances. We are very thankful to the DGP, the Commissioner of police and the Telangana government."

Ram Prasad, Inspector of Asif Nagar Police Station also thanked the Telangana government for providing Innova Crysta.

"The Telangana government gave Innova first and afterwards they gave Innova Crysta. The government also provides diesel allowances. 150 litres of diesel given by the government is used for piloting, traffic clearance, for patrolling in the area. Thanks to the Telangana government for giving Innova Crysta," said Prasad.

The new vehicles make it very easy to discharge their duties. (ANI)
Just a day after the West Bengal government moved the Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court's decision directing the state government to pay dearness allowance (DA) arrears to state government employees within three months, the deadline for which has already expired, a senior member of the state Cabinet on Saturday made an attempt to pacify the affected staff. "Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has never said that DA arrears will not be paid to the state government employees. It will be paid at the right time. The Chief Minister is trying her best to improve the living condition of the backward people of the state, for which she has introduced various projects. That is why the process of DA arrear payment is getting delayed," state Parliamentary Affairs and Agriculture Minister, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, said on the floor of the Assembly. His statement came just a day after the state government moved to the apex court in this matter. The state government has also submitted an affidavit in the Calcutta High Court, stating that paying DA arrears right now as per the court's direction might lead to a financial disaster. Chattopadhyay on Saturday also said that the state government employees, despite not being paid DA arrears, can affor meals two times a day for their families. "But the Chief Minister's development projects are aimed at helping those who cannot afford two square meals a day. Even Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen spoke of direct cash transfer to the poor, and our Chief Minister is trying to do exactly that. Hence, the payment of DA arrears is getting delayed," Chattopadhyay said. Veteran Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharya said that it is good that at least the state government has admitted the poor health of the state exchequer. "In that case, what is the justification of paying large sums to Durga Puja committees," Bhattacharya questioned. --IANS src/arm ( 328 Words) 2022-11-05-22:34:01 (IANS)
Co-founder and former CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, issued an apology on Saturday to those who were working at present and had been laid off since Elon Musk's takeover of the microblogging site. In the midst of the massive layoffs at the San Francisco-based social media behemoth, Dorsey asserted that he was to blame for everyone's present situation and that he was aware that many people were 'angry' with him. He expressed regret for growing the "company too quickly." "Folks at Twitter past and present are strong and resilient. They will always find a way no matter how difficult the moment is. I realize many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologize for that," he wrote on Twitter. https://twitter.com/jack/status/1588913276980633600 While expressing his gratitude and love for every individual who has ever worked for Twitter, he added that he did not anticipate that sentiment to ever be reciprocated. "I am grateful for, and love, everyone who has ever worked on Twitter. I don't expect that to be mutual in this moment...or ever...and I understand." As per the reports of the New York Post, Dorsey one of four co-founders of Twitter stepped down as CEO a year ago this month. Dorsey created a social media business called Bluesky, a new kind of decentralised network that claims to give users and developers greater power, just a little over a week after his fellow billionaire Elon Musk purchased Twitter for an estimated $44 billion and started firing half the workforce. According to New York Post, Dorsey, who also founded the monetary-payment company Block, chose to roll over his $1 billion stake, or 18 million shares, in Twitter rather than cashing out. Elon Musk started laying off Twitter employees on Friday. As per an unsigned internal memo seen by The Verge, Twitter employees were notified in the email that the layoffs were set to begin. Musk is expected to cut roughly half of Twitter's roughly 7,500-person workforce. The layoff came a week after Musk became the Twitter owner. (ANI) Washington [US], November 6
Khan is the in-charge of the Yatra in Nanded and the procession being led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will enter Maharashtra border on Monday (November 7) here.

As Khan's SUV was approaching the Bhiloli toll plaza in Nanded, a speeding vehicle suddenly crashed into it, said Khan.

"The impact of the collision was so powerful that the entire front frame of my SUV was damaged. My driver sustained injuries and I have also been hurt in my right leg," said Khan.

Local residents rushed to the spot and helped Khan and other passengers with first aid kits, and later took them to a hospital for check up.

A Congress party worker of Bhiloli has filed a police complaint at Bhiloli Traffic Police Station demanding action against the other car driver for rash driving.

Senior AICC leader H.K. Patil, former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, Maharashtra PCC President Nana Patole, former cabinet minister Balasaheb Thorat and others called Khan to enquire after his health and wished him a safe journey to Nanded.

Khan becomes the second senior state Congress functionary to be temporarily grounded in the past 3 days.

Earlier on Tuesday evening, veteran leader and ex-minister Nitin Raut was roughly pushed by a police officer in Hyderabad and he collapsed on the ground.

He sustained a hairline fracture and injuries above his right eye and was admitted to a local hospital.

Both Khan and Raut have said that despite the injuries, they will join Rahul Gandhi's BJY in the state with thousands of other supporters from Monday.

--IANS qn/pgh

( 306 Words)

2022-11-05-23:22:02 (IANS)
The 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP14) kicked off Saturday in China's Wuhan and Switzerland's Geneva.



It is the first time the conference is held in China, as the world's most populous nation highlights the harmony between humanity and nature while pushing for modernization.

The meeting, scheduled to run from Nov. 5 to 13, will take place both physically and online, with its main venue in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, and a parallel session running in Geneva, Switzerland.

More than 1,000 delegates from contracting parties and international organizations will attend the meeting, which will discuss the future development of the convention, said Meng Xianlin, director of the meeting's executive committee office.

The agenda also includes updating the list of wetland cities and establishing the International Mangrove Center in China.

The Ramsar Convention, named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the convention was signed in 1971, is an intergovernmental agreement dedicated to the conservation and rational use of wetland ecosystems. To date, it has 172 contracting parties.

Since its accession to the convention in 1992, China has established a legal framework for wetlands protection while actively fulfilling its obligations under the convention. Over the past decade, China has added or restored more than 800,000 hectares of wetlands, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
In another case of people fleeing from Sri Lanka due to the high cost of living and unemployment in the island nation, 10 more Sri Lankan Tamils reached Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu's Ramanathapuram district in the early hours of Saturday. They were accommodated at the refugee camp in Ramanathapuram after questioning at the Mandapam police station. The refugees are M. Jayakumar (45) from Mannar district, his wife Yogeshwari (39), their daughters Tamilmathi (22) and Kanimathi (15); R. Pushpam (64) and her son Prabakar (43) from Mullai Theevu; R. Justin (42), his wife Ausiyu (36) and their children Anshika (3) and Anjitha (three months). Speaking to mediapersons at Dhanushkodi, Justin said, "Even though price rise was there in Sri Lanka, after the economic crisis, jobs became a rarity. Feeding children and dependents became difficult there." Justin said that he and his family members, including two toddlers and his wife Ausiya, decided to sell their silverware and a gold chain to a pawnbroker to raise money for their travel expenses to reach Dhanushkodi. Another refugee, Pushpam, said that she had no option but to pay money to the boatman and reach Dhanushkodi. She said that sugar is being sold at 300 Sri Lankan rupees per kg, whiel rice costs 250 SLR per kg. "Jobs are not available after the crisis, and even if we get a job, we are not even able to buy 100 gm sugar. I have a 43-year-old son who is mentally unstable and life was miserable there. I somehow sold all my belongings, raised 50,000 SLR as boatman's charge and reached Dhanushkodi," Pushpam said. The refugees are now settled at the Mandapam rehabilitation camp in Dhanushkodi. The total number of refugees from Sri Lanka who have reached the camp has touched 199 now. --IANS aal/arm ( 311 Words) 2022-11-05-23:24:04 (IANS)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a public meeting in the Valsad district of poll-bound Gujarat on Sunday and attend a mass marriage ceremony in Bhavnagar. PM Modi will address a public meeting at Kaprada Village in Valsad district at 3 pm. This will be the Prime Minister's first visit to his home state after the Assembly elections were declared. At around 5:45 pm, PM Modi will attend the mass marriage ceremony, 'Papa Ni Pari' Lagnotsav 2022 at Bhavnagar. At the ceremony, 522 girls will be getting married at the programme, who do not have fathers. BJP has geared up for the upcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat. Intensive campaign is on in Gujarat as Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the "Gujarat Gaurav Yatra" in Ahmedabad on October 13.A day before the inauguration of the "Gujarat Gaurav Yatra", JP Nadda flagged off the 'Gujarat Gaurav Yatra' in Mehsana. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and other BJP leaders were also present at the occasion. Earlier on October 12, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a public meeting at Jamkandorna in Rajkot district. He also held a roadshow after the rally. "Being in Jamkandorana is always special," tweeted PM Modi. PM also launched multiple projects worth over Rs 8,000 crore at Amod, Bharuch. He laid the foundation stone of the Bulk Drug Park at Jambusar, the Deep Sea Pipeline Project at Dahej, Phase 1 of Ankleshwar Airport and the development of Multilevel Industrial Sheds at Ankleshwar and Panoli. The Prime Minister also dedicated several projects which will give a boost to the chemicals sector in Gujarat including GACL Plant, Bharuch Underground Drainage and IOCL Dahej Koyali Pipeline. The term of the Gujarat Assembly ends on February 18, 2023. The elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will take place on December 8. The BJP has won six consecutive assembly polls in Gujarat. The Congress is keen to take an early decision on candidates to give them more time for campaigning and is seeking to bolster its campaign through yatras. Unlike previous elections, this year Aam Aadmi Party is also fighting the election with full might, led by Delhi Chief Minister and AAP National convener Arvind Kejriwal, which has made it a triangular contest. (ANI)
Delhi Police on Saturday arrested three people for allegedly extorting money from a 45-year-old man after forcefully shooting his nude video. The accused have been identified as Amir Iqbal (52), a resident of Jamia Nagar, Mohammad Ashraf (50), a resident of Sonia Vihar and Firoj (30), a resident of Laxmi Nagar. According to the police, Amir Iqbal has been involved in two previous cases of kidnapping and attempt to murder while Mohammad Ashraf had involvements in five previous cases of theft, attempt to murder and arms Act. The case of extortion by a group of persons by forcefully making a nude video of a person was registered on November 4 in Jyoti Nagar police station under Sections 323, 342, 365, 386, 389, 506, 120-B/34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The complainant, a resident of Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, who is in the business of timber, frequently visits Delhi in connection with his business. For the last three to four months, he had been receiving constant calls from a woman and she had been consistently calling and messaging him to meet in connection with the business, the police said. When the complainant met the woman, she told him that she is a widow and mother of three children and requested him for a job. She also introduced him to one of her relatives. "On October 28, she desperately insisted him to meet, even her relative also reached at Kardampuri where he was present and took him along in an auto-rickshaw to Lalita Park, Laxmi Nagar in an office premises where the woman was already present," said police. When he entered the office, two women started removing his clothes, when he resisted, they threatened to create a ruckus. Meanwhile, six to seven people also reached there. "They introduced themselves as policemen and started shooting videos of them. They thrashed him and took all the cash. One of them, portraying himself as police inspector, took him on the gunpoint and demanded cash Rs 20 lakh in lieu of videos," the police further said. Later, they shoot his intimate and nude videos with the woman by putting him under pressure. He was forced to tell on camera, that he had taken a loan of Rs 20 lakh from them and will return it in two instalments. He was released after he assured them of paying the money, police said. On Friday, he reached Jyoti Nagar police station and narrated the incident. On his complaint, the above case was registered and several teams were constituted to apprehend the culprits. Several raids were also conducted at different places and three persons were arrested in the wee hours on Saturday. The Police also recovered a car used in the commission of crime. Further investigation into the case is under progress. (ANI)
The police registered a case after the family alleged that their child was allegedly hit at her school.

"We have booked a case under CRPC 174 after the family alleged that their kid allegedly died after the teacher hit (punished) her. Yesterday after the child fell unconscious at school, the child was brought to MS Ramaiah hospital and declared dead," Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru, Vinayak Patil said.

The grandmother of the deceased girl claimed that the school offered Rs 4 lakh as compensation.

"The school said they will give Rs 4 lakh as compensation, but she needs justice, not money," she said.

Further investigation into the matter is underway. (ANI)
Six out of seven people arrested over assaulting a 50-year-old person, while he came to pick up his daughter in Madurai Meenal Women College in Tamil Nadu's Madurai. The police made arrests on Saturday after a complaint was registered at Madurai Sellur Police Station. "One out of six arrested is a college student," officials said. According to the police, a group of youngsters were creating a ruckus, approaching the Women's College in an allegedly inebriated condition. "The brawl started over a normal incident. The youngsters assaulted the man after the 50-year-old asked the miscreants to go quietly because a funeral procession was passing by," Mohan Raj, Madurai North deputy commissioner of police told ANI. "The group of youngsters attacked the man in front of several students in front of the college gate. Pertaining to the matter, a case was registered against seven people at Madurai Sellur Police Station. Six people including one college student have been arrested so far," the senior police officer said. "We have written a letter to the college principal of the student seeking action against him. We have directed the police to patrol the areas where the girls' college is located," Mohan Raj added. Following the incident, the police have beefed up the security near all the women's colleges in Madurai. Earlier, a case was registered against 11 people at the Madurai Tallakulam Police Station on October 30, when a few youths entered the Lady Dok Women's College in Madurai and allegedly harassed the students there. "So far we have arrested 10 people in this case and four two-wheelers have been seized. five out of 10 arrested were college students," police said in a statement. (ANI)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda on Sunday released the party's manifesto for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections with 11 commitments which include the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code and investigation of Waqf properties under the judicial committees in the state. Chief Minister Jairam Thakur, state party chief Suresh Kashyap, Union Minister Anurag Thakur and others were present during the launch of the manifesto. Addressing the occasion, the BJP chief detailed the 11 commitments of the party going into the polls hoping to retain the government. "First commitment is that the BJP government will bring Uniform Civil Code here. A committee of experts will be set up and according to their report, UCC will be implemented in Himachal. The second commitment is that the Rs 3,000 per year will be added to the Mukhya Mantri Annadata Samman Nidhi, besides the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana. Nearly 10 lakh farmers will be connected with this," Nadda said. Nadda said that the party will increase the job opportunities in the state in a phased manner. "Our third commitment is that our government will increase the job opportunities of over 8 lakh in a phased manner. This will include govt jobs and works underway in the economic zone. Our fourth commitment is that the BJP government will ensure that all the roads are connected with the pucca roads under the PM Gramin Sadak Yojana in the next five years," he said. The BJP chief informed that the governmnet will launch programme 'Shakti' to develop infrastructure and transportation nearby religious places. "Our fifth commitment is that the BJP will launch a programme named 'Shakti' under which Rs 12,000 crore will be spent in 10 years to develop infrastructure and transportation around religious places and temples. They'll be connected to the 'Himteerth' circuit'. Our sixth commitment is that the government will the GST on the material used by the farmers for the packaging of apples will be 12 per cent and the additional GST of the material will be borne by the state government," he said. He also promised to open five new medical colleges in the next five years and doubling of the mobile clinic vans aiming to provide regular health checkups to far-off places. "Our seventh commitment is that the government will open 5 new medical colleges in the state. The mobile clinic vans will be doubled in every constituency so that health could reach the doorsteps of the people. Facilities of regular health check-ups will be provided. Our eighth commitment is that the government will introduce startup Yojana to promote startups for youth. A corpus of Rs 900 will be brought to include the youth in the startups," he added. The BJP chief said that the government will increase the ex-gratia given to the soldiers killed in the line of duty, as the ninth commitment. "Our tenth commitment is that the government will conduct a survey and the Waqf properties will be investigated under the judicial commission as per the law. We will work to stop the illegal usage of Waqf properties," Nadda said. "Our eleventh commitment is that the government will remove the discrepancies in the remunerations of government employees," he added. Nadda said that the 'Sankalp Patra' will "bring uniformity in society". "This 'Sankalp Patra' stands on 11 commitments. These commitments will bring uniformity in society, empower youth and farmers, strengthen horticulture, give justice to govt employees and take forward religious tourism," he said. The BJP chief said that the state government under Jairam Thakur has "established a new dimension of development". Nadda detailed the developmental work done in the past five years. "We have established a new dimension of development. We connected 2 lakh families with cleanliness. We connected nearly 28 lakh families with PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana in Himachal. 100 per cent electrification has been done. Nearly 4.70 families are covered in Himachal under Ayushman Bharat Yojana. 96 per cent of the Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal has been completed in the state. 6,000 km of rural roads have been constructed in the last 5 years under CM Jairam Thakur," he said. (ANI)
The sleuths of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption of Assam police arrested a muster roll employee in the office of the Executive Engineer, PWRD, Silchar in Assam's Cachar district for accepting a bribe, said officials. The arrested person was identified as Sribash Ghosh, muster roll employee in the office of the Executive Engineer, PWRD, Silchar and Udharbond Territorial Road Division of Cachar district. The arrested accused was caught red-handed. "A complaint was received at the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, Assam, alleging that Sribash Ghosh, Muster Roll Employee in the office of the Executive Engineer, PWRD, Silchar and Udharbond Territorial Road Division, demanded Rs 5,000 as a bribe from the complainant for processing the issue of labour license to the complainant," said CPRO of Assam police, Rajib Saikia. As per reports, the complainant approached the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption to take necessary legal action against the public servant. "A trap was laid on Saturday (November 5) by a team from the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, Assam, in the premises of the office of the Executive Engineer, PWRD, Silchar and Udharbond Territorial Road Division. Sribash Ghosh was caught red-handed immediately after he accepted Rs 5,000 as a bribe from the complainant. The tainted bribe money was immediately recovered from his possession and accordingly seized in the presence of independent witnesses," the CPRO of Assam police said. A case has been registered in ACB Police Station vide ACB P.S. Case No. 53/2022 U/S 7(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018) against Sribash Ghosh. Further investigations are underway. (ANI)
"SGPC had applied for 1496 visas, out of which, 910 were approved but 586 were rejected. The vias are valid for 10 days, and those whose visas were rejected, have been disappointed a lot. Government should not reject the religious visa," said Harbhajan Singh.

"Both governments need to provide the facility of On Arrival Visa. Visa office must be open at Attari wagha Border. The buses which used to run earlier, for the darshan of the Gurdwara of Pakistan were also stopped. That should run again. Like Delhi Lahore bus . Amritsar Nankana Sahib even Samjota Exores train have been stopped. We should connect the people of both the countries through religious places. ", he further stated.

Guru Nanak's birth celebrations are scheduled to be held in Pakistan from November 6-15.

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee spokesperson Harbhajan Singh said that on November 8, the pilgrims will be celebrating the Guru Nanak Dev's anniversary at Pakistan's Nankana sahib.

Indian Sikh pilgrims who will travel to Pakistan would visit Dera Sahib, Panja Sahib, Nankana Sahib and Kartarpur Sahib. (ANI)
In a crackdown against the marketing of illegal liquor in the Madurai district, police confiscated around 6,228 liquor bottles stored illegally in a private Manamagil Mandram (Club) in Madurai, and arrested one person.

During the police's investigation, it was revealed that these liquor bottles were sold at unauthorized times. These were caught during a police raid at a private Manamagil Mandram( Club) owned by Panaselvam at Mela Perumal Mestri Road," Madurai Police said.

The police registered a case and arrested the manager namely, Maharajan.

Earlier in September, Andhra Pradesh Police seized and destroyed 2.43 lakh liquor bottles illegally transported from Telangana.

According to Police, the bottles carried liquor worth Rs 5.47 crore. The liquor bottles were destroyed at Nandigama in the NTR district. The liquor bottles were destroyed in the presence of senior police officials.

"Liquor bottles were transported illegally from Telangana. So far we have destroyed 2,000 litres of illicit liquor and filed 226 cases," said Kanthi Rana Tata, Commissioner of Police, Vijayawada.

On the order of the state government, Andhra Pradesh Police have been conducting surprise raids at the check posts on the city outskirts. The move was taken following the reports of illegal liquor transportation from other states to Andhra Pradesh. (ANI)
TRS minister for state energy department G Jagdish Reddy expressed his anger over the delay in the declaration of round-wise election counting results of the Munugode by-poll.

The minister complained about the delay and asked officials to announce results after every round of counting.

He also said that the Election Commission should respond to the news that officials were giving leaks from the counting center to the media.

"It is demanded that the officials themselves give the details to the media immediately after the completion of each round of counting," the minister said in a statement released by TRS on Sunday.

TRS candidate Kooskuntla Prabhakar Reddy was leading at the Monugode seat with 26,443 votes after the four rounds of counting, while BJP candidate Komatireddy Raj Gopal was trailing with 25,729 votes.

In the Assembly by-polls held in six states, the Munugode constituency in Telangana recorded the highest voter turnout with 77.5 percent voting on November 3. The BJP and TRS had campaigned aggressively in Munugode.

Counting of votes for the by-polls is currently underway at the warehouse of the Food Corporation of India in the state's Nalgonda.

A couple of hours after the counting started, BJP leaders including union minister G Kishan Reddy criticized the slow updates of counting. They also lodged protests with the election commission authorities over the delay. (ANI)
The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to celebrate the occasion of Dev Deepawali with a 3-D projection of religious stories and Lord Shiva hymns at the banks of River Ganga at Kashi Vishwanath Dham. After the grand Deepotsav of Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh is now all set to celebrate the occasion of Dev Deepawali in Kashi on Monday. According to official information, the devotees on the occasion will witness the religious teachings being projected with 3-dimensional effects as they will be mapped on the Kashi Ghat. "With this projection, the tourists arriving at Kashi will be able to hear the story of river Ganga's descent on Earth and Dev Deepawali," the statement read mentioning that the event will be followed by the presentation of the songs of Lord Shiva through a 20-minutes show of laser and light multimedia which will be displayed a number of times. This laser and light show will be organized at the Chet Singh Ghat, it informed. On the occasion of Dev Deepawali on November 7, chief minister Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government will lit up the Kashi ghat with as many as 10 lakh earthen lamps (Diya). During the 3-D laser show, religious stories will be seen alive on historical buildings on the ghat of Kashi, and hymns of lord Shiva will also be organized. According to Anubhav Gupta of Modern Stage Services, the stories of 'Ganga Avataran', details of the Dev Deepawali, and a few tracks of the lord Shiva's hymns are being shot in five days and a team of more than 250 people including technicians, and engineers have been engaged to install and run the show at the ghat for the projection of said show through 20 laser projectors. Meanwhile, Divisional Commissioner Kaushal Raj Sharma said that the laser show at Chet Singh Ghat will run from 7 pm for a duration of 20 minutes, while the 3D laser projection mapping show will run for 12 minutes. Sharma further added that the laser and sound show at the Ghat will be live for 8 minutes and all of these programs will be repeated at regular intervals so that every tourist can see it. On the occasion, Green fireworks will also take place from 7.40 pm at the other end of the Ganga before Kahi Vishwanath Dham, here. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday took on Congress' '10 guarantees' in its election manifesto for the Himachal Assembly polls, and said that guarantees of only those are believed "who have some record". The Home Minister also slammed the previous "Sonia-Manmohan" government at the Centre and alleged that it did corruption of Rs 12 lakh crore and is now giving "guarantees" to the people of Himachal Pradesh. Addressing an election rally in Himachal's Nagrota, Kangra, Shah said, "I was coming here, I saw a rally of one of the Congress candidates where 10 guarantees were written. Guarantees of only those people are believed who have some record. Who will believe in your guarantees? There was the Sonia-Manmohan government at the Centre, they did corruption of Rs 12 lakh crore. And today they are giving guarantees to the innocent people of Himachal." The 10 guarantees of Congress include the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme, 1 lakh government jobs, as many as 5 lakh jobs for youth, Rs 680 crore Start-up fund for the youth, Rs 1,500 per month to the women, and free electricity up to 300 units of consumption. The Home Minister, differentiating the BJP from the Congress, said that "it is difficult to count corruption in the Congress regime, and it is difficult to find corruption in the BJP regime." "This is the character of the two parties. The BJP is ruling in such a way that the people do not have to ask for development," he said. Calling Articles 370 and 35A "Jawahar Lal Nehru's mistake", Shah said that Congress carried it "in the lap like an infant for 65 years". "Should Article 370 have been scrapped from Jammu and Kashmir or not? The Congress party carried Jawahar Lal Nehru's mistake in the lap like an infant for 65 years. PM Modi integrated J-K permanently by scrapping Articles 370 and 35A from the Constitution," he said. Shah recounted the surgical strike and air strike carried out by the Indian Army and Indian Air Force respectively and said that the Pakistani terrorists used to enter our country and "behead our soldiers" during the "Sonia-Manmohan" regime, while during the present regime, such attacks are avenged. "There was a Sonia-Manmohan government. Pakistani terrorists used to enter our country and beheaded our soldiers and disrespected them. The Prime Minister of the country used to keep mum. PM Modi came to power and Pakistan dared again. But it forgot that the government has changed. Our soldiers retaliated against the attacks in Uri and Pulwama by crossing the border," he said. The Home Minister also lauded the developmental work done by PM Modi and Chief Minister Jairam Thakur and showed confidence in the BJP government returning to power again in the state. "The BJP has worked for the development of Himachal Pradesh under the leadership of PM Modi and CM Jairam Thakur. Congress does not have any issue here. There is only one issue that there is a tradition here that Congress and BJP governments come alternatively. Congress people, look at Uttarakhand, UP, Assam and Manipur, the tradition has changed. Once the BJP comes, it comes repeatedly," he said. "The soldiers who retired from the services and their families were demanding One Rank One Pension for 40 years. But Congress did not give them OROP. PM Modi gave respect to over 40 lakh soldiers by bringing OROP in 2015," Shah added. Polling for the Assembly elections will take place on November 12 and the counting of votes will be done on December 8. (ANI)
According to an official statement of the police, this man claimed that the Odisha police had refused to lodge his complaint of being robbed by some unknown men, as a revenge of which he stole their vehicle.

The police said that they have caught an alcoholic man driving the Odisha police vehicle, who had later confessed that he stole the police vehicle to travel to his native place Rajahmundry.

"As per his confession, he had gone to worship the goddess in Rayagada where he was looted by some unknown persons, and when he arrived at the police station to complain about it, they did not accept," Sub-inspector (SI) Parvathipuram police said.

The police had seized this vehicle from the old bus stand of Parvathipuram town in Andhra Pradesh.

Quoting the man, the SI further said that he was thrashed and dragged out by the officials of the Rayagada police department.

However, the police's statement mentioned that they cannot conclude the case and are probing into the matter.

More details into the matter are awaited. (ANI)
While counting for the Telangana bypoll is underway, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP K Laxman on Sunday said that the state government has made this poll a matter of their prestige as BJP is rising here. "The situation is different in Telangana. The state government has made this poll a matter of their prestige as BJP is rising here. Only BJP can fight TRS," he said. K Laxman further said that there would be a BJP wave in the state in the days to come. "I hope that BJP will win by the last round of counting. In the days to come, there'll be a BJP wave in the state," BJP MP said. Meanwhile, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) candidate Koosukuntla Prabhakar Reddy is currently leading the Munugode bypolls with 26,443 votes after the four rounds of counting while Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy is trailing with 25,729 votes in the assembly constituency of Telangana's Munugode. Counting of the votes for the bypolls, which were held on November 3 is currently underway at the godown of the Food Corporation of India in the state's Nalgonda. The BJP and the ruling TRS had campaigned aggressively in Munugode for the polls that were conducted from 7 am to 6 pm on November 3. (ANI)
The winning Shiv Sena candidate of Uddhav Thackeray faction for Andheri East bypolls, Rutuja Latke has promised that she will try to fulfill the promise made by her late husband Ramesh Latke. Rutuja has retained the seat of her husband after leading the Andheri East bypolls by 66,530 votes. "This victory is of my husband and the development works he did in Andheri. I will go to the election centre now and later to Matoshree to seek blessings," Shiv Sena's Rutuja Latke said while addressing the media in Mumbai on Sunday. She said, "I thank everyone for supporting me. The turnout in the by-elections was low. This is the result of sympathy and hard work of my husband. My husband made a promise. I will try to complete it." Rutuja Latke later alleged BJP had no sympathy and said that if they had any, they would not have filled the form. "If BJP had any sympathy, they would not have filled the form earlier. Votes met by NOTA belong to BJP...A survey was conducted before the elction and they knew that they were losing hence they withdrew the nomination of their candidate," Latke said. She also mentioned that there will be no kind of celebrations for the registered victory in Andheri East bypolls. With the counting of votes in 19 rounds, Latke has won the seat with 66,247 votes with 12,776 votes for NOTA in Assembly bypolls of 2022 in Maharashtra. Latke is a former Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) employe who quit the BMC following the death of her husband. Her candidature remained unopposed in the election. The counting of votes in Odisha and Telangana constituency are currently underway. So far, TRS candidate Koosukuntla Prabhakar Reddy is leading in Telangana with a margin of 3952 votes with BJP's Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy trailing. In Odisha, BJP's Suryabanshi Suraj is leading with a margin of 7,661 votes in Raits Dhamnagar constituency with Biju Janata Dal's Abanti Das trailing behind. (ANI)
Amid the row over conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar's purported letter accusing jailed Delhi minister Satyendar Jain of threatening him, Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Meenakashi Lekhi said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader is running a business of extortion inside the jail. "'Vasooli Bhai' has cheated 'maha thug'. Satyendar Jain is running a business of extortion inside the jail. I want to ask Delhi government to shift Satyendar Jain to some other jail. Kejriwal government should explain why AAP took Rs 50 crore from conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar. Kejriwal ji's office is full of corruption and free from governance," Lekhi told mediapersons. Days after writing to Delhi Lieutenant-Governor VK Saxena, jailed conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar alleged that Satyendar Jain and ex-Tihar DG Sandeep Goel are "threatening" him after his complaint went public. In a letter that has been confirmed by his lawyer, Sukesh, who is currently lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail and facing several cases of corruption under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Money Laundering Act, alleged, "Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain and ex-Tihar DG are threatening me after my complaint to Delhi's L-G went public". Launching a scathing attack on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Sukesh fired questions at him. "Kejriwal ji why you forced me to bring 20-30 individuals to contribute Rs 500 crore to the party in return for seats?" he claimed. Sukesh further asked why did the Delhi Chief Minister receive Rs 50 crore from him and offered him a Rajya Sabha seat. "Kejriwal ji, I am the country's biggest thug according to you, then why on what basis you received Rs 50 crore from me and offered Rajya Sabha seat to me? So what does that make you?" the letter alleged. He further asked the Delhi Chief Minister and jailed minister Satyendar Jain to "stop threatening and intimidating" him through the jail administration and said that nothing will stop him from seeking a detailed CBI probe. "Kejriwal ji and Satyendar Jain ji, stop threatening and intimidating me through the jail administration. Nothing will stop me from moving ahead and seeking a detailed CBI probe," the letter stated. In a letter by Sukesh Chandrasekhar to Delhi LG VK Saxena, he said that he has been associated with AAP leader Satyendar Jain since 2015. He has given Rs 50 crore after the promise of being given an important post in the Aam Admi Party in south India. "After my arrest in the year 2017, I was imprisoned in Tihar Jail and Satyendra Jain visited me several times. The secretary had asked me to give Rs 2 crore per month as protection money," Chandrasekhar stated in his letter. "Thereafter in 2019 again I was visited by Satyendar Jain and his Secretary and his close friend Sushil in jail, and asking me to pay Rs 2 crore every month to him as protection money to live safely in jail, and to get even basic facilities provided. Also, he asked me to pay Rs 1.50 crore to DG prison Sandeep Goel. The minister's close aide forced me to pay and the total amount of Rs 10 crore in a matter of two three months was extorted from me through constant pressure," he added. The conman said that all the amounts were collected in Kolkata through his associate Chaturvedi. "Hence a total amount of Rs 10 crore was paid to Satyendar Jain, and Rs 12.50 crore to DG prison Sandeep Goel," he alleged. (ANI)
Speaking to ANI, the deputy chief minister said the victory of the BJP candidate affirms the people's support for the BJP not only in Uttar Pradesh but across the country. He said the BJP will drive further strength from this win and work even harder to develop Gola Gokarnath as a 'modern' constituency.

"Many congratulations to BJP candidate Shri Aman Giri ji for his unprecedented victory in Gola Gokarnath. The big victory is a victory of public trust in the BJP leadership. I personally express my gratitude to the great people of Gola," Pathak told ANI.

The deputy chief minister added that the journey of the 'all-round development' of the state had picked up speed under the combined leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Till last reports, the BJP had won three of the seven Assembly seats that went to bypolls, with Giri defeating his closest rival of Samajwadi Party (SP) by a comfortable margin. Another saffron party candidate, Bhavya Bishnoi, emerged victorious in the Adampur Assembly bypoll in Haryana.

In Bihar, where the BJP was consigned to the Opposition benches in the Assembly after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ditched the saffron alliance and joined hands with Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the saffron party managed to retain the Gopalganj seat.

The battle for the Munugode Assembly constituency in Telangana was heading for a close finish, with the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) opening up a slender lead over the BJP till the last reports. (ANI)
Bihar's former minister and BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain on Sunday claimed that the party will win 40 seats from the state in the next Lok Sabha polls. The bypolls were held on November 3 for seven assembly seats in six states and the counting started Sunday morning. "JD(U) severed ties with BJP and went to RJD but couldn't defeat BJP in Gopalganj. Clear message that even together they can't defeat BJP," he said. His statement comes after Kusum Devi defeated RJD candidate Mohan Prasad Gupta to win the Gopalganj seat in the bypoll. Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate Neelam Devi won the Mokama seat in Bihar with 70,746 votes, while BJP's Sonam Devi could garner 54,258 votes. "Their victory margin went down in Mokama. It shows the future is BJP's. We'll win all 40 seats in LS polls," said Hussain. Taking a dig at JDU, he said that the JDU broke away from the BJP and formed a grand alliance with RJD, yet they could not defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gopalganj. "As far as their win in Mokama is concerned, "chote sarkar" Anant Singh fought the election there. RJD and JDU made an alliance to fight elections yet their margins decreased. BJP fought with great strength. BJP will win 40 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats," Bihar's former minister and BJP leader said. Lauding the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said that people are happy with the policy and the efforts of PM Modi. "BJP is blooming everywhere in the bye-election and there is a wave of Bharatiya Janata Party everywhere. It is clear that the people of the whole country are happy with the policy of our leader Narendra Modi, so the results of the elections are coming in our favour," he added. (ANI)
Senior BJP leader Baijayant Panda on Sunday hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over the Delhi liquor scam case, alleging illegal liquor vends were opened outside schools, gurdwaras and restricted zones in lieu of large sums of money. Speaking to ANI in the national capital on Sunday, the former Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP, who joined the BJP and currently holds the position of the party's national vice-president, said the AAP's illegal activities about which the BJP had been holding protests in the national capital since last year, now stand exposed. "This year, the investigative agencies have nailed them for their criminal activities. Many of their leaders, who are accused in the liquor scam case, are making false claims to save themselves," Panda said. He claimed that the AAP leaders, whose names have come up in connection with the liquor scam case, are panicking as "There are money trails, names, dates, places and amounts". "Their scams are coming to the fore. A senior leader (Satyendar Jain) is in jail on the charge of money laundering. They have failed to secure bail for months and months as the evidence against them is already in the public domain. They are making all sorts of wild allegations at a time the courts have refused bail because of the sheer volume of evidence against them," the BJP leader said. Citing the BJP's Assembly bypoll victories on Sunday, Panda said, "This is a new India which is earning global recognition under the inspirational leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The world has seen and commended our ability to help other countries in times of crisis. Some of the bypoll results have already come out and they show that the people are with us. This is very clear and has been so for a while now. We have been in power for more than eight years and have won bypolls across the country today. It shows which way the wind is blowing." "It is very clear that despite all Opposition parties coming together and ganging up against us, we continue to hold our own in elections. All Opposition parties are run by families and are steeped in nepotism. They have a lot of corruption to hide. The BJP is the only party that stands for the nation. We are the only party that puts country before self and people have recognised that. We have opened a strong lead in the Odisha bypoll. Recently, the deputy leader in the Odisha Assembly passed away, thus necessitating a bypoll in the Dhamnagar seat. We couldn't prepare well for the bypoll but are still comfortably ahead," Panda said. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday attended the mass wedding ceremony 'Papa Ni Pari' Lagnotsav 2022 in Bhavnagar. In this mass wedding programme, 552 girls who lost their parents participated. Prime Minister was present at the occasion to bless the newlywed couples. It was PM Modi's maiden visit to his home state after the announcement of the Gujarat Assembly election schedule. During the mega event, various cultural programmes were staged. Prime Minister Modi on Sunday launched a new election slogan 'We have made this Gujarat' in Assembly poll-bound Gujarat. "We have been working continuously for the development of Gujarat. Every Gujarati is full of self-confidence, which is why when Gujaratis speak, a sound emanates from within them - we have made this Gujarat," said Prime Minister Modi in Valsad. Addressing a public rally in Valsad, he said, "Dharampur is known for many works of the past. It is a lucky moment for me that my first election meeting starts with the blessings of my tribal brothers and sisters." Prime Minister lauded the work done in the state and said that Gujarat created many records in terms of development. It has brought the state forward by removing the days of riots every now and then. BJP has geared up for the upcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat. An intensive campaign is on in Gujarat as Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the "Gujarat Gaurav Yatra" in Ahmedabad on October 13. The term of the Gujarat Assembly ends on February 18, 2023. The elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will take place on December 8. The BJP has won six consecutive Assembly polls in Gujarat. The Congress is keen to take an early decision on candidates to give them more time for campaigning and is seeking to bolster its campaign through yatras. Congress on Friday announced its first list of 43 candidates for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls. Unlike previous elections, this year the Aam Aadmi Party is also fighting the election with full might, led by Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, which has made it a triangular contest. (ANI)
Taking to Twitter, Odisha CM said, "I paid tribute to Pandit Nilakok Das, a prominent freedom fighter and one of the most prolific practitioners of the Ordhya language and literature, on Tirodhan Day."

He further said that Das will always be remembered for his lifelong efforts toward social reform and unique creations that enriched language and literature.

Nilakantha Das, popularly known as Pandit Nilakantha Das, was born on August 5, 1884, at Sri Rampur Sasana near Satyabadi in Puri district. (ANI)
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers on Sunday carried out their annual rallies in Cuddalore, Kallakurichi and Perambalur districts in Tamil Nadu. The RSS got permission for their rally from Madras High Court earlier this week. A heavy police force was deployed ahead of the RSS march at three locations-Cuddalore, Kallakurichi and Perambalur districts in the state today. More than 2000 policemen and home guards including Kanchipuram Range DIG Satya Priya, Cuddalore, Chengalpattu, Tirupattur, District Superintendents of Police, and 3 Additional Superintendents of Police, 12 Deputy Superintendents of Police, over 100 Police Inspectors and Assistant Inspectors have been deployed for security and to avoid unnecessary problem. RSS asked for permission to take out rallies in 50 places in the state but due to the law and order issue, the Madras High Court on Friday directed the Tamil Nadu police to permit RSS to take out its route marches and hold public meetings at 44 places in the state on November 6. Justice G K Ilanthiraiyan gave the direction, after pulling up the police department for refusing permission for the rally at 47 places in the state, relying wholly on the intelligence report, which restricted its findings with regard to very few places in Tamil Nadu. Earlier on Wednesday, the Tamil Nadu Government on Wednesday informed the Madras High Court that the State Police has only allowed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) rallies at 3 places out of 50. In 23 places the authorities had asked the party to carry out a procession indoors. In the remaining 24 places, no permission could be granted. RSS had planned to conduct rallies across Tamil Nadu on November 6. Earlier RSS planned to conduct rallies on October 2 for which the Tamil Nadu government denied permission citing the law and order problem. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Police denied permission for RSS rallies in many places for which RSS office bearers moved a contempt of court petition in the Madras High Court. Senior Council for Government has said in Court, "Tamil Nadu Police has refused to permit the RSS route march in 24 out of 50 places where the permission had been sought across Tamil Nadu on November 6. District-level officials had granted permission only in three places and said it can be conducted indoors in 23 other places." Justice GK Ilanthiraiyan of Madras High Court said, "He shall peruse the reasons cited by the police for denying permission in 24 places and also take a look into intelligence reports before passing orders on the contempt of court petitions moved by RSS office bearers."The judge would pass orders on November 4 after perusing the intelligence report. (ANI)
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday took part in a ceremonial Bhumi Pujan at the site for the upcoming Assam Skill University at Mangaldai in Darrang district. A Rs 1,000-crore project, the upcoming state-of-the-art university, aimed at imparting multidisciplinary skill training, and being undertaken through financial assistance from Manila-headquartered Asian Development Bank, will be a first-of-its-kind in not just the State but in the entire eastern part of the country. Addressing a public meeting correlating with the Bhumi Pujan ceremony, the Chief Minister exuded confidence Assam Skill University, when functional, would act as a catalyst in the endeavour of the current dispensation to transform Assam into one of the most progressive States on all fronts in the country. Referring to human resources as one of the most valuable wealth of a nation, Chief Minister Sarma said, "the upcoming centre for imparting of skill training would contribute immensely towards the process of nation-building by preparing skilled employment-creators and employment-seekers in conjunction with the demand of time." Expressing his gratitude towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ushering in a new era on the skill development front, CM Sarma said, "Assam Skill University would script a new chapter in the State's initiatives aimed at preparing its youths to make the maximum use of the opportunities a new and resurgent India offers". "This centre for imparting of skill training will develop youths with skill proficiency and competency at different levels while catering to national and international standards, the Chief Minister said, adding it would also provide a platform for socio-economic progression and upward mobility to youths of the State," he added. Stating that skilled human resources are one of the most important prerequisites to attract investments, the Chief Minister further added that Assam Skill University would ensure the availability of a workforce that would compel major investors from all over the country and abroad to look at the State as one of the most favourable investment destinations. "Multidisciplinary areas of training such as the School of Technology, School of Design and Creativity, School of Mobility, School of Management and Finance Training, and School of Healthcare, to name a few, would ensure one can opt for skill-training in his or her areas of interests and not be compelled to take up a course for the sake of enrolling in a formal centre of learning," the Chief Minister added. The Chief Minister also made fervent appeals to the youths of the State to become active stakeholders in the ongoing "4th industrial revolution" the country and the world are currently witnessing by making use of the opportunities the Assam Skill University would provide. The Chief Minister also stated the aim was to ensure complete the construction of the upcoming Assam Skill University within the year 2025. It is worth mentioning that the government of Assam has already appointed former bureaucrat Subhash Das as the vice-chancellor of Assam Skill University. The Chief Minister also made a number of announcements aimed at fulfilling the aspirations of the residents of the historic north-bank district. He said, "the construction process for the proposed by-pass road as an alternative to the national highway through Mangaldai town would be taken up on a priority basis." The Chief Minister also promised to take up the demand for connecting Darrang district with the railway network with the central government. He further stated that plans are in place for a medical college in the district. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Ministers of Cabinet ranks Jayanta Mallabaruah, Chandramohan Patowary, Urkhao Gwra Brahma, Member of Parliament Dilip Saikia, Members of Legislative Assembly Basanta Das, Paramananda Rajbangshi, Majibur Rahman, Durga Das Boro, Political Secretary to Chief Minister Pabitra Margherita and Chairman of Assam State Fishery Development Corporation Gurujyoti Das, among others. (ANI)
As the results of Assembly bypolls held in seven seats spread across six states were announced, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to win four seats while parties like Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Shiv Sena of Uddhav Thackeray faction bagged one seat each in their respective States of dominance. The seven Assembly constituencies where the elections were held on November 3 include 166-Andheri East from Maharashtra, 47-Adampur from Haryana, 93-Munugode from Telangana, 139-Gola Gokranath from Uttar Pradesh and 46-Dhamnagar from Odisha. In Gola Gokarnnath bypolls in Uttar Pradesh, BJP candidate Aman Giri won with a margin of 34,298 votes. According to Election Commission, with 1,24,810 votes Giri got 55.88 per cent of the total votes. Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Vinay Tiwari came second with 40.52 per cent votes. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath congratulated BJP party workers and voters as party candidate Aman Giri won Gola Gokarnnath by-election. "Congratulations to all the hardworking workers and respected voters for the victory of BJP in the by-election in Gola Gokarnnath Vidhan Sabha seat! This spectacular victory is a symbol of people's faith in the double-engine BJP government's welfare policies. Thank you Gola Gokarnnath!" tweeted Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The BJP was seeking to retain the Gola Gokarannath seat in Uttar Pradesh, which fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Arvind Giri in September. In Odisha, BJP candidate Suryabanshi Suraj won the Dhamnagar bypoll by a margin of 9,881 votes. According to Election Commission, with 80,351 votes, Suraj got 49.09 per cent of the total votes. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidate Abanti Das came second with 43.05 per cent of the votes. Suryabanshi Suraj is the son of former BJP MLA Bishnu Sethi after whose death the Assembly seat fell vacant. After the results were announced, BJP workers celebrated the victory of BJP candidate Suryabanshi Suraj in Dhamnagar. Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Suraj's victory reflects Odisha's trust in the decisive and credible leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Taking to Twitter, Pradhan said, "Dhamnagar bypoll result is a victory of democracy. It is a victory of the youth and women. Gratitude to the people of Dhamnagar for reposing their faith in Odisha BJP, for honouring the legacy of late Bishnu bhai and for blessing Suryabanshi Suraj. The result reflects the mood of people in Odisha as well as Odisha's trust in the decisive and credible leadership of PM Narendra Modi ji. Hearty congratulations to all our karyakartas of Odisha BJP on this victory." Telangana Rashtra Samithi candidate Koosukuntla Prabhakar Reddy won Munugode bypolls in Telangana by a margin of 10,309 votes. According to the Election Commission, Prabhakar Reddy secured 97,006 votes amounting to a vote share of 42.95 per cent. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy came second with 38.38 per cent of votes. As the TRS managed to win the Munugode bypoll, the party's state working president KT Rama Rao on Sunday took a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said that it failed to stop the TRS. Addressing the media at Telangana Bhavan after the bypolls result, KTR said that the BJP failed to stop TRS to win the election despite all their efforts. "This bye-election was forced on Munugode people by Delhi bosses - Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Modi," KTR said. The BJP should have the courage to accept defeat, KTR said. He also congratulated the people of Munugode for supporting the TRS. In Mokama assembly bypolls in Bihar, RJD candidate Neelam Devi has successfully managed to register her victory with a margin of 16,741 votes. Mokama has always been a stronghold of Neelam Devi's husband Anant Singh since 2005. The constituency saw a major contest between BJP and RJD as it was the first election that took place after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar parted his ways with BJP and joined hands with RJD and Congress to form a Grand Alliance government, here. The disqualification of Anant Singh in the Arms Act case had necessitated the by-elections here for which the BJP had fielded Sonam Devi as its candidate who garnered a total of 62,939 votes. In the Gopalganj constituency in Bihar, RJD's Mohan Prasad Gupta was defeated by BJP candidate Kusum Devi with a margin of 1,794 votes despite taking an early lead and witnessing a neck-and-neck fight here. After the results were announced, Kusum Devi said that she will carry forward the incomplete development works here. Kusum Devi is the wife of former BJP MLA Subhash Singh. Singh, who held the Gopalganj seat, passed away in August, necessitating the bypolls. "The entire Gopalganj district is with me. My victory is the victory of everyone. I will carry forward the development work that did not get completed. I was blessed by everyone," BJP's Kusum Devi said after winning the Gopalganj by-election. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday said that despite the defeat, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) made a dent in the BJP's core vote bank after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate won the Gopalganj bypoll by a close margin. "In Gopalganj, where we used to lose by a margin of 40,000 votes in 2020, we lost only by 1,794 votes this time, despite them (BJP) having a sympathy factor... We have made a dent in BJP's core votes. Next time, we will lead by 20,000 votes," Yadav told reporters here. Notably, the bypolls was the first face-off between BJP and Mahagathbandhan ever since it was formed in Bihar as Nitish Kumar took oath for the eighth time here by joining hands with JDU, Congress, and other political parties in the state. In Maharashtra, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) candidate Rutuja Ramesh Latke won Andheri East bypoll by a margin of 64,959 votes. According to Election Commission, with 66,530 votes, Latke got 76.85 per cent of the total votes. "This victory is of my husband and the development works he did in Andheri. I will go to the election centre now and later to Matoshree to seek blessings," Latke said after the results were declared. Rutuja Latke is the wife of incumbent Sena MLA Ramesh Latke whose death in May necessitated the poll. In Haryana, BJP candidate Bhavya Bishnoi won the Adampur seat on Sunday. Bhavya is the son of BJP leader Kuldeep Bishnoi who had vacated the seat after resigning from Congress to join the BJP in August. Bhavya Bishnoi won the Adampur assembly seat with as many as 67,376 votes, while the Congress-fielded Jai Prakash received 51,662 votes. "It is a victory of the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, of the working of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, of the trust of Adampur in Chaudhary Bhajan Lal family," father of Bhavya Bishnoi said. He further expressed gratitude to the Adampur people for trusting them."I thank the people of Adampur as they trusted us once again," he added. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has thanked the people for the "grand victory" of the BJP in Adampur. "I express my gratitude to the people for providing a 'grand' victory by blooming lotus in Adampur," CM Manohar Lal Khattar tweeted in Hindi. Haryana's Adampur seat--which is considered a stronghold of Bishnoi-- had witnessed the contest between BJP, Congress, Indian National Lok Dal, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). (ANI)
The Delhi Police on Sunday arrested four people under preventive action including two accused in the Jahangirpuri violence who were on bail. The arrested persons were identified as Arbaaz and Junail along with the accused in the Jahangirpuri violence Ansar and Zakir. The police said, "They were trying to disturb the peace in the area after coming out on bail." Notably, Ansar, one of the main accused was granted bail by a Delhi court on Friday who had been in custody since April 17, 2022. The court granted the relief in view of his custody as the investigation is completed, and some other accused have also been granted bail. Communal violence erupted in the Jahangirpuri area during a procession on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti on April 16, 2022. Earlier, Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar of Rohini District court granted bail to accused Anshar alias Ansar alias Mohd Ansar. He has been granted bail on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 25,000 with one surety of the like amount. The court said that the investigation of the accused has already been completed and a chargesheet has already been filed. The same has also been committed to this court for trial.It will take a long time to conclude the trial and no purpose would be served to keep the accused in judicial custody, the court added. The court further said that some of the co-accused have been granted bail by the Delhi High Court and some of the co-accused have been granted bail by this court. Advocate Satnarain Sharma counsel for the accused argued that the accused has nothing to do with the alleged offence and that the local police have falsely implicated the accused in the present case just to sort out their case. The accused is in judicial custody since April 17. The investigation qua the accused has already been completed, the counsel submitted. It had also been argued that the complete case as alleged in the chargesheet against the accused is that he was actively involved in the commission of the offence and was a member of the unlawful assembly of the riot that happened on April 17. In this case charge sheet has been filed against 50 accused. The case is at present at the stage of framing of charges. (ANI)
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan addressed the Valedictory Session at the 15th edition of the Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference and Expo 2022 in Kochi on Sunday. "The country's culture was remarkable in that its thought leaders never advocated exclusiveness," he said while addressing the session. He further said that the thought leaders suggested that extraordinary brilliance, power, energy, beauty and capability anywhere, be viewed as a manifestation of the splendour of the Supreme Spirit. "This heritage encouraged us to consider wisdom, knowledge, science and monuments of the mind as the common heritage of all mankind. We must learn and share with each other," he said. The Governor said that mobility was changing at an exponential rate and would continue to do so at a much faster speed in the future. He suggested that for sustainable urban mobility to become a part of the development process, quick decision-making and successful implementation were essential. He called for the engagement of all stakeholders to ensure this. Expressing deep satisfaction at the Conference being organised in Kochi, he hoped that it had led to the sharing of experiences and the generation of new ideas which would help create sustainable, Aatma Nirbhar Urban Mobility. The Governor reiterated that inclusivity was the key to ensuring mobility led to sustainable urban transport. He urged that one should see the welfare of others in one's own welfare. UMI 2023 - Delhi was jointly launched by the Governor and Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Kaushal Kishore on the theme - 'Integrated and Resilient Urban Transport'. The Awards for 'Excellence in Urban Transport' were also distributed at the function. (ANI)
After conducting the inspection of preparations for Dev Deepawali, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath offered prayers at the Kaal Bhairav and Shri Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, as per an official government statement. During the inspection of the corridor after worshipping at Shri Kashi Vishwanath temple, CM directed the provision of high-level arrangements to the devotees coming to the temple. According to a government statement, he particularly emphasized that the temple's devotees should not face any kind of trouble. During this, he also witnessed and appreciated the decoration of flowers in the corridor with an amount of about Rs 1 crores. (ANI)
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday said that Odisha's Kamakhyanagar and Dhenkanal have immense potential and they must be extended all possible opportunities. Pradhan said, "With various infrastructure and economic developments, I am certain that we can build multiple such skill hubs to support local economic growth and benefit our youth." He further said, "We have witnessed thousand of youth register for opportunities at the Kaushal Mahotsav today and around 1,200 have already been provided with an offer letter from these corporates. More than a hundred companies like Maruti Suzuki, HCL JSW, Amazon, L&T, Urban Clap, etc. were present on the ground today to provide employment opportunities to the youth. This will be a series of events that will be periodically held in the State, bringing an array of opportunities to the local youth and communities of Odisha." "Aligning to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's clarion call to focus on connecting opportunities with the skills of our youth and making India the skill capital of the world, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), through its strategic implementation and knowledge partner, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), organised a Kaushal Mahotsav on Sunday at Sarangadhar Stadium, Kamakhyanagar stadium in Dhenkanal saw an overwhelming response and witnessed thousands of registrations in the entire day," an official statement read. Ved Mani Tiwari, CEO of National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), expressed his immense pleasure to see such enthusiasm in the youth of Odisha to make the best out of the opportunities being offered. We are confident that we will be able to work in the guidance of MSDE and in strong partnership with our corporate partners to bring a new world of opportunities for everyone here. The day-long event witnessed several Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) and companies, exhibit their offerings through a Skill Exhibition creating awareness about skill development for the youth. Several candidates also got an opportunity to take a free psychometric test at the Kaushal Mahotsav and participated in group counseling at the Kaushal Mahotsav. Those who did not get opportunities were informed to register on @nsdcdigital.nsdcindia.org and apply for opportunities to keep looking for suitable jobs and also avail of the option of online counseling. (ANI)
Following the killing of Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri, the accused Sandeep Sunny was arrested on the same day, said the Amritsar City Police Commissioner on Sunday. "Accused Sandeep Sunny was arrested on the same day of the incident. He committed a hate crime after getting radicalised on social media, though it isn't the entire part and needs further technical probe," said Amritsar CP Arun Pal Singh. Meanwhile, Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja accused the Aam Aadmi Party of disrupting law and order in the state. "Since the formation of the AAP government in the state, the law and order situation in the state has collapsed. The series of murders in broad daylight continues continuously, due to which the opposition is raising questions to the state government," said Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja. He further questioned the state government about law and order and said, "If Sudhir Suri can be murdered in the presence of the police, how are the people in the state safe?" Meanwhile, Ludhiana police also registered a case against the person who distributed laddus after the murder of Sudhir Suri. Ludhiana Police registered a case in connection with the viral video of a man distributing laddoos to people after the murder of a Hindu leader in Amritsar. "A case has been registered under section 295A at Salem Tabri police station and investigation is on in the matter," said Police Commissioner Dr Kaustubh Sharma. Earlier on November 4 after the death of Shiv Sena leader Sudhir Suri, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Sukhbir Singh Badal attacked the AAP government in Punjab over the law and order situation in the state. Badal said that "there is no such thing as a government in Punjab" while attacking the AAP government. "Shiromani Akali Dal has always stood for peace and communal harmony and that remained the top priority of Sardar Parkash Singh Badal-led govts since 1997. Today's incident in Amritsar is yet another reminder that there is no such thing as a government in Punjab," he said. Shiv Sena leader Sudhir Suri died after being shot at in Amritsar on November 4. The firing took place near Gopal Mandir in Amritsar during an agitation. Soon after the incident, Suri was rushed to a hospital where he died. Police arrived at the spot and arrested the accused. Police also recovered the weapons. (ANI)
The accused has been identified as Machukring Zamshim Shimray alias Ningkham.

The case pertains to the attack on the convoy of 46th Batallion Assam Rifles on November 13, 2021, by a group of armed militants near Sialsih village of Churachandpur district in Manipur.

Due to the attack, seven persons, including Commanding Officer Colonel Viplav Tripathi, his wife and minor son, and four other Assam Rifles personnel were killed and six other personnel were injured.

Initially an FIR in this case was lodged at Singngat police station, Churachandpur district under sections 121, 121A, 302, 307, 326, 34 of the IPC, Section 25 (1-C) of Arms Act, Sections 10, 16, 18, 20, 39 of UA(P) Act and Section 5 of Explosive Substances Act.

Later, on the probe of the matter was taken over by the NIA.

"On November 5, based on secret information, a joint team of the NIA, Assam Rifles and Assam Police conducted a special operation and arrested Machukring Ningkham from Yaingangpokpi, Imphal East distirict, Manipur, against whom NIA had declared a cash reward of Rs 4 lakh. The accused was an active cadre of Manipur Naga Peoples' Front and was directly involved in the ambush," a NIA official said.

Further investigation in the matter is underway.

--IANS atk/khz/

( 253 Words)

2022-11-06-19:20:04 (IANS)
Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar on Sunday said that he would not appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday in connection with the National Herald case as he has to participate in a party worker's birthday event. "I will not appear before ED on November 7, will be participating in a party worker's birthday event," said Shivakumar. Earlier on Saturday, the Karnataka Congress chief said that he would be taking a decision on whether or not he will be appearing before the probe agency as he is occupied with the party National President's programme on that day. The investigative agency summoned the Congress veteran and his brother DK Suresh to appear before the agency. "My brother and I have been summoned. I am looking at it. I am occupied with our national president's programs on Nov 7. I will take a decision on it," the Karnataka Congress chief had said. The senior Congress leader has been asked to appear at the Delhi headquarters of the federal agency, which conducts probes into financial crimes. On October 7, the ED recorded the statement of Shivakumar and his MP brother DK Suresh for over four hours in connection with the national herald money laundering case. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi had also been questioned earlier in the case. The statements of Shivakumar and his brother were recorded while the Congress's ongoing 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' was passing through Karnataka. After his questioning by the ED last month, Shivakumar told reporters that he was asked 'a lot of questions' about Young Indian (the company that owns National Herald), his family members and institutions linked to him. "I did not carry the relevant documents and agreed to send them (to the ED) by email as soon as possible," the 60-year-old KPCC president had said. Shivakumar had also appeared before the ED on September 19 in Delhi where he was questioned with regard to another money laundering case linked to the alleged possession of disproportionate assets. The working president of Telangana Congress J Geeta Reddy and a few other party leaders have also been questioned by the agency with regard to alleged similar transactions made by them in the past. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and other senior Congress leaders such as current national party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Bansal have also been questioned by the ED over the last few months in the National Herald money laundering case. The Gandhis are the majority shareholders of Young Indian. Shivakumar had been in the ED's crosshairs since being arrested by the agency on September 3, 2019, following multiple rounds of questioning in a case that emerged from action by the Income Tax department against him. However, the Delhi High Court granted him bail in October of that year. However, in May this year, the agency filed a chargesheet against him and some others linked to him in the case. The case was registered after taking cognizance of a chargesheet (prosecution complaint) filed by the income tax department against them in 2018 before a special court in Bengaluru on charges of alleged tax evasion and hawala transactions worth crores. The I-T department has accused Shivakumar and his alleged associates of allegedly transporting huge amounts of unaccounted cash on a regular basis through 'hawala' channels with the help of three other accused. (ANI)
The people of Munugode have upheld Telangana's self-respect and gave the mandate for development, said Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Working President K.T. Rama Rao after his party's victory in the Assembly by-election. He said people of Munugode have given befitting reply to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who out of their "arrogance" imposed a by-election. Rama Rao was addressing a news conference after the TRS won the bitterly contested by-election, defeating BJP by a margin of over 10,000 votes. The TRS leader said though Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy was the face of BJP, it was Amit Shah and Narendra Modi who were running the show from behind. KTR, as Rama Rao is popularly known, said that despite the BJP using money power, misusing authority and all their allurements and conspiracies, people stood by the TRS and voted for the self-respect of Telangana. He said the BJP's conspiracies reduced the majority of TRS but it could not stop the party from registering a victory. He pointed out that despite all the conspiracies and allurements by BJP, the TRS increased its vote share to about 43 per cent from 34.29 per cent in 2018. KTR said the TRS would have got a higher majority because of the situation in the constituency but the BJP leadership spent hundreds of crores and distributed liquor to lure voters. Citing media reports, he said the husband of a BJP corporator and a close aide of state BJP President Bandi Sanjay was arrested with Rs 1 crore while BJP MLA Eatala Rajender's personal assistant K. Srinivas was caught with Rs 90 lakh. He alleged that BJP leader G. Vivek brought Rs 2.5 crore through hawala from Gujarat. He claimed that soon after Rajagopal Reddy joined the BJP, Vivek transferred Rs 75 crore to his account. He said earlier when Rajender had joined the BJP, Vivek had transferred Rs 25 crore to the account of his family company Jamuna Hatcheries. KTR also alleged though the TRS complained to the Election Commission with proof that Rajagopal Reddy's company Sushi Infra transferred Rs 5.25 crore to BJP leaders to lure voters, pressure was brought on EC not to take any action. He alleged that the BJP misused its authority and deployed as many as 15 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the constituency. He said 40 teams of the Income Tax with each team comprising 10 officials were sent to the constituency to conduct raids by making false allegations that the TRS is distributing money. KTR said in the last eight years there were many by-elections in the state but it was only Huzurabad and Munugode that hundreds of crores were used in an assault on the democracy. He said in both the by-elections, the BJP candidates were rich and big contractors. --IANS ms/vd ( 483 Words) 2022-11-06-20:12:04 (IANS)
With liquor increasingly becoming a political issue in Madhya Pradesh, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state is likely to face a tough time as more than the Opposition, the members of the saffron camp are sounding more critical of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government on the matter. Firebrand BJP leader and former Union Minister Uma Bharti is going to protest against the sale of liquor by setting up tent in forest and near liquor shops from November 7. Other BJP leaders are also in the process of upping the pressure on the government over the sale of liquor in villages. The politics around liquor has been peaking in the state at a time when the preparations are underway for the upcoming assembly elections. Former Chief Minister Uma Bharti's stance on the issue has remained aggressive ever since the liquor policy was formulated in April 2022. She has already shown her dissent by pelting stones and throwing cow-dung at liquor shops. Despite CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan's assurances regarding changes in the policy and organising public awareness campaigns, Bharti is adamant on continuing her agitation. During the conversation with the Chief Minister regarding the state's liquor policy, Bharti said that liquor shops should not be set up within 1 km of places of worship and education institutions. She also asked for special arrangements to be made for those who come out of beer bars and pubs so they can be taken home by providing chauffeur driven cars. Meanwhile, senior BJP legislator and former minister Ajay Vishnoi also raised questions for the Chief Minister over the issue. Vishnoi alleged that liquor is being sold in villages, and political will is necessary to put a stop on the sale of liquor outside of shops. He claimed that a stop on liquor sale will increase 100 votes in all BJP booths in the upcoming election. Meanwhile, Uma Bharti tweeted that on completion of 30 years of her "sanyas life", she plans to visit Amarkantak -- a pilgrim town in Madhya Pradesh, in December. Taking a jibe on this, Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Narendra Saluja, tweeted: "How shall your new schedule be interpreted, have you taken u-turn on your crusade for liquor free MP or struck a compromise with the government on the issue?" --IANS snp/fs/pgh ( 402 Words) 2022-11-06-20:54:01 (IANS)
Thermal insulation is a characteristic of several materials generated from plants, including cellulose. In contrast, a novel material derived from cellulose nanofibers has high thermal conductivity. This makes it practical in fields where synthetic polymer materials were previously the norm. Research into cellulose-based materials could result in more environmentally friendly technology applications when thermal conductivity is required because they are more environmentally friendly than polymers. Because cellulose plays a crucial structural role in plant cell walls, trees are able to reach such heights. But its overlapping nanoscopic threads are what gives the object its surprising material toughness. Cellulose nanofiber (CNF) materials have been employed in a lot of commercial items lately because of how strong and long-lasting they are compared to polymer-based materials like plastics, which can be bad for the environment. But now and for the first time, a research team from the Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo, under the direction of Professor Junichiro Shiomi, has examined hitherto unrecognized thermal properties of CNF, and their findings suggest these materials may be much more valuable. "If you see plant-derived materials such as cellulose or woody biomass used in applications, it's typically mechanical or thermally insulating properties that are being employed," said Shiomi. "When we explored the thermal properties of a yarn made from CNF, however, we found that they show a different kind of thermal behavior, thermal conduction, and it's very significant, around 100 times higher than that of typical woody biomass or cellulose paper." Because of how it is manufactured, yarn made from CNF has excellent heat conductivity. The cellulose fibers found in nature are incredibly disordered, but CNF is made by combining cellulose fibers and aligning them in the same direction using a technique known as the flow-focusing method. Heat can move along this firmly connected and arranged bundle of rod-shaped fibers, whereas, in a more disorganized arrangement, heat would evaporate more quickly. "Our main challenge was how to measure the thermal conductivity of such small physical samples and with great accuracy," said Shiomi. "For this, we turned to a technique called T-type thermal conductivity measurement. It allowed us to measure the thermal conductivity of the rod-shaped CNF yarn samples which are only micrometers (a micrometer equaling one-thousandth of a millimeter) in diameter. But the next step for us is to perform accurate thermal tests on two-dimensional textilelike samples." (ANI)
In the United States, more than 37 million individuals have diabetes, yet many of them don't receive immediate treatment, which can result in expensive or even fatal consequences. In primary care settings, there are effective therapies available, but doctors lack the resources to recognise patients who are most at risk. Primary Care Forecast, a clinical decision support system that employs deep learning to forecast which patients are most likely to encounter difficulties, is being developed by researchers at the University of Houston to stop poor health outcomes before they happen. The first tool to be developed within the innovative AI system is the Diabetes Complication Severity Index (DCSI) Progression Tool, which, in addition to a patient's health history, considers how their social and environmental circumstances - employment status, living arrangement, education level, food security - could increase their risk for complications. Research shows these societal factors can affect disease progression. The tool will provide clinicians with timely, actionable insights so they can intervene early, reduce the percentage of individuals with diabetes who have complications, and lower the number of complications affecting each patient. "Our long-term goal is to help clinicians become more proactive and less reactive when treating diabetes. By leveraging the capabilities of artificial intelligence and machine learning, we can more effectively connect at-risk individuals with interventions before they become sicker," said Dr. Winston Liaw, the principal investigator of the project and chair of the Department of Health Systems and Population Health Sciences at the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine. For years, insurance companies and researchers alike have used the DCSI to quantify patients' complications at a single point in time. Still, no tools exist to predict which individuals are at the most significant risk for rising DCSI scores. The tool will be developed in collaboration with the Humana Integrated Health System Sciences Institute at the University of Houston, and leverage unique data sets from Humana Inc. - claims, health records, and individual and community social risk factors. The tool will be tested within the PRIME Registry, a national platform that includes millions of primary care patients nationwide. "The challenge with existing prediction tools is they provide little explanation and no guidance for subsequent action, limiting trust and implementation. The tool we are developing will inform clinicians why patients are at risk and suggest actions to reduce that risk," said Ioannis Kakadiaris, Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen University Professor of Computer Science and Health Systems and Population Health Sciences. "Humana is excited to collaborate with our partners at the University of Houston leveraging their AI and predictive analytic expertise with our extensive diabetes experience using the DCSI and health impactful social determinant solutions. This tool represents a great opportunity to put actionable information into the hands of primary care physicians at the point of service where real change in health happens," said Dr. Todd Prewitt, corporate medical director, clinical strategy and analytics at Humana. Beyond diabetes, the researchers believe the tool could help predict complications associated with other conditions, such as uncontrolled hypertension or worsening depression. The tool will be especially relevant as the health care industry shifts to a value-based care model where doctors are rewarded for improving patients' health instead of being paid for each visit, procedure, or test, regardless of the outcome. The Fertitta Family College of Medicine, founded in 2019 on a social mission to improve health and health care in underserved urban and rural communities across Texas, emphasizes primary care education and research. "As primary care doctors, we need an efficient way to leverage the massive amounts of information we receive to improve the quality of life of our patients. The number of complications a patient experiences is strongly associated with death or hospitalization, so developing this AI tool is critical," said Liaw. (ANI)
US Representative from Western Michigan, Peter Meijer said that the Western countries and America particularly are moving too slowly in engaging with the Afghanistan interim government. During an interview with ToloNews, Meijer said, "My concern and my criticism of a lot of international engagement, especially from the American side, is it is too slow, this is a moment of change, this is a moment of opportunity, but it is also a moment that if we go down the pathways of the past if we fall back into those old habits and trends of mistrust, if we sacrifice and disregard a lot of the improvements and trust that have been built over the past year, the security cooperation we saw --I saw first hand--at Kabul airport during the US withdrawal." "I think we have a lot of strong foundations to start to build upon and we cannot wait for the two or three decades it took for the US--and to give an example: Vietnam-- to build a strong relationship. We have to make sure we are not letting the future get hung up by the concerns of the past," he added Talking about Afghanistan politics, a US Representative said that the Islamic Emirate is the only government and America accepts and deals with that reality. He further added that there are cultural differences between western countries and Afghanistan and one cannot impose their values, ToloNews reported. "It also is important that the Islamic Emirate recognize the desires and the wishes of its own citizens to pursue what is best for their futures," Meijer said. Meijer also noted that there would be grave consequences if small differences get in the way and expectations on both sides are not met. "Those nations who set conditions for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which it should accept, the Islamic Emirate is also looking for a way to do something to meet their conditions, which at least does not conflict with the Islamic laws and Afghan customs and traditions," ToloNews quoted political analyst Mohammad Nasir Haqqani as saying. "The world demands that an inclusive government should be created and girls should be allowed to go to school and also human rights should be upheld, these are also the demands that the Afghan people support them," said Wahed Faqiri, international relations expert. However, Zabiullah Mujahid, the Islamic Emirate's spokesperson, denied that human rights were being violated in Afghanistan and he added that Kabul wants to interact with the international community. Since the Islamic Emirate came to power about fifteen months ago, various nations have opened embassies in Kabul, but no country has yet to formally recognize it, according to ToloNews. (ANI)
The accident occurred in the village of Kel of Farshaghan valley, Dawlat Shah district, Laghman province, and left three people injured, Khaama Press reported.

According to Laghman's spokesperson, Salamat Khan Bilal, the injured were transported to the nearest hospital, and two physicians- a male and a female died in the tragic accident.

Meanwhile, on Friday, a passenger vehicle of the minibus type overturned in the Doshakh region of the Salang highway in Afghanistan and killed three people. Eight were severely wounded during the fatal accident.

The accident took place on the Salang in northern Afghanistan which passes through Parwan and Baghlan provinces, Khaama Press reported.

Road damage and careless driving are the main causes of traffic accidents in Afghanistan, which considerably contribute to traffic-related fatalities. (ANI)
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law to mobilize citizens with criminal records of murder, robbery, drug trafficking, and other serious crimes under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for military service, CNN reported on Saturday. However, the criminals exempted from compulsory service are those who committed sex crimes against minors, were involved in the assassination of a government official, terrorism, or extremist activity. Putin said Friday that the Kremlin had already mobilized an additional 18,000 soldiers in its war in Ukraine and earlier this week, the Russian Ministry of Defence suspended all of its partial mobilization activities. Putin's partial mobilization order will only end when the Russian President signs in an official decree, reported CNN. On September 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered partial military mobilization in Moscow as it had planned to conscript around 300,000 troops in an apparent escalation of its Ukraine invasion that began in February this year. The Russia-Ukraine war is now in its ninth month as the missile strikes continue to hit major Ukrainian cities. In a recent escalation, Ukraine's capital city Kyiv was rocked by multiple explosions early on Monday in an attack by "Kamikaze" drones, a Ukrainian official said. Andriy Yermak, head of the presidential office of Ukraine, said kamikaze drones were attacking the city. "The Russians think it will help them, but these actions look like desperation," Yermak said in a statement, blaming Russia for the attack, CNN reported. Kyiv says Moscow has used Iranian-supplied drones in the strikes against Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, and other cities across Ukraine in recent weeks, and pleaded with Western countries to step up their assistance in the face of the new challenge. The war between Russia and Ukraine has only escalated after a truck recently exploded on the Crimea road bridge, causing seven fuel tanks of a train heading to the Crimean Peninsula to catch fire. Three people were killed in the blast, which also led to the partial collapse of two spans of the road bridge. The Crimean Bridge was opened in 2018 by President Vladimir Putin, four years after Moscow annexed Crimea, and was designed to link the peninsula to Russia's transport network. The 19-kilometer bridge, which runs across the Kerch Strait and connects Crimea with mainland Russia, consists of a railway and vehicle sections. It became fully operational in 2020. (ANI)
The incident occurred in the Kacha area of Ubauro in Ghotki which is located in Northern Sindh, Geo News reported.

Out of the five police officers who were killed, one was a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) and two station house officers (SHO).

According to Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Javed Jiskani, a police camp was set up in the Kacha area to recover the hostages from the Ronti area.

Geo News reported quoting the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) and stated that over 150 dacoits attacked the police camp, killing five officers following which a heavy troop was dispatched to the incident area.

The corpse of the officers killed are still in possession of the robbers who attacked the police station, Geo News reported citing the police. (ANI)
The largest lake in Africa was struck by the downed aircraft near Bukoba airport, according to a Precision Air official who talked to CNN.

With dozens of passengers on board as per officials, the fatalities in the crash remain undetermined as the investigation is underway.

Notably, Precision Air is a Tanzanian airline based out of Dar es Salaam. There is no immediate information on how many were exactly on board and injured in the crash. (ANI)
Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Electronics & IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Saturday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for New India. Speaking about India's journey towards "Amritkaal" during Vishva Sadbhavana, The Dubai Chapter event today organized by NID Foundation, he said "PM Modi is the architect of New India. The last eight years of PM Modi's leadership have transformed India in many areas. Before 2014, India was looked at as a country with policy paralysis, a nation with corruption as an integral part of the governance, and a weak democracy". Chandrasekhar also launched two books on PM Modi's Governance in Dubai - 'Modi @ 20: Dreams Meet Delivery and Heartfelt and The Legacy of Faith' in the presence of Sheikh Mohammad Bin - Maktoum Bin Jumma Al - Maktoum, Chairman MBM Group and member of Dubai's Royal Family, Satnam Singh, Chief Patron NID Foundation and Chancellor Chandigarh University, Sardar SPS Oberoi, Managing Trustee, Sarbat Da Bhala Charitable Trust and Prof. Himani Sood, Founder, NID Foundation. While delivering his address Chandrasekhar, "Today, the world sees us as a nation of reforms, governance with transparency, and accountability where the benefit of every single rupee spent reaches directly and digitally to the account of beneficiaries, thus plugging all the leakages." He said that under the leadership of PM Modi, the actual tax collection had exceeded the targets set by the government. "This gives room to the government to spend on developing modern infrastructure comprising of expressways, fast railways, and ports. Currently, the government is spending 7.5 lakh crore annually to build infrastructure, which lays a strong foundation of an ecosystem of change," added MoS. Speaking about the turnaround of India during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, "When the world was reeling under the hardship of economic slowdown during the global pandemic in 2020, PM Modi converted the pandemic into an opportunity for India by laying the foundation of self-reliance nation. India, not only produced 200 crore indigenous vaccines for its own citizens but also emerged as a global manufacturing hub for producing affordable vaccines for the world. In addition, India received the highest FDI inflow during the last two years and emerged as the fastest-growing economy in the world". While giving details about India emerging as a manufacturing hub in the field of IT & Electronics, MoS Chandrasekhar said "Before 2014, 92 pc of the mobile phones used by Indians were imported from other countries and there were no exports by India in this field. But today in 2022, with the government of India having a strong policy to encourage indigenous manufacturing, 97 pc of the mobiles are being manufactured in India and more than 70, 000, cores of mobile phones and its components are being exported to other nations". Meanwhile, Sheikh Mohammad Bin - Maktoum Bin Jumma Al - Maktoum, Chairman MBM Group said "India is a country of diversity, which has people with diverse beliefs, community, and languages, but, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the world looks India as One Nation with One Mission, One Vision, and One Family. The whole country despite having many diversities have been integrated into one thought of walking the path of progress and development". He further added that "India and UAE have always enjoyed strong bilateral relations which have touched new heights after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister. UAE has always learned from Indian values, ethos, culture, and diversity. Our education system is largely imported from the Indian Education system." The member of the royal family of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammad Bin Jumma Al - Maktoum said, "Indian diaspora has played a crucial role in the development of Dubai City as a world-class destination for business, tourism and other areas. Indians have contributed to making Dubai a City of Dreams ever since they came here a long time when it was not even a city". Addressing the gathering at Vishwa Sadhbhavana, Satnam Singh Sandhu, Chief Patron NID Foundation said "Prime Minister Modi has not only given us the developed nation but has also enlightened us with the path and process to achieve it. Being a global leader, Prime Minister Modi has enhanced the global image of India, which the world now sees as a country that creates opportunities for its citizens and the world seems to get benefitted out of it. The pro-people decisions and the vision of taking everyone together have made India a nation of hope and future." Taking a cue from the teachings of Sikh first Guru, Guru Nanak Dev, NID Foundation will continue to celebrate the gesture of "Vishwa-Sadhbhavana" in Dubai by participating in Gurupurab celebrations on November 8th at Gurudwara Guru Nanak Darbar, Dubai. While briefing about the Gurupurab celebrations in Dubai, Satnam Singh Sandhu, Chief Patron, NID Foundation said, "More than 20,000 Sikhs of Dubai will join the management of Gurudawara Guru Nanak Darbar and NID Foundation in celebrating the 553rd Prakash Purab of Guru Nanak Dev Ji where a mass prayer for a healthy life of PM India Narendra Modi & PM UAE Mohamad bin Rashid Al Maktoum and prosperity of both the countries will be performed". Detailing about the book 'Heartfelt-The Legacy of Faith' by the NID Foundation, Sandhu said that "It captures the virtues of Sikhism that are Satt, Santokh, Daya, Nimrata and Pyar, and goes on to show that the values and ethos of the country are not forgotten. Taking the five essential virtues of Sikh living as the central theme, the book connects the various initiatives taken by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji for the cause and welfare of the Sikhs". (ANI)
The incident happened in the Katcha area of the Ghotki district when dozens of the criminals stormed a police camp, killing seven police officers and kidnapping 20 others, Ary News reported.

The camp was established in the area to carry out an operation against the criminals for the release of several people they kidnapped a few days ago.

A heavy contingent of police reached the area following the incident and a search operation is underway in the area, said the reports.

The area where the incident happened is a sparsely populated place and a strong hideout of bandits involved in criminal activities including robberies, target killings, and kidnapping for ransom. (ANI)
The Biden administration is "privately" encouraging Kyiv to demonstrate a readiness to negotiate with Russia, The Washington Post reported, citing people familiar with the discussions. Mediation began at the end of February this year after the start of the war in Ukraine. The last round of the negotiations concluded in Istanbul on March 29. The talks have since stalled despite efforts by the United Nations. According to the newspaper, the United States does not want Ukraine to start negotiations with Russia, but, instead, aims to ensure that Kyiv has the support of other countries. "Ukraine fatigue is a real thing for some of our partners," one US official told The Washington Post. According to the newspaper, concerns are mounting in parts of Europe, Africa, and Latin America, as food and fuel prices are rising amid Russia's ongoing special operation in Ukraine. Earlier in September, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow was still open to talks with Kyiv and called on Ukraine to stop the hostilities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in turn, said that Kyiv was ready for dialogue with Moscow, but only if another president came to power in Russia. The Kremlin responded that Moscow would wait for a change in the stance of Ukraine's current president or his successor. This WAPO report comes after US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Friday to 'underscore' Washington's support amid the escalation of the war in Ukraine. Sullivan affirmed that the United States will continue economic and humanitarian assistance and ongoing efforts with partners to hold Russia accountable for its aggression. The recent surge in Russian attacks has resulted in massive blackouts. Besides this, Kyiv residents are under severe water shortages as one of the strikes hit an energy facility that powered 350,000 apartments in the capital, CNN reported. In total, the United States has now committed more than USD 18.9 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden Administration. Since 2014, the United States has committed more than USD 21 billion in security assistance to Ukraine and more than USD 18.2 billion since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on February 24. (ANI)
In connection with the assassination attempt on former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Wazirabad police and other law enforcement agencies arrested four persons of a family, ARY News reported on Sunday. In the joint operation, a man named Khalid was also arrested. He is the same man in whose name the gun recovered from the crime scene was registered. "The pistol used in the assassination attempt on Imran Khan belongs to a resident of Chak 82-Junoobi," the police said adding, "Four persons including a woman were arrested in the joint raid." The arrested persons included Khalid, his two sons and his wife, reported ARY News citing the police statement. "The licence of the pistol found from the scene was in the name of arrested man Khalid," police added. Imran Khan was attacked near his container in Punjab province during his long march in Wazirabad on Thursday. He sustained injuries on his leg and was shifted to a hospital for treatment. Senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders said that Imran Khan believes that the attack on him in which bullets were fired was carried out at the behest of three people including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the country's Interior Minister and a top ISI General and his remarks were based on information he had received. Seven people were injured and a person was killed during the firing incident during the Haqeeqi March. The suspected shooter who opened fire during the rally was caught by police where he admitted that he wanted to kill Imran Khan because "he was misleading the public." Last week, Imran Khan had started the long march towards Islamabad and targeted the country's spy chief, accusing him of holding a "political presser". After Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory and Authority (PEMRA) announced a ban on TV broadcasts of Imran Khan's speeches and conferences, the Pakistan government citing upholding of democratic principles instructed the media body to lift the ban. (ANI)
"China will continue to maintain its dynamic zero-COVID strategy as the country still faces the dual risks of imported cases and domestic community transmission," said China's National Health Commission spokesperson Mi Feng, during the Saturday press conference held in Beijing.

These remarks came in response to the problem of excessive and one-size-fits-all epidemic prevention and control measures in some parts of the country amid the recent flare-up of COVID cases, state media outlet Global Times reported.

A day after Feng's statement that China will stick to strict coronavirus curbs, China has reported its highest number of new COVID cases.

Chinese Health Commission said the country recorded 4,420 new locally transmitted COVID-19 infections on Saturday. This is the most since May 6, according to media reports.

This recent surge comes amid the growing unease over the zero-Covid policy.

Notably, Henan province's Zhengzhou city recently came into the spotlight when a COVID outbreak at an iPhone factory led to the exodus of many workers.

Videos shared on Chinese social media showed people jumping a fence outside the plant, owned by manufacturer Foxconn, in the central city of Zhengzhou.

It was previously reported that a number of workers had been placed under quarantine because of an outbreak of the disease.

The city of about 10 million people was partially locked down as a result, as China continues to use strict lockdown measures to deal with Covid - the zero-Covid policy.

Under China's strict zero-Covid policy, cities are given powers to act swiftly to quell any outbreaks of the virus. This includes anything from full-scale lockdowns to regular testing and travel restrictions.

Many had hoped President Xi would drop the strict measures before the end of the year but at the recent 20th Communist Party congress, he made clear this was unlikely to happen anytime soon. (ANI)
"As a result of the 'terrorist attack' on the Berislav-Kakhovka line, three reinforced concrete pylons of high-voltage power lines were damaged. More than 10 settlements of the region were left without electricity," the Russian representative was quoted as saying by Sputnik news agency.

The regional center, the city of Kherson, has been affected by the power cuts, he added.

In September, Russia held a referendum in Kherson which was severely criticized by Ukraine and a host of other countries. Along with the neighboring regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia, it was annexed by Russia on October 5.

After coming under Russian control, Kherson and other newly acquired regions have witnessed heavy fighting, leading to damage to the key infrastructure of the regions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin this week called for the evacuation of civilians from parts of the southern Kherson region, amid conflicting reports of a curfew being imposed in the Russian-controlled area.

"Now, of course, those who live in Kherson should be removed from the zone of the most dangerous actions, because the civilian population should not suffer," Putin was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera on Friday, as he marked Russia's Day of Unity. (ANI)
Mahmood Karzai, the brother of Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai was detained at the Kabul airport, Khaama Press reported on Sunday citing sources. He is believed to have been detained by the Taliban's intelligence service from the Kabul airport as he was boarding an Ariana Airlines flight to Dubai. As per the sources cited by Khaama Press, the motive behind Karzai's arrest might be the political remarks of his brother Hamid Karzai. Mahmood Karzai is a major shareholder in the modern commercial city of Aino Mina in the Southern Kandahar province. Former President, Ashraf Ghani had accused him of seizing government lands for building the Aino Mina city, reported Khaama Press. Former President Hamid Karzai has been criticising the Taliban government regarding curbing the rights of women and has been demanding the Taliban form an 'inclusive' government. In September, Karzai slammed the Taliban for clashes in the Panjshir region between the National Resistant Forces (NRF) and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, amid rising killings in the country. He said that it is about time that the bloodshed must stop. In August, Hamid Karzai expressed concern over the ban on girls' education imposed by the Taliban and said such a step could push the country further backwards. He also said the regime must ensure that all sections of the population feel represented by the government. Since its ascent to power in Kabul, the Islamic group imposed policies severely restricting basic rights--particularly those of women and girls. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Taliban dismissed all women from leadership posts in the civil service and prohibited girls in most provinces from attending secondary school. Taliban decrees prohibit women from travelling unless accompanied by a male relative and require women's faces to be covered in public--including women TV newscasters. The Taliban have also carried out censorship, limited critical reporting, and beaten journalists. Taliban forces have carried out revenge killings and enforced disappearances of former government officials and security force personnel. They have summarily executed people deemed affiliated with the Islamic State. Armed groups linked to the Afghan branch of the Islamic State have carried out bombings targeting ethnic Hazaras, Afghan Shias, Sufis, and others, killing and injuring hundreds. (ANI)
US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a call on Sunday, affirmed continuous commitment towards supporting Ukraine against Russia's aggression, the White House informed in a press release. As per the release, they affirmed their shared commitment to upholding the rules-based international order, human rights and fair trade practices. The leaders underscored the continued commitment of both US and Germany in providing Ukraine with economic, humanitarian, and security support for defending itself against Russia's aggression. The two leaders agreed in calling Russia's recent nuclear threats 'irresponsible'. The release stated that the two leaders also discussed Scholz's recent trip to the People's Republic of China. Earlier on Friday, the German Chancellor became the first Group of Seven (G7) leader to visit China in about three years. The visit came in the backdrop of a shortage of semiconductors across the world, after the US banned the sale of advanced computer chips to China, escalating efforts to contain China's tech and military ambitions. Scholz visited China with a team of top executives implying that business with the world's second-largest economy must continue. The first visit by a G7 leader to China in roughly three years comes as Germany slides towards recession. Last year, China was Germany's biggest trading partner for the sixth year in a row, with the value of trade up over 15 per cent from 2020, according to official statistics. Together, Chinese imports from, and exports to, Germany were worth Euro 245 billion (USD 242 billion) in 2021. Meanwhile, the US is gearing up for the mid-term elections which are slated to take place in less than a week. US Midterm elections are the general elections that are held near the midpoint of a president's four-year term of office. Federal offices that are up for election during the midterms include all 435 seats in the US House of Representatives and 33 or 34 of the 100 seats in the US Senate. (ANI)
Twenty percent of Ukraine's nature conservation areas are suffering from the war, and 3 million hectares of forests have also been damaged due to hostilities.

Source: World Wildlife Fund Ukraine

Eight nature reserves and 10 national parks remain under Russian occupation.

In particular, 2.9 million hectares of the Emerald Network are at risk. This is a significant part of the ecological network of Europe and it is protected by the legislation of the European Union and Council of Europe.

Also, 16 conservation areas protected by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, with an area of almost 600,000 hectares, are under threat of destruction. These areas are of international importance as habitats for waterfowl.

For example, the "Velyki i Mali Kuchuhury Archipelago" wetland with an area of 7,740 hectares is currently freed from Russian occupation - however it remains under threat of destruction, due to its proximity to the line of contact.

"These numbers may increase, as hostilities are still ongoing in some areas, while the rest of the locations are under occupation or awaiting mine clearance," the organisation said.

WWF is also urging Ukrainians who are travelling around the country to find out ahead of time whether a location is safe to visit by consulting the website of a regional military administration.

"This way, you will take care not only of your own safety, but also of all living things in the relevant location," the WWF Ukraine said.

Reminder: an estimated number of up to 50,000 dolphins have died due to Russia deploying warships in the Black Sea.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
 Flash

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz jointly met with representatives of the Chinese and German business community at the Great Hall of the People on Friday evening.

The two leaders listened to the ideas of the business leaders on deepening China-Germany business cooperation, and exchanged views with them.

Recognizing China and Germany as major economies in the world and each other's important partners, Li said that businesses of the two countries enjoy longstanding cooperation, the bilateral economic and trade ties have long been deeply integrated, and severing these ties and decoupling is simply impossible.

The growth of economic and trade ties is ultimately driven by businesses through their cooperation in production and operation, said Li, adding that given the complexities in the world economy, economic and trade interactions between market players are crucial for buttressing the economic development of both countries.

The premier stressed that China wishes to work with Germany to make a bigger pie of cooperation, foster a favorable environment for the development of businesses, and support businesses of the two countries in working with each other to grow together amid cooperation. "This is not only good for China and Germany, but also conducive to the stability and smooth functioning of global industrial and supply chains."

Li pointed out that China, as a developing country with more than 1.4 billion people, is a big market. The Chinese economy has become deeply integrated into the world, and its market potential is steadily releasing, he added.

"China will unswervingly expand opening-up, uphold free and fair trade, and follow market principles and business rules," said Li, adding that the reform to streamline government administration, improve regulation and upgrade services will be advanced, and work will continue to foster a market-oriented and law-based business environment up to international standards. Domestic and foreign investors and enterprises under all types of ownership will be treated fairly and as equals.

Li encouraged German companies to actively invest and do business in China, remain committed to the Chinese market, deepen cooperation with Chinese counterparts, and properly address issues and challenges that emerge in the course of cooperation in the spirit of mutual benefit.

Li briefed the participants on the state of China's economy. He said that due to the shocks from factors beyond expectation, the Chinese economy faced new downward pressures this year, with a notable decline early in the second quarter.

"We responded to the situation with resolute and swift actions, focusing on supporting market entities and keeping employment and prices stable. We introduced and implemented a policy package for stabilizing the economy and follow-up measures," said the premier.

Through painstaking efforts, the downturn was reversed in time and the economy is stabilizing and picking up, said Li, adding that despite various challenges, the over 160 million market entities in China have shown strong resilience and vitality.

"This is our source of confidence and strength in maintaining the sound and steady performance of the economy. We believe that China's economy will achieve better development," Li stressed.

For his part, Scholz noted that globalization brings affluence and prosperity, and that Germany-China cooperation delivers fruitful results. He underscored the value of candid communication between the two sides and called for efforts to preserve such partnership.

Germany is ready to work with China to strengthen equal-footed and mutually beneficial cooperation and create a fair market environment for their entrepreneurs to do business in each other's countries, so as to deliver benefits to both sides, Scholz said.

Wang Yi and He Lifeng were present at the event, which was attended by nearly 30 business executives from the two sides.
A look at the shareholders of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 64% to be precise, is institutions. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Since institutional have access to huge amounts of capital, their market moves tend to receive a lot of scrutiny by retail or individual investors. Therefore, a good portion of institutional money invested in the company is usually a huge vote of confidence on its future.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Verizon Communications.

Check out our latest analysis for Verizon Communications

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Verizon Communications?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

We can see that Verizon Communications does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Verizon Communications' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Verizon Communications. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is currently the largest shareholder, with 8.2% of shares outstanding. BlackRock, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 7.5% of common stock, and State Street Global Advisors, Inc. holds about 3.9% of the company stock.

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A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Verizon Communications

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Verizon Communications Inc. in their own names. As it is a large company, we'd only expect insiders to own a small percentage of it. But it's worth noting that they own US$28m worth of shares. In this sort of situation, it can be more interesting to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 36% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Verizon Communications better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Verizon Communications .

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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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Andrew Garfield, Kendall Jenner, Billie Eilish, and Jesse Rutherford attended the 2022 LACMA Art+Film Gala. Steve Granitz/FilmMagic, JC Olivera/WireImage, Michael Kovac/Getty Images

Actors, models, and musicians attended the annual LACMA Art+Film Gala in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Eva Chow co-chaired the gala for the 11th consecutive year.

Attendees bringing their style A-game included Billie Eilish, Kendall Jenner, and Jared Leto.

Billie Eilish and her boyfriend, Jesse Rutherford, made their red-carpet debut cuddled up beneath a Gucci blanket.

Billie Eilish and Jesse Rutherford at LACMA Art+Film Gala. Michael Kovac/Getty Images for LACMA

Billie Eilish, 20, and her new boyfriend Jesse Rutherford, 31, certainly know how to make an entrance.

Wrapped up in custom Gucci, the pair wore coordinating silk-like looks beneath a massive quilt. Eilish's accessories included a Gucci-emblazoned sleep mask.

Eilish and Rutherford, Dena Neaustadter Giannini styled for the event, were last spotted together at a Halloween party dressed up as a baby and an old man, Insider previously reported.

Addison Rae stunned in a glitzy vintage taupe gown that featured a plunging neckline.

Addison Rae at the LACMA Film+Art Gala. Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

Addison Rae channeled classic old Hollywood in a vintage Jean Louis de Sherrer look, which features a plunging neckline, according to W Magazine.

She paired the embellished gown with a deep-V necklace.

Jodie Turner-Smith put a modern spin on the iconic 1920s flapper look.

Jodie Turner-Smith at LACMA Art+Film Gala. Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for LACMA

Jodie Turner-Smith looked straight out of "The Great Gatsby" in her black-and-gold Gucci flapper dress at the gala, W Magazine reported.

The gown came with matching elbow-length gloves, and the actor styled her look with a pair of strappy black stilettos.

Sisters Kim Kardashian and Kendall Jenner brought an edginess to the red carpet in black ensembles.

Kim Kardashian and Kendall Jenner at LACMA Art+Film Gala. Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for LACMA

Both Kardashian-Jenner sisters went for darker-colored ensembles for the Los Angeles event.

Kim's look consisted of a head-to-toe Balenciaga gown, which appeared to be made from a wet-suit-like fabric, according to W Magazine. The dress featured gloves and a short train.

Meanwhile, Kendall wore a look from a Parisian boutique, Burc Akyol. It featured a sheer long-sleeved top with geometric black panels and a silver floor-length skirt.

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Sydney Sweeney looked ethereal in a floral-couture gown Giambattista Valli designed.

Sydney Sweeney at LACMA Art+Film Gala. Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for LACMA

The "Euphoria" actor, who Molly Dickson styled, paired the pretty pink look with matching tights and sparkly platformed heels.

According to Dickson's Instagram story, the floral gown is from Giambattista Valli's Fall/Winter 2022 couture collection.

Andrew Garfield looked dapper as ever in a plush indigo-blue Gucci suit.

Andrew Garfield at the LACMA Art+Film Gala. Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

Andrew Garfield, 39, was yet another celebrity to attend the LACMA Art+Film Gala wearing Gucci.

His deep-blue velvet suit featured gold studs throughout, and he paired it with a light-yellow collared shirt.

Olivia Wilde's red-latex gloves added a daring element to her silver-and-purple striped gown.

Olivia Wilde at the LACMA Art+Film Gala. Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for LACMA

The "Don't Worry Darling" director spiced up her otherwise-tame ensemble with a pair of ruby-red gloves. The accessories matched her mini bag and rouge heels.

The dress was a Gucci design  it featured purple-and-silver jagged stripes throughout, according to W Magazine.

Jared Leto also wore a velvet Gucci suit, but skipped the undershirt. He paired his look with leather gloves and heeled white boots.

Jared Leto at the LACMA Art+Film Gala. Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

Studded velour Gucci suits appeared to be on trend at the LACMA Art+Film Gala.

Jared Leto opted for a berry-colored crystal-embellished suit, which matched his pink dip-dyed hair.

The "Morbius" star accessorized with black-leather gloves and heeled white boots.

Read the original article on Insider
Fire at an oil refinery near Odessa as a result of a Russian strike, April 3, 2022

Every day, dangerous substances enter the air due to forest fires, from the burning of oil products and the burning of industrial facilities.

Read also: Ukraine demands Russia be suspended from multilateral environmental agreements and their governing bodies

According to estimates, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the number of such emissions has exceeded 67 million tons.

In 2020 and 2021, only 2.2 million tons per year were recorded.

Three million hectares of forests were affected  almost a third of the forest area of Ukraine. Some of them are lost forever, the Accounting Chamber said.

Read also: The war is wreaking havoc on Ukraines environment

Russia has turned our fertile soils into the most polluted with explosives lands in the world. About a third of the territory of Ukraine will require demining, which will take at least 10 years, the chamber said.

Nov. 6 is the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, scientists have recorded a sharp increase in the number of dolphin deaths in the waters of theBlack and Azov seas. Their mass death is being investigated by the Ukrainian Prosecutor Generals Office.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Pia Kelly contacted the airline twice after the incident but did not get a response for months. Getty Images

Norwegian apologized to a mom whose daughter was allowed to get off a plane without a staff member.

The parent paid for its unaccompanied minor service but the child was allowed to roam the airport.

Norwegian told Insider it didn't "live up" to the customer's expectations and offered a refund.

Norwegian Air has apologized to the mother of an 11-year-old child who traveled using its unaccompanied minor service and was allowed to get off the plane without adult supervision.



Pia Kelly, 50, told Insider that her daughter, who was flying from Denmark to Rome to see her father on August 25, disembarked from the plane and walked through the airport with no supervision.



"I was absolutely horrified when I found out and was thankful she hadn't disappeared into the night," she said.



Kelly, from Odense in Denmark, said her daughter was told by a flight attendant that someone would meet her in the terminal and take her to meet her father, but no one turned up.

Kelly said she made contact with the airline twice, but did not get a response until November 4. Insider has viewed the emails she sent.



Norwegian Air told Insider that the flight was operated by another "wetleased" airline, which it briefly used during the summer months. Norwegian said it had apologized to Kelly directly and offered a full refund of the fee charged for the unaccompanied minor.



Kelly said her child was "luckily" with her two siblings, who were not required to use the unaccompanied minor service as they were aged 14 and 15. She said they were told by a flight attendant to wait until everyone else had disembarked before getting off the plane and that someone would be there to guide them.



"No one was there so they hung around for around 15 minutes and tried to get back to the plane but couldn't. Between them they went off and found their luggage and went out and contacted their dad and found him in arrivals," Kelly said.



Norwegian Air told Insider:"When you send your minor on a Norwegian aircraft you should be able to rest assured that good care will be taken of your child. We take pride in providing the highest level of service and work hard to ensure that our own staff and representatives from external handling agents acting on our behalf are qualified to meet our customers' expectations."

The spokesperson added: "Because of what seems to have been a miscommunication between the flight attendant on the arriving flight and the ground handling agent, which meant that the ground handling agent did not help the child through the airport, we did not live up to that in this case. We deeply regret that and offer our sincerest apologies to the parent and the child for what must have been a very frustrating experience."

Read the original article on Business Insider
AmerisourceBergen Corporation (NYSE:ABC) will increase its dividend from last year's comparable payment on the 28th of November to $0.485. Based on this payment, the dividend yield for the company will be 1.2%, which is fairly typical for the industry.

View our latest analysis for AmerisourceBergen

AmerisourceBergen's Earnings Easily Cover The Distributions

We like to see a healthy dividend yield, but that is only helpful to us if the payment can continue. However, AmerisourceBergen's earnings easily cover the dividend. This means that most of what the business earns is being used to help it grow.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 63.4% over the next year. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 15% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.

AmerisourceBergen Has A Solid Track Record

Even over a long history of paying dividends, the company's distributions have been remarkably stable. Since 2012, the annual payment back then was $0.52, compared to the most recent full-year payment of $1.94. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 14% over that duration. We can see that payments have shown some very nice upward momentum without faltering, which provides some reassurance that future payments will also be reliable.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

The company's investors will be pleased to have been receiving dividend income for some time. It's encouraging to see that AmerisourceBergen has been growing its earnings per share at 37% a year over the past five years. Earnings per share is growing at a solid clip, and the payout ratio is low which we think is an ideal combination in a dividend stock as the company can quite easily raise the dividend in the future.

AmerisourceBergen Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock

Overall, a dividend increase is always good, and we think that AmerisourceBergen is a strong income stock thanks to its track record and growing earnings. The company is easily earning enough to cover its dividend payments and it is great to see that these earnings are being translated into cash flow. Taking this all into consideration, this looks like it could be a good dividend opportunity.

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Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. Taking the debate a bit further, we've identified 1 warning sign for AmerisourceBergen that investors need to be conscious of moving forward. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

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.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
CAIRO (AP)  Amnesty International's head on Sunday warned that the proceedings of COP27 in Egypt could be stained by the death of one of the country's leading rights activists from a hunger and water strike in prison if Egyptian authorities do not release him within days.

Secretary General of Amnesty International Agnes Callamard said Egypt had no more than 72 hours to save the life of jailed dissident Alaa Abdel Fattah, who is also a U.K. citizen.

Egypts hosting of the climate summit, known as COP27, has trained a spotlight on its human rights record as a wide-reaching crackdown continues under President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. The conference is being held in the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

If they do not want to end up with a death they should have and could have prevented, they must act now, Callamard said at a news briefing in the capital Cairo.

Callamard said she will be attending COP27 to push for action on human rights issues related to climate change, including loss and damage or reparations from richer countries to vulnerable nations suffering from climate change. Egypt is a proponent of the issue.

But she will also be there to push for immediate action on the case of prominent Egyptian activist and U.K. citizen Alaa Abdel Fattah and that of the tens of thousands of political prisoners estimated to be inside the countrys jails, she said.

Opposition figure Abdel-Fattah escalated his hunger strike this week, refusing also water, to coincide with the first day of the COP27, according to his family. His aunt, the writer Ahdaf Soueif, said he stopped drinking water at 10 a.m. local time on Sunday, amid growing concerns about his health.

Alaa Abdel-Fattah hails from a family of well-known Egyptian activists and rose to prominence with the 2011 pro-democracy uprisings that swept the Middle East and in Egypt toppled long-time President Hosni Mubarak. The 40-year old activist spent most of the past decade behind bars and his detention has become a symbol of Egypts return to autocratic rule. For more than six months, he has been on a partial hunger strike, consuming only 100 calories a day.

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In April, Abdel Fattah's family announced he had obtained British citizenship through his mother, Laila Soueif, a math professor at Cairo University who was born in London. The family has criticized U.K. leaders for failing to push harder for a consular visit to him in the detention facility.

On Sunday, his family released a letter they had received from the U.K.'s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who will be attending COP27. The letter said the global summit is an opportunity to raise Abdel Fattah's case with the Egyptian leadership. Sunak will "continue to stress to President (el-Sissi) the importance that we attach to the swift resolution of Alaas case and an end to his unacceptable treatment," it added.

The prime minister's office confirmed the contents of the letter.

Abdel-Fattah's younger sister, Sanaa Seif, meanwhile, landed in Sharm el-Sheikh early Monday, coming on a flight from London through the Turkish city of Istanbul, her family said.

Im here to do my best to try and and shed light on my brothers case and to save him, Seif said upon her arrival. Today (Sunday) he took his last glass of water, so its a matter of hours. Im really worried. Im also here to put pressure on world leaders coming.

She is expected to take part along with Callamard in Egypt's human rights situation on the sidelines of the COP27. Seif, also a rights defender who had been imprisoned for one year over charges of spreading false news and insulting a police officer, will focus on the case of her brother and other jailed activists.

Seif, who is also a British citizen, had staged a sit-in at the headquarters of Britains Foreign Ministry in recent weeks, part of a rallying campaign to push the U.K. to take action in her brother's s case.

Since 2013, el-Sissi, a U.S. ally with deep economic ties to European countries, has overseen a massive crackdown, jailing thousands of Islamists, but also secular activists involved in the countrys 2011 uprising. Many other activists, journalists and academics have fled the country.

Amnesty also said Sunday it had documented a new wave in the governments crackdown. There have been 766 Egyptian political prisoners released in the run-up to the conference, Callamard said, according to the groups figures. She added that more than 1,500 people have been arrested since April, including more than 150 in just the past two weeks.

The latest sweep came after the Muslim Brotherhood, designated a terrorist group and driven largely into exile, called for anti-government protests on Nov. 11, aiming to take advantage of Egypts worsening economic hardships and global attention on COP27.

Other rights groups also criticized Egypt on Sunday for restricting protests and stepping up surveillance during the summit.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said it had had joined about 1,400 groups from around the world urging Egypt to lift the restrictions on civil society groups, and also expressed concern about the new rounds of arrest.

It is becoming clear that Egypts government has no intention of easing its abusive security measures and allowing for free speech and assembly, Adam Coogle, the groups deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement.
Amy Schumer hosting "Saturday Night Live" on on Saturday, November 5, 2022. Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images

Amy Schumer said Sunday her 3-year-old son Gene was hospitalized with respiratory syncytial virus.

The comedian shared that Gene was rushed to the ER two days before she hosted "Saturday Night Live."

"This was the hardest week of my life," Schumer wrote Sunday in the caption of an Instagram.

Amy Schumer said her 3-year-old son was hospitalized with respiratory syncytial virus just two days before she hosted "Saturday Night Live" this week.

The comedian shared an Instagram post Sunday about the ordeal, writing in the caption that she missed Thursday rehearsals for the show because her son, Gene, was rushed to the emergency room. He was admitted for respiratory syncytial virus, a common respiratory illness that has filled hospitals with pediatric patients in the last few weeks.

Schumer called the week leading up to her hosting gig the "hardest" of her life but thanked NBC for their support leading up to the show. She also shared some behind-the-scenes photos from her time at "SNL" and gave an update on her son's health.

"I got to be with him the whole day at the hospital and the beautiful humans at @nbcsnl couldn't have been more supportive. My son is home and better," she wrote. The reason this show is so fun to do isn't actually the performance or the show itself. It's getting to spend time with the people there."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that most people recover from RSV in a week or two but the virus can be serious for infants and older adults. Doctors told Insider that while the illness is typically restricted to the winter months, this wave of RSV began in early summer and became severe in recent weeks.

One mother, Ashleigh Steen, also spoke to Insider about her and her three-week-old baby's experience with RSV. Steen said late last month that her daughter was admitted to a Delaware hospital with the virus after the child began struggling to breathe. The hospital's pediatric intensive care unit and ER were already full of RSV cases, so Steen's baby was intubated and put on a ventilator in the newborn intensive care unit.

Story continues

"It's by far the most stressful situation I've ever been in, because I'm so scared for my daughter," Steen said. "I know she's getting the best possible care  it has just been hard to see such slow improvement."

Read the original article on Insider
ABC News

Republican officials in two counties in Arizona and Pennsylvania declined on Monday to certify their midterm election results, with some citing concerns about the integrity of the voting system that have become commonplace among conservatives. Republicans on the election boards of Cochise County in Arizona and Luzerne County in Pennsylvania voted against motions to certify the election results there.
In Kupiansk district in Kharkiv Oblast, a Russian invaders shell hit the car of a local resident; he was hospitalised.

Source: Kharkiv Oblast police

Quote: "On 6 November, an anti-tank shell hit the car of a 45-year-old resident of Kupiansk district. The man was driving home.

He was injured and taken to the hospital."

Details: The Polices investigative and operational group conducted an inspection of the site and collected material evidence.

The matter of opening criminal proceedings under Article 438 (violation of the laws and customs of war) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is now underway.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
On 6 November, Ukrainian Armed Forces shot down a Russian UAV in Sumy Oblast.

Source: Sumy operational-tactical group

Details: The drone was reportedly shot down by the Sumy operational-tactical group of Ukraines Territorial Defence Forces in the hromada of Myropillia [hromada - an administrative unit designating a town, village or several villages and their adjacent territories] on the afternoon of 6 November.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Almost fifty years after two high school students were murdered in Oregon, police were able to identify and arrest a suspect based on evidence from another killing.

Steven Paul Criss, 65, is charged with murdering 18-year-old Peter Zito and 16-year-old Donald Bartron in 1974, according to The Oregonian.

On 3 October 1974, teenagers Donald and Peter were murdered in the parking lot of the Oak Hills Recreation Center. Both were killed with a .22-caliber gun. The two students from Aloha High School in Beaverton, Oregon, had both been shot multiple times in the head.

Their bodies were spotted just after 4am by a newspaper delivery driver. Peter was found on the ground near the drivers door of a 1956 Oldsmobile. Donald was found slumped over the engine of the car, on which he had been working.

On 2 November 2022, just over 48 years later, detectives arrested Criss near his home in Aloha.

Violent Crimes Unit detectives also handle cold case investigations and, over the past several months, had developed multiple new leads in this case.

According to a statement given to The Oregonian, the Washington County Sheriffs Office ballistic evidence matched that of a gun Criss used in a 1976 murder he committed while he served in the army.

(Washington County Sheriffs Office)

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) reported this is the oldest known comparison and match on a prosecutable case. The Oregon State Police Crime Lab was able to confirm that match.

Criss, aged 17 in 1974, was identified as a potential suspect shortly after the murders, having worked at a restaurant with Donald. There was an unspecified encounter between the three there earlier the evening of the shooting, according to police.

In December 1974, then-Deputy Jim Spinden arrested Criss for theft. Deputy Spinden, who later became the elected Sheriff of Washington County, also found Criss had an illegally concealed .22-caliber handgun in his car.

The gun was returned to Criss after the theft case was concluded. At the time, no ballistic match could be made between that gun and the murders in Oak Hills.

Story continues

Criss joined the US Army and was assigned to Fort Lewis in Washington. On 8 October 1976, he used that same gun to murder his commanding officer, Sergeant Jacob Kim Brown.

Criss had damaged Browns car and owed him a few hundred dollars. Instead of paying his debt, he shot Sgt Brown five times in the head, Detective Mark Povolny told a press conference on Friday.

Investigations were carried out first by the Pierce County Sheriffs Department and then by the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID).

(Washington Country Sheriffs Officer)

Criss ultimately pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 35 years in Fort Leavenworth, although he was paroled and released in 1988.

It wasnt until 2022 that cold case detectives submitted ballistic evidence to the ATF, which reported a presumptive match between evidence from the 1976 murder in Washington and the 1974 murders in Oak Hills.

A Washington County grand jury indicted Criss for two counts of murder in the second degree. He is currently being held in the Washington County Jail.

The Sheriffs Office notified the families of both victims and in a statement said there is recognition of their unwavering devotion to seeking justice for their loved ones.

Multiple agencies assisted in the investigation, including the Oregon State Crime Lab, the Pierce County Sheriffs Department, the ATF, and the CID.

The Washington County Sheriffs Office also wishes to formally apologise to the relatives of Joseph Amir Wilson, who was arrested and charged with the murders just 12 hours after they occurred.

Although the charges against Mr Wilson, then a student at nearby Lincoln High School, were dropped in January 1975, he had spent four months in jail for a crime of which he was innocent.

Mr Wilson had been assaulted by someone at the recreation centre a few hours before the killings and detectives believed there was a possibility he wanted to get even, Det Povolny explained to the media.

They suspected Wilson wanted to get even with the person who beat him up and his brother, but instead killed Donny and Pete in a case of mistaken identity, Det Povolny said.

1 of 2 pic.twitter.com/kafnv0EpFJ  Washington County Sheriffs Office (Oregon) (@WCSOOregon) November 4, 2022

The Oregonian reports that Detectives at the time said Mr Wilson was in the area of the shootings that night and couldnt account for his time until after he had taken a taxi home.

However, Mr Wilson denied any involvement and there was no physical evidence to connect him to the shootings.

His hands were subjected to a trace metal detection analysis and a neutron activation test to determine whether he recently fired a weapon. Both tests were negative, The Oregonian reported in January 1975.

Mr Wilson also underwent two lie detector tests, which were reviewed by five independent polygraph analysts.

He passed away from a heart attack in 2000 and authorities have yet to identify any surviving family members to whom an apology can be made.

Despite the arrest of Mr Wilson, Detective Jim Welch did not believe he was responsible for the killings and continues to investigate. That investigation documented and preserved vital evidence that led to the case being solved decades later.

Ballistics analysis has become much more sophisticated with methods such as 3D imaging now prevalent.

Investigators are still keen to speak with anyone who has information regarding the murders or knows about Crisss activities since his release from prison in 1988.

Detectives are looking into whether Criss is also responsible for any other murders.
DENTON, Texas (AP)  Austin Aune passed for 384 yards and five touchdowns  all in the first half  and North Texas romped to a 52-14 victory over Florida International on Saturday.

Ayo Adeyi ran for a 2-yard touchdown and Aune sandwiched a 45-yard scoring strike to Jordan Smart and a 10-yarder to freshman Var'Keyes Gumms around an Ethan Mooney field goal as North Texas (6-4, 5-1 Conference USA) led 24-0 after one quarter.

Aune connected with Jyaire Shorter for a 57-yard touchdown early in the second quarter and followed with a 6-yard scoring toss to Ikaika Ragsdale for a 38-0 lead. Aune and Shorter hooked up for a 35-yard score and the Mean Green led 45-14 at halftime.

Stone Earle's 1-yard touchdown run for North Texas ended an 18-play, 97-yard drive in the fourth quarter and was the only score of the second half.

Aune completed 25 of 34 passes for 414 yards. His only blemishes were a pair of interceptions, the second of which was returned for a Florida International (4-5, 2-3) touchdown in the second quarter. Reggie Peterson picked off Aune and returned it 79 yards before fumbling. Teammate Adrian Cole scooped it up and went the final 4 yards for the score.

EJ Wilson Jr. got the Panthers on the scoreboard midway through the second quarter on a 2-yard touchdown run.

___

More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25. Sign up for the APs college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25
Former President Barack Obama speaks at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on November 5, 2022. Patrick Semansky/AP

Barack Obama said the Republican party "actively tries" to keep citizens from voting at a campaign rally.

Obama made the comments in Pennsylvania at a rally for candidates John Fetterman and Josh Shapiro.

In 2021, 19 states passed 34 laws that restricted voting, according to The New York Times.

Former President Barack Obama said the Republican party is one of the only political parties that "actively tries to discourage citizens from voting."

Obama made the comments on Saturday at a rally also attended by President Joe Biden in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for Senate candidate John Fetterman and gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro.

"It depends on you. Now Republicans know this, and that's why they're doing everything they can to prevent you from voting," Obama said. "This is one of the only major parties worldwide that actively tries to discourage citizens from voting."

When the audience began to boo, Obama responded: "Hey don't boo, vote! They can't hear you boo, but they'll hear your vote."

Since the 2020 election, Republican legislators have pushed to restrict voting, claiming it will combat widespread voter fraud. Since the 2020 presidential election, former President Donald Trump and his supporters continued to claim that the election was rigged, even as a group of GOP lawyers, senators, and judges had concluded there was no widespread voter fraud.

Trump has continued to repeat these debunked claims and has applied pressure on Republicans across the country to reform voting systems in their respective states. In 2021, 19 states passed 34 laws that restricted voting, according to The New York Times.

"So they pass laws to make it harder to vote. A lot of times, many of the elected officials or the people who are running to run elections right now are suggesting that maybe they would not count votes, nullify votes, overturn votes," Obama said.

Story continues

Early voting numbers indicate it could be a record-breaking turnout with some 35.5 million voters casting their ballots thus far, according to US News.

"But the big tactic that they're gonna use because they always do this  especially in midterms, year after year, election after election, they will try to make you afraid. They will resort to fear. They want to scare the living daylights out of everybody, and most of the time, those fears have a very slender relationship to reality," Obama said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
L.A. mayoral candidates Rick Caruso and Karen Bass after a September debate. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

With two days left in the Los Angeles mayor's race, front-runner Karen Bass is fighting to maintain her longstanding advantage as the favorite of the citys liberal Democratic political base, while businessman Rick Caruso tries to forge a new winning coalition, powered largely by Latinos and residents of the San Fernando Valley.

Both Bass and Caruso now appear to have paths to victory in a contest that Bass had dominated for months, besting Caruso by 7 percentage points in the June primary and surging to a lead of as much as 21 points by late summer. Bass advantage had shrunk to just 45% to 41%, within the margin of error, in a poll published by The Times on Friday.

The question that will not be settled until Tuesdays election  and potentially revealed only after days or weeks of vote counting  is whether Caruso's momentum has plateaued, or will push him into the mayors office.

If you are a Karen Bass person, you are anxious the race has gotten so close, but also grateful that you're standing and still ahead after Caruso has thrown his biggest punches, said Paul Mitchell, a political data expert who has been closely following the race. If youre a Caruso person, you are still hopeful because you have this one last weapon in your back pocket: a $13-million field campaign program that is unprecedented.

Bass would represent both a continuation of a liberal orthodoxy at City Hall and a historic departure. Like all but one mayor elected in the last half-century, she is a Democratic elected official, serving the last 11 years in the House of Representatives. But she would also be the first woman and only the second Black person to hold the top job at City Hall.

Caruso would mirror former Mayor Richard Riordan in coming from outside the ranks of political incumbents, while also claiming substantial experience at City Hall, as a former member of commissions that oversee the Department of Water and Power and the Los Angeles Police Department. A longtime Republican, Caruso became a Democrat just before declaring his run for mayor.

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Bass supporters see her route to City Hall as not unlike the one first blazed by Tom Bradley in 1973: melding a base of white liberals, particularly on the Westside and in the heart of the city, with Black voters, abetted by solid showings among Latinos and Asian Americans.

The congresswoman would welcome a virtual repeat of the June primary, reaching the 50% victory threshold merely by adding voters who went with two fellow progressives, City Councilmember Kevin de Leon and community activist Gina Viola, in the first round.

Caruso intends to upset that equilibrium by effectively expanding the electorate beyond habitual voters  an effort his supporters believe is possible in part because of the record-setting spending from his campaign, which has put up to 400 precinct walkers into the field, largely to galvanize voters who dont always cast a ballot.

These infrequent voters are critical to the candidate who developed the Grove and Americana at Brand shopping malls. The poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by The Times, showed that Caruso leads narrowly among registered voters, but drops behind Bass when measuring those considered likely to vote.

The closing argument for the 69-year-old Bass positions her as the new leader of the citys Democratic political mainstream and depicts Caruso as a wealthy interloper, trying to crash the party with his unprecedented $100 million in campaign spending. Speaking outside a Hollywood doughnut shop Thursday, Bass and a voter agreed they would soon deliver a message to Caruso: You cant buy this.

Bass received the endorsement of President Biden and will campaign with Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday. Her final TV ad shows her receiving a warm phone call from former President Obama.

Caruso has been running something like a case study, which has shown so far that political gravity can be distorted by $100 million, said Bass campaign advisor Doug Herman. Election day will be a test of whether political gravity can be defied entirely."

Caruso spokesman Peter Ragone said the candidate has more than proven he is in sync with Democratic Party values. "The race is going to come down to two Democrats. Voters have to decide who is going to solve homelessness, crime and corruption," Ragone said. "It's pretty simple from our perspective."

Bass has emphasized her ability to bring disparate groups together, beginning with her work with Community Coalition, a nonprofit that campaigns for economic opportunity for Black people, Latinos and others. The Times' poll found that likely voters who put a high priority on building coalitions among racial and ethnic groups favor Bass by more than 2 to 1.

In the final debate of the campaign last month, the 63-year-old Caruso made clear he did not want to be pigeonholed as another white candidate. When a Latina debate panelist described him that way, he responded, Im Italian. She agreed, saying with a chuckle, Italian American. Thank you, Caruso said, thats Latin.

The claim of Latin roots brought mockery from some but acceptance from others, and recent polls have shown Caruso making substantial progress with Latino voters, many of who share his Catholic faith. In a prior Times poll, Bass led among Latinos 35% to 29%, but the new survey, which concluded on Monday, showed Bass losing ground, with just 31% of Latinos supporting her, while Caruso surged to 48%.

Sara Sadhwani, an assistant professor of politics at Pomona College, said Caruso has mounted the kind of serious outreach to Latino and Asian American voters that both communities have demanded for years.

"I don't think it was by accident he said at the debate that he was not white, he was Latin," Sadhwani said. "He is arguing that he understands their struggles in some way, in part with his story about his own family's immigrant roots. Those are messages that resonate very well among many voters."

Fernando Guerra, director of Loyola Marymount University's Center for the Study of Los Angeles, said Caruso needs to succeed in "two big what-ifs"  increasing the Latino share of the total electorate from the roughly 21%, where it stood in June, to at least 25% or higher, while also pushing his share of that voting group to 55%. (Latinos represent 37% of the registered voters in the city.)

The "structural" reality that both campaigns acknowledge is that L.A. leans heavily left, with 26% of likely voters in the recent poll declaring themselves "strongly" liberal and 20% "somewhat" liberal.

Bass gets nearly three-quarters of the most liberal and nearly two-thirds of the somewhat liberal voters. Caruso has an even greater lead among self-described conservatives, but they are estimated to make up less than one-fourth of the electorate.

"If you took two generic candidates  a liberal, Democratic female candidate versus a recent Democrat, white billionaire  that should not even be a close race. It could be 70-30 for the liberal," Guerra said. "But if you add the substantial discontent of the electorate and then the $100 million Caruso has to make his case and it becomes close."

Even though he appears to trail slightly, Caruso has found some success with relentless television spots depicting himself as a problem-solving outsider and Bass as a part of the city's failed political class.

More voters said in the recent poll that they believe Caruso would do the best job on two issues that have dominated the campaign  homelessness and crime. Bass persuaded more voters that she would do a better job tackling education, climate change and coalition building.

Some voters have recalled Riordan's 1993 victory over Councilmember Michael Woo as a possible harbinger of the outcome of the 2022 race. And the parallels are not hard to see. Riordan was a 63-year-old resident of Brentwood and a Republican when he beat Woo, a Democrat whose district included Hollywood. Riordan had amassed a fortune as a venture capitalist and served on the city's Recreation and Parks Commission, though he had never run for office before his mayoral win.

Caruso is the same age, also lives in Brentwood and, likewise, is making his first run for office after serving on two commissions under three mayors.

But the makeup of the city and those who vote has changed markedly since Riordan won the first of two terms. White Angelenos accounted for 72% of all voters in Riordan's first election. Black voters then accounted for an estimated 12% of the electorate and Latinos just 10%, though they made up 39% of the population.

In 2022, white people still contribute a plurality of votes in citywide elections; an estimated 48% of this year's vote, according to the UC Berkeley poll. Latino voting power this year stands to easily be more than double what it was in 1993, while the Black voting share has declined slightly and Asian American voters have also increased.

But Riordan's base of Republican voters, who voted more than 90% for him in 1993, has declined from about 30% of the L.A. electorate to an estimated 14% this year. In another flip-flop from the late 20th century: Voting by mail used to be a stronghold for GOP voters, most of whom now favor voting in person, because of claims by GOP stalwarts that mail-in voting is somehow fraudulent.

A final challenge for the Republicans who will make up an outsize share of Tuesday's in-person voters: Rain is forecast for Los Angeles.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks as he and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson give a press conference on August 24, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Alexey Furman/Getty Images

The Biden administration is urging Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to signal he is open to negotiating with Russia.

The Washington Post reported the move is a calculation to maintain international support for Ukraine.

Zelenskyy has previously said Ukraine will not engage in peace talks while Putin is in power.

In an effort to bolster international support for the ongoing war, the Biden administration is urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to reverse his previous stance and signal he is open to peace talks with Russia, according to reporting by The Washington Post.

The move is not intended to push Ukraine to the bargaining table, but instead to ease international fears about supporting an indefinite war, The Post reported, and is a sign of the increasingly complex foreign policy strategy being employed by the White House.

It has been more than eight months since the country was invaded and, while the Biden administration has pledged to financially support Ukraine for "as long as it takes," there has been growing tension among Washington lawmakers who feel US backing should not be "a free blank check."

"Ukraine fatigue is a real thing for some of our partners," one US official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Post.

While Ukraine and Russia explored a neutrality plan in the early days of the war, atrocities committed during the invasion  including the rape of civilians and torture of prisoners  have resulted in Zelenskyy's current hard-line stance against negotiation, The Post reported.

In July, the Ukrainian President vowed to fight until all Ukrainian territories are liberated from Russian occupation and in late September issued a decree that declared peace talks "impossible" while Russian leader Vladimir Putin remains in power.

Zelenskyy's public refusal to negotiate has further spurred concerns that the US is supporting a war with no end in sight. As the economic impacts of the war and fear of nuclear escalation continue to be felt in the states, bipartisan calls for diplomacy have increased, while the White House this week authorized $400 million more in military aid to be sent to Ukraine.

Representatives for the Biden administration did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has held undisclosed talks with top Russian officials in hopes of reducing the risk the war in Ukraine spills over or escalates into a nuclear conflict, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

The newspaper cited U.S. and allied officials as saying that Sullivan, President Joe Biden's top aide on national security, held confidential conversations in recent months with Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov and Russian Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev, Sullivan's counterpart, that were not disclosed publicly.

The White House declined to comment on the report, responding to questions about the story only with a statement attributed to National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson: "People claim a lot of things."

The Wall Street Journal said the officials did not provide the dates or the number of calls.

Few high-level contacts between U.S. and Russian officials have been made public in recent months as Washington has insisted that any talks on ending the war in Ukraine be held between Moscow and Kyiv.

The reported conversations took place as the West has accused Moscow of ramping up nuclear rhetoric, most recently by repeatedly accusing Kyiv of planning to use a radioactive "dirty bomb," without offering evidence.

Kyiv has denied having such a plan and the United States and other Western nations have said Russia could be planning to orchestrate such an attack itself and use it as a pretext to escalate the conflict.

Russia in turn has accused the West of "encouraging provocations."

Sullivan traveled to Kyiv on Friday and pledged Washington's "unwavering and unflinching" support for Ukraine.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
(Bloomberg) -- Joe Bidens five-state trip ahead of Tuesdays midterm elections was meant to boost Democrats facing narrow odds of winning.

Most Read from Bloomberg

But in a series of ad-libbed asides, the president managed to anger a key Senate ally, while making headlines with swipes at Elon Musk, Irans government and idiot GOP protesters outside an Illinois rally.

While the remarks amounted to no more than a few stray sentences in thousands of words uttered over four days, they distracted attention from Bidens central task: preserving Democrats slim congressional majorities, and with them any chance of further legislative achievements before he himself potentially stands for re-election in two years.

The president probably did little damage to himself or his party with his remarks. Musk is a deeply divisive figure, Bidens comment about a free Iran could resonate with Iranian-American voters in southern California -- and anyone turned off by his shots at protesters or the coal industry was already likely to vote Republican.

Nonetheless, the incidents highlighted Bidens penchant for veering off-message. While his candor sometimes helps him relate to members of the public, it presents a potential risk for candidates who counted on the president to give last-minute aid to their campaigns.

No one ever doubts I mean what I say. Sometimes, unfortunately, I say all that I mean, Biden said Saturday in Illinois after his barb at a group of protesters.

Biden heads to New York on Sunday to campaign for Governor Kathy Hochul, whos facing an unexpectedly tough re-election bid, after visits starting Thursday to New Mexico, California, Illinois and Pennsylvania.

Story continues

The presidents vow to close coal-fired power plants -- which prompted a spat with West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin -- came during a Friday speech spotlighting his semiconductor law in California, where he traveled to campaign on behalf of vulnerable Democratic Representative Mike Levin.

Biden said burning coal is becoming less economically viable and were going to be shutting these plants down all across America.

The White House was forced to play defense Saturday after angering Manchin, issuing a statement saying Bidens remarks on coal had been twisted and celebrating the fellow Democrat as a tireless advocate for his state and the hard-working men and women who live there.

Bidens top spokeswoman, Karine Jean-Pierre, also had to clarify that the president was not calling for regime change in Iran when he suggested the country would soon be free, telling reporters Friday that he was simply expressing our solidarity with the protesters.

Anti-government protests have gripped Iran for weeks, spurring pressure on Biden to abandon negotiations with Tehran over resurrecting a nuclear agreement.

The Iran remark, which drew cheers from the crowd, hearkened back to when Biden said during a March speech in Poland that the war in Ukraine demonstrated Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot remain remain in power. Most Americans agreed with the sentiment, yet it stirred controversy on the world stage that muddied Bidens core message, and the White House quickly moved to clarify the remarks.

In an aside during a Friday fundraiser in Chicago for two House Democrats running in competitive races, Biden said Musk acquired a platform that spews lies when he purchased Twitter Inc.

Then on Saturday morning the president called demonstrators outside an event in Joliet, Illinois holding signs denouncing socialism idiots.

One of the protesters held a sign saying Wheres Nancy -- an apparent reference to the words uttered by an intruder who attacked Speaker Nancy Pelosis husband with a hammer in their San Francisco home.

Biden, however, delivered during the marquee event of his multi-state, pre-midterm swing: a Saturday night rally in Philadelphia with former President Barack Obama, Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman and gubernatorial hopeful Josh Shapiro.

The president quipped that he lived in Pennsylvania longer than Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz, and I moved away when I was 10 years old, and sharply laid out the stakes in the election.

Your right to choose is on the ballot. Your right to vote is on the ballot. Social Security and Medicare is on the ballot. Theres something else on the ballot: character. Character is on the ballot, Biden said.

Not long afterward, Donald Trump struggled to stick to the script while rallying for GOP candidates Saturday in western Pennsylvania.

The former president mused about another White House run and called Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a potential 2024 rival, Ron DeSanctimonious.

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President Biden and former President Barack Obama spoke at a campaign rally in Philadelphia for Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro and senatorial candidate John Fetterman.

Video Transcript

[CHEERING]

JOE BIDEN: Three days until one of the most important elections-- one of the most important elections in our lifetime. It's going to shape-- the outcome is going to shape our country for decades to come. And the power to shape that outcome is in your hands.

Two years ago-- two years ago, you used that power to make Donald Trump not only a former president, but you made him a defeated president.

[CHEERING]

And this year, you had the power to make John Fetterman your next United States Senator.

[CHEERING]

And Josh Shapiro your next governor.

[CHEERING]

BARACK OBAMA: You heard Josh Shapiro and John Fetterman talk about the stakes in this election. A fair economy that gives working people a fair shot. That's on the ballot. Fundamental rights are on the ballot.

Truth and facts and logic and reason and basic decency are on the ballot. Democracy itself is on the ballot. The stakes are high.

[CHEERING]
NEW YORK  Former President Bill Clinton appeared in Brooklyn on Saturday as part of a rotating cast of Democratic Party heavyweights scrambling to boost the campaign of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is in an unexpectedly tight race with Republican challenger Rep. Lee Zeldin.

Clinton spoke to a few hundred people  many who were members of local unions  packed into an event space in Downtown Brooklyn two days after Hochul took the stage with Vice President Kamala Harris and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and a day before President Joe Biden is set to touch down in Yonkers for yet another rally.

The tremendous resources being diverted to New York, typically a Democratic shoo-in, demonstrates just how competitive the race has gotten as polls consistently show Hochul with a single-digit lead that has dropped uncomfortably low for members of her camp.

Weve got a close election; there are close elections all around this country, state Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs said. In the House of Representatives, the Senate and, yes, right here in the state of New York.

Clinton sought to address some of the attacks coming from across the aisle: Inflation, he said, is up across the world and is largely being driven up by supply chain issues. The destabilizing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have led to a mental health crisis and an increase in lurid crimes that have grabbed headlines. High gas prices are being driven by geopolitical forces that will become irrelevant once American refineries are up and pumping again. And bail reform is being unfairly wielded as a campaign cudgel by Zeldin and others on the right.

Lee Zeldin, he makes it sound like Kathy Hochul gets up every morning, goes to the nearest subway stop and hands out billy clubs [and] baseballs bats, Clinton, the Chappaqua, Westchester County resident, said.

Clinton ticked off a number of Hochuls accomplishments since she was sworn in as governor last summer following the resignation of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and he argued that Zeldins votes against major federal legislation, including the American Rescue Plan and the CHIPS and Science Act, showed that he does not have a plan to deal with these issues if elected.

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But despite the closeness of the contest just days before polls close Nov. 8, Clinton said New Yorkers he spoke to before the event were unaware of the dynamics.

Im telling you all this because the whole election could come down to how big the turnout is in Brooklyn, he said.



For his part, Zeldin held campaign rallies across the Hudson Valley on Saturday, concluding with an event with Tulsi Gabbard, the former Hawaii Democratic congresswoman who left the party last month and has been hitting the campaign trail for Republicans across the nation.

Zeldin said Friday that his campaign's polling last week found the race to be neck-and-neck, and, "Weve just felt growing momentum every day since. Were going to win this race on Tuesday as long as we get our supporters out."

New York has twice as many Democrats as Republicans, and no GOP candidate has won statewide in two decades. But Zeldin has hammered on the state's crime issues and high cost of living, making him the party's most competitive candidate for governor since George Pataki retired after three terms in office in 2006.

"Were greatly concerned about safety on our streets, on our subways," Zeldin said. "Republicans and Democrats and independents have decided that enough is enough. They are tired of the pro-criminal laws that have been passed up in Albany. You have weak district attorneys who are refusing to enforce the law, and they want to support our men and women in law enforcement."

Much of the battle has been waged in New York City, where Zeldin is hoping to win more than 30 percent of the voteand then cruise in the suburbs and upstate. Hochul is pushing for a strong Democratic turnout in the heavily blue city as a way to drive turnout, win a full term and become the first woman elected governor in New York history.

Hochul, along with many of Saturdays speakers, largely stuck to describing a foreboding future where the GOP and Zeldin are in charge, rather than detail what another term under her leadership would look like.

She cast the Republican Party as rife with extremists, election deniers, white supremacists and opponents of abortion rights and seemed to acknowledge recent polling that had shown the race to be far too close for many Democrats.

Im a street fighter. I love to fight. And do you know what I love the most? she asked. I love being underestimated.

With the election only days away, most voters have already made up their minds about who to support, according to political consultant Basil Smikle Jr., which is why Saturdays rally appeared to be more about goosing turnout.

[Clinton] is still a very strong leader in the party and good on the stump. He sort of grounds [Hochul] in the party leadership of past and present, Smikle Jr. said. On top of that, he still is very popular with a number of older African American Democrats at a time when all Black voters  the base of the base  need to come out.

Hochuls campaign struggled to resonate with Black voters earlier in the cycle. And citywide elected officials who assumed office with the support of Black communities, such as Mayor Eric Adams or Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, have made scant appearances on the campaign trail.

Adams  who has lately toned down his criticism that Albany inaction on bail reform is contributing to crime  took to the stage to praise his relationship with the governor.

It doesnt matter if youre from Buffalo, N.Y. or Buffalo Avenue in Brownsville, he said of Hochul, who is from Buffalo. You have an authentic governor that is committed to uplifting the people of this city and state.
Residents have the urge to have their state become famous for something positive to have bragging rights among other states of the union. In our daily news, we hear assertions of our greatness compared to other states. However, states are much more likely to become famous for their ills than their strengths.

South Dakota is famous for its winters, whether we should be or not. Likewise, Florida for its hurricanes and California for its fires. When do you remember a state becoming famous for having the best tax structure in the nation, the fairest judicial system or the best educational system?

South Dakota became famous in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for favorable divorce laws, which led to our becoming a haven for rich people to come for divorces. For the most part, these wealthy women came to only one location. It wasn't Webster or Watertown, but it was Sioux Falls.

National writer April White found this divorce connection of the nation to Sioux Falls very interesting, thus her book "The Divorce Colony," published this year by Hachette Books. It's 186 pages and sells for $30.

We currently live in a nation where the divorce laws in most states are similar. However, the United States developed east to west. In issues such as divorce, eastern states were influenced by conservative Puritan beliefs, whereas the new western states had more liberal laws for women to attract women to the frontier. Remember, the women's right to vote was led by the western states, Wyoming being the first to grant women the right to vote.

Donus Roberts

For women to get divorced in most eastern states in the late 19th century, the woman had to prove adultery on the part of the husband. South Dakota had more lenient provisions, including a man calling the woman vicious or ugly names, recognizing the right to have comparable incomes, or spending the wife's inheritance money. South Dakota also had a three-month residency law, whereas most eastern states had a year or more.

Story continues

There was one hitch: one had to be rich to get a divorce.

Take the case of Mary Cahill, who traveled from her home in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Sioux Falls. First, there would be a first-class train ride of several days. Then, Cahill would have to live in South Dakota for three months to gain residency without a guarantee that the case would make its way through the courts at the end of that time.

There was also the cost of residency. Some women bought a house to live in. Cahill, however, would use the more common method, renting a suite at the Cataract Hotel in Sioux Falls.

The Cataract was the hotel that made Sioux Falls famous in the divorce industry and among the Sioux Falls social set. It was in the heart of downtown Sioux Falls on Phillips Avenue. Cahill had a modest six-room suite in the hotel; some other wealthy women would rent suites up to 12 rooms. Then there would be the waiting, the eating, the shopping and the hiring of carriages for rides.

After a long, unusually cold winter in this very small city on the American frontier, a judge granted Cahill the freedom she sought.

Mary Walsh was a privileged woman. She was a very successful novelist and playwright. After her successful divorce, Mary coined the term "divorce colony" and wrote articles about it so that other rich women looking for a divorce knew they could find their solution in Sioux Falls.

Even more publicity came Sioux Falls's way when a niece of the influential Astor family and the daughter-in-law of the United States secretary of state arrived in Sioux Falls for a divorce. The Astor divorce drew the attention of soon-to-be president Theodore Roosevelt, who felt that easy divorces were ruining the moral integrity of the American family. Roosevelt lobbied South Dakota to tighten its laws.

Whether Roosevelt had any affect, after several high-profile divorce cases, the South Dakota Legislature did tighten its waiting period from three months to six months. However, this change diverted few.

Sioux Falls was the place to go, and the railroad from anywhere east ran to the town.

Most western states had similar laws to South Dakota, so divorce was accessible. Fargo, N.D., tried very hard to wrest the "Divorce Colony" label from Sioux Falls, or at least share it, but to no avail, at least temporarily.

By the early 20th century, the automobile greatly affected marriage and divorce all over America. One did not need a train that went to one location. By 1906, South Dakota's domination of divorce had ended. Reno, Nev., had become the new divorce center. It became No. 1 by making one simple change: six months to 30 days. While the rich women stayed for 30 days in premier hotels, they could also have a new way to pass the time - gambling.

Readers of this book will find that it is not just about divorce. It is about American social changes that have affected all of us.

For December, I will review Michael Connelly's latest crime novel, "Desert Star."

Donus Roberts is a former teacher, an avid reader/collector of books, owner of ddrbooks, and he encourages readers to connect at ddrbooks@wat.midco.net.

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: How 19th century Sioux Falls became the 'Divorce Colony' for women
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said on Sunday that he believes his party has a very strong pathway to add more seats in the Senate ahead of Tuesdays midterm elections.

The party in the White House usually loses during midterms but the reality is we still have a very strong pathway, not just to keeping the Senate but really picking up seats  in Pennsylvania and in places like Wisconsin and North Carolina, Booker told host Martha Raddatz on ABCs This Week.

This election still is in the ballots, he added. And the reality is were bucking what are usual trends.

Booker admitted that the economy is tough, but said voters realize that Democrats are trying to protect unions.

This is the party that made sure we did things to lower prescription drug costs and lower health care costs, Booker added, referring to Democrats. That this is the party at the end of the day thats trying to protect fundamental freedoms like the right to control your own body.

So I think that this is a tough election season. Its a midterm election. But I still see a pathway for us to maintain control of the Senate, Booker concluded.

Booker, who ran for president in 2020, has been campaigning in key battleground states such as Arizona, Wisconsin, Nevada and North Carolina.

His remarks on Sunday came after Raddatz mentioned that FiveThirtyEights latest Senate forecast gave the GOP a 55 percent chance of taking majority control of the Senate.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of Stamford Tyres Corporation Limited (SGX:S29) by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. Our analysis will employ the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Don't get put off by the jargon, the math behind it is actually quite straightforward.

We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Check out our latest analysis for Stamford Tyres

Step By Step Through The Calculation

We have to calculate the value of Stamford Tyres slightly differently to other stocks because it is a retail distributors company. Instead of using free cash flows, which are hard to estimate and often not reported by analysts in this industry, dividends per share (DPS) payments are used. Unless a company pays out the majority of its FCF as a dividend, this method will typically underestimate the value of the stock. The 'Gordon Growth Model' is used, which simply assumes that dividend payments will continue to increase at a sustainable growth rate forever. The dividend is expected to grow at an annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 1.9%. We then discount this figure to today's value at a cost of equity of 7.5%. Compared to the current share price of S$0.2, the company appears about fair value at a 8.5% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.

Value Per Share = Expected Dividend Per Share / (Discount Rate - Perpetual Growth Rate)

= S$0.01 / (7.5%  1.9%)

= S$0.2

dcf

The Assumptions

Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Stamford Tyres as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 7.5%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.102. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

Story continues

Moving On:

Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. For Stamford Tyres, we've compiled three additional factors you should explore:

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Singaporean stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

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.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
Getty Images; Insider

California Proposition 26 would allow for specific types of sports betting on Native American lands.

Mark Macarro, chairman of Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, argues that residents deserve "highly regulated" and "safe" gambling.

Kyle Kirkland, president of the California Gaming Association, argues the proposition would create a tribal casino monopoly.

A "yes" on California's Proposition 26 would legalize specific types of gambling on Native American lands.

Ballot measure details

Known as the Legalize Sports Betting on American Indian Lands Initiative, Proposition 26 would legalize certain forms of in-person gambling that are currently not permitted  including sports betting, roulette, and dice games  on tribal lands and racetracks, according to the state's Legislative Analyst Office.

Funds earned via Proposition 26 would initially go to schools and the remainder to California's discretionary fund, mental health research, and gambling rules.

It's different from Proposition 27, another sports-betting proposition on the ballot this fall.

Support and opposition

Proposition 26 is sponsored by Native American tribes, such as Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. The campaign in support of the measure is being led by the Coalition for Safe, Responsible Gaming.

"Californians should have the choice to participate in sports wagering at highly regulated, safe, and experienced gaming locations. We are very proud to see tribes from across California come together for this effort, which represents an incremental but important step toward giving Californians the freedom to participate in this new activity in a responsible manner," Mark Macarro, chairman of Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Taxpayers Against Special Interest Monopolies is leading the campaign against the measure.

"This initiative does nothing to advance sports wagering, and instead expands the tribal casinos' tax-free monopoly on gaming and rewards those operators for prioritizing their own wealth over public health and safety," Kyle Kirkland, president of the California Gaming Association, said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Story continues

The money race

The proposal has seen more than $132.2 million in support contributions and more than $43.6 million in opposition contributions, according to Ballotpedia.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Cambridge police are asking the public for help identifying a man that may have robbed a convenience store at knife point.

According to Cambridge Police, a man entered a convenience store on Mass Ave before pulling out a knife and demanding money from the register.

Video tweeted out by the department shows the suspect entering the store in a dark red hoodie and a Red Sox hat.

We are seeking assistance in identifying the suspect featured in the video after an armed robbery occurred at a convenience store located in the area of the 2300 block of Massachusetts Avenue in #CambMA. Have any information?



Please call 617-349-3300. pic.twitter.com/iGuWYdd53s  Cambridge Police (@CambridgePolice) November 6, 2022

No one was hurt in the incident, according to police.

Anyone with information regarding the innocent is asked to call 617-349-3300.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
By Rod Nickel and Nia Williams

(Reuters) -Canada's proposal to tax corporate stock buybacks is unlikely to deter oil and gas companies from returning cash to shareholders and may instead put them at a competitive disadvantage, industry officials and analysts said.

Canadian energy companies have been the most active in buying back shares of any sector during the past year, according to CIBC, and also funnelled profits from high prices into dividends and debt payments, limiting new production investments.

On Thursday, the Liberal government proposed a 2% tax on buybacks to encourage companies to reinvest in their workers and business.

The tax will generate an estimated C$2.1 billion ($1.6 billion) over five years and take effect on Jan. 1, 2024.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) and the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada both said the tax, double of a 1% measure in the United States, would be a competitive disadvantage.

The tax "may have the unintended effect of discouraging investment into Canadian-run businesses while putting the shareholder returns of Canadian investors at risk," said CAPP President Lisa Baiton.

The tax could especially hurt small companies which have fewer resources, said Michael Belenkie, CEO of Advantage Energy, a 54,000-barrel-of-oil-equivalent-per-day producer.

"If you take away the ability to buy back equity when times are good, then you restrict the ability and desire to issue equity when times are bad," he said.

Canada's four largest producers - Canadian Natural Resources Ltd, Cenovus Energy, Suncor Energy and Imperial Oil - spent C$15.8 billion combined on buybacks in 2022's first three quarters, according to Tudor Pickering Holt (TPH).

At the same time those companies have held back from significantly boosting production because of concerns about volatile prices and slowing long-term oil demand.

Overall, Canadian companies repurchased a record-high C$69.1 billion of shares during the 12 months through the third quarter, CIBC Capital Markets said in a note. The tax's timing is "peculiar," and gives companies opportunity next year to launch more substantial issuer bids - buybacks of more than 10% of shares outstanding, CIBC added.

Story continues

Matt Murphy, TPH director of energy research said companies are unlikely to accelerate buybacks next year because they have already committed to capital allocation policies.

The tax may not deter oil companies' buyback intentions anyway, said Eight Capital analyst Phil Skolnick, who covers the sector.

"If a company feels like their stock is cheap, I don't think a 2% tax will stop them," from offering investors the opportunity to sell it back, he said.

Martin Pelletier, senior portfolio manager at Wellington-Altus Private Counsel, who manages shares in oil sands companies, said the tax could nudge firms into spending more on acquisitions, but not their own operations.

"Maybe it incentivizes them to do more M&A, because they certainly can't put (investment) in the ground," he said, referring to strict regulatory requirements. "They're going to weigh their options."

Canadian Natural and pipeline company TC Energy declined to comment. Suncor, Cenovus and Imperial did not respond to requests for comment.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland defended the buyback tax to reporters on Thursday saying it gives companies the "right incentives" to invest in production and workers.

Michael Smart, professor of economics at University of Toronto, said the tax moves in the right direction. Investors pay less tax currently on income from selling shares back to companies than they do on dividends.

"This is a small step towards fixing our tax system," he said.

($1 = 1.3516 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg; Additional reporting by Julie Gordon in Ottawa; Editing by Josie Kao)
Subtropical Storm Nicole could bring damaging winds, heavy rains, rough surf and flooding to much of the southeastern U.S. coast this week, National Hurricane Center officials warned Monday.

In the Charlotte region, heavy rains are possible Thursday into late Friday, according to a hazardous weather outlook advisory issued before 5 a.m. Monday by the National Weather Service office in Greer, South Carolina.

Confidence remains low as to which areas may see heavy rainfall, according to the advisory.

Hurricane forecast for Nicole

Nicole is forecast to be a large storm, according to a National Hurricane Center bulletin at 7 a.m. Monday.

And regardless of its exact path, widespread impacts from a prolonged period of coastal flooding, tropical-storm-force winds, rough surf and rip currents, and beach erosion are likely along much of the southeastern United States coast, the Florida east coast and portions of the northwestern and central Bahamas during much of the upcoming week, center forecasters said in the bulletin.

By 7 a.m. Monday, Nicole packed 45-mph winds about 520 miles east of the northwestern Bahamas, according to the center.

Gradual strengthening is forecast during the next few days, and Nicole could be near or at hurricane intensity by Wednesday or Wednesday night while it is moving near the northwestern Bahamas, National Hurricane Center officials said in the bulletin.

The center of Nicole is expected to approach the northwestern Bahamas on Tuesday, move near or over those islands on Wednesday, and approach the east coast of Florida by Wednesday night, according to the center.

Heavy rains are expected across parts of Florida and the southeastern U.S. by mid- to late week, National Hurricane Center officials said.

Heavy rain

The Carolinas will see rain from the system, with the heaviest bands anticipated at the coast, NWS meteorologist Andrew Kimball previously told The Charlotte Observer.

In the Triangle, the NWS forecast calls for sunny and warm conditions  with high temperatures near 80  through Tuesday before temperatures return to near normal on Wednesday. The first real chance of rain in the Triangle is Thursday, according to the NWS.

Story continues

But much of Eastern North Carolina should expect strong onshore winds ... with marine hazards and minor to moderate coastal impacts when the storm front arrives, National Weather Service meteorologists said on Twitter Saturday morning.

Tidal flooding is a primary concern from the storm, the South Carolina State Climatology Office said in a bulletin Friday, whether or not we are dealing with a tropical storm or non-tropical gale center moving our way or nearby to our southeast.

Charlotte, Rock Hill forecast

Charlotte should remain sunny to mostly sunny until clouds from the Caribbean storm are expected to roll into the region late Wednesday, according to the NWS Charlotte forecast at 9 a.m. Monday.

Thursday should be partly sunny, with a 40% chance of showers late Thursday, a 60% chance all day Friday and a 40% chance Friday night, according to the forecast.

Saturday should be sunny with a high of 67, NWS meteorologists said.

Highs in Charlotte are expected to bounce around through the week, from a predicted 79 Monday to 66 Tuesday, 61 Wednesday and 68 Thursday and Friday, according to the NWS forecast. Sundays high could plummet to 52, NWS meteorologists said.

Rock Hill has a 40% chance of showers late Thursday and a 60% chance on Friday, with a predicted high of 69 both days, NWS meteorologists said.

Saturdays high in Rock Hill is forecast to dip to 68 degrees and Sundays to 54. Both days should be sunny, forecasters said.

Regarding the tropics next week, the NHC continues to monitor the southwest Atlantic, with an increased chance of tropical or sub-tropical development. Regardless of development, we're still looking at the potential of marine and coastal impacts here in eastern NC. #ncwx #OBX pic.twitter.com/Ee8hrYieB7  NWS Newport/Morehead (@NWSMoreheadCity) November 5, 2022

This is a developing story.
NextShark

Qatar World Cup coverage in China has sparked an uproar among Weibo users, who have been speaking out against the Chinese governments implementation of its strict zero-COVID policy. Initial coverage of the football tournament that showed audiences not wearing protective masks in Qatar has caused many in China to question the continued widespread lockdowns, quarantines and mass-testing campaigns in the country. Weibo users pointed out that the maskless crowds show that the rest of the world has found a means to live with COVID-19 without excessive measures, according to Agence France-Presse.
The child star began his entertainment career at the age of 7. picture alliance/Getty Images; Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images

Aaron Carter was found dead in his California home on Saturday morning, Insider confirmed.

The musician, who began his career at 7 years old, was open about his mental health illnesses.

Nick Carter, Hilary Duff, and others took to social media to pay tribute to the late star.

On Sunday, Carter's older brother Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys paid tribute to his late brother on Instagram.

Brothers Aaron Carter (left) and Nick Carter at the 2002 Wango Tango event. Annamaria DiSanto/Getty Images

In his caption, Nick alluded to him and Carter's "complicated relationship," and stressed that he will "miss his brother more than anyone will ever know."

"I have always held onto the hope, that he would somehow, someday want to walk a healthy path and eventually find the help that he so desperately needed. Sometimes we want to blame someone or something for a loss. But the truth is that addiction and mental illness is the real villain here," Nick captioned the throwback photos he posted.

Carter's "Lizzie McGuire" costar and ex-girlfriend Hilary Duff took to Instagram to express her condolences to him and his family.

Aaron Carter and Hilary Duff attend "The Lizzie McGuire Movie" premiere after party in 2003. L. Cohen/Getty Images

Duff and Carter began dating when they were both 13-years-old. The two were linked in an on-again-off-again relationship until 2003, according to Us Weekly. "Boy did my teenage self love you deeply," Duff wrote in an Instagram post Saturday night.

Musician Diane Warren tweeted in tribute to the late child star Saturday afternoon.

Diane Warren attends the ACLU SoCal's Annual Bill of Rights Dinner in October 2022. Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

"Fame at a young age is often more a curse than a blessing and Surviving it is not easy," Warren tweeted. In a 2019 episode of "The Doctors," Carter opened up about his mental health, including multiple personality disorder, schizophrenia, acute anxiety and manic depression.

"The Real" host Loni Love paid tribute to Carter with a heartfelt tweet, reminiscing on his 2018 appearance on the talk show.

Loni Love walks the red carpet at the "Black Adam" New York Premiere October 2022. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Love tweeted "he really was just trying to be happy" Saturday. The two met when Carter was the guest on a February 2018 episode of "The Real."

Story continues

Reality star Spencer Pratt tweeted "RIP" to Carter Saturday, a day after the child star had tweeted a photo of the two of them.

Spencer Pratt attends the October 2019 celebration for the 100th episode of "Marriage Boot Camp." Presley Ann/Getty Images

On Friday, Carter shared a TikTok of him and Pratt on Twitter. The following day, Pratt quotetweeted the post with "RIP" followed by a heart emoji and an angel emoji.

"One Tree Hill" star Tyler Hilton tweeted about the "heartbreaking news" Saturday afternoon.

Actor Tyler Hilton attends the Build Series at Build Studio on November 19, 2019 in New York City. Jim Spellman/Getty Images

Hilton tweeted Saturday, "this kid had such a spark. Known him for years and always really liked him, he was warm and really funny. Loved putting on a show and he was good at it."

"Sabrina the Teenage Witch" star Melissa Joan Hart posted a throwback photo on Instagram to honor Carter.

Actress Melissa Joan Hart visits Build Studio to discuss her new Netflix TV series "No Good Nick" in April 2019. Monica Schipper/Getty Images

The fellow teen star sent love to the family, friends, and fans of Carter via Instagram.

Boyband New Kids on the Block posted a touching tribute to Carter on their Twitter page.

New Kids on the Block attends the 2021 American Music Awards in Los Angeles. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

"We are shocked and saddened about the sudden passing of Aaron Carter. Sending prayers to the Carter family," the band tweeted. The message was joined by a black and white photo of Carter.

New Kids on the Block (@NKOTB) November 5, 2022

Musician Samantha Scarlette tweeted a heartbreaking message on Saturday to the late artist.

Samantha Scarlette attends 2020 New York Fashion Week. John Lamparski/Getty Images

"I am in tears right now hearing of your death. I just talked to you on Wednesday & you seemed in good spirits. You were such a sweet soul that never had a chance. I'm heartbroken that your son, who you wanted so much will never get to know you," Scarlette shared on Twitter.

Angel Carter, Carter's twin sister, paid tribute to her brother on Instagram late Saturday night.

Angel Carter (left) and her twin brother Aaron Carter attend the opening night of "Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" in 2014. Vincent Sandoval/Getty Images

Angel wrote a touching message to her twin brother on Instagram, along with baby photos of the two of them. "I know you're at peace now. I will carry you with me until the day I die and get to see you again," Angel captioned her Instagram post.

Read the original article on Insider
Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp issued a warning to CEOs: Ignore climate change at your own peril.

I would say, in any sector, if a CEO isn't thinking about this, it's malpractice, Krupp recently told Yahoo Finance's editor-in-chief Andy Serwer (video above).

He explained that good corporate leaders have always looked ahead to major transformations in the economy, and that is certainly the case with climate change as the world looks to decouple growth from carbon-intensive energy sources.

This transition to clean energy is going to make the whole explosion of the internet look like a kid's lemonade stand, Krupp stated. There are going to be huge profit-making opportunities. There's some vulnerabilities as well. I mean, I think the CEOs that don't get it are going to be case studies in business schools  not in a good way. But those that do get it are going to be able to reap huge profit.

Fred Krupp waits backstage before his talk at TED2018 on April 11, 2018, in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Lawrence Sumulong/Getty Images)

But while the impacts of climate become more visible  be it in the form of wildfires, water scarcity, and hurricanes  the backdrop for CEOs looking to adapt to these risks hasn't gotten any easier.

On one hand, corporate leaders are facing increased recession risks and energy concerns in the near term, particularly in Europe. And on the other, the opposition to green initiatives has become more vocal.

In late August, the anti-ESG backlash hit a high point when Texas moved to ban hedge funds like BlackRock from doing business with them over the asset managers' strategies focused on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks. That month, 19 Republican state attorneys general signed a letter to BlackRock that explicitly went after the hedge fund's support of the Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius.

Krupp noted that there are legitimate criticisms to be made about ESG, and then there are the politicians trying to score political points.

Story continues

Ill tell you this, Krupp added, if I were running a business that was going to be put under restrictions in one of these states, you know, asking CEOs to put a blinder on climate change, I would get out of that state and do business somewhere else, because it's irresponsible.

View of a COP27 sign on the road leading to the conference area in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh town as the city prepares to host the COP27 summit next month, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt October 20, 2022. REUTERS/Sayed Sheasha

Global leaders in the private sector will soon have the opportunity to announce additional climate commitments and initiatives on the public stage at a key UN climate in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, starting on Sunday. Cooperation between business and governments will be essential for keeping the Paris Agreement's goal of 2 degrees alive and for avoiding the worst impacts on humans.

So far, progress toward fighting climate change has been too slow, Krupp said, but he remained optimistic in humanity's capacity to act.

The steps we've taken so far are inadequate and small and incremental, Krupp said. We need big and bold now or we're headed for a train wreck. We're already seeing the effects now of everything from droughts to intense rainstorms to hurricanes, increased flooding. Nevertheless, there are green shoots.

Grace O'Donnell is an editor for Yahoo Finance.

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Download the Yahoo Finance app for Apple or Android

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, and YouTube
Empty classroom Yellow Dog Productions / Getty Images

A Chicago principal was "removed" after a student wore an antisemitic costume.

The student wore a German military uniform and did a Nazi salute on stage during a costume contest.

Pedro Martinez, Chicago Public Schools CEO, said the incident is under investigation.

A Chicago high school principal was removed from her post after a student caused outrage by wearing a Nazi costume to school for Halloween and performing a Nazi salute.

Chicago Public Schools said on Friday that Jones College Prep principal Joseph Powers had been removed from his principal duties pending an investigation into the school's response to a student who wore a German Nazi army uniform and did a Nazi salute on stage during a costume contest, according to The Chicago Tribune.

The Chicago Teacher's Union had called for the principal's dismissal and students at the school were planning to walk out on Monday, The Tribune reported.

The incident comes amid a wave of antisemitic incidents around the country and remarks by celebrities, such as Ye and NBC star Kyrie Irving.

A representative for the school district said that the costume was "widely recognized by many students, staff and members of our broader CPS community as antisemitic," according to The Tribune.

"This incident caused harm to many students and staff, and it is completely inconsistent with our values as a school district," Pedro Martinez, CPS chief executive officer said according to The Tribune. "In response, CPS has launched a full investigation into the incident in accordance with our district's protocols for processing bias-based harm."

Martinez said Powers had been "removed" from his "principal duties" effective immediately.

Students posted videos of the student in the antisemitic costume to social media on TikTok and Twitter.

In an email to parents following the costume contest, Powers called the uniform a "military surplus army uniform," The Tribune reported.

Story continues

Staff and students expressed their concerns about the uniform, believing that it represented an expression of antisemitism. Additionally, a video of the costume parade has since appeared on social media.

"I certainly understand and regret the discomfort and harm felt by some members of our school community," Powers wrote according to The Tribune. "Please be assured that we take the well-being of all students seriously and do not tolerate hateful expressions of any kind. In this situation, it certainly appears this was not the intent of the Halloween costume."

After backlash grew to his initial email, Powers sent a second email to parents that said the school should have handled the incident with "greater care" and that "we deeply regret the pain that this incident has caused our school community," The Tribune reported.

Read the original article on Insider
ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland should avoid following the European Union by imposing sanctions on China if it cares about Swiss-Sino relations, the Chinese ambassador to Bern told the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper.

Last year, the EU accused Chinese officials of mass detentions of Muslim Uighurs and human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region and imposed its first sanctions against Beijing since an arms embargo in 1989 following the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Switzerland has not yet decided to follow the EU's lead.

"Anyone who really cares about the friendly relations between the two countries and who makes responsible policy will not agree to the sanctions," China's ambassador in Bern, Wang Shihting, told the NZZ am Sonntag.

"If Switzerland adopts the sanctions and the situation develops in an uncontrolled direction, Sino-Swiss relations will suffer," he added.

The head of the Swiss agency that implements economic sanctions said in a newspaper interview in July she expects the neutral country to adopt any punitive measures the EU launches against China if it invades Taiwan.

In unveiling a new strategy on China last year, Bern announced few concrete policy changes and stressed the importance of bilateral ties. But it spoke more openly about its disapproval of China's human rights record than it has tended to do in the past.

In 1950, Switzerland was one of the first western countries to recognise Communist China. Since 2010, China has been its biggest trading partner in Asia and its third-largest globally after the EU and the United States.

A bilateral free trade agreement took effect in July 2014, and the two countries this year launched a joint platform for stock listings and trading.

(Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Sunday predicted Republican Joe ODea will pull off an upset victory on Tuesday and flip Colorados Senate seat, which is currently held by Sen. Michael Bennet (D).

The other upset and surprise youre going to see I think on Tuesday night is Joe ODea, the Republican candidate for United States Senate in Colorado, is going to beat Michael Bennet. And thats going to be a huge surprise, said Christie on ABCs This Week.

Polls show Bennet with the edge in the race, which is rated lean Democrat by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

An Emerson College-The Hill poll of likely voters late last month found Bennet held a 7-point lead, garnering 49 percent support to ODeas 42 percent.

ODea, unlike a number of GOP nominees in competitive Senate races, has broken with former President Trump and did not receive his backing in the primary.

The Colorado Republican and construction company CEO has portrayed himself as a moderate and vowed to campaign against Trump if he mounts another White House bid, arguing the party should pick another candidate in 2024.

He flat-out said that he believes that Joe Biden was the legitimately elected president of the United States and had Trump attack him, Christie said of ODea on Sunday. And in Colorado, he is driving Michael Bennet to distraction. Hes going to win the race.

ODea has won the support of other prominent Republicans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who recorded a robocall for the nominee.

Trump responded by calling the move by DeSantis, a potential rival for the partys 2024 presidential nomination, a big mistake.

The former president has also described ODea as stupid and a RINO, an acronym for Republican in name only.



For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
One of the best investments we can make is in our own knowledge and skill set. With that in mind, this article will work through how we can use Return On Equity (ROE) to better understand a business. By way of learning-by-doing, we'll look at ROE to gain a better understanding of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA).

ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

See our latest analysis for Ormat Technologies

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

Return on equity can be calculated by using the formula:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations)  Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Ormat Technologies is:

4.0% = US$80m  US$2.0b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2022).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.04 in profit.

Does Ormat Technologies Have A Good Return On Equity?

Arguably the easiest way to assess company's ROE is to compare it with the average in its industry. Importantly, this is far from a perfect measure, because companies differ significantly within the same industry classification. If you look at the image below, you can see Ormat Technologies has a lower ROE than the average (18%) in the Renewable Energy industry classification.

roe

That certainly isn't ideal. Although, we think that a lower ROE could still mean that a company has the opportunity to better its returns with the use of leverage, provided its existing debt levels are low. A company with high debt levels and low ROE is a combination we like to avoid given the risk involved.

The Importance Of Debt To Return On Equity

Virtually all companies need money to invest in the business, to grow profits. The cash for investment can come from prior year profits (retained earnings), issuing new shares, or borrowing. In the first two cases, the ROE will capture this use of capital to grow. In the latter case, the use of debt will improve the returns, but will not change the equity. That will make the ROE look better than if no debt was used.

Story continues

Combining Ormat Technologies' Debt And Its 4.0% Return On Equity

Ormat Technologies clearly uses a high amount of debt to boost returns, as it has a debt to equity ratio of 1.01. The combination of a rather low ROE and significant use of debt is not particularly appealing. Debt increases risk and reduces options for the company in the future, so you generally want to see some good returns from using it.

Conclusion

Return on equity is a useful indicator of the ability of a business to generate profits and return them to shareholders. A company that can achieve a high return on equity without debt could be considered a high quality business. If two companies have around the same level of debt to equity, and one has a higher ROE, I'd generally prefer the one with higher ROE.

But ROE is just one piece of a bigger puzzle, since high quality businesses often trade on high multiples of earnings. The rate at which profits are likely to grow, relative to the expectations of profit growth reflected in the current price, must be considered, too. So you might want to check this FREE visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

If you would prefer 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.

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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Getty

It only took a few hours after Russias Vladimir Putin hailed his mobilization as a sparkling success Friday for a torrent of humiliating reports to emerge that suggest the war effort has been more successful in turning the country against him than defeating mythical Nazis in Ukraine.

The most staggering contradiction to the Russian presidents boastful claims came perhaps in Kazan, where dozens of drafted troops were captured on video late Friday berating military leadership outside a collection point for the newly mobilized.

The angry crowd complained of a lack of water, food, and rusty rifles from the 1970s that one soldier said were too dangerous to even use, according to local outlets. Spectacularly, the troops were not cowed by a military officer who threatened to call in riot police.

What kind of riot police are you trying to scare us with? Well call everyone we know right now, and theyll come and well pummel all of you and the riot police, one protesting soldier yelled back.

The officer was forced to retreat as the crowd of rioting troops chanted cocksucker, the video shows.

By Saturday, local authorities said the issues cited by the troops had been resolved, according to Tatar-Inform. But outrage continued to bubble up elsewhere, including in Voronezh, where relatives of drafted troops gathered outside the local prosecutors office to film a video appeal to the governor pleading with him to rescue new troops from their own command.

On the very first day, they put [the draftees] on the frontline [in Luhansk]. The command left the battlefield and fled, saying they would soon return and bring the mobilized troops their things, one family member said in video shared by the independent outlet Verstka.

Within 40 minutes of being dumped on the battlefield, she said, the leadership had failed to return, shelling started, and battles went on for three days.

They didnt sleep, didnt eat, and for three days held the line and didnt run away unlike the command, she said.

Story continues

They tell us over the phone that our sons are alive and healthy, and even fulfilling their military duty. How the hell are they alive and healthy when they were all killed there? the mother of another soldier told Verstka.

More than 500 troops in that battalion were subsequently killed after being abandoned by the command, according to one of the surviving soldiers who spoke to the outlet.

Aleksei Agafonov told Verstka his battalion initially included 570 menbut only 29 made it out whole and another 12 were wounded after fierce fighting outside Russian-occupied Makeyevka. The massive losses were confirmed by another soldier who survived, identified as Nikolai Voronin.

There were a lot of dead, they were lying everywhere Their arms and legs were torn off, Voronin said, adding that the troops had been ordered to dig trenches before all hell broke loose and many of them wound up almost digging their own graves.

When it all started, the officers immediately ran away, said Agafonov.

On TV they show that everything is beautiful, but in reality, here in the Luhansk region, they specifically toss mobilized troops onto the frontline, and when we left there, without seeing any officers, we went back and saw that on the third line its only contractees and volunteers, and draftees are on the front, he said

Putin, at a ceremony on Red Square on Friday, had tried to paint a very different portrait of his mobilization effort, boasting that thousands of men had opted to join as volunteers, resulting in a total of 318,000 new troops, 49,000 of whom he said were already fulfilling their duty in military ranks.

The number of volunteers is not going down, he said in comments carried by RIA Novosti.

Its a very large number of people [mobilized]. Families, mothers, fathers, children, wives are left Of course, the state is doing everything in order to support them, he said.

He went on to invoke the popular Russian slogan we dont leave our own behind, claiming the phrase is not empty words but is how everything is happening in reality.

The most damning rebuke to that claim came just a few hours later from a man Ukrainian intelligence identified as a soldier from Russias 752nd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment based in occupied Donetskwho said troops there are quite literally ordered to leave their own behind so the government can avoid paying their families the promised payouts.

The admission came in what was described by Ukrainian authorities as an intercepted phone conversation between the Russian soldier and someone back home.

They wont allow for the 200s to be collected, the purported soldier said, using Russian military jargon for those killed in action. No body, no case. Maybe [they will think the person killed] has been captured and they can hold back money from the relatives and not fucking pay. Do you understand the idea?

Asked if he personally had seen the abandoned dead bodies, he said, Of course.

Theyre fucking laying everywhere and we cant collect them, he told his dumbstruck interlocutor, who asked in disbelief if the military command treats only the conscripts in such a manner.

Its that way with everyone across the board, he said.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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KINSHASA (Reuters) - Officials from Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda held talks on Saturday aimed at ending a political stand-off between the two countries caused by widespread conflict near their shared border.

The discussions, held in Angola and mediated by Angolan President Joao Lourenco, come amid worsening tensions caused by violence carried out by the M23 rebel group in Congo's east which has forced tens of thousands to flee their homes in an area that has had little respite from conflict for decades.

Congo has long accused Rwanda of backing the Tutsi-led group, which has attacked the Congolese army near the Rwandan border since 2012. Rwanda denies this.

A joint statement released late on Saturday said the talks would "maintain the political dialogue between the authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Rwanda as a means of resolving the political crisis between the two brotherly countries."

The talks will carry on discussions held in July in which the two countries pledged to end hostilities and remove M23 fighters from Congo.

Diplomatic tensions escalated last month after the group launched a new offensive in North Kivu province and captured the strategic town of Kiwanja, prompting Congolese authorities to expel the Rwandan ambassador.

Last week, thousands joined anti-Rwanda protests in the eastern city of Goma.

(Reporting by Benoit Nemba, additional reporting by Stanis Bujakera and Sonia Rolley, Editing by William Maclean)
Getty Images; Insider

Connecticut Question 1 allowed early voting for Connecticut voters.

Proponents said the measure would allow the state to join 44 other states that allow for early voting.

According to Ballotpedia, there was not an organized movement opposing the measure.

An overwhelming majority of Connecticut voters said "yes" on Connecticut's Question 1, which added an early voting amendment to the state's constitution. Polls closed in the state at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.

Ballot measure details

Prior to the passage of Question 1, Connecticut did not allow in-person early voting.

Support and opposition

The campaign for the measure was spearheaded by Yes for Freedom to Vote Early. Supporters argued that Connecticut voters should have the option to vote early like the voters in the majority of other states.

"On Election Day 2022, Connecticut voters will get to decide if they want the option of voting in person before Election day  just like the voters in 44 other states. As Florida, Texas, Georgia, and other states are moving to restrict voting rights, I'm proud that Connecticut is doing the opposite, addressing our burdensome and restrictive laws, and making voting more accessible to every eligible Connecticut citizen," Secretary of the State Denise W. Merrill said in a statement.

According to Ballotpedia, there was not an organized movement opposing the measure, but Republican state Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco argued against the question.

"It must be done in the right way, there must be protections in place and there must be checks and balances in there. Until we do that or at least make a step in the right direction to do that, I could not support this," she said, according to the Connecticut News Junkie.

The money race

The measure saw $433,500 in support contributions and $0 in opposition contributions, according to Ballotpedia.

Read the original article on Business Insider
COP27 sign in Egypt

The UN's climate change summit has opened in Egypt with a warning that our planet is "sending a distress signal".

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was responding to a UN report released on Sunday saying the past eight years were on track to be the warmest on record.

More than 120 world leaders are due to arrive at the summit known as COP27, in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

This will kick off two weeks of negotiations between countries on climate action.

COP27 president, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, urged leaders to not let food and energy crises related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine get in the way of action on climate change.

"It is inherent on us all in Sharm el-Sheikh to demonstrate our recognition of the magnitude of the challenges we face and our steadfast resolve to overcome it."

The need for action was laid bare in the latest report from the UN's World Meteorological Organization.

Mr Guterres sent a video message to the conference in which he called the the State of the Global Climate Report 2022 a "chronicle of climate chaos".

In it, scientists estimate that global temperatures have now risen by 1.15C since pre-industrial times and said the latest eight years were on track to be the warmest on record.

The report also warned of the other wide-ranging impacts of climate change, including the acceleration of sea level rise, record glacier mass losses and record breaking heatwaves.

Mr Guterres said that in light of these findings, COP27 must be the place for urgent and credible climate action.

COP27 will really begin in earnest on Monday with a World Leaders' Summit, when heads of state and government leaders deliver five-minute addresses outlining what they want from the meeting.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to urge world leaders to move "further and faster" in transitioning to renewable energy.

Story continues

He will also tell leaders not to "backslide" on commitments made at last year's COP26 summit in Glasgow.

World leaders will speak on Monday and Tuesday, and once they depart, conference delegates get down to the business of negotiation.

At last year's summit in Glasgow a number of pledges were agreed:

to "phase down" the use of coal - one of the most polluting fossil fuels

to stop deforestation by 2030

to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030

to submit new climate action plans to the UN

Developing nations - which are at the forefront of climate change - are demanding that previous commitments to finance are upheld.

But they also want there to be discussion on "loss and damage" finance - money to help them cope with the losses they are already facing from climate change rather than just to prepare for future impacts. Following intense negotiations, the issue is on the official agenda of COP27.

Developing countries are seeking money to recover from ongoing climate disasters. Flooding after tropical Storm Nalgae in Philippines

As well as all the formal negotiations there will be hundreds of events over the two weeks with exhibitions, workshops and cultural performances from youth, business groups, indigenous societies, academia, artists and fashion communities from all over the world.

Protests - which are normally a vibrant feature of COP summits - are likely to be subdued.

Egypt's President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, in power since 2014, has overseen a widespread crackdown on dissent. Rights groups estimate the country has had as many as 60,000 political prisoners, many detained without trial.

Mr Shoukry has said that space would be set aside in Sharm el-Sheikh for protests to take place. However, Egyptian activists have told the BBC that many local groups had been unable to register for the conference.
The family of Alaa Abdel Fattah, pictured here in 2019, said he become a British citizen in December 2021

Jailed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah has stopped drinking water as he steps up his hunger strike to coincide with the start of the COP27 summit, his sister has said.

Calls for his release escalated after the climate summit opened in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt on Sunday.

The 40 year old has consumed just 100 calories for more than 200 days to push Egypt to allow him UK consular access.

UK PM Rishi Sunak has said he will raise the issue at the COP summit.

Abdel Fattah, a key activist in the 2011 Arab Spring, is currently serving a five-year sentence for spreading false news.

His sister, Sanaa Seif, has warned that her brother's hunger and water strike may mean he could die before the end of the summit.

Speaking to Sky News, she urged the British government to be "responsible for getting us proof of life".

Mr Sunak wrote to Abdel Fattah's family and said he would raise his imprisonment with the Egyptian government and reply again by the end of the summit.

He said the activist's case is "a priority for the British government both as a human rights defender and as a British national".

Ms Seif, a 28-year-old human rights activist who has served three prison sentences in Egypt herself on charges that fellow activists condemned as bogus, has been protesting outside the Foreign Office in London along with family members for her brother's release.

She expressed concerns that Downing Street's engagement with the Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi would come too late.

Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard said Abdel Fattah "must be released" and warned that he may only have 72 hours to live.

"Let's be very clear, we're running out of time," she said in Cairo on Sunday. "So if the authorities do not want to end up with a death they should have and could have prevented, they must act now.

"If they don't, that death will be in every single discussion in this COP."

Sanaa Seif holds a picture of her brother and a placard asking if the UK Government will let her brother die in prison, during the demonstration outside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Abdel Fattah's aunt, Ahdaf Soueif, told the BBC that the summit could be his last chance to be saved and to be released.

Story continues

She urged Mr Sunak to secure her nephew's release.

"It means we really only have a few days," she said. "None of us have any reason to believe that the regime will ever ever let him go."

"He has known for a while that he's had enough, that he cannot live like this. And this is now his opportunity and all of ours really to bring matters to a head.

"He's betting on us and on the community inside Egypt that wants him released and on the international community that's making a noise for him."

She said the UK government could use its influence to have him released.

"This is all in the hands of the British government to facilitate... it would be very difficult for the UK to do business as usual with Egypt unless this case is resolved.

"And I think if the British government is serious and if Rishi Sunak says this convincingly, Alaa will be on a plane to London."

Abdel Fattah played a key role in the protests that toppled the former Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak, from power in 2011.

He has been in jail for nine years and was sentenced to a further five years in 2021 on charges of "broadcasting false news" - a charge human rights groups condemned as spurious.

He received British citizenship in December 2021 through his London-born mother.

Human rights groups have said he is one of an estimated 60,000 Egyptian political prisoners and have accused the government in Cairo of trying to "greenwash" its repressive reputation through its hosting of the climate summit.

The Egyptian government has insisted there are no political prisoners in the country.
President Biden rubs his eye during a plenary session at COP26 last year in Glasgow

It has been a year since the world's governments committed to new, more ambitious climate pledges at the UN summit in Glasgow.

They promised to further reduce emissions, cut back on fossil fuels and end deforestation.

But since then the world has seen the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a global energy crisis, and political upheaval in some countries.

As governments meet again in Egypt, to reflect on progress, have they kept their climate promises?

Emissions: More pledges, but still increasing

What was agreed?

In Glasgow - at the COP26 climate summit - countries agreed to submit more ambitious climate plans, including cuts to emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2).

Why does it matter?

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas which causes climate change. Reducing emissions is needed to help keep temperature rises within 1.5C. Going above this could cause "climate catastrophe", according to UN scientists.

What's been done?

Countries were given a deadline of September to submit new plans - but only 22 countries out of 196 met this.

The UN's latest assessment of these plans estimates that if all targets are met, global emissions will still increase by 10.6% by 2030 compared to 2010.

But the UN's climate science body, the IPCC, has said they need to fall by 45% by 2030 to keep global temperature rise below 1.5C.

Despite the remaining emissions gap, there have been significant new targets from major economies.

In September, Australia enshrined in law a new pledge to cut carbon emissions by 43% by 2030. And India will meet 50% of its energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030.

Navroz Dubash, professor at the Centre for Policy Research, told the BBC progress is not just about more creating more ambitious plans but implementing what is on the ground.

What is COP and where is it being held this year?

Every year the world's governments meet at a climate summit called Conference of the Parties (COP)

The 27th of these - COP27 is in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in November.

Last year COP26 was held in Glasgow, UK and the Glasgow Climate Pact was signed.

Story continues

What was agreed at COP26?

Coal banner

Fossil fuels: Energy crisis threatens progress

The Glasgow Climate Pact included a plan to reduce the use of coal - which is responsible for 40% of annual CO2 emissions.

World leaders also agreed to phase out inefficient oil and gas subsidies. These are government payments that artificially lower the price of fossil fuels.

A graphic showing the countries with the highest government support for fossil fuels. The graphic shows Iran receiving government subsidies of almost $30 billion in government support for gas, electricity and oil. China is second highest with more than $25 billion, followed by India (over $20bn), Saudi Arabia (more than $16bn) and Russia (almost $15bn).

However, Russia's invasion of Ukraine earlier this year brought significant disruption to the energy system and efforts to transition away from fossil fuels.

Many countries imposed sanctions on Russia and stopped purchasing its fuels.

But Russia is a major fuel provider - it is the largest gas exporter in the world, and one of the world's top oil producers, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

So sanctions left a significant shortage in energy supply which countries had to fill quickly. They have turned to more polluting sources of energy such as LNG and coal.

India - the second largest consumer of coal - announced in April that it was increasing production of coal power and reopening 100 plants.

And the UK and Germany both asked energy firms to delay the closure of end-of-life coal plants.

Sabrina Muller, policy analyst at the London School of Economics, thinks this is a short-term measure to move away from Russian gas, and that in the long term the energy crisis is spurring nations into renewable energy investment.

In May the EU proposed to increase the EU's 2030 target for renewables from the current 40% to 45%.

And seven countries have pulled out of plans to build new coal plants.

Trees banner

Deforestation: Brazil and forest fires hinder global progress

What was agreed?

More than 100 countries - with about 85% of the world's forests - promised to stop deforestation by 2030.

Why does it matter?

This is seen as vital, as trees absorb about 10% of the CO2 emitted each year.

What's been done?

Half the world's forests are in just five countries - Russia, Brazil, Canada, the US and China - so their actions could make a big difference.

In April, US President Biden signed an order to protect old-growth forests on government land.

But in Brazil - home to more than half of the Amazon rainforest - deforestation is up 48% on last year.

Frances Seymour of research group the World Resources Institute (WRI) said this was not surprising "in light of the relaxation of environmental enforcement" by Brazil's outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro was beaten in an election by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has vowed to aggressively combat deforestation once he takes power in January.

Another challenge for forest protection is wildfires - which are an increasing issue for Europe and Australia. Russia lost 6.5 million hectares of forest to fires last year, whilst 1.4 million hectares have been reportedly burned in Europe since the start of the year.

Money banner

Climate finance:

What was agreed?

Richer countries agreed to provide $100bn (88bn) a year to developing nations for climate action by the end of 2020 - a pledge that was missed.

And these countries made further long-term pledges to provide finance to tackle and protect against climate change.

Why does it matter?

Developing nations need the money to move away from fossil fuels, by doing things like investing in green technologies. They also need to prepare for the worst impacts of climate change.

What's been done?

Major economies such as the UK, Japan and the EU have increased their funding for climate action over the last year. And EU leaders confirmed that the $100bn pledge will be met by 2023.

President Joe Biden promised to increase the US contribution to $11.4bn a year by 2024. But the US Congress only approved $1bn - less than 10% of that figure - earlier this year.

The World Resources Institute's (WRI) review of pledges last year had already concluded that the US was not giving its fair share, based on its relative wealth and historic contribution to global emissions

Methane banner

Methane - significantly worsening situation

What was agreed?

A scheme to cut 30% of methane emissions by 2030 was agreed by more than 100 countries.

The big emitters - China, Russia and India - are yet to join, although China did agree in a deal with the US to work on the issue.

Why does it matter?

Methane is currently responsible for a third of human-generated warming.

What's been done?

In October, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) concluded that methane had seen the biggest annual increase in 2021 since records began nearly 40 years ago.

Worryingly scientists are unsure exactly was has caused this jump. Historically, farming and oil and gas production have been the main sources of methane. But this sudden increase could be the result of climate change itself.

As the world gets warmer it begins to breakdown organic material - dead plants and animals - in wetlands and peatlands, which releases methane into the atmosphere. The warmer it gets, the more quickly this happens - this is known as a feedback cycle.

More on climate change top strapline

More on Climate Change bottom strapline

Top image from Getty Images. Climate stripes visualisation courtesy of Prof Ed Hawkins and University of Reading.
Interconnecting reservoirs drive power generation at Cwm Rheidol

Hidden away in a remote valley you'll find one of the UK's oldest renewable power stations.

For 60 years, Rheidol Hydropower Plant, near Aberystwyth, has been generating clean electricity from abundant rain.

Operators say Wales has the key ingredients to be a "strong player" in producing green energy, but the Institute of Welsh Affairs has warned progress has been too slow.

The Welsh government said it had bold ambitions to meet energy needs.

It is set to talk later about its plans to tackle climate change, while world leaders are meeting in Egypt for the COP27 summit.

Renewable sources like wind, solar and hydro meet 56% of Wales' electricity demand, but the Welsh government hopes this will reach 70% by 2030, although this is currently under review.

People are "always surprised" when they stumble across the vast hydro power plant in Ceredigion's scenic Cwm Rheidol valley, according to boss Dennis Geyermann.

"But this is the story of renewable energy - it brings interesting, high tech jobs into rural areas," he said.

Made up of a series of interconnecting reservoirs, dams, underground tunnels and power stations, it is the largest project of its kind in Wales and England.

It covers a total area of 62 sq miles (162 sq km), and supplies enough electricity to power up to 15,000 homes.

Since 2008, it has been owned by Statkraft, an offshoot of the Norwegian government, and Europe's largest producer of renewable power.

Dennis Geyermann: "We have the right landscape, we have enough rain and wind and there's a great coastline"

From here the firm's other renewable energy schemes - as far afield as the Scottish Highlands - are also monitored 24 hours a day.

"This is kind of like the brains of the operation," explained Mr Geyermann, vice president for operations and maintenance.

He said the company - which recently announced it hopes to develop a new green hydrogen plant in Pembrokeshire - had a "large project pipeline for the UK".

Story continues

And Wales, in particular, could be "a strong player when it comes to renewable energy", he added.

"We have the right landscape, we have enough rain and wind and there's a great coastline," he said.

"The Welsh people are up for it too."

Sarah South advised young people to gain skills to take advantage of the "big push" towards green energy

Sarah South, who is responsible for health and safety at Statkraft UK, grew up nearby and recalled fishing with her father in the scheme's reservoirs, as well as countless school trips to the site.

She said she would encourage young people to gain the skills needed to take advantage of the "big push" towards green energy.

"Your English, sciences, maths, geography - you might think they're boring subjects in school - but they'll be really important," she said.

"It's such a big industry that's coming through now, and so important to the future of the world."

What has changed?

Built in 1962, long before concern about climate change filled the headlines, Rheidol's hydropower scheme has lived through an energy revolution in the UK.

At the time, virtually all our power came from burning coal.

Fast forward to 2020 and, for the first time in more than 200 years, the official energy statistics showed coal had played no part in Wales' energy generation mix.

And 56% of the country's electricity demand is now met from renewable sources like wind, solar and hydro.

Officially, the Welsh government's target is to reach 70% by 2030, though that is currently under review.

'Progress is too slow'

Auriol Miller, director of the Institute of Welsh Affairs think-thank, said progress had, so far, been too slow.

"We've got to look higher, further and faster in terms of those targets," she argued.

The think-tank has urged Welsh ministers to aim for 100% by 2035 in a series of reports in recent years.

Scotland, by comparison, is virtually already there.

The dam at Nant-y-Moch reservoir helps to generate enough electricity to power up to 15,000 homes

Neil Lewis, founder of Carmarthenshire Energy which has helped develop wind, solar and electric vehicle projects across the county, said it took too long to get schemes off the drawing board.

"We have colleagues who've built community-owned windfarms which have taken 10 to 20 years to get permission to build them," he said.

"It's really important that we speed up our efforts."

Meanwhile, the Senedd's climate change committee has also expressed concern over a slowdown in renewable energy development since 2015.

The Welsh government, which this year carried out what it described as a deep dive investigation into the barriers facing renewable energy, has pledged new targets by next summer and a national energy plan by 2024.

It also announced earlier this month that it was setting up a state-owned renewable energy developer for Wales - in a UK first.

'Wealth and value'

In a statement, the Welsh government said it had "bold ambitions for renewable generation to at least fully meet our energy needs in Wales - while receiving a fair share of its wealth and value".

It said it was "making progress towards our targets but we need to go further and faster".

"We are supporting local organisations to tackle climate change and we will support businesses to develop their staff for the clean energy future," it added.

"In this cost of living crisis, we must focus on finding the most affordable, least impactful solution as the decisions we make today will have a massive impact on generations to come."
Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton has decided that he wont run for president in 2024  making him the first big-name Republican to step aside as former President Donald Trump and others make moves toward running.

The senator has been reaching out to donors, supporters and senior Republicans over the last few days to inform them of his plans, according to two people familiar with his deliberations. Cotton has attributed his decision to family concerns, saying that a national campaign would take him away from his two young sons, who are seven and five years old.

Cottons decision kicks off a critical period in the 2024 presidential election cycle. After this weeks midterm election, potential candidates  including Trump, some of his Cabinet officials and prominent Republican governors and senators  are set to face more urgent questions about whether they will enter the race after spending the last two years making preparations.

Until this week, Cotton was one of those looking at a national campaign. He has spent much of the last two years campaigning across the country for Republican midterm candidates, using local races as an opportunity to introduce himself to voters. He has taken a series of trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, which host the partys first two presidential nominating contests. And he raised $8 million that could have seeded a presidential campaign account.



Cotton also bolstered his national profile by releasing a book on military history, and he recently expanded his political operation, moving one of his top advisers, Brian Colas, from his Senate office to a role with his political action committee. Cotton also invited top donors to a post-midterm fundraising retreat at the Salamander Resort & Spa in Middleburg, Va., which was seen as a precursor to the launch of a national campaign.

But over the last few weeks, Cotton began cooling on the idea. This week, he began calling allies to tell them that he wouldnt be running, citing the concerns about his family. During the calls, however, Cotton made clear that he would be open to serving in a future Republican presidential administration. Cotton  an Afghanistan and Iraq war veteran  was mentioned as a potential nominee for CIA director during the Trump administration.

Story continues

Had he decided to run, Cotton could have faced a crowded field of Republican competitors eager to challenge President Joe Biden in 2024. The list of potential candidates includes Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who enjoy bigger national profiles. But Cotton and his team had made the case to donors that early attention on some candidates has not been determinative in past presidential primaries, instead saying that performance in Iowa and New Hampshire  where Cotton was spending considerable time  was what ultimately mattered.

The rest of the Republican field is about to face an awkward choice: whether to take on Trump, who is inching toward a comeback bid, or to stand down. Some, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, have said a Trump run will have no bearing on their plans. But another, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, has said she would not run against the former president.

During a meeting with about two dozen of his donors in June, Cotton said that a Trump bid wouldnt deter him from running. At the retreat, which was held at the Hay-Adams hotel in downtown Washington, the 45-year-old senator sketched out what hed done to prepare for a campaign and said he was ready to run.
The Florida Department of Health in both Seminole and Marion county recognize November as National Diabetes Awareness Month.

National Diabetes Awareness Month is observed every year to raise awareness and to combat the disease as a critical health issue.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that diabetes is the nations seventh leading cause of death and that it may be underreported.

The CDC estimates that 20% of American adults with diabetes dont know they have it.

Read: Eye on the Tropics: Invest 98-L could become tropical system today, Florida could feel the impact

Both counties have their own programs and services that help people with diabetes.

Read more about what each county is doing below:

Marion

Read: Man found guilty of robbing 3 banks throughout Orange County faces up to 80 years in federal prison

Marion County is offering classes through DOH-Marions Diabetes Empowerment and Education Program, a six-week series that helps participants better understand their condition and self-care.

The next class is scheduled for early 2023.

Check out their website for more information about this program.

Read: Powerball jackpot: Top prize swells to record $1.9 billion as no one wins

Seminole

Seminole County is offering the following programs and services for individuals who are prediabetic or diabetic:

The Healthy Living Program is a four weeklong lifestyle change program designed to help people who have prediabetes reduce their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

The HLP emphasizes lifestyle change through healthy eating and physical activity.

Read: Looking for a job in law enforcement? Orlando police hold hiring event on Saturday

This program is delivered in person and through qualifying at-home visits.

Diabetes Self-Management Education, for individuals that have been diagnosed with diabetes.

The DSME program consists of eight sessions of individualized instruction, either by phone, online or in person.

Story continues

Read: Health officials issue rabies alert in Orange County

Topics include healthy eating, physical activity, monitoring blood sugar, taking medication, problem-solving, healthy coping and reducing risks.

In addition, for the month of November the DSME program will be conducting free diabetes screenings at the main DOH-Seminole location on Mondays from 9-11 a.m. and Wednesdays from 4-5:30 p.m.

The DSME program will also provide diabetes supplies for low-income individuals.

For more information about diabetes screenings and supplies, or if you are interested in registering for the HLP or DSME program, visit the Florida Department of Health website.

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 look at the shareholders of Croda International Plc (LON:CRDA) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 87% to be precise, is institutions. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, institutional investors endured the highest losses last week after market cap fell by UK493m. Needless to say, the recent loss which further adds to the one-year loss to shareholders of 30% might not go down well especially with this category of shareholders. Also referred to as "smart money", institutions have a lot of sway over how a stock's price moves. Hence, if weakness in Croda International's share price continues, institutional investors may feel compelled to sell the stock, which might not be ideal for individual investors.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Croda International.

Check out our latest analysis for Croda International

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Croda International?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

We can see that Croda International does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Croda International's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Story continues

Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Croda International. Our data shows that BlackRock, Inc. is the largest shareholder with 8.9% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 5.0% and 4.1% of the stock.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 20 have the combined ownership of 51% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Croda International

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Croda International Plc in their own names. It is a very large company, so it would be surprising to see insiders own a large proportion of the company. Though their holding amounts to less than 1%, we can see that board members collectively own UK27m worth of shares (at current prices). Arguably recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 12% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Croda International. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Croda International , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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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The lights of Broadway have always beckoned, but something's been missing. Julie Boardman, a co-producer on nine Broadway shows, said, "There's never been a permanent space that you could go to in Times Square to experience and learn about the history of Broadway."

So she and her college pal, Diane Nicoletti, who works in brand marketing, are creating the Museum of Broadway.

An exhibit featuring puppetry from

Nicoletti said, "We want it to be inspiring to guests. We want it to be fun, and we want to provide an education as well."

Historian Ben West told correspondent Rita Braver, "The Broadway that we think of now essentially began in the late 1800s-early 1900s."

/ Credit: CBS News

West has created a Broadway timeline, with hundreds of images: Gene Kelly in "Pal Joey," Ethel Merman in "Gypsy," Ben Vereen in "Pippin."

"Broadway is our history," said West. "Broadway is integral to American culture, to American life. And the history of Broadway is the history of a people. It's the history of a country."

Historian Ben West and correspondent Rita Braver try to match the choreography from

The exhibit includes the landmark musical "Show Boat," which opened in December 1927. West said the show represents "the maturity of the American musical and where it's going, dealing with serious issues, contemporary themes."

The museum features items like Jennifer Hudson's costume from "The Color Purple," the little red dress from "Annie," a mask from "The Lion King," a pair of "Kinky Boots," and much more.

Tony Award-winner Joel Grey visits the

Now 90. Joel Grey is a Broadway legend, famous for creating roles like the Emcee in "Cabaret," which the museum features as a Broadway game-changer. Set in Berlin as the Nazis were coming to power, it was a musical that dared to explore dark themes.

Grey said he was hooked when he first heard the composers play the score:

"And I sat there, and I heard John Kander play, Mm-bup-bup-mm-bup-bup-mm-bup-bup-bup-mm-bup. And I heard Fred Ebb sing, 'Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome' And I thought to myself, 'Oh my God, that's gonna to be my song.'"

Joel Grey performs "Willkommen" at the 1967 Tony Awards:

Story continues

But on opening night in 1966? "The audience was frightened!" Grey recalled. "Act one came to a close and there was silence."

"No applause?" asked Braver.

"No. And everybody went out and didn't know whether to applaud or not. They were just stunned."

Yet, "Cabaret" became a huge hit, winning eight Tonys, including one for Grey. He also earned an Oscar for the 1972 movie version.

The founders of this museum, backed by a slew of investors, are hoping that visitors will be willing to spend around $50 a ticket to learn the stories of Broadway.

Braver asked, "How much is all this costing? Give me a ballpark figure?"

Boardman and Nicoletti laughed: "Millions and millions and millions!"

All to showcase one of America's great art forms. As Grey said, "There's nothing like it. The theater is historical. It's a  (sings) tradition!"

/ Credit: CBS News

For more info:

Museum of Broadway opens November 15Musical theater historian Ben WestFollow Joel Grey (@joelgnyc) on Instagram

Story produced by Robert Marston. Editor: David Bhagat.

Midterms come down to the wire as candidates make final pitch

Open: This is "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Nov. 6

Nature: Moose
This will be the comedians third post-election appearance on the popular sketch comedy show.

Dave Chappelle will take over hosting duties at Saturday Night Live Nov. 12, following next weeks midterm elections, according to NBC.

This will be the comedians third post-election appearance on the popular sketch comedy show, last hosting on Nov. 7, 2020 within days of Joe Bidens presidential election win. He debuted as host on Nov. 12, 2016, following Donald Trumps victory in that years presidential race, per Variety.

Dave Chappelle performs a monologue on Saturday Night Live after Joe Biden was declared president-elect. (via screenshot)

Iconic hip-hop duo Black Star, comprised of Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) and Talib Kweli, will accompany Chappelle as the evenings musical guest, according to NBC.

Recently, Chappelle has come under fire for transphobic and homophobic remarks in his comedy routines. He has appeared to double down on those comments in follow-up interviews. The shows announcement on Twitter that the comedian would be hosting the show drew comments criticizing NBCs decision.

The criticism of Chappelles takes on LGBTQ+ communities amplified in the wake of his 2021 Netflix special The Closer. In the special, he defended transphobic comments made by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, and self-identified as a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist), as previously reported by theGrio.

In the special, he added: Gender is a fact. Every human being in this room, every human being on earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on earth. That is a fact. Now, I am not saying that to say trans women arent women, I am just saying that those psies that they got you know what I mean? Im not saying its not py, but its Beyond Py or Impossible Py. It tastes like py, but thats not quite what it is, is it? Thats not blood. Thats beet juice.

Following the specials release and refusal from Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos to remove it from the streamer, outraged employees at Netflix staged a walkout alongside Trans Lives Matter activists and allies.

Story continues

Chappelle was additionally tackled onstage in Hollywood by a man who said he was triggered by the comedians jokes about the LGBTQ+ community and homelessness.

The comedian is joining forces with Chris Rock for a limited-run comedy tour beginning in December in California and Arizona following the duos sold-out European arena tour.

Correction: Monday, Nov. 7, 2022, 10:45 a.m.: An earlier version of this story misidentified a member of Black Star and has been corrected. The story and subhead have also been updated to more accurately reflect the reaction to the hosting announcement.

TheGrios Jared Alexander contributed to this report.

TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today!

The post Dave Chappelle to return as SNL host Saturday; Black Star to perform appeared first on TheGrio.
Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger greets voters on Saturday, Nov. 5 in Woodbridge, VA. Eliza Relman/Insider

Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger told Insider she sought out GOP Rep. Liz Cheney's endorsement.

"I think her voice is an important one on democracy issues," said Spanberger.

Spanberger faces a tight race against Yesli Vega, who has sympathized with January 6 rioters.

WOODBRIDGE, Virginia  Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming publicly endorsed Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia on Saturday, saying the former CIA officer is "dedicated to serving this country and her constituents and defending our Constitution."

The cross-party endorsement, first reported by the Washington Post, came as Spanberger made her closing pitch on the final day of early voting in the swing district before the midterm elections on Tuesday.

"People are enthusiastic about it," Spanberger said of the high-profile endorsement in a phone interview with Insider on Saturday. "I think her voice is an important one on democracy issues."

The Virginia congresswoman told Insider she sought out Cheney's endorsement as part of her efforts to build a political coalition that includes Republicans. Spanberger said she's "long had a strong working relationship" with the Wyoming lawmaker, but that her admiration for Cheney grew as she stood up to her party over former President Donald Trump and January 6, losing her position as House Republican Conference Chair as a result.

It soon became clear the admiration was mutual.

In a recent appearance at Harvard University, Cheney  the vice-chair of the January 6 committee  named Spanberger and other Democratic women with national security backgrounds as members of Congress that she has "the most respect for."

"We've had funny conversations where she'll say, like, 'I mentioned you in an interview, I hope you don't mind," said Spanberger with a laugh. "That's sort of the genesis of it."

So Spanberger approached Cheney and asked if she'd make a formal endorsement. Cheney agreed.

For Cheney, it's just the latest in a string of endorsements for Democrats this year. She's said that she would vote for Democrat Tim Ryan over Republican JD Vance in Ohio's Senate race, has campaigned against Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake in Arizona, and recently campaigned for Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin in Michigan.

Story continues

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine speaks to volunteer canvassers in Prince William County, VA on Saturday, Nov. 5. Eliza Relman/Insider

Spanberger faces a strong challenge from Republican Yesli Vega, a member of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors and a former police officer. Various election forecasters have deemed the race to be a "toss-up," and the contest is among the country's most competitive and expensive House races.

In her statement announcing the Spanberger endorsement, Cheney said Vega was "promoting conspiracy theories, denying election outcomes she disagrees with, and defending the indefensible."

The specter of January 6 hangs over this race more than others. Spanberger is a member of the so-called "gallery group" of House members that sheltered in the chamber's upper level during the attack. Vega, meanwhile, indicated her support for releasing January 6 rioters on a candidate questionnaire and has characterized Capitol rioters as "persecuted" and "shamed."

On an unseasonably warm November afternoon, Spanberger rallied with fellow Democratic officials, including Sen. Tim Kaine and Rep. Gerry Connolly, at a canvassing launch in front of former State Delegate Hala Ayala's Woodbridge home.

"I have spent almost my entire adult life in service to this nation," Spanberger told the crowd of volunteers. "I believe in this country more than I believe in anything else."

GOP congressional candidate Yesli Vega speaks to supporters in Spotsylvania, VA on Saturday, Nov. 5. Eliza Relman/Insider

Kaine told the crowd that Spanberger had the "backbone" needed to serve in Congress, steering his speech towards the subject of the Capitol riot.

"I tell you, I serve with an awful lot of people in the Senate who were there when we were under attack," said Kaine, apparently referring to his Republican colleagues. "I know exactly what they think, because they told me what they think. But they're too afraid to say it."

'A 50/50 race'

Sean McElwee, founder of the left-leaning polling firm Data for Progress, called Spanberger's battle "the closest thing to a 50/50 race you can have."

Republicans in Virginia are hoping to ride a national referendum on Biden's presidency and the state of the economy and are still buoyed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin's unexpected victory last year. At a rally for Vega in Fredericksburg earlier on Saturday, Youngkin made frequent mention of his 2021 victory.

"Nobody thought that a Republican could win a governor's race," Youngkin told the crowd. "Boy did we brought [sic] people together. You elected an outsider as governor last year."

Vega introduced the governor with a four-and-a-half-minute stump speech. At a near-shouting pitch, Vega was light on specifics and issues but made occasional references to "government overreach" and "challenging the status quo."

"America is the greatest country in the history of the world. So why are we running? We're at a crossroads folks," she said. "You've seen, you've heard, you've read what's been happening to our country over the last couple of years."

A daughter of Salvadoran immigrants, Vega has downplayed her recent endorsement by Trump and sought to distance herself from some of her more right-wing positions. She's said the 2020 election was "interfered with" and won't comment on Trump's election lies.

She recently made headlines when she was caught on tape doubting the possibility of women becoming pregnant as a result of rape.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin throws a basketball into the crowd at a rally for GOP congressional candidate Yesli Vega in Spotsylvania, VA. Eliza Relman/Insider

Following the Democratic event in Woodbridge, Kaine dismissed Youngkin's allusions to a "red wave," pointing out that Youngkin's 2-point victory in 2021 was much smaller than prior Republican gubernatorial victories in 2009 and 1998: "His coattails are about as far as his shoulder blades," said Kaine.

Democrats argue that a Spanberger victory is important for preserving democracy. Asked about that, the Virginia congresswoman situated democracy within a broader framework of "uncertainty," whether that be economic or about the future of the country's political system.

"There are plenty of people for whom democracy issues are their number one issues, and there are plenty of people who don't ever mention it," she said.

But Spanberger's also running in a district with a high percentage of government employees.

"For a lot of our veterans, for a lot of our current public servants, our diplomats, our intel officers, you know, the police officers who literally defend in the Capitol on the day of January 6," she said, "it is an issue."

Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell, an officer who responded to the January 6 attacks and lives in the district, recently revealed on Twitter that he backed Spanberger over Vega because of that issue.

Staff Sergeant Gonell, Aquilino (@SergeantAqGo) October 31, 2022

Kaine told Insider in a phone interview after the Woodbridge event that there was "no downside" for Spanberger to accept Cheney's endorsement, given that the congresswoman is "well-regarded by independents, and even by some Republicans."

"I do think it will be close, but I think Abigail has run a very good campaign," said Kaine, pointing to her 2018 victory over "giant-killer" Republican Rep. Dave Brat and pulling off a tight victory in 2020. "She's kind of a narrow race specialist, I have a lot of confidence in her."

For Vega's part, there are signs that she hopes to downplay her association with the party's right flank.

Speaking to reporters at the conclusion of the event, Vega shrugged off questions about Trump and referred to herself in the third person. "Yesli Vega's on the ballot on Tuesday," she said.

When asked by a reporter whether Trump's support may help her this year, Vega replied: "I couldn't really tell you one way or the other."

Correction: November 7, 2022  An earlier version of this story misquoted Sen. Tim Kaine. Kaine said Gov. Glenn Youngkin's coattails are about as far as his shoulder blades, not his shot.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Governor Gavin Newsom speaks at a rally endorsing ballot Proposition 1. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Californias top Democrats rallied in Long Beach on Sunday morning to urge voters to support Proposition 1, a state constitutional amendment that would block the state from passing any measures restricting access to abortion or contraception.

Gov. Gavin Newsom told a raucous gathering at Long Beach City College that the fight is part of a larger battle in the state and across the country to sustain not only reproductive freedom, but other rights, including voting and free speech.

This is our opportunity to send a powerful message back to people all across America that we have their back, Newsom said. That its not just about 40 million of us in California; that we have their back. We believe in reproductive freedom. We believe in a womans right to choose. We believe in these fundamental freedoms and we are not going to take this moment for granted. We're going to meet this moment.

Newsom cited a report from the American Library Assn., which said attempts to ban books across the country had hit a high in 2022, with a total of 1,651 separate titles targeted as of mid-September, with more than three months still left in the year.

"You can't make that up," Newsom said, noting that some of the challenged authors and topics have included Maya Angelou, Nelson Mandela, Cesar Chavez and Mahatma Gandhi, as well as "books that celebrate all of our interesting differences." He concluded: "We need to wake up to what is going on in America!"

Newsom was joined at the event by U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, Secretary of State Shirley Weber, Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) and a host of other Democrats.

Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California President and CEO Jodi Hicks said California's aggressive action in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down Roe vs. Wade was having a real impact for residents and women from other states. She said the state's $200-million expenditure will help "to ensure that people can get the reproductive healthcare  including abortion, including contraception  that they need, no matter where they call home."

Story continues

Party leaders have cast Proposition 1 as a way of guaranteeing abortion rights, reaffirming protections already spelled out in state law and by the California Supreme Court. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-1 decision overturned Roe vs. Wade, the landmark ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion in the U.S. in 1973.

Opponents have argued that Prop. 1 is not clear enough about restrictions on late-term abortions and also that the measure is redundant, because of the earlier actions by the Legislature and state Supreme Court. Some advocates of a No vote depict Prop. 1 as a measure to push Democratic voters to cast ballots in the election, which ends Tuesday with in-person voting.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Equatorial Guinea on Sunday accused Spain, France and the United States of "interference" in its presidential and legislative elections scheduled for November 20.

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has ruled his country with an iron fist for 43 years, launched his bid for a sixth term this week in a first campaign event.

Equatorial Guinea, a former Spanish colony, reproached the three countries after their diplomats attended a campaign event this week by one of the two opposition movements authorised to present candidates in the polls.

The foreign ministry described it as "interference in the country's internal affairs" in a statement.

Obiang's dominant Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE) holds 99 of the 100 seats in the outgoing lower house of parliament and all the senate seats.

It was the country's single legal political movement until 1991, when multi-party politics were introduced.

Running against Obiang are Andres Esono Ondo of the Convergence for Social Democracy party (CPDS) and Buenaventura Monsuy Asumu, who represents the Party of the Democratic Social Coalition.

In a tweet on Thursday, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington was "concerned by reports of arrests and harassment of opposition members and civil society" and called on the government to hold "free and fair" elections.

"Equatorial Guinea can cultivate a more inclusive, peaceful, and democratic society by ensuring the expression of diverse political perspectives, a free and fair voting process, and the protection of the human rights of all individuals," Price said.

Security forces have waged a ruthless campaign over several weeks including arresting opponents.

But the government says the detentions are part of a crackdown on a "plot" by the opposition to plan "attacks" on "gas stations, Western embassies and ministers' homes".

Obiang, 80, came to power in a 1979 coup and is the longest-ruling head of state in the world excluding monarchs.

Story continues

He has never officially been re-elected with less than 93 percent of the vote.

More than 425,000 voters are registered for the polls out of a population of around 1.4 million.

The country possesses major oil and gas resources, but a majority of its 1.3 million people live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

sam-gir/raz/rox
Mayra Navarrete, 13, receives the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine from registered nurse Noleen Nobleza at a clinic set up in the parking lot of CalOptima in Orange in 2021. (Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)

Heading into the third winter since COVID-19 emerged in the U.S., public health leaders have an abundance of information about the deadly virus. How it spreads and how to stop it. What they havent yet figured out is how to communicate this information effectively.

For weeks, public health leaders have been encouraging people to get the latest booster shot. But only a minuscule number of people have heeded the recommendation, with about 9% of Los Angeles County residents getting the updated shot, slightly higher than the national average.

Clearly, the guidance isn't getting through, but it doesnt have to be that way. Health specialists should remember that trusted voices are at the heart of any successful information campaign.

Mixed messages about the coronavirus from top policymakers throughout the pandemic havent exactly inspired confidence. The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis last month released a report detailing how the Trump administration downplayed the risk of the pandemic to the point of attacking scientists providing accurate information. And there have been recent blunders. Rochelle Walensky, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, downplayed masking earlier this year even as the agency was recommending this as a preventive measure. President Bidens statement in September that the pandemic is over was widely lambasted as premature and counterproductive.

These high-profile missteps have muddied communication, but policymakers can move forward by taking cues from successful public health campaigns that have helped reduce COVID infection rates in the past.

Officials should consider making tailored efforts to reach specific communities. For instance, they should once again send promotoras into Latino communities disproportionately affected by the coronavirus. These Spanish-speaking community health workers have proved to be trusted messengers, and helped inform Latinos about the importance of testing and vaccinating at the height of the pandemic. Latinos in June 2020 were five times more likely to die from COVID-19 than white people, according to a KFF analysis.

Story continues

The disproportionate effect of the coronavirus on Latinos and other people of color prompted state policymakers to allocate $17.3 million to more than 110 community-based organizations focused on underserved communities in California. Targeted vaccination campaigns have proved effective, helping reduce Latino death rates. Also, outreach efforts should focus on other communities still suffering a disproportionate number of COVID-related deaths, including lower-income, Pacific Islander and Black people.

Policymakers should also consider reviving health campaigns creating awareness about the higher risk of coronavirus transmissibility in certain sectors such as food service and retail industries, which get busier during the holiday season. The COVID Workplace Outreach Project was another effort to address the dangers faced by workers in these industries. Such messaging can help remind employers, workers and the public of the importance of vaccinating, testing and masking to help prevent illnesses and keep businesses running smoothly.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has called for an end to the COVID-19 state of emergency on Feb. 28, 2023, but indicated that certain measures such as vaccination and testing efforts will continue through the winter to maintain low levels of infection. The newly created state Office of Community Partnerships and Strategic Communications should use some of the $65 million allocated in the state budget for these targeted campaigns, considering that achieving health equity is one of the agencys chief goals.

The tiny percentage of people getting booster shots indicates theres much room for improvement in public health campaigns. The holiday season, which has come with surges of COVID cases the past two years, requires public health leaders to step up their messaging to the public.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake embraces former President Donald Trump at a rally on October 9, 2022. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Election deniers who challenged the 2020 presidential election are influencing the 2022 midterms.

About 300 election deniers are on ballots  with many likely to win, The Washington Post reported.

There have been reports of right-wing groups monitoring ballot-drop boxes and questioning voters.

Across the country, some of the same people who vehemently deny the legitimacy of the 2020 election have also made persistent efforts to influence the 2022 midterm elections. If their efforts bear fruit, experts fear it could have a deleterious effect on future elections.

Many election deniers, including former President Donald Trump, have continued to push their debunked voter-fraud claims, despite the fact that courts have dismissed dozens of legal challenges to the election and that the Department of Homeland Security said the 2020 presidential election was the "most secure in American history."

Organizing efforts to reach voters directly

State by state, election deniers are already having an impact on the ground. In Mesa, Arizona, police responded to a call to investigate armed and masked individuals watching a ballot drop box. The activist group involved, Clean Elections USA, organized efforts for similar watch parties across the country in an effort to spot potential voter fraud, according to The New York Times.

A lawsuit seeking an injunction and restraining order against Clean Elections USA said the group photographed voters in Arizona and accused them of being "ballot mules," per The Times. The Justice Department earlier this month said the case represents grave concerns over voter intimidation, The Associated Press reported.

Last week, a Trump-appointed judge granted a restraining order against Clean Elections USA, which prohibits the group from approaching drop boxes, openly carrying firearms near drop boxes, or yelling at people depositing their ballots, according to Politico.

This past February, the North Carolina Board of Elections released a statement telling voters that "state and county election officials will never go door-to-door conducting any type of election business." It came in response to reports after far-right activists went canvassing requesting voter-registration information and asking people to sign legal documents saying they are registered to vote at the address where they live.

Story continues

Nicole, 52, watches a ballot-drop box while sitting in a parking lot in Mesa, Arizona, on October 24, 2022. Bastien Inzaurralde/AFP via Getty Images

Richard C. Bell, an attorney and author of "Voting: The Ultimate Act of Resistance," told Insider that "The Big Lie," referring to the debunked claim that the 2020 election was stolen, motivates many of these people and their efforts are "clearly election vigilantism."

"Threats, intimidation, spread of voting process misinformation, interference and obstruction are crimes in addition to being serious threats to the right to vote, the foundation of a democratic society," Bell said.

Meanwhile, officials in Clark County, Nevada will be required to release information about poll workers' political affiliations following a lawsuit by the Republican National Committee, Reuters reported.

"Poll workers, as opposed to poll watchers, are employees or independent contractors who are the heroes that administer our elections in a free, fair, and non-partisan manner," Bell told Insider. "The poison of The Big Lie, fact-free propaganda and disinformation about unproven election irregularities result in a chilling effect on people who want to do the job of running fair elections.

He added, "Poll watchers should make voting smoother, not obstruct it."

A similar lawsuit was filed in Maricopa County, Arizona, and in North Carolina and Michigan, the RNC won lawsuits to loosen restrictions on partisan poll watchers, according to Reuters.

Tammy Patrick, an adviser at Democracy Fund, an organization that works with election officials to improve voting processes, told Pew that those bent on catching voter fraud will capitalize on any minor error.

"People believe the election system is fraudulent and rife with malfeasance and criminal activity," Patrick told Pew. "Any human error is going to be twisted and pointed to as some manifestation of a rigged system, when in reality, it was because a person made a mistake when they weren't left alone to do their job."

Lawsuits cause chaos in vote counting

There have also been sustained legal efforts to challenge how counties count votes, Reuters reported.

In Arizona, gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake sued to stop the use of electronic vote tabulators, claiming the machines created "unjustified new risks" of voter fraud, Reuters reported. A judge dismissed the case, which is on appeal, according to The New York Times.

Bell called Lake's claim an "absurd suggestion" that was "straight out of the election denier's handbook," adding that it "perpetuates The Big Lie without a scintilla of evidence."

"It is a smokescreen to create chaos in our voting process and to shake confidence in our elections without an ounce of facts to support it," Bell told Insider.

He added, "Democracy demands truth, not disinformation. Disinformation is a tool of dictators."

Republicans in at least six states have authored legislation to ban electronic vote counters in an effort to pivot to counting ballots by hand, which experts told the Times would make the process of tallying votes less accurate and more chaotic. In Nye County, Nevada, the American Civil Liberties Union sued to stop hand counting, arguing that it violates state and federal law, according to Reuters.

In Pennsylvania, a judge ruled that state officials may save but not count mail-in ballots that are dated incorrectly after Republicans sued to eliminate the ballots, Reuters reported. The outlet reported that Democrats argued the move was part of a GOP effort to toss votes, especially ones that could impact tight races.

A judge expressed concern about violating a federal law making it illegal to discard ballots for trivial reasons and ruled that the ballots must be preserved in the event a higher court allows them to be counted, per Reuters.

Election deniers on the ballot

Dozens upon dozens of election deniers are also running for office in the midterms  many of whom Trump has endorsed.

Nearly 300 election deniers are running for public office with 171 expected to be victorious on election night, according to The Washington Post. Some 60% of Americans have an election denier on their ballot, estimates by FiveThirtyEight show.

According to The Post, more than 50% of Republicans running for public office in 2022 are election deniers, and 48 out of 50 states will have an election denier on their ballots.

A mobile billboard drives along the Las Vegas Strip denouncing Nevada Republican candidates Adam Laxalt, Joe Lombardo, and Jim Marchant on November 4, 2022. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Many election deniers are running for seats in Congress while others are running in significant statewide races.

Lake has repeatedly denied the results of the 2020 election and has said that she will not commit to accepting the results of her governor's race if she loses.

In Nevada, Republican Jim Marchant is vying to be the state's Secretary of State, which would give him power over the state's election system. Marchant is also linked to the QAnon-conspiracy movement and has openly claimed that he would not have certified President Joe Biden's victory in 2020.

In Michigan, Kristina Karamo, a community-college professor, is also running on the GOP ticket for state Secretary of State. Karamo has claimed that the 2020 election was stolen and earlier this month voiced support for a lawsuit filed against election officials in the city of Detroit, which she baselessly claimed has been "plagued by election corruption for years," WJBK reported.

Experts worry the fight over the narrative on election security and legitimacy will likely go beyond 2022.

In Wisconsin, Tim Michels, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, said the GOP "will never lose another election in Wisconsin after I'm elected governor."

And if election deniers like Lake and Mark Finchem, who is running for Secretary of State in Arizona, win their races and later refuse to accept the results of the 2024 presidential election, it would create "unprecedented" challenges for the American electoral system, experts previously told Business Insider.

"It would be completely unprecedented," Nathaniel Persily, an elections expert at Stanford University, told Insider. Persily also described these potential legal issues as scenarios that "our system is incapable of handling."

Read the original article on Business Insider
(Reuters) - Some Eli Lilly and Co employees have requested transfers from the drugmaker's Indiana operations after the U.S. state's lawmakers approved a bill that would ban most abortions there, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

Some staff had asked to relocate outside the state even though an Indiana judge has temporarily halted the ban, the Indiana-based pharmaceutical firm's chief executive David Ricks told the newspaper in an interview.

His comments come after the Republican-controlled Indiana Senate passed a law in August banning most abortions. The U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned the national right to the procedure it had recognized in its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.

An Indiana judge blocked the state in September from enforcing the new law while Planned Parenthood and other healthcare providers challenge it in court.

Ricks said the new restrictions had created challenges for people to come to work in Indiana and that if Eli Lilly wanted to attract and retain the best staff, it had to grow in other locations, the FT said.

Eli Lilly did not provide details on how many staff have asked to move from Indiana, the FT said.

But it quoted Rick as saying the restrictions would not become an impediment to working for the company and that the drugmaker would consider factors such as abortion when considering relocation requests.

(Reporting by Anirudh Saligrama in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard)
To get a sense of who is truly in control of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 89% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And last week, institutional investors ended up benefitting the most after the company hit US$84b in market cap. One-year return to shareholders is currently 63% and last weeks gain was the icing on the cake.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of EOG Resources, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for EOG Resources

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About EOG Resources?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

EOG Resources already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at EOG Resources' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. EOG Resources is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Capital Research and Management Company with 11% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 9.0% and 7.8% of the stock.

Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 51% of the ownership is controlled by the top 12 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

Story continues

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of EOG Resources

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our information suggests that EOG Resources, Inc. insiders own under 1% of the company. As it is a large company, we'd only expect insiders to own a small percentage of it. But it's worth noting that they own US$272m worth of shares. Arguably recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 10% stake in EOG Resources. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand EOG Resources better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with EOG Resources .

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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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Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
BANGKOK (AP)  Rebels belonging to Myanmars Karen ethnic minority have launched an anti-government offensive in a rare effort to seize a town in the eastern part of the country, the guerrillas and military government said Friday.

Clashes in the town of Kawkareik in Kayin state, also known as Karen, began Friday morning with a surprise attack by an alliance of at least five Karen rebel groups.

They announced they had attacked military targets, administrative offices, government personnel housing and police stations.

Government forces responded with aerial bombardments and shelling.

Two of the attacking rebel groups, Lion Battalion Commando and Albino Tiger Battalion-1, announced on Facebook that the alliance launched the offensive to seize the town, and that by the afternoon it had been surrounded and was being patrolled by the joint rebel force.

A battalion of the Karen National Liberation Army, an armed wing of the main Karen political organization, Karen National Union, was also among the allied forces fighting the army.

Kawkareik, with an area of about 8.3 square kilometers (3.2 square miles) and a population of over 40,000, is a strategically located town linking the rest of the country with the city of Myawaddy, a key trading center 32 kilometers (20 miles) to the northeast on the border with Thailand.

The Karen, like other minority groups living in border regions, have struggled for decades for greater autonomy from Myanmars central government. In recent years, the Karen have been mostly on the defensive, facing better-armed and bigger government forces, and hindered at times by factionalism.

Fighting between the army and Karen armed groups has intensified since the military seized power in February last year from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Several ethnic rebel groups including the Karen have loose alliances with pro-democracy militias formed after the military takeover, and also offer refuge to the governments opponents.

Story continues

State-run MRTV television reported Friday night that the Karen National Liberation Army, the Klo Htoo Baw Karen Organization and the People's Defense Force, a pro-democracy militia formed last year, had attacked government personnel housing and security checkpoints along the towns main road after firing heavy artillery into the town.

It said the military responded with air strikes, artillery and armored vehicles, forcing what it described as terrorists to move east and north of the town to prevent its capture.

The report said three people were killed and 16 others injured by rebel artillery.

The Karen armed groups started shooting at the security forces. The army fired artillery shells into the town. Aircraft also launched aerial attacks several times and those were scary, said a town resident contacted by phone.

The resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she fears punishment from the authorities, said many homes were hit by artillery.

We are looking for a safe place, and hiding, she said. According to her, the Karen resistance forces were patrolling outside of the town, and the armys Infantry Battalion 97, located west of the town, was continuing to fire artillery into residential areas.

The Karen Information Center, which is allied with the rebel cause, said government shelling killed at least one civilian and injured two others. It said five government soldiers were killed in the fighting.

An emergency medical worker who also asked not to be identified said at least 21 people were hit by artillery and gunfire, and three died after being sent to the town hospital.
NEW YORK  Ex-President Bill Clinton joined New York Gov. Kathy Hochul during a whirlwind final weekend of campaigning Saturday, urging New Yorkers to vote Democratic in her tight race against GOP challenger Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y.

Hochul appeared with Clinton and New York City Mayor Eric Adams at BKLYN Studios in Downtown Brooklyn on a day where she also stumped in Manhattan and Queens, with Tuesdays election looming in the tight race between the two candidates.

Clinton pumped up the crowd with a few shots at Zeldins resume.

He looks like a nice suburban dad, Clinton said of the Long Island Republican. But when it came to keeping our kids safe and getting drug prices down and rebuilding modern infrastructure ... he always found a reason to say no. So thats the reason you should say no to Lee Zeldin.

Clinton, wearing sneakers and without a tie, addressed the crowd of vocal supporters and received a thank-you from Hochul after his 27-minute speech. Her race against Zeldin, the congressman and an ally of ex-President Donald Trump, has grown increasingly tight as the race reaches its final days.

Zeldin has campaigned on rising violent crime in the city as he seeks to become the states first GOP governor elected in two decades.

The whole election could come down to how big the turnout is in Brooklyn, Clinton told the audience of local residents.

Hochul, asked about the possibility of losing to a Republican in typically blue-state New York, said her campaign had grabbed the momentum with three days until the election

The tide has shifted, she said. Im feeling the energy. Im feeling mobilized. But yes, anything can happen in any election, any time ... Any election can go a different way  thats why Im out here.

The governor earlier did some retail politicking and baby-holding at the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket in Brooklyn.

Adams offered words of support for Hochul, who recently teamed with him on a plan to slash the alarming crime rate in the citys subways.

Story continues

We have a governor thats authentic, said Adams. Thats real. And shes one of us. She doesnt come from some ivory tower somewhere.

You have an authentic governor here that is committed to to uplifting the people of this city and state ... This is the governor we need in the state of New York right now.

A smiling Adams offered a final thought on the Democratic incumbent: Kathy Hochul is the right woman for the job.

Hochul, who took office in August 2021 after ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomos resignation, aims to land a full term in the job inherited from her ousted predecessor and brushed aside the polls suggesting an upset.

I love being underestimated, she said at the event with Clinton. Because then when we win, it sends a message to everybody else.


A solvent tank is on fire at an industrial facility in Belgorod Oblast of Russia; local authorities claim the fire was started after a [Ukrainian] attack.

Source: Vyacheslav Gladkov, Governor of Belgorod Oblast, on Telegram; Kremlin-aligned news outlet RT

Quote from Gladkov: "An industrial facility came under fire in the urban district of Grayvoronsky. A tank with solvent caught fire. There are no casualties. All response teams are working at the scene".

Details: Russian mass media have posted a video of the fire.

Gladkov also said that the "yellow" level of terrorist threat has been extended in Belgorod Oblast until 21 November.

Moreover, the resolution banning the launch of firecrackers and fireworks has been extended for two weeks.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
By Gary McWilliams

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp will take up to a $2 billion loss on the highly leveraged sale of a troubled California offshore oil and gas field that have been idled since a 2015 pipeline spill.

The sale comes after a failed bid this year to restart production at the site and as Exxon culls poor performing businesses. Santa Barbara officials in March rejected an Exxon plan to restart operations and ship oil via dozens of tanker trucks each day to inland refineries.

Sable Offshore, a blank check company founded by industry veteran James Flores, will borrow 97% of the $643 million purchase price from Exxon under a five-year loan. Blank check companies raise money to acquire operating businesses. If Flores fails to restart production at the Santa Ynez field by the start of 2026, Exxon could take back the entire operation, Sable disclosed in a filing.

Exxon was not immediately available to comment on terms of the deal. It has accelerated asset sales to cut operating costs and improve returns after a historic loss in 2020.

Flores will seek permits to restart Santa Ynez and expects to pump about 28,100 barrels of oil and gas per day beginning in 2024, according to a Sable investor presentation. The field has 112 wells and the potential for at least another 100 wells, its presentation showed.

A subsea pipeline leak seven years ago sent 2,400 barrels of the Santa Ynez oil into the Pacific Ocean, leading to a shutdown. Exxon acquired the pipeline from its owner and has been trying to resume production.

The Santa Ynez sale includes three oil and gas platforms that sit up to 9 miles (14 km) off the California coast, a pipeline and oil and gas processing facilities. The first platform was built in the 1970s began producing oil in 1981.

Flores has a long history of buying and selling companies. He has run five U.S. oil companies beginning with Flores & Rucks Inc in 1992, and often sold his companies at sizeable gains. His last business, Sable Permian Resources, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020 as oil prices tumbled.

Last year, he raised $287.5 million through an initial public offering for the company that became Sable Offshore. Sable must complete a deal by March 1 or return the money to its IPO investors, its filings show.

(Reporting by Gary McWilliams; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Legislation has stalled in the U.S. Congress to make daylight saving time permanent after the Senate in March unanimously passed by voice vote a bill that would have ended the observation of standard time starting in 2023 and the practice of changing clocks twice annually.

Clocks in the United States will return to standard time at 2 a.m. EDT on Sunday with no consensus on the matter.

"There are a broad variety of opinions about whether to keep the status quo, to move to a permanent time, and if so, what time that should be," said U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee chair Frank Pallone. "These opinions dont break down by party, but instead by region. We dont want to make a hasty change and then have it reversed several years later after public opinion turns against it - which is exactly what happened in the early 1970s."

The following are some of the arguments for and against a change:

PRO: Senator Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat: "As the sun sets on our sunshine and we enter a long, dark winter, Congress has a chance to do something almost unheard of in the wake of a midterm election: pass bipartisan legislation. Now that the Senate has voted unanimously to pass the Sunshine Protection Act, Im sending rays of support to the House to get this done so Americans dont have to suffer in darkness."

Midterms elections on Tuesday will determine which party controls Congress.

ANTI: National Association of Convenience Stores: "We should not have kids going to school in the dark. It is the balancing between those various interests that led us to the longstanding policy of switching our clocks in the spring and fall to take the most advantage we can of the daylight we have at different times of year ... The current system of daylight saving is good for business, energy efficiency, and the prevention of vehicle accidents."

PRO: Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican: "So we're doing this back-and-forth clock changing for about 16 weeks of Standard Time a year. I think the majority of the American people's preference is just to stop the back and forth changing. There's some strong science behind it that is now showing and making people aware of the harm that clock switching has. We see an increase in heart attacks and car accidents and pedestrian accidents in the week[s] that follow the changes."

Story continues

ANTI: Orthodox Jewish group Agudath Israel of America says it has concerns about safety impacts on children walking to school in the dark and the impact on morning prayers.

"Under Jewish law, morning prayers, and the rituals associated with them, are regulated in time-specific ways and must be performed no earlier those certain specified times. Synagogue schedules accommodate those times. With a change in DST, and the later sunrise, the times for prayers and their accompanying rituals will be disrupted which, in turn, will put into jeopardy their proper fulfillment, discourage synagogue attendance, and result in late arrival for work."

PRO: Senator James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican: "I dont know a parent of a young child that would oppose getting rid of springing forward or falling back. Congress created Daylight Saving decades ago as a wartime effort, now it is well past time to lock the clock and end this experiment."

ANTI: Beth Malow, professor and pediatrics director at the Vanderbilt Sleep Division at Vanderbilt University Medical Center:

"DST is like living in the wrong time zone for almost eight months out of the year ... Standard Time is the healthy choice because it maximizes light in the winter mornings, when we need it to wake up and become alert, and minimizes light in the summer evenings, when it can work against our sleep. Permanent, year-round Standard Time is the best match for our biological sleep-wake cycle."

(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Grant McCool)
Pennsylvania Democrat U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman said during a Saturday night speech that he supports the push to codify Roe v. Wade, but also celebrates its "demise."

Fetterman made the comment during a campaign event that President Biden and former President Barack Obama attended.

"And also, of course, codifying Roe v. Wade. I run on Roe v Wade," Fetterman said. "I celebrate the demise of Roe v. Wade. That's the choice that we have between us, in front of us. This is one of the biggest races in this nation."

Fetterman campaigned with Obama and Biden as the race enters its final days and has become increasingly close, with the Real Clear Politics average showing Dr. Mehmet Oz up by 0.1%.

TWITTER SHOCKED WHEN MULTIPLE US FLAGS COLLAPSE AT FETTERMAN RALLY: 'PERFECT METAPHOR'

Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman speaks during a rally with former U.S. President Barack Obama, President Joe Biden, and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Shapiro.

Earlier in Fetterman's Saturday night speech, he said that abortion rights are on the ballot.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"Abortion rights is all on the ballot right now. Oz believed that local political officials should be the person making those kind of choices," Fetterman said. "That choice comes between a woman and their doctors. And that's what I'm always going to fight for."

Abortion has been a contentious issue throughout the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate campaign, and Fetterman has attacked Oz for his response to a question during the race's only debate, when he was asked if abortion should be banned with exceptions.

OPRAH WINFREY ENDORSES JOHN FETTERMAN OVER DR. MEHMET OZ IN HIGH-STAKES PENNSYLVANIA SENATE RACE

"I want women, doctors, local political leaders, letting the democracy thats always allowed our nation to thrive to put the best ideas forward, so states can decide for themselves," Oz said during the debate, stating he doesn't want the federal government involved in abortion laws.

Fetterman's campaign released an advertisement one day after the debate on Oct. 26, hitting Oz on his response to the abortion question.

"Dr. Oz would let local political leaders like Doug Mastriano ban abortion without exceptions, even in cases of rape, incest, or life of the mother," Fetterman tweeted.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Fox News Digital reached out to the Fetterman campaign for comment.
Police in Florida have arrested a man accused of shooting and killing another mans dog during an attempted robbery last week.

Tampa Police Chief Mary OConnor said during a Thursday press conference that 17-year-old Jayden Harris was arrested for the shooting that occurred last Friday during a robbery in which both of the victims' dachshunds were shot and one was killed, WTVT-TV reported .

The outlet reported that Geovanni Ruiz was walking his two dachshunds, both 7-years-old, when a man came up to him at gunpoint demanding money.

The man fired his weapon about five times toward the ground and both dogs were struck by bullets.

FLORIDA MAN KILLS 4, INCLUDING 4-YEAR-OLD GIRL, AS YOUNG KIDS 'HID UNDER BLANKETS,' POLICE SAY

Ruiz says he picked up both of his dogs and fled while the man continued to fire several more shots in his direction.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Ruiz then rushed to an emergency veterinarian where his dog Bamby survived but his other dog, Jacob, died from gunshot wounds.

FLORIDA OFFICIALS CHARGE WOMAN WITH FELONY FRAUD FOR VOTING IN TWO STATES DURING MULTIPLE ELECTIONS

The city of Tampa's downtown skyline.

Police say they reviewed surveillance footage and identified Harris as a passenger in an SUV that had been circling the block.

Harris was arrested hours after the shooting for a warrant on an unrelated robbery but was released on bond two days later as police were unaware at the time of his potential involvement in the attempted robbery of Ruiz.

TERRIFYING MIAMI ABDUCTION ATTEMPT CAUGHT ON RING DOORBELL CAMERA

Ruiz identified Harris as the culprit when he was shown a photo, at which point authorities arrested Harris and charged him with aggravated assault, robbery with a firearm, aggravated battery with a firearm, two counts of aggravated animal cruelty and minor in possession of a firearm.

"When we showed the victim the photo, he broke down and immediately identified him," O'Connor said.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Tampa Police say Harris will be tried as an adult despite being 17 years of age.

"We took a cold-hearted criminal off the streets," O'Connor stated.
Forecast track for Subtropical Storm Nicole.

UPDATE 10 a.m.: A hurricane watch has been issued for the east coast of Florida from the Volusia / Brevard County line through Hallandale Beach, including Palm Beach County.

A storm surge watch has also been issue for areas from southern Georgia through Hallandale Beach. Storm surge for Palm Beach County is forecast to reach 2 to 4 feet with heights increasing to 3 to 5 feet in the Space Coast.

A hurricane watch is issued 48 hours ahead of the onset of tropical storm-force winds.

Previous story:

Areas of the east coast of Florida could be issued hurricane or tropical storm watches or warnings as early as Monday with an unusual late-season system taking aim at the Sunshine State.

The National Hurricane Center said the system, elevated to Subtropical Storm Nicole overnight, could be near or at hurricane strength approaching the northwestern Bahamas and the east coast of Florida on Wednesday and Thursday.

An official forecast issued early Monday has Nicole reaching sustained 75 mph winds before reaching Palm Beach County's coast with 90 mph gusts. Huricane watches are in effect for the northwestern Bahamas.

Track Nicole's path: See spaghetti models, path and storm activity for Florida

Storm insurance tips: Hurricane Ian is gone. Before the next storm, here are tips on how to review your insurance policy

Election Day outlook: Rare November tropical system could leave Election Day squally.

Experimental storm surge graphic.

Weather conditions are expected to begin deteriorating Tuesday with coastal flooding and gusty winds from Jacksonville to Miami. A combination of heavy rainfall, high winds, offshore seas of up to 25 feet and a tide swollen by November's full moon will exacerbate flooding.

Hurricane season is apparently not done with us yet, said Michael Brennan, acting deputy director of the NHC, in a briefing Sunday. The point I want to emphasize is the scale of the system is very large and we will see impacts over a large area.

Story continues

Forecast arrival time of tropical storm-force winds.

As of 4 a.m. today, Nicole was 551 miles east of the northwestern Bahamas with 45 mph sustained winds. It was moving north-northwest at a speedy 14 mph. Winds of 40 mph or higher extend a yawning 275 miles from Nicole's center.

Hurricane hunters are scheduled to fly into the system Monday morning.

Brennan said several scenarios are possible. The system could move across the state and into the Gulf of Mexico, ride up the spine of the peninsula or stay off the east coast as it heads north.

As we get through the next several days, that will come into better focus, he said.

A larger, broader subtropical system would spread impacts well north of the center, with lesser impacts to the south.

Gov. Ron DeSantis directed the Florida Division of Emergency Management on Sunday to monitor the Atlantic weather disturbance and to warn Florida residents on the east coast of its potential impact on the state, according to the governors office.

FDEM Director Kevin Guthrie said his office is keeping close contact with the National Hurricane Center, the National Weather Service and all 67 county emergency management directors throughout the state for what federal weather forecasters call 98L.

"As the Division continues to support communities in their recovery from Hurricane Ian, we are now closely monitoring 98L," said Guthrie in a statement. It is critical for Floridians to review their disaster preparedness plans and follow all directions from local officials in anticipation of potential impacts.

Regardless of intensity or exact path of the system, Floridians are reminded to prepare for an increased risk of coastal flooding, heavy winds, rain, rip currents and beach erosion, emergency management officials said. Wind gusts can be expected as soon as Tuesday along Florida's East Coast.

Two key forces are aligning to create the potential havoc in the western Atlantic Ocean. High pressure to the north and the sprawling area of low pressure to the south will grate against each other to send speeding winds at the coast for several days. That will create a large area of fetch for building waves that could reach heights at the coast of 12 to 15 feet from Palm Beach County through the Treasure Coast, according to the National Weather Service.

Then theres whatever Invest 98L has planned.

Cassie Leahy, a National Weather Service meteorologist based in Melbourne, said forecast models have differed on whether the system would remain a sloppy mess or consolidate its strength into something more menacing.

We are coming up on it being just a few days away now and its unusual to have this kind of uncertainty so close, Leahy said. The time frame and window for people to prepare is shrinking.

Leahy noted that areas on the east coast hit hard by Octobers Hurricane Ian, including Volusia County, could see more beach erosion, flooding and potential wind damage.

These are communities that are sensitive already and now well have higher high tides, large breaking waves and coastal flooding, she said.

Water temperatures are more than warm enough to support a tropical cyclone at about 83 degrees, which is 1.8 degrees warmer than normal.

Despite the warm water, Weather Underground co-founder Jeff Masters said in his column for Yale Climate Connections that rapid intensification is not expected because the system will eventually run into moderate to high wind shear as it approaches Florida.

Invest 98L will also be entering a region of increasingly dry air, and these two influences are likely to prevent rapid intensification of the storm, said Masters, who co-authored his Sunday column with meteorologist Bob Henson.

Rapid intensification is when wind speeds increase by 35 mph in 24 hours or less.

We want folks in the Bahamas and all along the east coast to have their hurricane plan in place, Brennan said.

Hurricane season runs through Nov. 30.

But it is rare for a November storm to reach Florida.

The most recent tropical cyclone to reach Florida in November was Eta, which made landfall Nov. 8, 2020, as a tropical storm on Lower Matecumbe Key. It did a loop in the Gulf of Mexico and made a second Florida landfall four days later near Cedar Key. Probably more memorable was 1985's Hurricane Kate, which hit near Mexico Beach four days before Thanksgiving as a Category 2 storm.

The other November hurricane to hit Florida was the 1935 storm nicknamed the Yankee because of its unusual approach from the north. It was born near Bermuda, rode the underbelly of the Bermuda High toward the coast of the Carolinas, but was then picked up by the clockwise swoop of another high-pressure system that pushed it into Miami on Nov. 4 as a Category 2 hurricane.

Another notable November storm was 1998's Hurricane Mitch, which formed in late October in the western Caribbean. It grew to a monster Category 5 storm before hitting Honduras, then hooked around and cut across the Gulf of Mexico to make landfall near Naples as a tropical storm on Nov. 5. Mitch slogged across the Glades and left the state near Jupiter, flooding homes from Boynton Beach to Boca Raton with relentless rain.

Sergio Bustos, USA Today Network-Florida Enterprise/Politics Editor, contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: National Hurricane Center predicting Nicole to impact Florida
Nigella Lawson laughed in a bright, disarming manner when asked about her title of "domestic goddess" in England's culinary scene.

Admitting that she brought the nickname on herself with her second book, the 2000 release, "How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking," Lawson said the term doesn't actually apply in practice.

Acknowledging her penchant for kitsch and camp, the 62-year-old English food writer and television cook quipped: "I think that slightly got the best of me with that title."

During a breezy, conversational phone interview, the London resident sounded most in her element when chatting about family-friendly recipes in contrast to upscale dinners meant to impress. And she quickly balked at the notion of guilty food pleasures, noting that a chapter in one of her books rails against the idea.

"I feel that all pleasure should be received joyfully and gratefully," Lawson said. "So I don't have a notion of that, and if I want a hot dog and fries, I don't think that's a bad thing. I'm very fond of potato chips."

Lawson was talking food to promote her book tour stop Nov. 29 at Canton Palace Theatre as part of the Stark County Library's Dr. Audrey Lavin Speaking of Books Author Series. To register for the free event, visit https://starklibrary.org/home/events/speaking-of-books/ or call the library at 330-452-0665.

Doors open at 5:45 p.m., and the presentation starts at 6:30 p.m.

Pre-signed copies of Lawson's 2021 book, "Cook, Eat, Repeat: Ingredients, Recipes, and Stories" will be available for purchase. The Palace Theatre is at 605 Market Ave. N.

The celebrity foodie is promoting the book as part of her "An Evening with Nigella Lawson" North American theater tour, which starts Nov. 7 in Boston, and includes appearances this month in Philadelphia, Seattle, San Francisco, Salt Lake, Dallas, Minneapolis and Toronto, Canada.

Earlier this fall, during a 20-minute interview, Lawson touched on late celebrity television personality Anthony Bourdain and food and cooking as a way for people to connect and express emotion while learning new things. She also shared insight on how she finds good places to eat while touring the country.

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"I don't go to the fancy restaurants, either," she said. "I try to do as much research as I can and get people from the area to say what they like."

And "I like to go to a real good bakery," she added.

"If there is time, I love to go to a market to see the produce," Lawson continued. "And I like often to go to the small places that are lovely to sit in and get a feel of the mood of the place you're in. Character, I suppose, is what I like.

"And I eat pretty much everything," she said. "... It really depends on the area, but I go to steakhouses a bit, too, because every now and then ... I'm quite low in iron, so I load up, and American steakhouses are just the best in the world. I mean, I've never been to Japan. I'm sure they're good there as well, (but) a good steakhouse for me is a particularly American experience."

Making cooking accessible to everyday people

Lawson first discovered cooking as a child who helped out in the kitchen when she was around age 6.

"I'm a home cook," she quickly admitted. "I have never cooked professionally."

Being passionate about food and cooking would intersect with her work as a journalist. She went on to become deputy literary editor of The Sunday Times at age 26, followed by a career as a critic and columnist, writing for various newspapers, including The Times and The Guardian.

More:'Cannot wait to see how it unfolds!' UnHitched chef to appear on 'Hell's Kitchen'

Motivating her to write a book was a desire to make cooking accessible to the general public beyond the world of professional kitchens and chefs.

She broke through commercially with her smash literary debut in 1998, "How to Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food."

THE TASTE: ABC's "The Taste" features expert chef/author Ludo Lefebvre, British food star Nigella Lawson, restaurateur Brian Malarkey and no-holds barred chef Anthony Bourdain.

Selling more than 12 million books overall, including a dozen bestsellers, Lawson's first television series, "Nigella Bites" aired in 2000, followed by a string of successful series broadcast in the United Kingdom, United States and Australia. She also has made several appearances on "MasterChef Australia."

"I love restaurants and I admire chefs, and it really isn't applicable to a person at home whose got a job as well and maybe kids and all sorts of other obligations," Lawson said of her general approach to food and cooking while citing her own background as a mother and spouse. "... It's a full-time job in a restaurant, and you can't really do that at home."

More:Prime rib, politics and 'Pretty Boy' Floyd: Spread Eagle Tavern in Hanoverton intrigues

Each speaking event has 'its own magic'

This is also a theme she will carry to her presentation in Canton.

"The modern world particularly wants to make everyone into experts, and this great sort of idea that experts know everything," Lawson said. "Cooking isn't about experts. You learn enough as you do it."

"I love answering questions, and I like swapping stories with fellow cooks," she said. "And generally I think food is so much about connecting with other people, whether you're sitting around a table eating with them or whether you're discussing food together.

That premise holds true at her speaking engagements, with the individual character and flow of the events dictating the discussion points.

"You bring so much of your own emotional background and leanings and your own particular memories, culture, background and tastes, and so it's such an immediate thing that whoever you're talking to, it will be a different conversation."

More:Review: Historic Bender's offers unique dining rich in flavor

"We largely live our lives on screen, and therefore it allows a live event even more so to have something a bit unplanned or just unfurling in the space and in the moment, because everything else comes at you, and there it is," Lawson said. "So I think it's very much a group event  it will be mostly (decided by) the audience."

"What happens that particular night is its own magic," she elaborated. "And that is something that you can't get from reading, a lecture or just being on television, because it's all our different energies ... (and) it really is about how we are as people and what we think, and what the mood is in the air that night. It can be so many different things, and that feels quite special."

Anthony Bourdain: 'He's such a great loss to the world.'

Lawson's voice perked when the conversation turned to Bourdain, whom she appeared with on the reality cooking competition show, "The Taste," which was broadcast in both the United Kingdom and America.

Bourdain and Lawson were judges on the show for three seasons in 2013 and 2014.

Lawson said she had known Bourdain before working with him on the television series, calling the program "such a wonderful adventure."

"It's not that he's a great loss to the food world," she said. "He's a great loss to the world."

"He had his own voice, and it was so particularly his," Lawson said. "And his way of looking at things, and I think he had a great gift of articulating his thoughts in a way that was very direct and very highly charged, yet with a calmness as well.

"He was so extraordinarily articulate," Lawson continued. "Just when he talks ... every sentence was beautifully weighted ... and his every thought was so ably transmitted that one got the idea behind it, the wit in it that made you smile as he said something."

Chef Nigella Lawson makes a 'hangover cure' breakfast for Anthony Bourdain at her home in London during filming for 'Parts Unknown.'

Nigella's process for writing a book

Lawson doesn't have a specific follow-up book planned at the moment.

"I hope that the TV series of cooking for people comes stateside soon," she said. "I normally would be writing a new book by now, but I think that maybe there was something about writing during the pandemic, and I think we all felt we were a bit running on empty after that. You need more contact with humans, (and to be traveling) again, all the sort of things that feeds your imagination and your curiosity.

"There's two or three books I'm toying with  the ideas for them anyway," Lawson added. "They're a bit on the backburner, and I let them percolate, and there's always one book ... that insistently nudges the others away, because I return to it more and more in my mind (and) find myself cooking recipes that seem to be going in a particular direction.

"... It's a big deal writing a book. It takes a long time, but you really have to feel it's something you're longing to do and impatient to start, so that's how I do it. By waiting to see the one that just says ... 'Can you leave everything else and just concentrate on this book.'"

Reach Ed at 330-580-8315 and ebalint@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Food star Nigella Lawson bringing passion for cooking to Canton event
With its new Transit Trail van, Ford is betting that tweens in 2060 will stare at antiquated JPEGs of older relatives who once lived nomadic lives and called vans their homes.

The company announced its latest edition of the all-wheel-drive medium-duty van in November, built for more versatility and customization. It's about the size of an airport shuttle or UPS van and is scheduled to hit dealerships in spring.

The 2023 Transit Trail aims to transform Fords workhorse van into a vacation getaway and rolling residence for anything from weekend trips to years of residence.

New 2023 Transit Trail by Ford.

Transit Trail made for DIYers on a budget

According to Tim Baughman, general manager of Ford Pro, any do-it-yourselfers are understandably hesitant to cut a hole for a roof vent in their expensive investment. Transit Trail prices start at around $66,000. But Ford developed the Transit Trail so do-it-yourselfers could create interior fittings, lowering the threshold cost of #Vanlife in exchange for elbow grease and ingenuity.

80-vehicle pileup: Massive pileup in Colorado blamed on wintry weather and fast drivers

New 2023 Transit Trail by Ford.

New 2023 Transit Trail by Ford.

New 2023 Transit Trail by Ford.

New 2023 Transit Trail by Ford.

The van has pre-drilled areas for owners to add things like cabinetry and shelving.

Some of the van's standard features include a 4G Wi-Fi hotspot, swiveling front seats, privacy glass, storage shelves, a 12-inch touch screen and several USB outlets.

All Transit Trails are tall enough for most people to stand upright as they walk through them, and to accommodate features like raised, loft-style beds with storage space below.

The Transit Trails body is lifted 3.5 inches higher than standard Transit delivery vans to make it easy to drive to campsites.

Will there be an electric Transit van?

There's no announced plan for an electric version, but battery-powered versions of the Transit delivery van have been an unexpected hit this year, notching 5,157 sales since debuting earlier this year.

This article originally appeared on USATNetwork: 2023 Ford Transit Trail van made for DIY nomads on a budget
Good Morning America

First lady Jill Biden on Monday unveiled this year's White House holiday decorations, announcing the theme as "We the People." More than 150 volunteers from across the country spent a week helping to decorate the inside and outside of the White House with 25 wreaths, 77 Christmas trees and over 83,615 holiday lights. There is also a gingerbread White House that was made out of 20 sheets of sugar cookie dough, 30sheets of gingerbread dough, 100 pounds of pastillage, 30 pounds of chocolate, and 40 pounds of royal icing, according to the office of the first lady.
The Hill

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Sunday said hed have to consider the validity of any subpoena from Republicans when they take control of the House of Representatives in the next Congress. We will have to consider the validity of the subpoena. But I would certainly view my obligation, the administrations obligation to follow the law,
As a result of mass targeted attacks by Russians on the energy infrastructure of Ukrainian cities, blackouts began

We're doing our best to avoid it (full blackout), Klitschko said.

Read also: Next heating season will be worst in history, Naftogaz chief says

But frankly speaking, our enemy is doing everything possible to leave the city without heating, electricity and water supplies. In general, its doing all it can to erase us from the face of the earth.

The mayor said that like the authorities, citizens should be prepared for any possible scenario. He said the city had prepared a large stock of diesel fuel, power generators, food, and drinking water.

About 1,000 heating points are being prepared for deployment across the city should the citys centralized heating system be knocked out. Still, this would not be enough, he said.

Read also: Over 1,000,000 Kyivans lost power yesterday, says energy provider

So Im also appealing to people  in the worst case scenario without power and water supply in the city, think about going to your relatives and friends in Kyiv's outskirts or further, (those with) with independent utilities. It would be better to agree to spend some time there in the worst case scenario.

He also urged Kyivans to stock up on drinking and technical water, food, charged power banks and warm clothes. According to Klitschko, about 3 million people now live in the capital, and many more people commute there in daytime from the suburbs.

In the aftermath of Russians' targeted mass attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, rolling blackouts were put in place, especially in Kyiv and nearby regions.

Read also: Ukraine not importing electricity, Ukrenergo head says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that as of Nov. 1, Russia had damaged about 40% of Ukraines energy facilities.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
How Gender Parity Looks On Business School Campuses

Last year, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania made history by enrolling more women than men in its 2023 MBA class. It was the first of the seven elite B-schools to have a class consisting of majority women. This year, Wharton repeated the feat.

Bloomberg recently examined gender parity among top-tier B-schools and explored what Whartons majority female MBA programs means for other schools.

REPRESENTATION IS IMPROVING

While B-schools still have a long way to go on reaching true gender parity, many have made an effort to improve over the years.

The Forte Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy and advancement organization, has been tracking gender parity among B-schools for years. When Forte first started, 28% of MBA classes in the US were comprised of women. Just last year, however, that rate grew to about 40% among the 56 schools that Forte tracks. Elissa Sangster, CEO of Forte Foundation, says the chances of being the only women on a team in an MBA program today is very low.

ALLYSHIP AND SUPPORT

One of the ways business schools are actively trying to improve the community amongst campus is through allyship and support groups. Wharton was one of the first top-ranked B-schools to add a male ally club. It also helps that in 2020 Wharton appointed the schools first woman and first person of color, Erika James, to run the MBA program.

Im excited, and I do recognize the historic nature of it, and Im humbled by the opportunity, James said in 2020. Frankly, I believe my gender is the least of what I have to offer. Because Im a woman, I bring a perspective on decision-making and how I engage in the community.

GENDER PAY GAP

While more women today are pursuing an MBA than years past, men with a business degree still earn more than women with the same credentials. According to a report by the Center on Education and the Workforce, while women had 43% of the masters degrees among the studys participants, they earned a median $75,600 a year, or less than the $90,000 for men. Its a study that aligns with the 83% gender pay gap in the US.

Story continues

Its daunting if youre a woman to get an MBA and its frustrating when you get it and you make less than an equally qualified man, Martin Van Der Werf, director of editorial and education policy at Georgetown Universitys Center on Education and the Workforce, says. That can dissuade people from pursuing these degrees.

Sources: Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal

Next Page:3 Reasons To Write An Optional Essay

3 Reasons to Write an Optional Essay

Is the optional essay really optional?

It depends, experts say.

For some prospective business school students, the optional essay is a chance to explain any shortcomings in your application, Lana Silanteva, an mba.com featured contributor and the Co-Founder and Head of Verbal at 700+CLUB, says. For others, the optional essay can help set you apart from other applicants and strengthen your candidacy.

Stacy Blackman, founder of Stacy Blackman Consulting, recently highlighted a few situations where an optional essay might make sense to include.

WEAK GRADES

An optional essay can help explain academic shortcomings, such as a low undergraduate GPA.

Briefly explain the situation in the optional business school application essay and focus the balance of your essay on looking forward, Blackman says. Show what you have done recently to prove your skills and intelligence. For example, if you have a new, higher GMAT score or took classes in calculus or statistics, you have a solid case for improved academics.

EMPLOYMENT GAPS

If you have month-long gaps in your resume, an optional essay can provide some explanation as to how you spent that time.

Did you use that time off to volunteer in Guatemala or care for an ailing parent? Perhaps you used the time away to focus on an entrepreneurial dream, unencumbered by the 9-to-5 grind, Blackman says. Ideally, you can point to additional education, training, volunteering, or traveling that you engaged in while unemployed.

ADDITIONAL INFO

While your application as a whole should tell a full-picture story of yourself, there may be situations where additional information can be included in an optional essay.

If you are a reapplicant, the optional essay is the ideal place to explain what you have done to strengthen your case for admission since your last application, Blackman says. Think of things such as receiving a promotion, which would signal career development and leadership. Even if you dont have a clear-cut story to describe, you can use this space to explain how you have improved your thinking, career goals, or fit.

Sources: Stacy Blackman Consulting, mba.com

Next Page: Harvard Business School announces new fund for educational diversity.

Harvard Business School

Harvard Business School Announces New Fund for Educational Diversity

Harvard Business School (HBS) has announced a new fund promoting educational diversity and opportunity in business leadership. The Loring Family MBA Pathways Fund will support activities that make the HBS MBA program more accessible to a wider range of students.

The fund is made possible by Ian K. Loring (HBS MBA 1993), a senior managing director and executive chair of Haveli Investments, and Isabelle P. Loring, an active volunteer with nonprofits.

We are deeply grateful to Ian and Isabelle Loring for their ongoing dedication to the School, which has enabled us to provide scholarships to talented students from a wide array of backgrounds and experiences, HBS Dean Srikant Datar says in a press release. This new gift broadens their potential future impact by giving young people an opportunity to see how, through the pursuit of a business education, they can become leaders who will make a difference in the world.

SUMMER VENTURE IN MANAGEMENT

One of the programs supported by the new fund is Summer Venture in Management (SVMP)a one-week residential educational program for rising and graduating college seniors designed to increase diversity and opportunity in business education.

Each year, SVMP brings together 180 college studentsat no cost to studentsto experience HBS for a week during the summer through intensive case studies, career sessions, and interactions with current students and alumni. Additionally, SVMP alumni who later enter the HBS MBA Program will be eligible for an additional $20,000 scholarship on top of their need-based scholarship and will be known as Loring Fellows.

Other initiatives supported by the fund include expanding outreach to first-generation college graduates and prospective students; launching the Forward Fellowship, which offers additional funding to students who provide financial support to family members while attending business school; revising the financial aid formula to factor in socioeconomic background in addition to personal income, assets, and undergraduate debt; and instituting a need-based application fee waiver.

In a press release, the Lorings highlighted their belief in creating opportunities for economic and social mobility.

Finding ways to provide access for underserved communities has long been a priority for us, says Isabelle. Ian notes, To the extent we can find ways to give more people exposure to the business school opportunity and hopefully inspire them in this journey, that was really important for us.

Sources: Harvard Business School, Harvard Business School

The post How Gender Parity Looks On Business School Campuses appeared first on Poets&Quants.
General American Investors Company, Inc. (NYSE:GAM) has announced that on 29th of December, it will be paying a dividend of$1.00, which a reduction from last year's comparable dividend. The dividend yield of 9.2% is still a nice boost to shareholder returns, despite the cut.

Check out our latest analysis for General American Investors Company

General American Investors Company Might Find It Hard To Continue The Dividend

While it is great to have a strong dividend yield, we should also consider whether the payment is sustainable. Even though General American Investors Company isn't generating a profit, it is generating healthy free cash flows that easily cover the dividend. We generally think that cash flow is more important than accounting measures of profit, so we are fairly comfortable with the dividend at this level.

Over the next year, EPS could expand by 3.1% if recent trends continue. The company seems to be going down the right path, but it will probably take a little bit longer than a year to cross over into profitability. Unless this happens fairly soon, the dividend could start to come under pressure.

Dividend Volatility

The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. The annual payment during the last 10 years was $1.40 in 2012, and the most recent fiscal year payment was $3.30. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 9.0% per annum over that time. A reasonable rate of dividend growth is good to see, but we're wary that the dividend history is not as solid as we'd like, having been cut at least once.

General American Investors Company May Find It Hard To Grow The Dividend

With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to see if earnings per share is growing. Earnings have grown at around 3.1% a year for the past five years, which isn't massive but still better than seeing them shrink. Earnings growth isn't particularly strong, and if the company isn't able to become profitable fairly soon, the dividend could come under pressure.

Story continues

In Summary

Overall, the dividend looks like it may have been a bit high, which explains why it has now been cut. The payments haven't been particularly stable and we don't see huge growth potential, but with the dividend well covered by cash flows it could prove to be reliable over the short term. We don't think General American Investors Company is a great stock to add to your portfolio if income is your focus.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. For example, we've picked out 1 warning sign for General American Investors Company that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. Is General American Investors Company not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.

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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DAVIS, Calif. (AP)  Ulonzo Gilliam Jr. ran for 132 yards and two third-quarter touchdowns and Miles Hastings threw for 270 yards and two more scores as UC Davis walloped Idaho State, 43-3 in a Big Sky Conference contest Saturday night.

Idaho State scored first on an Ian Hershey 33-yard field goal with 10:36 left in the first quarter, but the Bengals were limited to 150 total yards and were blanked the rest of the way.

Isaiah Gomez kicked three first-half field goals, including a 45-yarder midway through the first quarter that tied the game at 3-3. Hastings tossed a 1-yard pass to C.J. Hutton just before halftime to stake the Aggies to a 22-3 lead.

Gilliam was already the UC Davis all-time leading rusher and holds school records for all-purpose yards and touchdowns. His two third-quarter touchdowns made him the all-time leader in total points scored by a non-kicker with 286. He entered the game with 5,665 all-purpose yards.

__

More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25. Sign up for the APs college football newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/mrxhe6f2
Republican leaders on Sunday left open the possibility of contesting GOP losses in the midterms, suggesting that while candidates should accept the results, they should also do so after exhausting challenges available to them.

When asked by CNNs Dana Bash whether every Republican candidate will accept election results even if they lose, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said they would but then suggested candidates should address anything deemed problematic.

So, simple yes or no, should Republican candidates, [Sen.] Ron Johnson, all of them, accept election results? Bash asked McDaniel.

Listen, you should have a recount. You should have a canvas. And itll go to the courts, and then everybody should accept the results. Thats what it should be, McDaniel responded.

But Im also not going to say, if theres problems, that we shouldnt be able to address that. If theres real problems, everyone should be able to address that. And I think Ron Johnson and Stacey Abrams, in the end, once all their avenues are exhausted, right, they will  they will accept the results, she added.

Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, echoed similar sentiments on NBCs Meet the Press. Scott told moderator Chuck Todd that while candidates will absolutely accept the results, they would do so if the election is determined to be free and fair.

Are you going to accept the results of all the Senate elections on Tuesday night? Todd asked Scott.

Absolutely. But what were also going to do is do everything we can to make sure theyre free and fair, and if theres any shenanigans, we are ready to make sure. We support our candidates to make sure that these elections are fair and every ballot is counted the right way, Scott responded.

Abrams, who is mounting another bid for Georgia governor against incumbent Brian Kemp (R), said during the candidates final debate last week that she would accept the results of that election but Republicans regularly scoff at her suggestions of voter suppression in the state due to a GOP-crafted election law.

Story continues

Kemp narrowly defeated Abrams in the states gubernatorial race in 2018, but Abrams refused to concede citing a rigged system, accusing Kemp of suppressing votes.

Johnson, whose lead on Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes has dwindled down to a 2 to 4 point advantage, on Saturday expressed doubt that he would outright accept the election result if he loses, alleging that Democrats would meddle in the race.

I sure hope I can, but I cant predict what the Democrats might have planned, Johnson said. It sure seems like theres an awful lot of, in the past, a lot of attempts on the part of Democrats to make it easier to cheat.

We want to make it easy to vote but very hard to cheat, Johnson added.

McDaniel, after listening to Johnson suggest Democrats might meddle in the elections, said were going to pursue problems.

She gave an example where voters in Virginia last year were not allowed to cast a ballot if they were not wearing a face mask, which she said was not a state statute.

So, because of our lawyers that we had on the ground, we quickly called the election officials in the state of Virginia, and we got that fixed. But we need to have that ability to fix it. And every election is run differently at the county level, at the precinct level, McDaniel said. So we want to make sure its run fair and transparently.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
When a single insider purchases stock, it is typically not a major deal. However, when multiple insiders purchase stock, like in Multi-Chem Limited's (SGX:AWZ) instance, it's good news for shareholders.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Check out our latest analysis for Multi-Chem

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Multi-Chem

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Founder Suan Sai Foo for S$170k worth of shares, at about S$1.94 per share. That means that even when the share price was higher than S$1.70 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. 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.

While Multi-Chem insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. 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!

Multi-Chem is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insiders At Multi-Chem Have Bought Stock Recently

Over the last quarter, Multi-Chem insiders have spent a meaningful amount on shares. Specifically, Founder Suan Sai Foo bought S$229k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any sales whatsoever. This is a positive in our book as it implies some confidence.

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Insider Ownership Of Multi-Chem

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. Multi-Chem insiders own 84% of the company, currently worth about S$128m based on the recent share price. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Multi-Chem Tell Us?

It is good to see the recent insider purchase. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. Along with the high insider ownership, this analysis suggests that insiders are quite bullish about Multi-Chem. That's what I like to see! So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. At Simply Wall St, we found 1 warning sign for Multi-Chem that deserve your attention before buying any shares.

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.



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Police are searching for a suspected shooter after they say two men were shot during a card game in a North Carolina parking lot.

Officers with the Winston-Salem Police Department responded to a report of a shooting in a parking lot just after 6 p.m. on Nov. 4, according to WGHP.





Shortly after police responded, two gunshot victims arrived at local hospitals, one with injuries to the upper legs and another with a wound in the lower leg, according to WFMY. Their injuries were not considered life-threatening, the outlet reported.





Investigators found that the victims had been hanging out playing cards in the parking lot when an argument broke out and a man, who police identified only as Charlie, drew a firearm, according to the outlet.

A public information officer with the Winston-Salem Police Department could not be reached on Nov. 6.

The suspected shooter had already left the scene by the time police arrived, according to WXII.

Police say he left in a red Chevrolet Impala, WGHP reported.

Anyone with any information is asked to call the Winston-Salem Police Department at (336) 773-7700, Crime Stoppers at (336) 727-2800 or En Espanol (336) 728-3904, according to WGHP.

Those with information can also fill out a Crime Stoppers tip form online

Winston Salem is about 100 miles northwest of Raleigh.

Father dies in a dispute over a paycheck, Arizona family says. He made us whole

Accused shoplifter, store security guard exchange gunfire, MD cops say. Both are dead

Grandma, mom and aunt go to high school and encourage students to fight, NC cops say
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)  A powerful gang leader announced Sunday that he was lifting a blockade at a key fuel terminal that has strangled Haiti's capital for nearly two months.

The announcement by Jimmy Cherizier, a former police officer nicknamed Barbecue, followed government claims of at least some success in efforts to reclaim the terminal, as well as a United Nations resolution targeting Cherizier with sanctions. But it remained unclear who actually controls the terminal and the surrounding area, and there had been no evidence that any fuel had been able to leave.

In a speech posted on social media, Cherizier called on truck drivers to come and fill their tanks.

Drivers can come to the terminal without any fear, he said.

If fuel can leave, that would ease a crisis that began when Cherizier's G9 gang federation seized control of the area surrounding a fuel depot in Port-au-Prince on Sept. 12 to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

The gang's blockade cut off access to about 10 millions gallons of diesel and gasoline and more than 800,000 gallons of kerosene, forcing gas stations to close, hospitals to cut back on critical services and banks and grocery stores to operate on a limited schedule.

It also hindered efforts to cope with a cholera outbreak that has killed dozens and sickened thousands. Clinics have warned they were running out of fuel and had difficulty accessing potable water.

Gunfire echoed from the area around the terminal on Thursday as Haiti's National Police fought to reassert control. Police Chief Frantz Elbe said in a voicemail shared with The Associated Press on Friday: We won a fight, but it is not over."

Official police social media accounts posted a video on Sunday with no sound stating officers were still busy at the terminal and saying an important provision is taken to secure the perimeters.

Cherizier stressed that neither the gang nor anyone working on its behalf has negotiated anything with the prime minister, despite claims by some politicians to have done so.

Story continues

This is a fight for a better life, he said of the gangs actions. The situation has worsened. ... We are not responsible for what happened to the country.

Cherizier then asked whether Haitians are happy with their living conditions, whether they feel safe, whether their children can go to school without being kidnapped and whether they have food and medical care.

Many in the country of more than 11 million people are living in even deeper poverty at a time of double-digit inflation. Meanwhile, kidnappings and gang violence has increased following the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.

Spokespeople for Haitis National Police and the office of the prime minister could not be immediately reached for comment following Cheriziers announcement.

But some people on social media celebrated Cherizier's announcement, referring to him as Father or Mr. President.

In early September, Henry announced his administration could no longer afford to subsidize petroleum, leading to sharp increases in prices that unleashed large protests.

On Oct. 7, almost a month after the blockade began, Henry requested the immediate deployment of foreign troops. The U.N. Security Council has yet to vote on the request, though it voted to impose sanctions on the gang leader himself.

___

Associated Press writer Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed to this report.
Its all-out war between June and Serena, and Im both thrilled and disappointed.

Thrilled because Elisabeth Moss and Yvonne Strahovski are astonishing to watch when their crazed characters are at each others throats.

The reasons for my disappointment are likely obvious to anyone whos been watching this series since day one. The enemy might be the state of Gilead, who stole Junes daughter and made her a sex slave, but the bad guy has long been Serena. Before that, for June, it was Aunt Lydia. Even against the backdrop of dystopian patriarchy, The Handmaids Tale is a relentless catfight.

Now, Serena is being sent back to Canada with more freedom than she could ever access inside Gilead, plus the baby shes always craved. Shes also been assigned a staff, a war chest, and the diplomatic mission to show the world that even totalitarianism has a soft side. Its a lot, but Id argue her foe June has even more: a band of misfit refugees to support her, her inexhaustible will to free Hannah from Gileads clutches, and the plain fact that shes so unambiguously on the right side of this battle.

The hunt for Hannah continues

Episode three, Border, picks up on the heels of episode two. June, Luke and Moira are trying to decipher what they glimpsed of Hannah on that big screen in Torontos Dundas Square. She was wearing purple, right? Theyll later learn its the colour reserved for wives-in-training.

June is desperate to talk to Nick, who she spotted alongside Hannah in the funeral coverage. Moira (Samira Wiley) brings her to the border, where she knows of a group of refugees running suicide comms missions into Gilead. They completely fan-girl over June  for the role she played in trading Commander Waterford for prisoners last season, for the role she played in rescuing that planeful of children the year before. To Moira and Luke, Junes a loose cannon. But to these women, living on the fringes of no mans land, shes a hero. Of course, theyll call Nick for her.

Story continues

But the trip does more than restore an open line of communication to her Gilead-boyfriend. It quietly restores June to a place of hope. This is what Mayday is  a ragtag collection of people agitating for change. June wasnt looking for Mayday when she battled her way from Boston to Chicago last season. She was Mayday the whole time. When she meets a freedom fighter whos on his way back inside Gilead to meet his wife and child  I cant leave them behind, he tells her  you can almost see the gears turning. Shes still Mayday. So what is June doing in suburban Toronto?

How to solve a problem like Serena

Sam Jaeger and Yvonne Strahovski (Hulu)

Serena Joy is too independent-minded to play the obedient role of Gilead wife, but shes also too committed to the cause to quit her long green dress and remake herself as a liberal Canuck.

Still in Gilead after Freds funeral, she joins Nick (Max Minghella) and his wife Rose (Carey Cox), plus Hannahs adoptive parents (The Mackenzies) and Joseph (Bradley Whitford) for the most dour of all dinner parties. They mostly talk about how important it is that someone kill June  everyones mutual adversary. After dessert, though, Serena propositions the widow Joseph with a marriage of convenience. She wants to come home to Boston and, as a wifeless man, Josephs days in power are numbered. But she misjudges him. Josephs whole thing is he doesnt actually believe in the project of Gilead; it just excited him to have the power to make it in the first place

So Serenas wrong when she tells Mark to head back to Toronto without her. She doesnt have the power to decide to stay. The commanders call a special meeting to remind her of that. She gets on the plane because they say she has to get on it. Shes going to do her nations bidding abroad because its what they want.

In better news, I suppose, shell now be free to explore the vaguely romantic subtext thats been building with Mark despite my best attempts to ignore it. The downside is that shes within Junes enraged grasp.

Madeline Brewer (Hulu)

Okay, maybe let Janine die already

I previously went long on how important it is to see June victorious before this show ends. But Janine? Shes lost a baby and an eye and  over and over again  her freedom. So maybe its time to let this girl escape her mortal coil. In a move as sentimental as it is egotistical, Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) interprets Esthers poisoning of Janine (Madeline Brewer) as a form of punishment directed at her. She asks that Mrs Putnam bring Janines daughter, Angela, to the hospital in the hopes the proximity can somehow revive her birth mom. This is Lydia doing penance and making amends. It works, but is it really a blessing to be restored to health if it means Janine spends the rest of her life working alongside Lydia?

Nicks complicated web of entanglements

For a man who says little, Nick sure does attract a lot of attention. Hes threatened by Commander Mackenzie, who intimates that Nick may have married Rose to get close to her powerful father. Mark renews Americas offer to use him as a double-agent in exchange for an eventual escape to Canada, where Nick could be reunited with June and their daughter, Nichole. But he turns that deal down at least for now.

Max Minghella and Yvonne Strahovski (Hulu)

And late in the episode, Nick finally talks to June by phone. He assures her Hannah is safe, albeit in that relative Gilead way. Then he drops the bombshell news that hes married now. In a move that tells me Nick was a cad before he was a commander, he follows the admission with the sly reminder, You know how things are here, which feels like code for but Id rather be with you!. Nick and June talk softly, like reluctant exes might. June wants to know if shed like Rose; Nick wants stories about Nichole. June promises to stay safe, which is usually an empty assurance coming from June. But as a pledge to Nick, the last man to know and love her? I dont know. I sort of believed her.

Which was naive, I see now. This show is truly magnificent at routinely delivering a big finish. It took only five minutes for June to throw herself back into harms way. She intercepts Serenas car on its return from Gilead and tells Serena to stay away from Hannah, despite the fact that Serena is hundreds of miles away from Hannah  just like June is.

But June threatens her because she has to keep moving. The words I cant leave them behind are rattling around her mind like an accusation or even an invitation. The only thing June wants is Hannah. The only thing that interests her beyond Hannah is her hatred of Serena. Even when June is hopeless and powerless, theres always Serena to hate.
The Daily Beast

The incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee on Sunday was noncommittal about the possibility of an investigation into President Joe Bidens son Hunter and the much-hyped laptop from hell.With Republicans narrowly gaining a majority in the House of Representatives, the top Republicans on both the Oversight and Judicial House committees have vowed to make investigations into Hunter Bidens business dealings a top priority of theirs in the new term.In the 118th Congress, this commi
God Save The Queen has been labelled "the single most iconic image of the punk era"

Some of the most famous images of the punk era have gone on display at Belfast's newest art gallery.

Ulster Presents is a custom-built exhibition space and part of the Ulster University's new city centre campus.

Its first exhibition - Taking Liberties! - features the work of the famed punk provocateur Jamie Reid.

Reid is synonymous with The Sex Pistols after he created their iconic God Save the Queen logo in the 1970s.

The exhibition gathers Reid's most iconoclastic protest work from that era onwards.

Taking Liberties! is part of Belfast International Arts Festival and features work designed to grab the public's attention.

I'm Lovin It / I'm Hatin It - Reid's response to McDonalds use of 'punk' style graphics for their adverts

Spearheaded by Cian Smyth, Ulster Presents is another addition to the city's Cathedral Quarter.

Mr Smyth says the gallery plans to present six shows a year from a mixture of international and local artists, many of whom will have graduated through Ulster's art school.

"We just wanted to develop an audience for the visual arts, alongside the other galleries in the city of course. We always like to bring in somebody that might attract an audience that might not have been here before," he said.

Curse English Heritage was Jamie's direct message to the organisation as he protested for access to public land

He said he had been trying to bring Reid's work to the city for five years: "I obviously knew his work since I was a young person, I knew this really needs to be in Belfast.

"In his work you get to see over five, six decades, how the visual aesthetic is sort of developed, and you actually see where a lot of protest language comes from. People in protest marches, a lot of their visual language is partly influenced by Jamie I think."

Reid's work is famous for its ransom-note style and political activism.

He has highlighted campaigns including the anti-Poll Tax protests, Russian-activists Pussy Riot, the Criminal Justice Bill and Clause 28.

Stop Demonising Our Future (2006), A Brick Will Do The Trick Brixton Version (1981)

He perhaps most famously caused controversy when designing artwork for The Sex Pistols album God Save The Queen by taking a Cecil Beaton photograph of Queen Elizabeth II and adding safety pins and swastikas to her eyes.

Story continues

Originally issued during 1977's Silver Jubilee, the artwork and song were subsequently banned by the BBC. It officially reached number two in the UK charts, despite this, and is believed by some to have been the "real" number one, allegedly outselling its nearest rival by two to one.

Attitudes towards the anti-Monarchy work have since changed with The Observer newspaper in 2007 branding it "the single most iconic image of the punk era".

The Evil Ones (2003), Folk The Banks (2012)

Looking towards the future of the gallery, and the Belfast arts scene overall, Mr Smyth said: "At the moment, I'm doing stuff next year around art and activism. It's such a small community, around this area in particular, that it's hard not to be a part of that.

"There's like a whole new demographic, a younger demographic. Back in the day, a lot of them would have left, they certainly wouldn't have existed in central Belfast, it's nice to be part of whatever that's becoming," he added.

Taking Liberties! exhibition is in the new building of Ulster University, Belfast Campus, until 26 November.
Carolina Pena-Alarcon the day she became a US citizen. Courtesy of Carolina Pena-Alarcon

Carolina Pena-Alarcon is a program manager at EcoMadres, part of Moms Clean Air Force.

She says Latinos bear a disproportionate impact of climate change.

This is Pena-Alarcon's story, as told to Kelly Burch.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Carolina Pena-Alarcon. It has been edited for length and clarity.

No matter where you are in the country, you're likely hearing a lot about the upcoming midterm elections. There are so many issues at play right now, but for me, one is particularly close to my heart: sustainability and climate change.

I was already working to register more voters, especially Latinos. But I wasn't expecting to be able to vote in this election. I was a green-card holder, but not yet a citizen. Then my citizenship was approved and I had my oath ceremony at the end of September.

Suddenly, this is not just a campaign I was working on. It will be my story, too.

I became interested in climate change after immigrating

Back in 2001, I immigrated to the United States with my mom and brother. I had already completed college in my native Bolivia, and I was excited to see what opportunities were available in the US. I dreamed of getting my master's degree in finance.

Instead, I started working in the department of sustainable development at the Organization of American States, or OAS, which promotes cooperation among countries in North and South America. As I learned more about the impact of climate change, particularly on Latin American and Caribbean countries, a passion ignited inside of me. Rather than studying finance, I got my master's degree in environmental and energy management.

At the same time, I was promoted within OAS. I moved to the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. It was stunningly beautiful until Hurricane Thomas hit in 2010. The area where I lived was without electricity and water only briefly. But I saw firsthand the impact of climate change on the locals. Not only did it take longer to get their utilities back, but they had longer commutes after bridges and roads collapsed.

Story continues

I knew then that as global citizens, we have a moral responsibility to act to stop climate change.

Latinos are particularly impacted

Climate change has a huge impact on Latin American and Caribbean countries. And as I settled into life in the US, I realized that climate change disproportionately impacts Latinos here, too. The Environmental Protection Agency has found that American Latinos are more likely than non-Hispanic whites to be affected by rising seas, extreme heat, and hurricanes.

Some American Latinos have immigrated here to escape the climate crisis in their home countries. Now, they face some of the same challenges in their new homeland.

Knowing that drove me to join EcoMadres, a community of parents and caregivers dedicated to protecting the Latino community from the impact of climate change.

I'm not a mother, but I'm mothering through climate activism

Latino culture recognizes the importance of mothers, as well as people who care for others but don't have biological children. That describes me. I was never able to have my own children, although I have godchildren and my partner's children in my life.

Through EcoMadres, I'm helping protect children and teach others how sustainability can become part of everyone's lives. Together, small choices can make a significant difference.

Like a mother, I also encourage people. Many of us feel frustrated with our leaders. People who are discouraged by the system might want to opt out of voting. But that's the greatest power we have. We can't leave that on the table because we're overwhelmed by the way the system has failed us.

I'm eager to harness that power when I cast my first vote as an American citizen this November.

Read the original article on Insider
Mastodon lets users publish anything they want' (Mastadon/ iStock)

Elon Musk has been in charge of Twitter for a week, triggering a collective freakout among many of the sites prominent users as well as calls for a mass migration to other social media sites.

One of the most talked-about Twitter alternatives suggested in recent days is Mastodon, a social platform that began in 2016 but never saw mass adoption by the public.

Mastodons UI has some similarity to Twitter, including a timeline filled with generally text-heavy user content. Unlike Twitter, Mastodon prioritises posts by time rather than Twitters algorithmic attempts to show users what it thinks they want to see. Otherwise, the site includes hashtags, user tagging, photo and video uploads, and other features Twitter users will recognise.

Perhaps the most important feature of Mastodon that sets it apart from Twitter are its "federated" servers, allowing users to pick user-run servers that they think will best provide the content they want to see.

While individual users exist on specific servers, anyone can look up any other account on the platform. It also has no ads, uses open-source code, and is fully run on crowdfunding.

The benefit of these federated servers is that users can pick the level of moderation they want for their Mastodon experience. Users that want tight control on content and comments can find it, and users that less control can find it as well.

A downside is that users can potentially lose their accounts without notice if a server owner stops supporting the server or otherwise "self destructs," in the parlance of Mastodon.

Account backup tools are available for users to employ to archive their accounts in the event of such a shutdown, but its unclear how many users moving from Twitter would regularly utilise the tool. Some servers provide their own means of backing up accounts, but the onus is on the user to join a server offering those tools.

Mastodons initial learning curve has presented a challenge for some Twitter users attempting to switch, but many whove made the move have said they felt it was worth the time investment.

Story continues

The biggest problem with Mastodon at the moment is the friction and learning curve involved with setting up an account and navigating the system. But Twitter is making it increasingly worth paying that cost to move to an alternative.  matt blaze (@mattblaze) November 5, 2022

I keep hearing from people coming up with excuses for not trying out Mastodon. Yes, it's awkward and confusing at first, but the learning curve is surprisingly short and not very steep. There is this sense at first, but then you find the table with your friends: pic.twitter.com/DoOncthKjQ  Mike Masnick (@mmasnick) November 6, 2022

Some Twitter users are seeking an alternative in light of proposed changes coming to the platform under Mr Musks ownership, including a requirement to subscribe to the new "Twitter Blue" for $7.99 a month in order for accounts to retain their verification checkmark.

$20 a month to keep my blue check? F*** that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted Im gone like Enron, author Stephen King wrote prior to the Twitter Blue announcement. Mr Musk then asked him if he would pay $8 a month to stay.

Actor Jason Alexander also balked at the requirement to pay for his verification and suggested he would leave the platform if that was the case.

Like so many others I do not know what this site is going to become. I do not intend to pay one penny to continue to be a participant. That means my verification may end or be stolen. If so, I will continue to exist on Insta under jalexander1959. For now, I will remain, wait&see  jason alexander (@IJasonAlexander) November 5, 2022

Other users are afraid that, in light of Mr Musks mass layoff of Twitter employees, that the sites functionality will suffer and that moderation on the site will collapse, resulting in an uptick of hate speech and targeted harassment.

I feel torn about Twitter. On the one hand its always interesting & Ive made loads of friends whom Id never have met otherwise. On the other its now in the hands of someone I cant respect, & it may be open to all sorts of hate-speech, John Simpson, a verified user and journalist, said.

I feel torn about Twitter. On the one hand its always interesting & Ive made loads of friends whom Id never have met otherwise. On the other its now in the hands of someone I cant respect, & it may be open to all sorts of hate-speech.  John Simpson (@JohnSimpsonNews) November 6, 2022

NBA superstar LeBron James responded to a Washington Post report that found the use of the N-word slur increased by 500 per cent after Musk purchased Twitter, saying he hopes the site takes it very seriously.

I dont know Elon Musk and, tbh, I could care less who owns twitter. But I will say that if this is true, I hope he and his people take this very seriously because this is scary AF. So many damn unfit people saying hate speech is free speech. https://t.co/Sy0jvXIBnC  LeBron James (@KingJames) October 29, 2022

Immediately after Mr Musk bought Twitter, a number of accounts began posting racial slurs and other hateful content in celebration. Some users have also expressed fears that Mr Musk will allow banned users back on the site, including former President Donald Trump.

Mr Trump said he would stay on his personal social media platform, Truth Social  which closely resembled Twitter  even if he is invited to return to Mr Musks version of the microblogging platform.
AMES, Iowa (AP)  Hunter Dekkers threw for two touchdowns and Xavier Hutchinson caught ten passes for 123 yards and a score as Iowa State defeated West Virginia 31-14 on Saturday.

The Cyclones (4-5, 1-5 Big 12) snapped a five-game losing streak and kept alive their hopes of playing in a bowl game for the sixth straight season.

From a second-half standpoint, I really thought we were outstanding, Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. Really in all phases in the second half, that's the best we've been.

Dekkers, who finished 24-of-36 passing for 219 yards, engineered an 8-play, 94-yard drive that helped Iowa State seize control early in the fourth quarter. The Cyclones were helped by a roughing-the-punter penalty and boosted by Deon Silas' 38-yard run before Hutchinson capped the drive with a 24-yard scoring catch.

Iowa State led 17-7.

That just shows the type of offense that we can be, Dekkers said. We can go on a long (drive) and score.

Silas finished with 77 rushing yards. Cartevious Norton ran for 69 yards and two touchdowns.

For Cartevious, it was really the second game of his career, Campbell said of the freshman. So, I thought it was another big step forward for him.

West Virginia (3-6, 1-5) netted just 200 total yards on offense, with much of it coming after the outcome had been determined.

Dekkers capped a 13-play, 86-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass to DeShawn Hanika, giving Iowa State a 10-0 lead with 7:51 left in the second quarter.

At that point, the Cyclones were outgaining the Mountaineers 174 yards to 41, with ten first downs to West Virginia's three.

The story of our game was the inability of our offense to move the ball at all, West Virginia coach Neal Brown said. The stats were putrid.

Hutchinson now has a school record 87 catches this season, breaking his own mark of 83, set last year.

I don't know if I can say enough great things about Xavier, Campbell said. We wouldn't even have a chance to be where we're at today without Xavier Hutchinson.

Story continues

The Mountaineers cut the margin to 10-7 before halftime when J.T. Daniels threw a 25-yard touchdown to Bryce Ford-Wheaton.

THE TAKEAWAY

Bowl eligibility is a longshot for West Virginia (3-6). The Mountaineers were down to their third string running back Saturday, and the defense arrived at Iowa State having allowed at least 38 points to every Big 12 opponent.

RECORD CHASE

Iowa State receiver Xavier Hutchinson entered Saturday needing seven catches to break his school record for most receptions in a season. He set the old mark of 83 catches last year and made five in the first half Saturday. His record-tying sixth came with 13:06 left in the third quarter. Hutchinson made his seventh reception with 8 minutes left in the third.

UP NEXT

West Virginia hosts Oklahoma at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Iowa State travels to Oklahoma State for a 2:30 p.m. game Saturday.
DUBAI (Reuters) -Hardline Iranian lawmakers urged the judiciary on Sunday to "deal decisively" with perpetrators of unrest, as the Islamic Republic struggles to suppress the biggest show of dissent in years.

Widespread anti-government demonstrations erupted in September after the death of young Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, who had been detained by morality police for allegedly flouting the strict dress code imposed on women.

"We ask the judiciary to deal decisively with the perpetrators of these crimes and with all those who assisted in the crimes and provoked rioters," 227 lawmakers from Iran's 290-seat, hardline-led parliament said in a statement, according to state media.

The activist HRANA news agency said that 318 protesters had been killed in the unrest as of Saturday, including 49 minors. Thirty-eight members of the security forces had also been killed, it added.

State media said last month that more than 46 security forces, including police, had been killed. Government officials have not provided an estimate of any wider death count.

Iranian leaders have vowed tough action against protesters they have described as rioters, accusing enemies including the United States of fomenting the unrest.

Demonstrations continued in many cities on Sunday, from Tehran to the central city of Yazd and the northern city of Rasht, according to rights groups and videos on social media.

A video posted on Twitter showed protesters in southern Tehran after nightfall chanting: "Clerics get lost".

Reuters could not verify the rights groups' reports independently, or the social media posts and footage.

In the Kurdish city of Marivan, rights group Hengaw said security forces opened fire on crowds who had gathered after the funeral of another woman, Nasrin Ghaderi, to protest against her death.

Hengaw said Ghaderi died in a coma on Saturday after suffering severe blows to her head by the security forces while demonstrating in Tehran.

Story continues

A prosecutor, cited by state media, said Ghaderi had a pre-existing heart issue and had died of "poisoning", without going into further detail. There was no immediate official comment on the report of gunfire.

Weeks after Amini's death, a coroner's report denied Amini had died due to blows to the head while in custody, as claimed by her parents, and linked her death to past medical conditions.

Students in a dozen universities, including in the northern cities of Rasht and Amol, held protests on Sunday chanting "death to Dictator", a reference to Iran's top authority Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to the unverified videos on social media.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
Italy on Sunday took in families with babies and vulnerable migrants rescued in the Mediterranean as charities slammed Rome's decision to order the others back into international waters.

As humanitarian vessels waited in the port of Catania to disembark those saved, a migrants rescue hotline said some 500 others had run into difficulty on the perilous Mediterranean crossing.

A father carrying a baby in a purple beanie was among the first to get off Geo Barents, a ship run by medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF). He kissed and hugged her tightly as they came down the gangplank.

He was one of the lucky ones.

Rome allowed 144 people including minors and the sick off the German-flagged Humanity 1 earlier Sunday, but 35 adult male migrants were refused permission to set foot on Italian soil, charity SOS Humanity said.

The ship was then "ordered to leave the port of Catania", it said in a statement.

"The captain of the Humanity 1, who is legally responsible for the safety of all people on board, has refused," it said.

The charity said Italian authorities had decided after a "brief medical examination" that the 35 adults were "healthy", but said there was "no translator present to assess their mental and physical condition, nor was there a psychological evaluation".

"Furthermore, the 35 survivors have the right to apply for asylum, and to a formal asylum procedure, which can only be carried out on land".

- 'Playing with lives' -

Those refused permission to leave the Humanity 1 were "extremely depressed", SOS Humanity's press officer Petra Krischok told AFP.

MSF said the "selective and partial disembarkation" was illegal and accused politicians of "playing with (migrants') lives".

The Humanity 1 and Geo Barents were two of four ships that had requested a safe port. The Ocean Viking and Rise Above are still off Sicily.

As the vessels waited, Alarm Phone, a group running a hotline for migrants needing rescue, said it had been alerted to "a large boat carrying about 500 people in distress" in the Mediterranean.

Story continues

Italy's new far-right government has vowed to crack down on boat migrants attempting the perilous crossing from North Africa to Europe.

Over 87,000 people have landed in Italy so far this year, according to the interior ministry -- though only 14 percent of those were rescued at sea and brought to safety by charity vessels.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi earlier said those who do not "qualify" would have to "leave territorial waters".

Sources close to Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, who controls the ports, said they would be "provided with the assistance necessary" to do so.

The leader of the main opposition party, Democratic Party chief Enrico Letta, accused the government on Twitter of breaking international law.

Piantedosi should explain his actions to parliament, the party said.

Member of parliament Aboubakar Soumahoro, present as those chosen from the Humanity 1 were disembarked, slammed the "selection of shipwrecked migrants", saying lawyers were already at work on challenging the decision.

- 'Europe's responsibility' -

Piantedosi said Saturday those migrants not allowed into Italy would have to be "taken care of by the flag state" -- a reference to the national flags under which the vessels sail.

The Humanity 1 and Mission Lifeline charity's Rise Above sail under the German flag.

The Geo Barents and SOS Mediterranee's Ocean Viking are registered in Norway.

The Norwegian foreign ministry said Thursday it bore "no responsibility" for those rescued by private Norwegian-flagged ships in the Mediterranean.

Germany insisted in a diplomatic "note" to Italy that the charities were "making an important contribution to saving human lives" and asked Rome "to help them as soon as possible".

Pope Francis weighed in Sunday, saying that Italy "can do nothing without Europe's agreement" and telling journalists that as far as migrant arrivals were concerned, "it is Europe's responsibility".

ide/ach
Italy let minors and sick people off a German-flagged rescue vessel Sunday but refused to let 35 male adult migrants off, to the rejected survivors' despair.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi earlier said those who do not "qualify" would have to "leave territorial waters", as three other humanitarian vessels pleaded with Rome for a safe port.

The Ocean Viking, Geo Barents and Rise Above are carrying 900 migrants between them.

Three female minors and a baby were the first off the Humanity 1 in Catania port in the early hours, followed by male minors, SOS Humanity's press officer Petra Krischok told AFP.

After that, male adults with medical issues were allowed off. In all, 144 people disembarked.

"Thirty-five male adults are still on board. For now, we stay here and wait," she said.

"The mood among the survivors is extremely depressed. One person just suffered a breakdown," she added.

The Humanity 1 had been requested by Italian authorities to come to the Sicilian harbour, but not assigned a safe port. It was not immediately clear whether it would be ordered to leave.

- 'Treated as objects' -

Italy's new far-right government, which was sworn in last month, has vowed to crack down on boat migrants coming from North Africa to Europe.

Opposition member of parliament Aboubakar Soumahoro, who was present as those chosen were disembarked, slammed the "selection of shipwrecked migrants", which he said broke international law.

He said far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government was treating "the worn-out bodies of shipwrecked people, already exhausted by cold, fatigue, trauma and torture... as objects".

"If the remaining castaways are rejected... we will challenge this decision in all appropriate institutions", he said on Twitter.

Piantedosi said Saturday those migrants not allowed to disembark would have to be "taken care of by the flag state" -- a reference to the national flags under which the vessels sail.

Two of the charity boats -- the Humanity 1 and Mission Lifeline charity's Rise Above -- sail under the German flag.

Story continues

The other two -- SOS Mediterranee's Ocean Viking and Doctors Without Borders' Geo Barents -- are registered in Norway.

The Norwegian foreign ministry said Thursday it bore "no responsibility" for those rescued by private Norwegian-flagged ships in the Mediterranean.

Germany insisted in a diplomatic "note" to Italy that the charities were "making an important contribution to saving human lives" and asked Rome "to help them as soon as possible".

ide/kjm
By Tim Kelly

YOKOSUKA, Japan (Reuters) - Japan hosted its first international fleet review for seven years on Sunday with ships from 12 other nations in a show of unity as North Korea fires record numbers of missiles and China increases its pressure on Taiwan.

The naval parade in Sagami Bay near Tokyo involved 38 vessels, 18 from friendly countries such as the United States, South Korea, Britain, Australia, Singapore, India and Thailand. Thirty-three aircraft flew overhead, including submarine-hunting patrol planes and helicopters.

"We must ready for those who violate rules and who would use force to trample on the peace and security of other nations," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a speech on the Japanese helicopter carrier Izumo. "We will formulate a new national security strategy by year end and drastically strengthen our defence capabilities."

Kishida hosted dignitaries on the Izumo before flying to the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan to meet Ambassador Rahm Emanuel and senior navy commanders.

"What upsets China most is we have allies, they are expansive and extensive," Emanuel said after accompanying Kishida on a tour of the Ronald Reagan.

Kishida's Liberal Democratic Party has pledged to double Japan's defence budget to around 2% of gross domestic product within five years.

South Korea's decision to join Japan's event came as ties between the neighbours improve after a spat over compensation for wartime labourers and Korean women forced to work in Japanese military brothels, which had threatened to derail closer cooperation between the two U.S. allies.

Japan refused to join South Korea's fleet review in 2018 after Seoul asked it not to fly its rising sun ensign, which South Korea views as a symbol of Japanese wartime aggression. Tokyo declined to invite South Korea to a planned 2019 review.

Both countries have drawn closer as North Korea ratchets up its missile launches, including a suspected long-range missile on Thursday that triggered an alert in central and northern Japan for residents to seek shelter.

China, which has criticised Japan's defence spending plans, declined an invitation to join the review. Russia was not invited because of its invasion of Ukraine.

(Reporting by Tim Kelly in Yokosuka; Editing by William Mallard)
The injunction aims to prevent Just Stop Oil demonstrations on the M25

A High Court injunction has been granted to prevent Just Stop Oil protesters disrupting the M25.

It means anyone fixing themselves to any object or structure on the motorway - and anyone assisting - can be held in contempt of court.

Those in breach could face imprisonment, an unlimited fine and seizure of assets.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said the injunction would tackle a "reckless minority of protesters".

"Protesting by blocking busy motorways or climbing overhead structures is extremely dangerous and disruptive, which is why I instructed National Highways to apply for this further injunction, which the courts have granted," he said.

Protesters have carried out demonstrations on various roads

Earlier this year a court order was obtained in response to protests carried out on the motorway - which encircles Greater London - by Insulate Britain.

The previous injunction covers the M25, the M25 feeder roads and major roads in Kent and around the Port of Dover until May 2023.

Last month, two men were charged with committing a public nuisance over a two-day protest on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge.

The QE2 Bridge takes traffic clockwise over the River Thames on the A282, at the Dartford Crossing, which connects the M25 motorway between Essex and Kent.

'Reckless individuals'

Duncan Smith, executive director for operations at National Highways, said: "Millions of people rely on the strategic road network every day and they have a right to expect it to operate as it should.

"We already have an injunction covering hundreds of miles of our network.

"This further court order will make it easier to take action against those reckless individuals who choose to unlawfully protest on the M25.

"Protesting on these busy roads is extremely dangerous for the protesters themselves and all road users."

Follow BBC London on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hellobbclondon@bbc.co.uk
Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. AP Photo/Michael Wyke, File

Kanye West's controversial rhetoric may have been cut out of a 2019 interview with David Letterman.

Audience members told TheWrap that the Netflix episode left out some big moments.

Netflix told TheWrap that parts of the interview were cut out for length.

Fallen billionaire and rap mogul Kanye West, also known as Ye, reportedly spewed controversial and far-right rhetoric during a 2019 interview with David Letterman that was later removed before airing on Netflix.

The interview aired in late May 2019 on the second season of Letterman's "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction," in which Ye defended Donald Trump supporters, discussed his mental health issues, and talked about his "beef" with music artist Drake.

While it was shot in January 2019 at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles, several audience members recently told TheWrap the version of the interview that appeared on Netflix left out some key moments  including Ye victim-blaming Rihanna for being a survivor of domestic violence and saying Trump supporters were treated like Nazis.

Ye also reportedly said he feared becoming "MeToo-ed" like an unidentified friend in the music industry. Noah Reich, an audience member at the taping, told TheWrap that Ye spoke about a powerful group within Hollywood that brought the #MeToo movement into being. Reich believed he was referring to Jewish people.

At certain points, Reich said he and other audience members shouted at West and questioned his remarks. When Ye claimed that Trump followers are treated like Nazis, Reich said he responded aloud with "because they are Nazis" before receiving applause.

Ye and Letterman continued the interview without acknowledging the audience's remarks, Reich said.

"It was shocking to see that Kanye West could share harmful alt-right beliefs, conspiracy theory after conspiracy, and misogynistic beliefs about women for the majority of the interview and end up with an edit that removed all those items in favor of celebrity fluff content," Reich told TheWrap.

Story continues

An audience member identified as Larry F told the Wrap that he's "not sure what legalities they're dealing with" but he didn't find the Netflix episode to be "an honest assessment of what went on that night."

Worldwide Pants, Inc., Letterman's production company, told TheWrap that "the producers went to great lengths to accurately present" West's viewpoints. The production company, which partnered with another called Zero Point Zero Production Inc. to produce the show, added that "unfounded attacks on specific individuals are not included out of privacy, accuracy, and legal concerns."

Netflix, The Wrap said, argued a similar point and maintained that parts of the interview were condensed for length.

On October 28, writer and political commentator Elad Nehorai shed light on the situation in a Substack, citing an anonymous audience member. "The most harmful part of this, and this should be the focus, is that David Letterman did nothing, and that most of it didn't air," Nehorai wrote.

Within the past month, Ye has called Black Lives Matter "a scam," said in a deleted tweet that he was "going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE," and appeared on The Brilliant Idiots podcast saying that his ex-wife Kim Kardashian "is out here fucking a white boy [Pete Davidson] with a 10-inch penis."

Insider was unable to confirm that TheWrap's sources were in the audience. Representatives for Netflix, Worldwide Pants, and Zero Point Zero Production did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Reich was not immediately reachable for comment.

Read the original article on Insider
A campaign office for Arizona GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake received a suspicious package containing white powder on Saturday, according to the Phoenix Police Department.

Officers responded to an address where Lakes campaign office is located and found suspicious items inside the mail, police told The Hill.

The items were collected and the area was secured, police added. No one was injured and the investigation remains active.

The Hill has reached out to Lakes campaign for comment.

A spokesperson for Lake told The Washington Post that a staffer, who was trained as a nurse, opened the envelope with the white powder and then quickly set it down. The staffer did not open a second, similar envelope.

The FBI, Phoenix Fire Department and a hazmat squad responded and sent the sample for testing, according to the Post. Lake is on the campaign trail and was not exposed, and the staffer who opened the package has not experienced any symptoms.

The news follows an incident last month in which Lakes opponent in the race, Democrat Katie Hobbs, reported to police that someone broke into her office and stole some items.

Police arrested a suspect in that case, which has not been determined to be politically motivated.

Hobbs condemned the suspicious packages that arrived at Lakes office in a statement to the Post.

Political violence, threats, or intimidation have no place in our democracy, Hobbs said.

The midterm elections are on Tuesday, and the race between Hobbs and Lake is one of the most closely watched gubernatorial contests in the country.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Many foreign companies in the city of Xiamen, a coastal business hub in east China's Fujian Province have voiced confidence in the Chinese economy and continued to expand businesses in the country despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.





Meyra, headquartered in Germany, is one of the world's best-known brands of wheelchairs and rehabilitation aids.





As one of its subsidiaries, Alu Rehab Xiamen Ltd. said the company has benefited a lot from the preferential policies delivered by the local government.





Electric Glass (Xiamen) Co., Ltd. is one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of liquid crystal glass blocks.





In the past eight years, its total investment in China has reached more than 7 billion yuan (970 million U.S. dollars).





According to the Ministry of Commerce of China, foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 15.6 percent year on year to 1.00376 trillion yuan (139.7 billion U.S. dollars) in the first nine months of the year.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
The stars of Hollywood showed up to the 11th annual Art + Film Gala at the LACMA on Saturday, dressed to impress. Co-chaired by trustee Eva Chow and Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCpario, both artists Helen Pashgian and filmmaker Park Chan-wook were honored.

The fashion, however, was quite stark with several stars exposing their bodies in adventurous and imaginative designs.

Several women at the gala put the emphasis on pieces with cutouts, ample cleavage, and transparent fabric.

Kendall Jenner and her older sister Kim Kardashian both posed in black numbers at the LACMA event.

Kendall Jenner, posing alongside big sister Kim Kardashian, wore a flesh-baring Burc Akyol dress to the Gala. The transparent top featured black dashes at her stomach and a shimmery silver skirt.

Alongside her husband Carter Reum, Paris Hilton posed in a gorgeous two-piece outfit. The high crop top was mirrored by a matching high-rise skirt with a singular cut-out.

JULIA ROBERTS HONORED, BRALESS OLIVIA WILDE, AND GEORGE AND AMAL CLOONEY'S DATE NIGHT: ACADEMY MUSEUM GALA

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

The 22-year-old Addison Rae star went bold on the blue-carpet, in a plunging Jean Louis de Scherrer scoop neck dress. Her bare torso was accented by a long tassel necklace.

Jodie Turner-Smith wore a low-cut Gucci dress with a stunning gold and black chevron skirt. Her look was accented with matching gloves.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER

Jared Leto's pink Gucci suit was not to be outdone by his equally pink hair at the LACMA event. Accenting his look with black leather gloves and white shoes, the actor sparkled in his double-breasted jacket.

Sydney Sweeney donned a light pink Giambattista Valli number with overflowing floral sleeves. She paired the dress with sparkly stilettos.

Also in Gucci, Olivia Wilde stunned in a chevron dress. The look was completed with long bright red globes that went past Wilde's elbows.

Making their red carpet debut, Billie Eilish 20, and boyfriend Jesse Rutherford 31, looked comfortable in their Gucci outfits. The two were wrapped in the brand's signature Jacquard fabric, with Eilish even wearing a sleep-mask.
Pilots on strike at Kenya Airways will face disciplinary action if they don't return to work immediately, the government said Sunday, with thousands of passengers stranded for a second day after dozens of fresh flight cancellations.

The Kenya Airline Pilots Association (KALPA) launched the strike at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 06:00 am (0300 GMT) on Saturday -- defying a court order against industrial action and deepening the woes of the troubled national carrier.

"Considering the defiance of KALPA and their total disregard for the existing court order - which is at the heart of the rule of law -- the Ministry of Labour now has to activate the procedures governing industrial relations," Kenya's Transport Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said in a statement.

"I urge the pilots to be mindful of the consequences of defying a court order and to urgently return to work because impunity cannot be an option," the newly-appointed minister added.

The airline, part owned by the government and Air France-KLM, is one of the biggest in Africa, connecting multiple countries to Europe and Asia.

But it has been facing turbulent times, including years of losses.

Murkomen said the government, which has pumped millions of dollars into the airline, had made "relentless efforts" to resolve the dispute but to no avail.

"The sour and chronic industrial action is an impediment to ongoing efforts to raise capital for Kenya Airways," he said.

There was no immediate response to the minister's statement from KALPA, which earlier on Sunday said that its members would remain on strike "until their voice is heard."

"The public should expect major flight disruptions to continue," it said on Twitter, blaming the airline's management for failing to resolve the stalemate.

The airline's managing director and CEO, Allan Kilavuka, in turn accused the protesting pilots -- who make up 10 percent of the workforce -- of "holding passengers, other employees, management and the economy at ransom."

Story continues

He said Sunday that 56 flights had been cancelled due to the strike, which has thrown around 12,000 passengers' plans into disarray.

- 'Inconveniencing' -

Many travellers turned up to the Nairobi airport on Sunday, only to find out that their flights would not take off.

"I came here at around 5:25 in the morning... but I have been informed that the flight has been cancelled," passenger Erick Muhanda, who was due to travel to South Africa's port city of Cape Town, told broadcaster Citizen TV.

"It's quite inconveniencing," he said.

The pilots are pressing for the reinstatement of contributions to a provident fund and payment of all salaries stopped during the Covid-19 pandemic.

On Monday, the airline won a court injunction stopping the strike, but an official at KALPA, which has 400 members, told AFP the pilots "were acting within the provisions of the law" and that they were yet to be served with a court order.

The carrier has warned that the strike would jeopardise its recovery, estimating losses at $2.5 million per day if the pilots went ahead with their plans.

The airline was founded in 1977 following the demise of East African Airways, and flies more than four million passengers to 42 destinations annually.

It has been operating in large part thanks to state bailouts following years of losses.

The carrier saw its revenue nosedive after the pandemic grounded planes worldwide because of stringent travel restrictions, devastating the aerospace and tourism industries.

In August, the airline reported a $81.5 million half-year loss citing high fuel costs, despite the government injecting some $520 million to keep it afloat.

On Wednesday, the airline's management said it was on the path to recovery, flying at least 250,000 passengers each month, and aiming to cut its overall operating costs by 10 percent before the end of next year.

amu/rox
Multiplatinum artist Kid Rock slammed television icon Oprah Winfrey on Saturday and called her a "fraud" after Winfrey endorsed the Pennsylvania Senate campaign of Democrat John Fetterman over his Republican opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, whom Winfrey has known and worked with for decades.

"Oprah helped Dr. Oz with his career," Kid Rock tweeted Saturday in a post that was retweeted over 10,000 times. "I assume because she vetted him and found him to be a wonderful person. Now she is against him. Oprah is a fraud. -Kid Rock."

Winfrey, a Democrat, announced on Thursday that she is supporting Fettermans Senate campaign despite her long relationship with Oz.

Oz first came to prominence as a health expert on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" before he got his own talk show in 2009, which was produced by Winfrey's company Harpo. His show ended in January.

PENNSYLVANIA SENATE CANDIDATE FETTERMAN INSISTS HE IS 'SIT TO SERVE'

(L) Oprah Winfrey (R) Kid Rock

"Ill tell you all this, if I lived in Pennsylvania , I would have already cast my vote for John Fetterman for many reasons," Winfrey said during a virtual conversation with community leaders.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Fettermans campaign said Winfreys support for the Democrat over Oz "speaks volumes."

KID ROCK LEAVES OPEN POSSIBILITY OF RUNNING FOR OFFICE

Kid Rock performs at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"Oprah is widely regarded as the person who helped launch Dr. Ozs career, and knows him well," the campaign said.

Kid Rock, born Robert Ritchie, has been a vocal critic of Winfreys in the past, including an on-stage rant at his honky-tonk in downtown Nashville, where he told the crowd "f*** Oprah Winfrey" and "f*** Joy Behar."

FETTERMAN LOSES SUPPORT IN PENNSYLVANIA SENATE RACE AFTER DEBATE PERFORMANCE, POLL FINDS

"A drunk mans words are a sober mans thoughts, I own what I said," Kid Rock told Fox News Tucker Carlson on an episode of Tucker Carlson Originals on Fox Nation in June .

Representatives for Winfrey did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Story continues

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Oprah Winfrey speaks onstage during Oprah's SuperSoul Conversations at PlayStation Theater in New York City.

"Doctor Oz loves Oprah and respects the fact that they have different politics," Rachel Tripp, senior communications adviser for the Oz campaign, told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement. "He believes we need more balance and less extremism in Washington."

Oz and Fetterman are currently locked in a tight Senate race in the Keystone State that a recent poll shows Oz leads by a margin of 1 percentage point.

The hotly contested Senate race could ultimately decide which party will control the Senate after Tuesday's midterm election.

Fox News Brie Stimson contributed to this report
Portias this Gen Z kind of person who feels shes moved past the masculine-feminine dynamic (HL)

Haley Lu Richardson is issuing me with a warning. Im looking rough! cries the actor, as she turns her camera on. What appears on the screen is actually very sweet: a rosy-cheeked 27-year-old covered in stickers. Theres a purple star stuck to the right of her nose, and a green one on her forehead. Shes nestled in the centre of a white fluffy beanbag and surrounded by houseplants  standing, hanging, trailing  in various wicker containers. Her screen name reads h poopie.

When I ask about the stars, Richardson is dumbfounded. You dont know zit stickers?! she squeals. Oh my gosh, theyre honestly the coolest thing since sliced bread. You can also get flowers with little rhinestones, Hello Kitty ones, SpongeBob ones, rainbow ones its just amazing because it makes having acne fun!!! Its half past eight in the morning for Richardson, whos in her apartment in California, and she is in a very good mood indeed. She laughs a lot, and every time she does her eyes fill with tears. I had a lot of wine last night  ha! she erupts. I didnt even go out; I went to see one of my friends and he made me this amazing dinner but it was so garlicky, like, my pores reek of garlic. I washed my face last night and this morning. Twice this morning. And brushed my teeth, already. And I still reek of garlic!

Richardson has been on our screens, sans stickers, for 10 years. When she was 16, after a childhood in Arizona spent dancing for five hours a night and competing every weekend, she suddenly decided she wanted to live in LA and be an actor. Her mother made a sacrifice, moving away from Richardsons father to the west coast so that her daughter could pursue her dream. The day after Richardson turned 18, her mother moved back to Arizona because she missed Hayley Lus father. But those years of absence from home paid off. In that time, Richardson cut her teeth in the Disney Channel sitcom Shake It Up and the supernatural childrens drama Ravenswood. She then went on to star as the sunny best friend of Hailee Steinfelds catastrophising teen in coming-of-age movie Edge of Seventeen and as a prisoner kidnapped by James McAvoy in the psychological horror Split.

Her first lead role, as an architecture enthusiast in the 2017 indie Columbus, was a revelation  The New Yorkers Richard Brody wrote, Richardson vaults to the forefront of her generations actors with this performance, which virtually sings with emotional and intellectual acuity. An infectious turn as a teenager travelling across US states to get an abortion, in Unpregnant (2020), followed. Well come back to the film later, but right now  while she does still dance, and gives weekly lessons to octogenarians  shes starring in The White Lotus, HBOs smash-hit wealth satire that has returned (on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV) for a second season set in Sicily.

In it, Richardson is enjoyably frazzled and lost as Portia, the long-suffering assistant to Jennifer Coolidges deranged millionaire Tanya. When we first meet Portia, shes perched in the luggage hold of a boat, half crushed by 17 designer suitcases owned by her boss, whos sunning herself on the top deck. Ive got lots of questions about Portia, but Richardson is a hard interviewee to tame. She is a little delirious, and keeps asking me about my life, but eventually she is wrestled into talking about her new show. The whole time, she looks like a child trying to do a serious face, whos just been caught behind the sofa, cutting her fringe. We start with what it was like working with Coolidge. Honestly, just really hard to not laugh, says Richardson, because shes such a funny woman. Shes doing things that are so absurd and strange and socially unacceptable but somehow getting away with it. My first few days working with her I had a really hard time acting being annoyed and miserable around her, because she was just making me and everyone on the crew laugh. Ive heard that like, on Anchorman and s***, people just laughing during takes. But Id never experienced that until this.

As shes talking, a humungous white and brown floofball of a cat saunters across the screen. Its Darbin, Richardsons pride and joy. Hello Darbin! she coos. She scoops him up, stuffs her face into his fur. Squeezes him so tightly I worry for his health. I love him. I kind of become possessed when hes around. Darbin travelled to Italy with Richardson when she was filming The White Lotus. He did so well on the planes with me, all the different apartments and hotels, she says. Hes a very good cat. A very good boy. Addressing the pet, she murmurs, Anyway, I have to focus, OK? Darbin wanders off.

Back to the show. After Portia and Tanya arrive at the White Lotus resort, Portia is immediately sent to her room so as not to intrude on Tanyas romantic getaway with her husband. Portia manages to sneak out of her suite  I have to eat!  and before long we see her crying on a sun lounger. I wanted to be thrown around by some hot Italian guy, she tells a friend on the phone. But the menus all pasta; Im gonna be so bloated. It sucks. Pretty relatable line, that one, Richardson says now. Thats honestly how I felt in Sicily. I rarely felt hot, because I was eating so much and there werent any vegetables there apart from eggplant.

Because of last nights wine, when Richardson starts getting into the nitty-gritty of the dramas themes, she goes literally cross-eyed with the effort. Portia feels like shes over the typical masculine-feminine dynamic, she says. Shes this Gen Z kind of person who feels shes moved past that, but she still has this deep need for external fulfilment in the shape of a hot guy. At one point, Portia tells Adam DiMarcos Albie, a Stanford grad shes been flirting with at the hotel, I just wanna have fun. I just wanna feel, like, fulfilled and have an adventure. And Im, like, sick of f***ing TikTok and Bumble and screens and apps and sitting there and bingeing Netflix. And I just wanna, like, live. I just wanna live my life so badly. I wanna meet someone whos totally ignorant of the discourse, you know? Its a sublime example of writer Mike Whites acute social observation, showing how earnest and pretentious, yet hopeful, young people can be. Yeah, says Richardson, shes a lot more f***ed up and narcissistic than she thinks she is.

Richardson plays a long-suffering assistant in The White Lotus (Sky)

Last summer, months before Richardson and Darbin rocked up in Sicily, Richardson had been up for one of the most coveted roles in the superhero genre: Batgirl. The part eventually went to Leslie Grace but, this August  just as production was finishing up and to the total shock of the film world and its own directors  it was canned. Michael Keaton was set to reprise the role of Batman for the film, for the first time in 30 years, and more than $100m (88.7m) had already been poured into it, but Warner Bros said it had been shelved due to a strategic shift by leadership. Richardson was taken aback when she saw the news. I felt really bad for all those people that made that movie, she says. I know what its like to put your heart into something, and something thats that big and that much money and that much energy and that big of a crew, like, thats so crazy that you can just scrap that. Thats so extreme, she says, emphasising that last syllable, hands in the air.

There were reports that test screenings had not gone well. Richardson has been up for other big franchise roles before, and she laments the fact that the actor is shown so little of the script beforehand. With those movies, youre for sure taking a risk that you may be compromising creatively and artistically. That feels so scary and aggravating because, most of the time, my priority with taking jobs is connecting to the character, the material, the filmmaker. But Ive heard of friends whove been auditioning for things and they dont even tell them who the character is. Theyre just like, Its Marvel! So youre really holding on to the hope that its gonna be good.

We wanted Unpregnant to start conversations within families, between moms and kids

A film that she did get cast in and did get made, and that she is very proud of, is Unpregnant, co-starring Euphorias Barbie Ferreira. It was like a modern Thelma & Louise but with an abortion storyline. Doing that movie, and having all those conversations publicly about abortion, really was part of my growth and letting go, she says. She had worried, before it was released, that people would hate her because of the films pro-choice message. I dont feel that way now. I did that movie, it came out, I talked about it, and I dont feel scared that people would hate me for something like that. Its beautiful.

Its upsetting to hear that a young woman was afraid to speak up in a liberal society. But Richardson is proud of the films legacy. I dont want anyone to hate me, obviously, and the main goal for all of us in that movie was we wanted as many people to see it as possible so that it could start conversations within families, between moms and kids. Its such a personal decision and topic, getting an abortion, so if people see it from a personal, intimate point, like in our film, it will be a change from just hearing about it from the government.

As our conversation wraps up, Richardson tells me, Im pretty impressed I was able to do that in my state. Friday morning is just getting started for her, and my Friday night is about to begin. If it goes well, Ill be feeling an approximation of what she is tomorrow. She laughs. Her eyes water a little. Have a great niiiiiight!!! she yells.

The White Lotus is exclusively available on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW
Twitter Alternatives Photo Illustrations

Twitter logo displayed on a phone screen and Twitter logo displayed on a screen in the background are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on November 5, 2022. Credit - Jakub PorzyckiNurPhoto/Getty Images

Twitter is launching a new subscription service for $7.99 a month that allows users to verify their accounts, the company announced in Apples app store on Saturday. The feature will be a part of Twitters already existing Twitter Blue subscription, which is currently $4.99 and offers paid users additional services.

While its not clear when the new subscription model will go live, the company said users will be able to receive a blue check mark, just like the celebrities, companies and politicians you already follow.

Twitters old verification program launched in 2009, amid pressure to authenticate accounts of public figures and agencies to protect the public.

Twitters current lords & peasants system for who has or doesnt have a blue checkmark is bulls***, tweeted Musk on Nov. 1. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.

Heres what to know:

What does the new subscription include?

Outside the blue check mark, those who opt-in for the new service will also experience half of the ads and be able to post longer videos on the platform, according to the announcement.

There isnt a ton of information available about the updated subscription service, but Musk tweeted on Nov. 5 that current verified users should expect to lose their blue check mark a couple of months after the program rolls out if they choose not to pay the fee.

The announcement did not share whether users will still have to authenticate their identity, or if they will simply receive a verification symbol regardless.

Twitter products team manager Esther Crawford tweeted that the newest Twitter Blue is not live just yet. Android users also do not have access to this new feature. No launch date has been officially announced, though some speculate that it might go live starting Nov. 7.

Story continues

Twitter Blue was previously described as a monthly subscription that gives the most engaged people on Twitter exclusive access to premium features. This includes features like editing a tweet, which launched for Twitter Blue users in October. It is currently available in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

What are some of the criticisms?

Critics of the verification subscription plan argue that it takes away from the original intent behind the blue check, which helps users identify if they are receiving information from a reliable source. Musk said in a tweet Saturday that accounts that attempt to impersonate previously verified profiles on the platform would be suspended.

Some also argue the companys newest verification plan puts much at risk in an era of online misinformation, especially as Election Day occurs the day after the programs suspected launch. Journalists, political scientists and politicians, among others, expressed their concerns about the change online.

[My] main concern w/ the new Twitter Blue offering is the verified logo has been a marker of trust I.e., weve confirmed the person is who they say they are, tweeted former United States Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Chris Krebs. Now its were taking their $ & their word for it. On the cusp of election where source of info is critical, [this is] a major risk.

Twitters previous verification process launched over a decade ago after a number of celebrity impersonation accounts flocked online. Changes began after the company was sued by Tony La Russa, then manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, in 2009 after an account with his name posted insensitive comments online, the New York Times reports. The platform then experimented with a way to verify the accounts of public figures and agencies that were the most at-risk of impersonation.

The old verification system had its issues as well, however. In August 2021, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy said that he was not the owner of the verified account under his name, according to the Times.

Musk has added to the controversy, tweeting in support of rumors that Twitter employees were selling verifications for thousands of dollars.

Users also fear that substantial layoffs at the company could impact content moderation, though Yoel Roth, Twitters head of safety and integrity, said the content moderation team was least affected by the recent job cuts, AP reports.

With early voting underway in the US, our efforts on election integrity  including harmful misinformation that can suppress the vote and combatting state-backed information operations  remain a top priority, Roth tweeted.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  Two South Korean miners who were rescued after being trapped deep underground for nine days said they had lived on instant coffee powder and water falling from the ceiling of a blocked shaft.

The two men, aged 62 and 56, were pulled out to safety on Friday night from the shaft at a zinc mine in the southeastern town of Bonghwa. They had been stranded there after a heap of earth fell and clogged the entrance of the shaft about 190 meters (620 feet) underground on Oct. 26.

Bang Jong-hyo, a doctor who treated the miners at a local hospital, told reporters Saturday that both men were in fairly good condition though they initially said they were suffering hypothermia and muscle pains. He said the two were expected to be released from the hospital within days.

Bang said the two miners told him they shared 30 sticks of instant coffee while trapped underground.

The two also drank water falling from the shaft's ceiling and made a fire to survive, local emergency officers said.

I have lots of things to tell my father so Ive written them down on a notebook in the past 10 days, said Park Geun-hyung, the son of one of the rescued miners, Park Jeong-ha. Now I want to spend some time with my father to tell him what I want to say and listen to what I want to hear from him.

President Yoon Suk Yeol called their rescue miracle-like and touching.

Yoon sent a senior presidential official to the miners to convey letters wishing for their quick recovery and unspecified gifts.

In the letters, Yoon was quoted as saying the miners have given new hope to the Republic of South Korea, which has been stricken by grief, his office said Sunday, in an apparent reference to a harrowing Halloween crowd surge in Seoul that killed 156 people last weekend.
Chicago Tribune

Calling herself an agent of change and the only rational choice for Chicago voters, Mayor Lori Lightfoot filed her paperwork Monday for a reelection run. But the end of the weeklong filing period only further highlighted the difficult race ahead of her, with the last of eight remaining major challengers  U.S. Rep. Jesus Chuy Garcia and Ald. Roderick Sawyer  also petitioning to get onto ...
Cleanup efforts and storm surveys will continue after severe thunderstorms spawned several powerful tornadoes in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas on Friday.

The FOX Forecast Center had been expecting a tornado outbreak, and among the at least eight tornadoes that have been confirmed, the National Weather Service says two EF-3 tornadoes with winds stronger than 160 mph touched down in northeast Texas.

Tornadoes are ranked on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, and a tornado with winds stronger than 136 mph can produce severe damage.

In addition, two people are now confirmed dead due to the tornado outbreak. One person was killed in Morris County, Texas, and the other was killed in McCurtain County, Oklahoma.

HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER ON TV

Friday Tornado Warnings

The first tornadic storms of the outbreak appeared to pop in northeast Texas and southern Oklahoma.

Several mobile homes were reported to be damaged near Bryan County, Oklahoma, along the Texas-Oklahoma state line, as strong thunderstorms pushed through on Friday afternoon.

A tractor-trailer in nearby Durant, Oklahoma, was also flipped during the initial wave of severe storms.

Authorities in the Sooner State reported at least one person was injured after a home was destroyed in McCurtain County.

DAMAGE SPOTTED AFTER TORNADO-WARNED STORMS MOVE THROUGH TEXAS, OKLAHOMA

The storms also produced a 63 mph wind gust at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, where hundreds of flights were either delayed or canceled.

The atmosphere did not become prime for rotating supercells until they reached east of the metroplex.

Significant damage to homes was reported in Powderly, Chicota and other small communities in the northeast part of Texas. Witnesses near the Texas-Oklahoma border reported trees snapped and significant damage to structures.

One of the hardest hit areas in Texas was Lamar County. Damage was reported in the towns of both Paris and Powderly. The tornado that impacted these communities was given an initial rating of an EF-3 by NWS meteorologists.



Videos showed homes without roofs and damage to trees and power lines. Despite the destruction, officials said they had not received reports of fatalities but were working on several injuries.



The tornado outbreak produced similar scenes in Cason, Texas, and Idabel, Oklahoma. Witnesses in both towns reported the combination of nightfall and the amount of destruction made venturing out unsafe.

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Reported tornadoes from November 4 and 5

Cody McDaniel, Idabel's emergency management director, said he was hoping for the best after his town took a direct hit from a tornado. "Just stay away from Idabel," McDaniel pleaded.

Local authorities said that the first death was reported in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, where nearly 200 homes were either damaged or destroyed.

"We have had reports of fatalities as a result of these storms. We've saw injuries as a result. We've saw partial and total destruction, but God was with us," the local hospital CEO said.

First responders were still combing through debris through the overnight hours looking for storm victims in Cason, Texas.

Morris County Judge Doug Reeder confirmed at least one death in that county, bringing the death toll in the Lone Star State to one.

"Rescues started immediately," emergency management coordinator Quincy Blount said. "The tornado was still on the ground, and we were still tracking it. We had officers, we had first responders, volunteer firemen actually doing the extrication and working on victims while the storm was still moving across the county."

NIGHTTIME TORNADOES FAR MORE LIKELY TO TURN DEADLY THAN DAYTIME ONES

National Weather Service offices in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas have been busy surveying at least half a dozen reports of tornadoes.



The damaging storms caused power outages in the Lone Star State to impact more than 55,000 customers. PowerOutage.us reported outages in Oklahoma and Arkansas topped nearly 7,000 during the heart of the storms.

"There were people were in their truck fixing to leave and actually ended up being trapped in their truck," said Rodney Caudle, a deputy fire marshal in Hopkins County. "It's very, very amazing just to see the amount of damage, you know, and no injuries. It's just very awesome. It's a good thing."

The American Red Cross opened at least one shelter in northeast Texas for storm victims.

HOW METEOROLOGISTS DETERMINE IF A TORNADO IS TO BLAME FOR STORM DAMAGE

Although most people think spring is the time for severe weather, fall is the country's second severe weather season. It can also be more dangerous because shorter days make tornadoes in the dark more likely.

Sign up for severe weather alerts and warnings on the FOX Weather app to be notified if and when you need to take cover and find your safe place. Watch FOX Weather on your smartphone, tablet, computer or TV.
Wandering through the pretty cobbled streets, all this city asks you to do is discover Lisbons best neighborhoods with delicious food in mind. Your vacation itinerary couldnt be any simpler.

In this Travel Noire list, we run through some of the best places in Lisbon to eat good. Thankfully, Lisbon has a vast, impressive, though under-celebrated foodie scene. Traditional Portuguese food is easy to find as is the more modern, fusion foodie scene. With an abundance of markets and local, tucked-away restaurants, there is much to choose from.

Lisbon is a city that takes pride in its reputation as one of Europes coolest cities, the food scene attests to that. If youre looking to explore the city better, take notes from this list of Lisbons best neighborhoods for foodies.

Related: Explore Portugals Black History With The African Lisbon Tour

Cais do Sodre/Conde-Barao

A post shared by Time Out Market Lisboa (@timeoutmarketlisboa)

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This has to be the place to start. We have put the two areas together as they slightly spill into each other and, most foodies will agree, make for an interesting culinary pairing. The Time Out Market Lisbon (Mercado da Ribeira) is situated right opposite the Cais do Sodre market. Here you can experience food from all over the world and enjoy the eclectic International foodie market.

Afterward, walking 5 minutes along to the Conde-Barao area will provide you with a mix of chilled cafe spots and restaurants. This is the place to enjoy an immaculately made cup of coffee while you take a breather from walking along the hilly city. While you will see many working away on their laptops, the area equally guards its relaxed afternoon dining atmosphere and has several no laptop zones to help you enjoy the slow European city vibe.

Belem

A post shared by Pasteis de Belem (@pasteisbelem)

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Belem has long since established itself as the place to indulge in mouthwateringly good food. To be exact, it has maintained this reputation since 1837 when Antiga Confeitaria de Belem began making the famous pasteis de nata. Travelers looking to taste beyond this famous pastry will be happy to discover a range of traditional restaurants with unbelievable sites. If youre lucky, it may not be too crowded, but Belem is popular for good reason.

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Alfama/ Graca

A post shared by Amar Lisboa | (@amar_lisboa)

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This is a fun foodie destination that most travelers swear by when arriving in Lisbon. The area itself is considered a melting pot of many cultures and, as expected, the food scene reflects that. It is often described as village in the heart of a city, and the presence of Castelo de Sao Jorge (St. Georges Castle) really adds to the atmosphere.

Most travelers spend the day exploring the castle and then seek out a restaurant (which is always close) to soak up the rest of the vibes. Once exploring the famous iconic landmark, find a restaurant where you can enjoy both the unbeatable gastronomy and sunset.

Bairro Alto

A post shared by Bairro Alto Lisboa (@bairro.alto.lisboa)

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Bairro Alto is a favorite neighbourhood for many travelers visiting the city. It is always buzzing with things to do, experience, and eat for the first time. Expect a selection of popular tapas bars and graffiti pieces from Portuguese and international artists alike. It has a youthful feel about it and the views are truly endless. Foodies will appreciate this neighborhood for dinners that end up as parties. Eat and drink in some of the most lively though random spots in the city.

Chiado

A post shared by M A N U E L W O L F (@manuelo_bo)

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Those looking for a more upmarket option will appreciate Chiado. This is the place to be if youre looking for Michelin starred restaurants and a hint of fine dining. Foodies eager to feast in bohemian style eateries will feel right at home as this is a growing theme in the neighborhood. The district is also known for its shopping district and its elegant buildings which makes it a great all-rounder for the foodie who wants to grace the outdoor/rooftop eateries with regular lunchtime visits.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP)  Maine delivered an October surprise to medical marijuana providers with guidance limiting the sale of pre-rolled marijuana and liquid concentrates by treating them like tobacco.

The Maine Office of Cannabis Policy released guidance on Oct. 7 that effectively bans medical marijuana caregivers without a storefront from providing those products altogether while medical marijuana dispensaries and stores must treat them like tobacco products with an age limit of 21. Previously, those could be provided to people 18 and older with a medical marijuana card.

Marijuana accessories are displayed at Theory Wellness, a cannabis retail store, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021, in South Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

The guidance caused an outcry because pre-rolled products and liquid concentrates for vaping are among the most popular  and profitable  cannabis products sold in medical and adult recreational stores.

Democratic Sen. Craig Hickman, co-chair of the Legislature's Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee, accused the Maine OCP of "executive branch overreach and bad faith."

A spokesperson for the Department of Administrative and Financial Services said the guidance doesn't reflect a change in policy or rules. She said the guidance was simply issued to answer questions that had been raised by some medical cannabis providers and registrants.

The guidance "outlining the current state law for registrants and licensees" is aimed at eliminating confusion, Sharon Huntley said.

But Arleigh Kraus, who grows medical marijuana and produces pre-roll products, said state law requires legislators to be consulted on rule changes. She also said it makes no sense to treat marijuana like tobacco, and that small business owners are worried about being penalized for running afoul of the rules.

Southern Maine election 2022 guideSouthern Maine election 2022 guide: Where to vote, what to know from U.S. to local races

"It's confusing, it's scary and it's nonsensical," said Kraus, who's a member of the Maine Marijuana Commission, an advisory panel.

The guidance was issued by Maine OCP Director Erik Gundersen on his last day before leaving to launch a marijuana consulting business. He declined comment and referred questions back to the state.

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Dock Square gridlockDock Square gridlock: Kennebunkport irked over tour buses putting brakes on traffic

It applies to stores regulated under adult recreational rules as well as medical marijuana caregivers.

But the change won't have an impact on adult recreational-use retailers because they're already licensed for tobacco and there's already an age limit of 21 for purchases, said Brandon Pollock, CEO of Theory Wellness, which operates four locations from Kittery to Bangor.

Hickman said the rules are contrary to the will of Maine people and he urged the OCP to retract the latest guidance. He said lawmakers should have had a say.

Medical marijuana caregivers are confused about the guidance and worried about being arrested for violations, Hickman said.

"Let medical cannabis caregivers go into the winter without more fear and anxiety that they are going to lose their shirts or be fined and imprisoned for conduct explicitly authorized under current statute," he wrote in a letter to the state agency dated Tuesday.

Maine has a robust medical marijuana industry that predates the legalization of marijuana for recreational use.Before recreational sales began two years ago, medical marijuana providers had more than $266 million in revenue, officials said.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Maine places new limits on medical marijuana providers
BEIJING, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday exchanged congratulatory messages with Madagascar's acting foreign minister Richard Rakotonirina on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

China and Madagascar have increasingly consolidated their political mutual trust, and bilateral cooperation in various fields has yielded fruitful results since the two countries established diplomatic ties 50 years ago, said Wang in his message.

Wang said the two countries have understood and supported each other on issues regarding each other's core interests and major concerns, and the China-Madagascar comprehensive cooperative partnership has been continuously enriched.

China is ready to work with Madagascar to continuously deepen bilateral cooperation in various fields and push for more achievements in bilateral relations, Wang said.

Rakotonirina said that Madagascar and China have been developing their friendly relations on the basis of mutual respect, mutual trust, equality and amity over the past half a century, with their comprehensive cooperative partnership being increasingly deepened over recent years.

He said Madagascar is willing to work with China to build an even closer community with a shared future. 
Not all heroes wear capes; some are just very good at spreadsheets. As the cost of living crisis worsens, Martin Lewis has been hailed as a national hero for his advice on how to save cash.

The MoneySavingExpert founder has won an army of devotees, having spent months holding the government to account in a climate of soaring food prices and rising energy bills, and his MSE website is full of advice on how to make your money work harder.

Such is the service hes providing that one person took his pointer that we all put 1 in a HSBC account and suggested: Id give 1 to a pot to get Martin Lewis a lil Christmas present. a nice candle or somethin. for being a great teacher.

But how much of a difference can his tips really make? The consumer champions wisdom isnt universally relevant  although he offers plenty of advice on mortgage deals, many millennials and Gen Z-ers dont own a house. Some of the schemes he recommends have specific eligibility criteria, while some are very time-consuming.

And yet its undeniable that well all need to change our spending behaviour in the coming months. So, in the name of frugality, we tested out some of the MSE tips over a three-week period to see how much money we could save or earn. Heres what we learnt...

Actual free money

Im a millennial woman who spends nearly half of my income on rent and whose visa status bars me from accessing public funds; the cost of living crisis has made me a ball of anxiety. Admittedly, Im more privileged than some, as I benefit from a dual-income household and I have no children. But increasing costs mean Im still looking for ways to save money. Which brings me to one of MSEs most useful tips: you can make money quickly simply by switching banks. Lewis repeatedly extols the virtues of doing so, as most banks offer some sort of cash incentive to entice new customers to switch over to them. Most recently, he alerted readers to switch offers by Nationwide, First Direct and NatWest, all of whom were giving new customers up to 200.

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I chose Nationwide, which is still offering a free 200 to switch to a new or existing Nationwide FlexDirect account. It was ridiculously easy  I applied for the switch and let Nationwide do the rest of the work. Once the balance of my previous accounts was moved over, the 200 was added to my new account within just two days of the switch. This was by far the most straightforward and beneficial of the tips I found on MSE  a free 200 just for changing banks? Ill take that. Kate Ng

I bypassed my go-to Trainline app and opted to purchase my ticket from Splitmyfare.co.uk (iStock)

A chunk off the commute

Train tickets have always been one of the biggest expenses for those of us who commute during peak hours. And that got even pricier in March when fares increased by 3.8 per cent  the biggest hike in nine years. But since the pandemic, working patterns have changed  some workplaces, such as my own, now use a hybrid model, meaning employees only need to commute to the office two or three days a week. One helpful tip offered by the Money Saving Expert is to take advantage of split ticketing  that is when, instead of buying a single ticket to take you from your departure location to your destination, you buy multiple tickets for each part of the journey.

As someone who commutes into London from Essex, via just one 35-minute train, I was curious to see whether this could save me any money. To put it to the test, I bypassed my go-to Trainline app and opted to purchase my ticket from Splitmyfare.co.uk. I was pleasantly surprised to find that, this way, the tickets were 2 cheaper than I would usually pay. Helpfully, there is little to no hassle as you can buy them as E-tickets, meaning you wont be lumbered with multiple paper tickets.

It may seem like a humble amount, but for someone who travels to the office three days a week, four times a month, it adds up to an annual saving of 300. The catch: I found that the cheaper tickets were only available when I had booked at least a week before I intended to travel. While the savings are worthwhile, this method does require more organisation and prior planning which can take some getting used to if you usually buy your tickets just before you travel. Saman Javed

Hacks for the weekly food shop

My husband and I have got our weekly grocery shop down to a tee  we order online from Tesco and it costs about 40 between us. But in recent months, as the cost of living crisis pushes supermarket prices up, its moved closer towards the 45 to 50 mark. Martin Lewis offers a whole range of tips to reduce the costs of a food shop, so I gave two a try. The first one was to shop for staples in the world foods aisle. According to MoneySavingExpert, shopping in the world foods aisle can see products found cheaper gram for gram than the same product in different packaging. The other: crouching down to see if we could find own-brand alternatives. Apparently, the cheapest, non-branded items can usually be found on the bottom shelf.

I find it harder to budget when shopping in person (iStock)

I went into the shop with the mentality that I would shop for what we regularly cook, and simply use his pointers for items that would naturally fall into each category. As we already have a lot of the staples in our cupboards, all I needed from the world foods aisle was garlic paste which came to 1.35 for 210g, compared to Sainsburys own brand garlic paste which was 1.45 for 90g. As for crouching down, we picked up the Sainsburys own brand gravy granules for 75p compared to the branded 2 jars. Other crouching-down bargains we saw but didnt pick up included own-brand microwavable rice packets for 75p compared to 1.40 for a branded pouch, and Sainsburys own-brand crackers for 1 instead of a 1.70 branded packet.

However, despite these cost decreases we ended up spending more than we usually would on a shop, with the total price sitting at 60. Full disclaimer: this had nothing to do with Martins tips. It was simply down to the fact we shopped at a different supermarket than usual, and it was our first in-person shop in two years. For me, I find it harder to budget when shopping in person, and Im more likely to buy extras that I normally wouldnt, simply because I can see them on the shelves. But, overall, I found that Lewiss grocery shopping tips did work. Buying staple items in the world foods aisle is a cheaper option, and looking at the bottom shelves led us to bargains we never normally would have seen. For me, however, Im going to stick to my online shop. If it aint broke... Laura Hampson

Getting paid for market research

Some of the MSE recommendations require more work than others. The website lists more than 30 sites and apps that help users make a bit of extra cash or get gift vouchers in exchange for doing odd marketing jobs or selling things like stock photos, so I downloaded three apps recommended by MSE: BeMyEye, Field Agent, and StreetSpotr. They all pay users to carry out small market research tasks  anything from browsing pet stores to check if they carry particular pet food brands, to photographing shelves in pharmacies to see how products are being displayed, to checking prices and writing reviews of products.

Unfortunately, it turns out that many of these tasks are not within walking distance. One mission offers to pay 6.70 to check a display in Boots in Peckham, but the bus return journey from where I live would take up around half the fee. Is travelling almost an hour for just over 3 worth it, I wonder? Probably not. You need to be dedicated to make savings from these apps. They require you to check for tasks frequently and pick them before someone else nabs them; time and vigilance is needed. I made all of 11 during the past three weeks, which was a nice bit of pocket money, even if it was a bit of a faff. Kate Ng

Most people will be trying to save money where possible this Christmas (iStock)

Savings on your Christmas shopping

The most expensive time of the year is almost upon us. While one of the most enjoyable parts of the festive season is the opportunity to spoil your loved ones, most people will be trying to save money where possible this Christmas.

Lewis suggests a helpful tool called Price Runner, which I have been incorporating into my own shopping. Its essentially a price comparison website and is extremely easy to use. You just type in the product youre looking for and it will present you with a list of retailers selling the product, with the price at which it is listed. For example, a search of the Adidas Adicolor Classics Teddy Fleece shows that while it retails for 55 on the brands own website, End Clothing is currently selling the item for 39. Id definitely recommend using this tool before making a purchase, as it lists more than two million items from over 6,000 shops across the UK. Saman Javed
A two hour ceremony was held in Massachusetts on Saturday to mark the symbolic return of about 150 items considered sacred by the Sioux peoples that had been stored at a small Massachusetts museum for more than a century.

The ceremony included representatives of the Oglala Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes.

The artifacts will be officially handed over during a private ceremony.

The items include weapons, pipes, moccasins and clothing.

Several of the items are thought to have a direct link to the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre in South Dakota.

The items had been held by the Founders Museum in Barre, Massachusetts.

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Matt Hancock has arrived in Australia ahead of his appearance on Im a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, but hes not expected to be going in on day one with the initial batch of 10 stars.

The former health secretary will take part in the forthcoming series of the ITV reality show as a bombshell contestant, arriving once the show has already started and the original line-up of contestants have settled into jungle life.

It is not yet known which day he is joining the other campmates, but this article will be updated with that information as soon as it is available.

His decision to join the show has been met with widespread criticism, with the MP immediately having the Tory whip revoked and prime minister Rishi Sunak sharing his disapproval.

Im a Celebritys season one winner Tony Blackburn joked that Hancock was probably appearing on the show to pay for the soaring cost of his electricity bill, while adding that it was clear his political career at the moment isnt going any further.

Radio DJ Nick Grimshaw and last years winner Danny Miller both predicted the public will vote for Hancock to do most of the grisly Bushtucker Trials.

Hancock resigned as health secretary last year after violating his own Covid regulations by having an affair with aide Gina Coladangelo. The pair were caught embracing on camera.

Matt Hancock (Getty Images)

During a recent episode of Good Morning Britain, Susanna Reid was forced to apologise after Daily Mail journalist Andrew Pierce called Hancock a d***head.

Former Im a Celebrity star Georgia Toffolo also called Hancock disgraceful for going on the show.

Im a Celebrity returns Sunday 6 November at 9pm on ITV.
Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty

Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the U.S. and around the world. In most cases, a heart transplant is the best way to save someones life and give them the opportunity to live a longer, healthier life. But there are unfortunately not enough hearts available to meet demand. About 20 percent of patients who need a heart transplant die on the waiting list, and many must still deal with potential complications like transplant rejection even if they do receive a new heart.

One potential solution to this problem is to bypass it completely (no pun intended)manufacture artificial human hearts via 3D printing or other methods when a patient needs a transplant. With 3D printing, researchers are developing techniques to print cells on scaffolds to create parts of the heart in hopes of one day creating a full human heart. There are also newer methods being developed to create an artificial heart that resemble 3D printing but may have significant advantages.

Any of these projects could one day revolutionize heart health as we know it. But first, they have to prove they can work.

The advent of 3D printing is something organ researchers are taking a very close look atand for good reason. If we could print structurally sound human hearts using actual heart cells, we could create something that is specific to the patient and doesnt require an organ donor at all. The chances of an organ rejection would be extremely low.

But building a human heart from scratch is about as difficult a task as you could possibly imagine. The human heart is one of the most complex organs to have evolved on Earthprimarily because its mechanics are unique.

At its core, the heart is a pump for passing blood through the lungs to become oxygenated, and then out to the rest of the body to deliver that oxygen to every single cell. But this pump doesnt simply expand and contract. It actually twists as it contracts to allow it to eject more blood. The twisting gives the heart some torquesimilar to wringing out a wet cloth. If researchers are going to manufacture a working human heart, theyll need to replicate this function of the heart.

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Kit Parker, a bioengineer at Harvard University, has spent much of the last couple of decades working on developing the systems needed to create artificial human hearts. Earlier this year, he unveiled a breakthrough: a new method for creating a heart ventricle (one of the two types of chambers in the organ) that actually diverges from traditional 3D printing. This method, called Focused Rotary Jet Spinning (FRJS), can produce the ventricle at a much faster rate.

FRJS involves spinning out a liquid polymer on a jet stream and having it collect on a scaffold where it then solidifies and turns into fibers. With this technique, Parker is able to replicate the helical structure of the heart that allows it to twist. The temporary scaffold, which will eventually be dissolved, can then receive a layer of heart cells.

The cells are what are called induced pluripotent stem cells, which means they can be created by taking some skin cells from a patient, reverting them to the stem cell state and then manipulating them to produce heart cells. Since the original skin cells that are used come directly from the patient, the transplant wont be rejected like it may be when it comes from a donor.

You want those cells to feel like theyre in a real heart. You have to create a microenvironment or a scaffold that creates the same type of geometric boundary conditions and the same type of chemical boundary conditions, Parker told The Daily Beast. Thats what were able to do with these fibers.

According to Parker, it would take weeks to produce a viable human heart valve through 3D printing. FRJS can produce one in an hour. That kind of timing could spell the difference between life and death for a patient in need, where every minute counts. He believes we could use FRJS to produce parts of hearts for patients within a few years; and full hearts within a decade or so. The modularity of FRJS also means that it can be used to remedy a specific problemno need to wait on an entire donor heart if one specific tissue or part of the organ can be replaced.

What were trying to understand now is do you build this in a modular fashion and put it together like Lego or do you build it all at once? Its probably going to be some version of a modular heart, Parker said.

Still, there is a lot of testing and troubleshooting to finish up before FRJS, or any other method for building an artificial heart, can be applied to real patients.

Were learning how the cells organize and form muscle tissue. We understand how an embryo forms the heart, but thats not how were trying to do it. Were trying to create a full size heart. We cant go through normal development, Adam Feinberg, a biomedical engineer at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, told The Daily Beast. Part of it is creating vasculature in the heart. Were learning how to do that.

One of the issues researchers face when trying to manufacture a heart is the time and money it takes to simply produce the heart cells. A human heart contains many different types of cellsfrom muscle cells to pacemaker cellsand Feinberg said producing them is a burdensome process.

A full size adult heart is going to have probably somewhere between 10 and 50 billion cells, Feinberg said. Using todays technology, thats probably going to cost somewhere between $100,000 to $150,000 just for the cells, and itll take two or three months to grow them before they can be put together as a heart. That means even once were able to produce artificial human hearts, most people likely wont be able to afford a heart that was built specifically for them.

However, Feinberg does think costs will come down relatively quickly once the technology becomes more common. As the technology becomes used more and more, the supply chain scales up and the process is refined, the price will decrease.

I think in the near term its not going to be highly accessible, but I think in the long-termmaybe 10 years after it comes outwell see this become widely available, Feinberg said.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Kristopher Cabreira doesn't qualify for Biden's student-debt relief because he has FFEL loans.

While FFEL loans initially qualified, Biden reversed the guidance on September 29.

Cabreira is among the 770,000 other borrowers who got the relief "yanked away" from them.

Kristopher Cabreira was looking forward to the relief $10,000 in student-loan forgiveness would bring.

After President Joe Biden announced $10,000 in student-debt relief for federal borrowers making under $125,000 a year at the end of August, Cabreira, 46, immediately started thinking about what that reduction to his $43,000 balance would mean. He would be able to pay off his debt quicker with lower monthly payments, and it even could have given him the flexibility to financially assist his parents.

"I was ecstatic," Cabreira told Insider. "I immediately looked into it to see if I qualified, and it looked like I did."

But a decision the Education Department made on September 29 dashed all of his plans. Cabreira's student loans are federal loans managed by private banks within the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program. While borrowers with those loans initially had the option to consolidate their debt into the direct federal loan, the September guidance stated that past that date, FFEL borrowers cannot consolidate, and therefore, will not be eligible for Biden's one-time student-debt relief.

Cabreira said he wasn't immediately aware of the reversal, but he found out a few days later when he called his student-loan company to confirm that he still qualified and was told that he was not eligible for debt relief.

"All of a sudden, it got yanked away," Cabreira said. "That could've been $10,000 I didn't have to pay, and now that's gone."

He's one of the 770,000 borrowers impacted by this decision, according to an administration official, and while the Education Department has said it will continue looking for other ways to help that group of FFEL borrowers, it adds on to the track record of FFEL borrowers being excluded from federal benefits just because they took out loans at the wrong time  before Congress officially shuttered the program in 2010.

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"I feel stuck," Cabreira said. "There's no follow-up on us. All we hear is, 'well, we're working on it.' They should be doing more."

A lawsuit brought by 6 GOP states led to the reversal

Biden's student-loan forgiveness plan has been a target of criticism from conservative groups, and in late September, six Republican-led states filed a lawsuit arguing that the debt relief would hurt their states' tax revenues  along with the banks who could stand to profit from FFEL loans.

That's why the Education Department quietly implemented the reversal on FFEL guidance the same day that lawsuit was filed, effectively undermining a key argument in the Republicans' defense. But even without being able to use the loss of revenue from the FFEL program in their case, the same group is now responsible for the temporary halt the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has placed on Biden's debt relief  meaning that for over two weeks now, the department has been prohibited from actually discharging any student loans until the court makes a final decision on the legality of the policy.

While that brings uncertainty for the millions of federal borrowers who have already applied for relief, the FFEL borrowers who didn't consolidate their loans before September 29 are left with an even murkier path forward.

"Our goal is to provide relief to as many eligible borrowers as quickly and easily as possible, and this will allow us to achieve that goal while we continue to explore additional legally available options to provide relief to borrowers with privately owned FFEL loans and Perkins loans," the Education Department said in a statement at the time.

One FFEL borrower even pursued legal action  on October 10, the Job Creators Network Foundation's Legal Action Fund filed a lawsuit seeking to block Biden's debt relief on behalf of two borrowers, one of whom has FFEL loans and isn't eligible for relief. The complaint said the borrower believed "it is irrational, arbitrary, and unfair to exclude her."

"When is the help actually going to come?"

Nearly five million borrowers still hold FFEL loans they took out decades ago. While the Biden administration has said that the reversal impacts only a small group of those borrowers because the majority of them either consolidated before the reversal or also have direct loans, its impact is still significant.

Currently making a five-figure income at a California vision insurance company, Cabreira's financial future is uncertain. Career-wise, he's not quite where he thought he would be due to job losses that threw him off track during the 2008 recession. While he's glad that he pursued his graduate school degree in business, he said he's "upset" he ended up in the FFEL program, which was the only way for him to finance his education.

"There's been no response from the Education Department, the White House, or even any Democrats," Cabreira said. "All they say is, 'oh yeah, we're so sorry that this happened to you. We're going to make this right.' Well, how are you going to make it right? When are you going to make it right? When is the help actually going to come? And of course, the Republicans are making it difficult for us that need this and want this."

Read the original article on Business Insider
PHILADELPHIA  Bill Clinton felt Americans pain. Barack Obama senses their anxiety.

Angst about inflation, crime and the economy is on the rise. Rather than shy away from that reality, Obama tells voters he understands.

Its frustrating and scary. I get it. So does Joe, he told a rally in Philadelphia on Saturday. But the question is, whos going to do something about it?

Obama has spent the final days of the midterm campaign telling voters in battleground states that the despair they're feeling about a litany of issues isn't President Joe Biden's fault, and it wont be alleviated in Pennsylvania or anywhere else by electing more Republicans.

Democrats are drawing on Obamas star power and unique ability to tap into Americans emotions as they seek to amp up turnout for their candidates.

Supercharged support from nostalgic left-leaning voters, especially Black voters and young people, could prove decisive in states such as Pennsylvania, where Obama and Biden reunited to campaign for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro and Senate hopeful John Fetterman. Shapiro is favored to win his race against Republican state senator Doug Mastriano.

Obama mixed humor with warnings about the consequences for the country if too few Democrats turn out, allowing Republicans to sweep the midterms.

"I know there are probably some students here, right?" Obama told the crowd at Temple. "You know that roommate of yours who, well meaning, nice person, but theyre a little bit slack."

"Theyre the folks who, theyll leave stuff in your little mini fridge a little too long because they forgot about it. Sometimes, they miss class in the morning and in the afternoon. That person, they might tell you theyre voting, but they might not have voted yet," the former president said to laughter.

Obama mocked Mastriano on Saturday for posing in a Confederate uniform for an Army War College faculty photo.

"It wasnt even Halloween!" he said. "It was like casual Friday, or something.

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"Listen, Pennsylvania, lets remember what century it is. And listen, this would be funny, it would be an SNL skit if it werent so serious. You cannot let somebody that detached from reality run your state."

Fetterman, who spoke just before Obama, marveled at the former president's oratory skills while also making references to his own May stroke, which he has said caused auditory processing issues for him.

"Let me tell you  anyone in recovery of having a stroke, really the worst guy you have to go before, Barack Obama coming up," he said, referring to the former president as the GOAT  greatest of all time.

Fettermans performance last month in the Senate contests only debate has fueled doubts about his recovery. He is running neck-and-neck with his GOP opponent, celebrity doctor and former television star Mehmet Oz.

Some Democratic voters may have doubts about Fettermans condition but said Saturday that electing him far outweighed the alternative.

Everybodys mind is made up. And the fact that people came out today is because we missed Obama, said Ramadan Bayyan, a 68-year-old retiree who said he advance voted.

Many attendees of the rally, which Democratic officials said 7,500 people attended, had already cast their ballots or committed to voting for Fetterman. They were mainly at the event, they said, to see the former president.

Wistfulness for Obama remains strong, nearly six years after he left the White House. Supporters say his charisma, intelligence and relatively scandal-free presidency continues to resonate with disaffected voters.

I love Barack Obama. Im sad every day that hes not been in office, said Shannon Mahler, a 52-year-old stay at home mom who came to the rally in an Obama '08 t-shirt.

Obama ended his eight-year presidency with a 59% approval rating, according to Gallup  an enviable position compared to the 34% of Americans who felt that way after one term of Donald Trump.

But it wasnt always so easy for Obama, who much like Biden now, had a 45% approval rating when the first midterm election of his presidency was held. Democrats received a shellacking, Obama said at the time. They lost six seats in the Senate and 63 seats in the House in 2010.

In 2014, crushing losses for Democratic congressional candidates spelled doom for Obama's legislative agenda on immigration reform, gun control and climate initiatives.

Im not big on looking backwards. But sometimes I cant help imagine what it would have been like, if enough people had turned out to vote in those elections, Obama observed.

He added, If we had kept the Senate in 2014, wed have a very different Supreme Court making decisions about our most basic rights.

The speech marked the end of a six-state swing that also took Obama to Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona.

Obama campaigned for Democrats twice on Saturday, in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, concluding his early evening remarks just as Trump arrived in Latrobe, Pa. to campaign for Oz and Mastriano.

I was backstage. I was getting fired up! Im ready to go! Obama said as he began his Philadelphia remarks. "Fired up, ready to go" was a signature line for Obama during his first presidential campaign. He has often told the story of the woman, Edith Childs, who inspired the chant  and lifted Obama's own spirits  on a rainy day in 2007 in South Carolina.

Biden had served as the warm-up act, speaking ahead of Shapiro  Pennsylvania's attorney general  and Fetterman  the state's lieutenant governor  while Obama took the stage last.

The two presidents arrived together, taking turns waving and patting each other on the back, as voters screamed loudly over Coldplays A Sky Full of Stars. The pair eventually grasped hands with the Democratic candidates and each other, lifting them high in the air in a show of unity.

"A Sky Full of Stars" also played as fireworks lit up the sky at 2020 victory rally for Biden and Kamala Harris, who had just made history as the first Black woman elected as U.S. vice president.

Part of Obamas aim was to motivate young people, who trend progressive, to show up at the polls on Tuesday.

"I can tell you from experience that midterms matter a lot, he said at one of several points of reflection on the election blows that Democrats suffered during his presidency.

Yet much of Obamas speech was aimed squarely at shoring up support for his former vice president, who had a 44% approval rating in the latest USA/TODAY Suffolk University Poll of voters nationally, and 38% job approval in a Pennsylvania-specific survey.

Sometimes we get so focused on the presidency, but Im here to tell you that our democracy works as a team sport, Obama told voters in Philadelphia. A president cant do stuff alone. Thats not how our system is set up.

Biden won Pennsylvania by a little over a percentage point and fewer than 100,000 votes but has seen his support fall off in the state in which he was born, despite making numerous official and campaign visits.

Pessimism about the economy has eroded Biden's approval ratings, despite the president's efforts to reassure people. Americans across the country say that generally speaking, they feel terrible about the direction of the country.

Obama sought to validate Biden on Saturday, saying his former No. 2 was an outstanding president who is doing stuff right now and solving problems right now with a Democratic Congress.

Democrats may not be perfect. Im the first one to admit it. I wasnt perfect. Joe, hell tell you, Obama said, to which a supporter shouted, yes you were.

Continuing, Obama added, But right now, at this moment, with a few notable exceptions most Republican politicians arent even pretending that the rules apply to them anymore. Theyre not even pretending the facts apply anymore. They just make stuff up.

Biden has delivered similar messages, including several days prior, when he pleaded with Americans in a Washington, D.C. speech to reject political violence, MAGA Republicans and election deniers.

I think Obamas more inspiring on average, said Alex Puhalla, a 32-year-old Philadelphia resident who said he had already voted for Fetterman. I love Biden, hes a Scranton boy, so obviously I love him, but Obamas very inspiring, and because hes not the current president, he can speak off the cuff, and he can be direct.

Rally goers said that Obamas frankness, prior experience in office and rhetorical style helps his message resonate with voters in a way that Bidens simply doesnt.

Macey Schrieser, a 18-year-old Temple University student, said that Biden is doing what he can in the current makeup of Congress, but theres more that he could have done on student debt.

I think now that its getting closer to election season, Hes definitely stepping up, she said. But it could have came earlier.

A lack of enthusiasm for Biden and his policies has threatened Democrats majority and put his political future in jeopardy.

He was the choice we had to make to get Trump out of office. He wasnt maybe our favorite choice, but he was the choice we had to make to get a Democrat who follows our beliefs into office, said Schriefer, who will have the opportunity in 2024 to vote in her first presidential election.

Schriefer came to the rally wearing vintage Obama campaign apparel.

Mahler, a stay-at-home mom sporting Obama gear, said shes not energized by a second Biden term, even though she empathizes with the family tragedies he has endured and appreciates his Pennsylvania roots. But she said she would support him again in 2024 if hes the most electable Democrat.

There was a lot that we connected with him, as well. I am less enthused since he ran for president and became president, she said. I dont know what it is: but to me theres been some changes in his dynamics.

If I could have Obama back, thats who I want. I want Obama and Michelle every day of the week, Mahler said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Obama, Biden rally draw on nostalgia at midterm rally in Philadelphia
On a nice spring day 66 million years ago, a killer asteroid came from outer space and crushed the dinosaurs into extinction. They couldnt have seen it coming or done anything about it, but maybe we can. If the events of Asteroid vs. Earth (now streaming on Peacock!) ever come true and we find ourselves facing down another killer space rock, our only hope will be to see it with enough advanced warning to knock it off course (as tested by NASA's recent Dart mission).

Thats a relatively simple endeavor  in principle if not in practice  for stuff coming from the solar systems exterior. All we have to do is point our telescopes at the night sky and look. Objects large enough to really threaten Earth arent all that difficult to find, but things can get complicated when we look at the interior of the solar system. Thats because looking at things closer in means facing towards the Sun. Its the astronomical equivalent of trying to see someones face when theyre standing in a spotlight, and you dont know exactly where they are or if theres a person at all.

That's why, so far, astronomers have only identified about 25 asteroids with orbits entirely inside Earths orbit. That might be due in part to their relative rarity, as compared to objects further away than us, but its definitely driven by how difficult it is to see inside the glare of the Sun. To make matters worse, many telescopes arent designed for looking at or toward the Sun. Scientists needed a specialized instrument for gazing at the right parts of the sky, and they found it in Chile.

Chicxulub Asteroid Impact

There, an international team of scientists used the Dark Energy Camera at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory to scan the skies during twilight. Each day there were only two 10-minute windows, at the border between night and day, when they could make observations. Despite the laborious and uncooperative circumstances of the work, researchers succeeded in identifying three new objects all orbiting in the interior solar system. Their findings were published in The Astronomical Journal.

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Two of those objects, dubbed 2021 LJ4 and 2021 PH27, have orbits which remain entirely inside Earths orbit. That means that, pending any unforeseen disturbances, theres little to no risk that theyll ever make their way to our home turf. But there was another object, one which could potentially cause some trouble down the road.

Astronomers named it 2022 AP7, an asteroid nearly a mile in diameter and the largest potentially hazardous asteroid discovered in the last eight years. Not only is it hanging out in the inner solar system, closer to our house than wed like, but its orbit also crosses Earths, opening the possibility that the two may one day come into contact. If it ever does, we might be in trouble. An object of that size would cause damage spanning multiple continents. Its not large enough to wipe out the entire planet, but it would be a particularly bad day.

Luckily for us, its unlikely to hit. Sure, its orbit does cross Earths path but thats true of a lot of objects. Orbits are big and the solar system is bigger, even in the interior. Asteroids, and even planets, pale in comparison to the size of the paths they take and the probability that any two will intersect at the same moment is small. That said, were glad to know that 2022 AP7 exists, and continued research could identify any other potential planet killers lurking in the Suns glare.

Knowing the threats exist is the first step in planetary defense. We can only address what we see coming and the work carried out with the Dark Energy Camera broadens our cosmic view. Now that were tracking it, if 2022 AP7 or any other object ever starts feeling feisty, we might be able to do something about it.
A Missouri woman kidnapped and killed a pregnant Arkansas woman to steal her unborn child, and her husband helped cover it up, according to federal authorities.

Amber Waterman, 42, is accused of killing 33-year-old Ashley Bush and the baby. Her husband Jamie Waterman, 42, is accused of helping to burn Bushs body and hide her remains.

Bush, a resident of Siloam Springs, Ark., was reported missing on Monday. Her fiance said Bush met a woman named Lucy for a ride to a job interview.

According to the feds, Lucy was actually Amber Waterman, and Waterman used the meeting as a pretense to kidnap Bush. The Watermans lived in Pineville, Mo., about 30 miles north of Siloam Springs.

Ashley Bush died from a gunshot wound, investigators said.

Amber initially admitted to Jamie that she was the killer, according to the feds. She led her husband to Bushs body, which was face-down next to a boat near the Watermans Pineville property, the Justice Department said Friday in a press release.

The Watermans then carried Bushs body to a fire pit and burned it, the feds said. Her remains were then transported to a secluded location.

Amber Waterman initially claimed that Lucy committed the crime when questioned by investigators. However, Jamie Waterman admitted that his wife had killed Bush and led officers to the remains on Thursday, the Justice Department said.

The body of Bushs unborn child was found Wednesday in a different location.

Amber was charged with kidnapping resulting in death and could face the death penalty.
Statistically speaking, long term investing is a profitable endeavour. But that doesn't mean long term investors can avoid big losses. Zooming in on an example, the MNRB Holdings Berhad (KLSE:MNRB) share price dropped 63% in the last half decade. That's not a lot of fun for true believers. And some of the more recent buyers are probably worried, too, with the stock falling 32% in the last year. Furthermore, it's down 14% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders.

So let's have a look and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business' progress.

View our latest analysis for MNRB Holdings Berhad

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

Looking back five years, both MNRB Holdings Berhad's share price and EPS declined; the latter at a rate of 28% per year. This fall in the EPS is worse than the 18% compound annual share price fall. So the market may previously have expected a drop, or else it expects the situation will improve.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here.

What About Dividends?

It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. In the case of MNRB Holdings Berhad, it has a TSR of -55% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

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A Different Perspective

While the broader market lost about 7.0% in the twelve months, MNRB Holdings Berhad shareholders did even worse, losing 30% (even including dividends). Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 9% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand MNRB Holdings Berhad better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for MNRB Holdings Berhad you should be aware of.

We will like MNRB Holdings Berhad better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on MY exchanges.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- The China International Import Expo (CIIE) has become a vital international platform of promoting trade, investment and global cooperation, and China has made important contributions to world economic recovery, foreign leaders and heads of international organizations said.

When delivering remarks at the fifth CIIE opening ceremony held in Shanghai on Friday, they said China adheres to the right course of economic globalization, and remains committed to promoting global development through cooperation.

Regarding the CIIE as an important bridge for China-Indonesia economic and trade cooperation, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said the industries of Indonesia and China are highly complementary. Indonesia's palm oil, coffee, tropical fruits and other high-quality specialty products will further open up the Chinese consumer market through the platform of the CIIE, he said.

He pointed out that under the current international situation full of uncertainties, the good cooperation between Indonesia and China is positive energy for the region and the world.

The relationship between the two countries has become an example of mutually beneficial cooperation among countries in the region, said the president, expressing the hope that the CIIE can play a positive role in promoting world economic growth and recovery, and provide a platform for dialogue.

Stressing that the world needs much stronger international cooperation, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said: "that is why we need this expo (CIIE) and similar opportunities for interaction and dialogue."

She said China's reforms have opened the economy to greater competition and innovation, which, in turn, saw rapid gains in productivity and tremendous increase in living standards.

"China has an immense stake in global trade, and in the strength of the multilateral trading system that underpins it," said World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

The WTO chief said she looked forward to working with China and other WTO members for a stronger, more effective global trading system that delivers for people and the planet.

Gerd Muller, director-general of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), said the expo "has quickly become a key global forum for trade, international cooperation and investment promotion."

Muller saw many shared priorities between the CIIE and UNIDO, including making global partnerships and cooperation possible to ensure fair trade, working to share knowledge and technology to advance economic development, ensuring that development is environmentally sustainable, and sharing the goal of "progress by innovation."

"UNIDO and China will continue our successful work together for shared growth and international development," he added.

Calling the CIIE an important step in trade liberalization and a vital tool in strengthening economic corporation around the world, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said this international import themed expo has provided a new and innovative stage for developing countries to enter the Chinese market.

"The CIIE has allowed many countries and businesses to enjoy the benefits of the growing consumption appetite of the Chinese people," Wickremesinghe said.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said the global socio-economic crisis caused by the pandemic and the intensified geopolitical confrontation showed that there is an urgent need for effective international coordination and equal and respectful partnership, adding that he believes that the import expo in Shanghai would inject strong impetus into expanding international economic and technical cooperation.

Hailing the CIIE as an opportunity to showcase his country's trade investment potential, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali expressed his confidence in the fifth CIIE, seeing it as an unparalleled opportunity for the promotion of business opportunities.

He added that the expo would promote greater economic collaboration between Guyana and China, and between Guyana and the rest of the world.

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani said the CIIE has already become one of the most important international platform for countries and businesses to showcase products, explore new opportunities of trade and investment, deepen development partnerships and spur global economic recovery.

"Mauritania is endowed with unique geo-strategic location and abundant natural resources, which offers Mauritania a sound business environment and enormous investment opportunities," he said, expressing the hope that this CIIE will be able to help Mauritania forge more trade partnerships and attract more investment.

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi said he is confident in the economic cooperation with China, noted that the CIIE serves as a high-level platform for promoting investment opportunities and forming business partnerships.

Hosting the CIIE is a major decision of the Chinese government to promote a new round of high-level opening as well as a key measure for China to proactively open its market to the rest of the world, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said, adding that the expo has acted as a major platform for trade and investment promotion and cultural exchange and a window of the country's new development paradigm, and has provided an international public good for the world to share.

China's adherence to the right course of economic globalization and its investment in global development cooperation is highly commended, Sogavare noted.

He voiced confidence that the CIIE will create new opportunities for developing countries to enhance trade and economic relations with China. 
Seven Russian warships are on combat duty in the Black Sea

There are seven enemy ships on combat duty in the Black Sea, among which there are zero carriers of Kalibr cruise missiles, the total salvo is zero missiles, Ukraines navy said in a post on Facebook on Nov. 6.

Read also: Russia has only a third of its stocks of high-precision missiles left, Ukrainian defense minister reckons

The Russians continue to control maritime communications in the Sea of Azov, with two ships and boats on combat duty there. There are 10 ships in the Mediterranean, five of which are Kalibr carriers (with a total firing salvo of 76 missiles).

Read also: Ukrainian-made drones carry out unprecedented attack on Russian warships in Sevastopol

According to the Ukrainian Navy, monitoring maritime traffic through the Kerch Strait between Russia and Ukraines Russian-occupied Crimea, 37 ships passed into the Sea of Azov, three of which were heading from the Bosphorus Strait, and 40 ships into the Black Sea, eight of which were headed towards the Bosphorus Strait.

Meanwhile, Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security Council Oleksiy Danilov has said that the time when Russia will exhaust the critical number of its most precise missiles is already approaching.

He said the Russian military may have remaining some 25-28% of the total amount of such missiles that they had as of Feb. 24.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Quashon Burton, 31, was arrested outside Walt Disney World in Florida after a US Postal Inspection Service inspector spotted him at the theme park. Mr Burton had a warrant for his arrest for allegedly stealing four peoples identities to fraudulently obtain nearly $150,000 in government loans (Orange County Sheriffs Department )

A federal agent vacationing at Walt Disney Worlds Animal Kingdom near Orlando found more than just Saharan animals while enjoying the park; he spotted a fugitive.

Jeff Andre, an inspector with the US Postal Inspection Service, recognised Quashon Burton, 31, while the fugitive from New York City was vacationing in the park, according to a report in CNN.

A criminal complaint against Mr Burton claims he stole at least four peoples identities to steal nearly $150,000 in government loans intended for struggling businesses during the pandemic. Mr Andrew was the one who signed Mr Burtons criminal complaint.

The network reported that Mr Andre alerted the parks security, who then notified the Orange County Sheriffs Office. Mr Burton was then arrested at a bus stop outside the theme park.

"The defendant used fraudulent email accounts, fake identification documents, bank accounts and bank cards in the names of other individuals  in a manner that created a complex web of identities that made his crimes difficult to investigate," a federal court document said.

A warrant for his arrest was issued in November, but by the time law enforcement officials executed the warrant, Mr Burton was already gone from his home in Brooklyn, New York.

Deputies caught up with Mr Burton thanks to Mr Andres tip, and approached him at a bus stop near the Disney park. The deputy asked Mr Burton to produce identification, but Mr Burton allegedly refused, asking why he had to identify himself.

When a deputy began trying to handcuff Mr Burton, he stiffened his arms and refused to allow the law enforcement officer to take him into custody. The deputy wrestled him to the ground and secured the handcuffs, after which he was charged with resisting an officer without violence.

Even after he was arrested at the bus stop, Mr Burton refused to admit that he was Quashon Burton.

He has been transferred into federal custody. Federal prosecutors have argued against granting him bail, claiming he "poses an extreme risk of flight."
Former President Obama on Saturday said that the makeup of the Supreme Court would be very different if Democrats had held onto the Senate in the 2014 midterms, laying out the importance of this midterm cycle, particularly on the future of reproductive rights.

If we had kept the Senate in 2014, wed have a very different Supreme Court making decisions about our most basic rights. So, midterms are no joke, Obama said at a Democratic rally at Temple University in Philadelphia.

The 2014 midterms were held during Obamas second term and Republicans flipped the Senate and retained control of the House.

Obama in 2016 nominated now-Attorney General Merrick Garland to serve on the Supreme Court to replace the late Antonin Scalia, a conservative justice. Senate Republicans refused to consider Garland and left the seat vacant until the Trump administration, when conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch filled the vacancy. The current conservative majority on the high court overturned Roe v. Wade this summer.

I can tell you from experience that midterms matter, a lot, Obama said. Some of you are too young but let me refresh your memories or give you a history lesson. When I was president, I got my butt whooped in midterm elections.

The former president talked about abortion rights throughout his remarks, while rallying for Pennsylvanias Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman and gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro.

He bashed Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz for saying during a debate that health care decisions should be made between women, doctors and local political leaders.

Really? Are you going to petition the mayor? Are you calling the sheriff? City council members? School board? Who exactly should tell you when to start a family? You should make that decision, Obama said. And if thats not worth 15 minutes of your time  the amount of time it takes to vote  I dont know what is.

He also said that Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano has said women who get an abortion and the doctors who provide abortions should be prosecuted.

Story continues

You deserve leaders who will stand up for a womans right to control her own body and make her own health care decisions, he said.

Obama joined President Biden for the rally in Philadelphia on Saturday evening, bringing his star power to the Keystone State, where the Senate race could decide control of the upper chamber.

The rally, just three days before the election, comes as Oz was leading Fetterman 48 percent to 46 percent among very likely voters in a recent poll.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Russian occupiers have started deporting residents from six hromadas [an administrative unit designating a town, village or several villages and their adjacent territories - ed.] in Kherson Oblast.

Source: National Resistance Center

Quote: "Since 6 November, the Russians have been forcibly conducting what they refer to as evacuating residents from the hromadas of Hola Prystan, Oleshky, Kakhovka, Hornostaivka, Velyka Lepetykha, and Verkhnii Rohachyk. They started with the settlements alongside the Dnipro River, where the Russians are actively building a defence line at the moment."

Details: The invaders have defined a 15-kilometre area along the left bank of the Dnipro River as the so-called evacuation zone.

As per the information available to the National Resistance Center, the Russians are accommodating their soldiers in the houses previously occupied by the "evacuees". The occupiers take this opportunity to loot Ukrainians homes.

The National Resistance Centres report also notes that the occupiers are stealing property from medical establishments. In particular, they have already moved all the equipment and medicines from the Hornostaivka Primary Healthcare Centre and the Nova Kakhovka Central Hospital to temporarily occupied Crimea.

Background:

Earlier, the Russian-backed puppet regime in the occupied territory of Kherson Oblast had announced its plans to forcibly remove residents of the Kakhovka district from their homes.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
NextShark

A man arrested in connection with a brutal daytime attack of a 12-year-old Asian boy in Brooklyn earlier this month has been arrested nearly two dozen times in the past, according to reports. Police said Jamal McIlwain, 28, assaulted the victim with a crutch at the intersection of St. Pauls Court and St. Pauls Place at around 7:40 a.m. on Nov. 17. After failing to strike a third time, he "calmly" walks away, leaves the crutch on the sidewalk and heads north on St. Pauls Place, as per the New York Post.
An off-duty Merrionette Park police officer and a man were shot after a traffic crash on the citys Far South Side Saturday evening, officials said.

About 5:30 p.m., the officer, 51, was eastbound on 103rd Street when someone in a white Chevrolet that was also eastbound began firing shots at her and continued east, where it plowed into a black Ford car in the 2300 block of East 103rd Street, said Chicago Police Sgt. Rocco Alioto

Thats when the officer stopped, announced her office and an exchange of gunfire erupted, Alioto said.

The officer was shot in the neck and a 43-year-old bystander was hit in both legs, according to the sergeant.

The officer went to the nearby 4th District Chicago police station and Chicago police took her to the University of Chicago Medical Center, said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford. Alioto said her condition had stabilized.

The 43-year-old man shot was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center by ambulance and his injuries were not thought to be life-threatening, Langford said.

The shooter ran away and was not in custody while a second person inside the Chevrolet was taken into custody at the scene, Alioto said.

Two of the three occupants of the Ford were taken to Trinity Hospital suffering from injuries in the crash and were expected to survive, according to Langford.

Detectives were investigating.
With Election Day on Tuesday, we would like to share some final thoughts on whats at stake and why you should vote.

Democracy is on the line

Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, vice chair of the Houses Jan. 6 committee, sees the country, and Republicans especially, going in a dangerous direction because they are beholden to a man who was willing to attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power.

At an event Tuesday in Cleveland, Cheney told "PBS Newshour" anchor Judy Woodruff that the violence at the Capitol was a direct result of Donald Trumps false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

The republic will unravel, she said, if we give power to people who will only honor an election if they like the outcome.

We agree with Cheneys assertion that the constant spread of lies and conspiracy theories creates more doubt in voters minds, especially when politicians are too chicken to confront liars like Trump.

Sometimes, we all have to put aside our policy differences, as Cheney suggested, to pick the best candidate. Democracy is at stake.

Woodruff noted that Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance has said the 2020 election was not free and fair. This false statement is disturbing enough to Cheney, a Republican, that she acknowledged that if she were an Ohio resident, she would not vote for Vance and would instead vote for Democrat Tim Ryan.

In all races this Tuesday, we hope Ohio voters will do the right thing and cast ballots for candidates who stand up for democracy and the Constitution.

Confounded in Akron

First, there was the push that led to Issue 10 going before voters. Then, Akron City Council passed Mayor Dan Horrigans plan for police oversight by a civilian board.

And in a very short period, threats, accusations, flyers and robocalls also came along to add to the pre-election clamor.

We certainly understand why people are eager for accountability and transparency at the Akron Police Department. Video of the June 27 police shooting of Jayland Walker was shocking.

Story continues

We have been impressed with Issue 10 supporters who detail why they believe the charter amendment is needed and how it would work. We also can applaud some of the positive measures in the mayors plan.

But recent actions by city leaders seem to undermine the city's position.

Last month, Police Chief Steve Mylett placed the eight officers involved in the Walker shooting back on desk duty. Then, At-Large Councilman Jeff Fusco introduced a last-minute anti-Issue 10 resolution.

These developments might convince undecided voters that Issue 10 is indeed the best way to give a voice to a community that feels unheard. Remember, Issue 10 reached the ballot because 7,000 people signed petitions and are eager for change in police-community relations.

On the other side, the clear threat from an Issue 10 supporter to Fusco  you can see me in a dark alley  in a public meeting is beyond troubling. Violence or threats of violence only damage efforts to bring about meaningful change.

Well leave it to Akron voters to decide whether Issue 10 is the answer to decades of calls for police reform. Should the issue pass, City Council should withdraw the mayors plan. If it fails, the city still should proceed with a good-faith effort to improve civilian oversight of police.

Faith in election systems

Residents who have already voted or those who prefer to wait until Election Day must keep the faith.

There are many steps that keep elections secure, says the office of Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, from testing, examining and certifying all voting equipment, to making sure bipartisan (Republican and Democratic) teams handle ballots and voting equipment and work together at precinct polling locations.

Voter fraud remains exceedingly rare in a state that cast 5.9 million votes in the 2020 election.

However, one poll released in September shows a fifth of likely Ohio voters are concerned about threats to democracy, although Republicans and Democrats differ on what those threats are. Republicans worry about illegal voting and Dems fear extremism among Trump fanatics.

We hope such concerns and a general distaste for politics dont discourage voters.

Voters, dont give up. Make sure you understand the issues and know what really matters to the candidates running for office. Vote your conscience and help save democracy.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron voters must reject election deniers, carefully consider Issue 10
A technician tests a solar light system at the Lauteye village in Bunkure local government area of Kano state, north Nigeria, on Nov. 4, 2022. PowerChina, a state-owned hydropower and civil engineering construction giant in China, donated on Saturday over 500 set of solar-power light systems to the Lauteye village. (Xinhua/Guo Jun)

by Guo Jun, Olatunji Saliu

KANO, Nigeria, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Shuaib Ibrahim held tight the light switch in his right hand. Slightly stiff body movements exposed his nervousness in front of cameras and audience.

However, as his thumb pressed the switch and the bright light instantly lit up the once-dim room, he seemed to be relaxed a little. After a quick glance at everyone in the room, a reserved smile appeared on his face.

"I am very thankful for this gift... I was born here and I grew up here. Before now, we did not have any form of power," said the 48-year-old Ibrahim in an interview Xinhua during a handing-over ceremony, in which PowerChina, a state-owned hydropower and civil engineering construction giant in China, donated on Saturday over 500 set of solar-power light systems to the Lauteye village in Bunkure local government area of Kano state, north Nigeria.

The donation will end the long history of relying only on charcoal fires or kerosene lamps for nighttime lighting in the village. Ibrahim and more than 300 other families in the village from now on have a clean, sustainable and almost no cost light for nighttime.

Tian Yuan, chief representative of PowerChina in Nigeria, told Xinhua the donation aims to implement the "100 Companies in 1,000 Villages" campaign initiated by the Alliance of Chinese Business in Africa for Social Responsibilities.

PowerChina's donation of solar power lighting equipment will, to a great extent, improve the quality of life of the villagers, Tian said.

He said the "100 Companies in 1000 Villages" is also a campaign to implement the "Nine programs" announced by China at the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. It will mobilize at least 100 Chinese enterprises in Africa to participate in the implementation of at least 1,000 aid projects to benefit African people in the next few years, promoting sustainable development of economy, society and environment in the continent.

AbdulRauf Umar Gadabu, Council Chairman of the Bunkure local government, told Xinhua that a large number of households in the area have no access to grid electricity, and the situation in rural areas is even worse, with many villages like Lauteye having no access to grid electricity for the past scores of years.

"This equipment...will go a long way in improving the security of the community, improve the welfare of the community, improve the development of the children because they will be using the light in the night in expanding the education of the children," Gadabu said

He expects the community to use the equipment "judiciously" and "take very good care of them so that they can use it for a very long time".

Nigeria has huge deficit in power supply due to insufficient power generation capacity and poor transmission and distribution networks.

According to data on the World Bank's website, only 55.4 percent of the population in the most populous African country has access to the grid electricity, while only about 34 percent of the population in rural areas has access to the grid.

Ibrahim became more relaxed after completing the "task" of demonstrating to the media and villagers how to operate the equipment. He took his mobile phone out of his pocket and told Xinhua that this light system can also charge the mobile phone, and will save him the time and labor of travelling about 4 kilometers to the Bunkure town to find a shop to charge the phone in the future.

"I have a mobile phone but when I need to charge it I need to go far for at least 4 kilometers to charge my phone. I pay 30 naira (about six U.S. cents) to charge my phone. Now I am happy that I can do all that from here," he said. 

Technicians install a solar light system at the Lauteye village in Bunkure local government area of Kano state, north Nigeria, on Nov. 4, 2022. PowerChina, a state-owned hydropower and civil engineering construction giant in China, donated on Saturday over 500 set of solar-power light systems to the Lauteye village.(Xinhua/Guo Jun)

A man switches on the solar light at home at the Lauteye village in Bunkure local government area of Kano state, north Nigeria, on Nov. 5, 2022. PowerChina, a state-owned hydropower and civil engineering construction giant in China, donated on Saturday over 500 set of solar-power light systems to the Lauteye village. (Xinhua/Guo Jun)
By Nuzulack Dausen

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - At least 19 people died when a passenger plane crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania on Sunday while trying to land at a nearby airport, the prime minister and airline said.

Flight PW494, operated by Precision Air, hit the water during storms and heavy rain, the state Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) reported.

Rescuers in boats rushed to the wreckage, which was almost fully submerged, to pull out trapped passengers, local authorities said.

"All Tanzanians join you in mourning these 19 people ... who have lost their lives," Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa told reporters in the lakeside city of Bukoba, close to the scene of the crash.

Investigators were looking into what happened, he added.

The plane left the commercial capital Dar es Salaam and "crash-landed" at 8:53 a.m. (0553 GMT) as it was approaching Bukoba airport, Precision Air - Tanzania's largest privately owned airline - said in a statement.

The plane was carrying 39 passengers, including an infant, as well as four crew members, the airline added. It initially said 26 of the 43 people on board were rescued but later said 24 survivors were reported by emergency services at the scene.

A witness told TBC he saw the plane flying unsteadily as it approached the airport in poor visibility, saying it took a turn for the airport but missed and went into the lake.

Video and pictures on social media showed the plane almost fully submerged, with only its green and brown-coloured tail visible above the waterline of Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake.

Footage from the broadcaster and onlookers showed scores of residents standing along the shoreline and others wading into the shallow waters to try to pull the aircraft closer to shore with ropes.

The two pilots survived the crash and were in touch with rescue workers from the cockpit before reporting that their oxygen supply was dwindling, Albert Chalamila, chief administrator of Tanzania's Kagera region, told Reuters. They were dead when rescue workers reached them, but the two flight attendants survived, he said.

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Precision Air identified the aircraft as an ATR42-500. The Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

First introduced almost 40 years ago, the ATR42 is the smaller of two series of short-haul turboprops made by ATR, a joint-venture of Airbus and Leonardo. The last fatal accident was in 2017, according to aviation-safety.net, a safety database.

"Precision Air extends its deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the passenger(s) and crew involved in this tragic accident," the airline said. "The company will strive to provide them with information and whatever assistance they will require in this difficult time."

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan called for calm.

"I have received with sadness the news of the accident involving Precision Air's plane," she tweeted. "Let's be calm at this moment when rescuers are continuing with the rescue mission while praying to God to help us."

(Additional reporting by Duncan Miriri in Nairobi and Tim Hepher in Paris; Writing by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Alexandra Zavis, William Maclean, Helen Popper, Andrew Heavens and Barbara Lewis)
Riot police used tear gas to disperse protesters in Peru's capital Lima, as thousands of people took part in anti-government marches across the country.

Demonstrators want embattled President Pedro Castillo to resign over allegations of corruption.

The left-wing leader, who unexpectedly won power last year, is the subject of six criminal investigations - but denies any wrongdoing.

Peru faces a number of economic issues, including spiralling living costs.

The country was disproportionately badly hit by Covid-19, and poverty levels are forecast to remain above pre-pandemic levels for the next two years, according to the World Bank.

Mr Castillo won the presidency promising to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, but a Congress dominated by opposition lawmakers has blocked many of his plans.

One of Saturday's protesters told the Reuters news agency she was taking part for the sake of her children and grandchildren, because "this government is becoming hell".

Another told the AFP news agency that the country was "on the edge of the precipice; economically everything has stagnated".

No injuries were reported immediately after police fired tear-gas canisters in Lima in an effort to stop demonstrators from reaching government buildings.

Protests were also reported in a handful of other Peruvian cities, while groups of Mr Castillo's supporters organised a march of their own in a Lima square.

Following his 2021 victory in a highly polarised vote, Mr Castillo has survived two attempts to oust him from his job through impeachment.

The 53-year-old was also the subject of a constitutional complaint last month from the attorney-general, who accused Mr Castillo and his family members of being behind a criminal organisation.

The former schoolteacher and strike leader insisted he and has relatives had committed no offences, complaining that his rivals were attempting to unseat him.

On Saturday, Mr Castillo tweeted a defiant message aimed at "the usual enemies" who he blamed for "false accusations" - vowing to continue to fight to free people from inequality.

Peru has seen a number of presidents ousted from office in recent years. In 2020, it had three heads of state in the space of five days.
The Atlanta Police is investigating a shooting near 1085 Katherwood Dr. SW.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

One man is dead after police said they arrived to the location after a getting a call about a person being shot. Police found the man with a gunshot wound and transported him to a local hospital where he later died.

TRENDING STORIES:

Police told Channel 2 Action News they are working to learn more on the incident.

Anyone with any information on the shooting is asked to contact Atlanta Police Department.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
Union City police are looking for a 16-year-old who was last seen on Saturday.

Robin Springer was last seen on Saturday at approximately 11 a.m. at her home on Flat Shoals Road in Union City. She may be with an unknown man with dreadlocks, according to police.

Springer may be in the company of a man whom she wanted to attend the movies with, police said.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Police said Springer is approximately 5 feet, 6 inches tall, weighs approximately 160 pounds, and has brown eyes and a black long-length hairstyle.

She was last seen wearing black jeans and a black jacket.

TRENDING STORIES:

Anyone who has seen or know the whereabouts of Springer, is asked to call 911 immediately or Union City Police Department at 770-964-1333.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted support for fellow rumored 2024 GOP contender Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) after former President Trump nicknamed him Ron DeSanctimonious at a Saturday rally.

Not tired of winning. @GovRonDeSantis youve proven conservative policies work. Florida is better for it. Vote for @GovRonDeSantis, Pompeo wrote, although he did not explicitly reference Trumps remark earlier in the evening.

Trump uttered the nickname during a rally he held in Latrobe, Pa., in support of Pennsylvania Republican Senate nominee Mehmet Oz and gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano, both of whom are facing competitive races and were endorsed by Trump in their primaries.

The former president showed rallygoers a recent survey of the 2024 GOP presidential contest that indicated Trump had 71 percent support, far ahead of DeSantis, former Vice President Pence and other Republicans.

Were winning big, big, big in the Republican Party for the nomination like nobodys ever seen before, Trump said. Lets see, there it is: Trump at 71. Ron DeSanctimonious at 10 percent. Mike Pence at 7  oh, Mikes doing better than I thought.

Axios reported on Friday that Trumps team is considering launching a 2024 presidential bid on Nov. 14, and Trump at the rally himself suggested he would make an announcement very soon.

Not tired of winning. @GovRonDeSantis youve proven conservative policies work. Florida is better for it. Vote for @GovRonDeSantis  Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) November 6, 2022

The former president is slated to hold a rally in Florida late Sunday afternoon, but the event announcement only mentioned an appearance by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and did not name DeSantis, who also faces reelection in the state this week.

Story continues

DeSantis and Rubio are likely to win their races, and both are viewed as potential 2024 GOP contenders in addition to Pompeo and others.

Pompeo, who served in Congress before becoming Trumps secretary of state, has visited the early primary state of New Hampshire and rolled out an advertisement in June that ran in Iowa and South Carolina, both of which have historically also held early contests in the primary season.

He is also slated to release a book detailing his foreign policy work that comes out on Jan. 24, 2023, one of many rumored presidential contenders who will publish a book in the coming months.

But DeSantis is perhaps Trumps most formidable opponent in a 2024 primary, according to recent polling.

The Florida governor has leaned into the culture wars and has grown his national presence by campaigning for Republicans in key battleground races, including those who won their primaries in part with Trumps backing.

As Trump on Saturday nicknamed DeSantis, like Trump often did with past rivals, the former president notably did not utter nicknames when he listed other polled GOP candidates.

Tim Scott is great by the way, Trump said of the South Carolina GOP senator as he also praised Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP)  Pope Francis appealed Sunday for Lebanons politicians to put their personal interests aside and agree on a path to help the country emerge from years of economic meltdown and a new political vacuum.

Lebanon now is suffering, Francis said when asked en route home from Bahrain if he might visit the country, which he had been considering earlier this year but had to postpone.

Francis didnt respond directly but said he was greatly pained by the countrys descent into chaos and begged for prayers and for the international community to help Lebanon.

I take this opportunity to appeal to Lebanese politicians to put your personal interests aside and speak about the country and come to an agreement, he said. First God, then country, then personal interests.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun's term ended at the end of October without a replacement, leaving Lebanon in a political vacuum that is likely to worsen its historic economic crisis.

Many fear that an extended delay in choosing a successor could further delay attempts to finalize a deal with the International Monetary Fund that would provide Lebanon with $3 billion in assistance, widely seen as a key step to help the country climb out of a three-year financial crisis that has left three quarters of the population in poverty.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Getty Images; Insider

Proposition 29 would have required medical providers to be on-site while a patient is undergoing dialysis.

Proponents said this will help save the lives of dialysis patients.

Opponents said that the opposite is true.

Californians voted "no" on California's Proposition 29, also known as the Protect The Lives of Dialysis Patients Act, which would have required a medical professional to stand by while dialysis patients are being treated.

Ballot measure details

California attempted for the third time to pass a controversial dialysis measure that would have required that a physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant be present on site while a patient is undergoing dialysis treatment, and should have at least 6 months of experience providing care to patients with end-stage renal disease.

Proposition 29 would have mandated that physicians report dialysis-related infections and specify whether or not the physician has a financial stake in the clinic. If passed, clinics that fail to provide reports would have been slapped with $100,000 fines.

It also would have added a provision that dialysis providers cannot discriminate against a patient's ability to pay for services.

Support and opposition

Kidney Patients Deserve Better led the campaign in support of Proposition 29. The California Democratic Party supported this measure.

Supporters argued that extra precautions are needed to ensure that if something goes wrong during dialysis, an hours-long treatment, a provider will be nearby to help them. They also argued that for-profit dialysis clinics are opposed to these rules because it would cut into their billion-dollar profits.

No Prop 29, which was against the amendment, included Fresenius and DaVita, two of the largest dialysis providers in the state. The California Medical Association, the California Republican Party, and the California Chamber of Commerce were also against this measure.

Opponents said dialysis clinics will be forced to charge patients more or close because of the expanded costs of care. The state's Legislative Analyst's Office estimated that Proposition 29 will increase costs for dialysis clinics.

Story continues

They also argued that if clinics shut down, patients will not receive the care they need, which could negatively affect their health.

The money race

As of November 6, about $7.9 million was raised in support of the measure by Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, while $86.4 million  mostly from Fresenius and DaVita  was raised against the measure, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Actress Rebel Wilson politely shot down claims she and girlfriend Ramona Agruma are engaged, despite reports claiming otherwise.

In a video shared to her Instagram story, the couple posed in front of Cinderella's Castle at Disneyland, displaying a united front. The caption read, "Thanks for the well wishes but we are NOT engaged."

Page Six had previously reported that the women had been discussing their engagement at a recent Halloween party.

The "Pitch Perfect" actress went public with her relationship with Agruma in June, sharing in an Instagram post, "I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince  but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess."

Rebel Wilson shot down engagement rumors to her girlfriend Ramona Agruma in an Instagram story.

WHY WAS 2020 REBEL WILSON'S 'YEAR OF HEALTH?' INSIDE WILSON'S WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY AND 'PITCH PERFECT' MOVIES

In May, Wilson shared in an interview with People Magazine that her relationship with Agruma (who she didn't name at the time) blossomed in an "old-school" way. They talked on the phone for several weeks before ever going on a date, but Wilson noted it was a "really good way to get to know each other."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

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After posting the video from Disneyland, Wilson took to her Instagram stories to show the sweet treat her girlfriend had baked for her back home, saying in a video, "Ramona just made this apple pieand I'm even more in love with her now."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The couple has been dating for several months and has made multiple public appearances together.
Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, who represents Alaska, is the latest member of Congress to violate the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act's disclosure provisions. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska, was weeks late disclosing two stock sales.

Sullivan's office told Insider that an investment manager was tardy informing the senator that the stock had been sold.

Since 2021, 75 members of Congress have violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act's disclosure provisions.

Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska violated a conflicts-of-interest and transparency law by failing to disclose two stock sales until weeks past a federal deadline.

Sullivan affirmed in a financial disclosure filed with the US Senate that he inherited and sold $15,000 to $50,000 worth of stock in Mowi, a seafood company, on August 2, and $1,001 to $15,000 worth of stock in Five Below Inc., a discount store chain, on August 30.

But the senator did not publicly report the sales until November 3, well past a 45-day stock trade disclosure specified in the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012.

Congress created this law to curb insider trading among lawmakers and provide the American public with more information about public officials' personal financial dealings  and dozens of lawmakers have since violated it.

A personal financial disclosure filed on November 3, 2022, by Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican who represents Alaska. US Senate

In a statement to Insider, Sullivan spokesman Mike Reynard said that Sullivan wasn't aware of the sale of his stock until after a federal disclosure deadline had already passed.

"The two assets were inherited after the death of the Senator's parent and were promptly sold by the third party investment manager, who did not advise the senator until October 30," Reynard said.

Sullivan's mother, Sandy Sullivan, died in 2019, and his father, Tom Sullivan, died in 2020.

"As soon as the senator was made aware of the sale, the necessary steps were immediately taken" to file disclosure paperwork with the US Senate Select Committee on Ethics, "which has acknowledged receipt," Reynard said.

Reynard did not reply to a question about who the third-party investment manager is or why the investment manager didn't inform the senator of the stock sales until after a federal deadline for publicly disclosing the sales.

Story continues

A potential stock trade ban in Congress

Since 2021, Insider and other media organizations have identified 75 members of Congress  a cross-section of Republicans and Democrats, leaders, and back-benchers  who've violated the STOCK Act's disclosure provisions by failing to properly report their various financial trades or holdings.

Two of those members  Democratic Reps. Bill Keating of Massachusetts and Lloyd Doggett of Texas  violated the STOCK Act within the past week.

Insider's ongoing "Conflicted Congress" project, along with reporting from The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Sludge, have also found numerous examples of financial conflicts of interests among federal lawmakers, judges, and executive branch officials.

Calls for reform have come from numerous quarters inside and outside of Congress. And in September, after months of deliberations, dickering, and delay, Democratic House leaders  backed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi  unveiled a bill that would ban members of Congress, as well as many other top government officials, from trading individual stocks. It would also strengthen the generally weak penalties for violating the STOCK Act.

But some Democrats and Republicans alike, as well as government reform groups, immediately lambasted it, either arguing that the bill is too broad or too riddled with loopholes, such as allowing lawmakers to create blind investment trusts that they don't consider truly blind.

House leadership ultimately punted on voting until after the midterm elections, meaning it'll be mid-November before debate on the stock-ban bill resumes in earnest.

Sullivan's office did not respond to Insider's question about whether the senator supports or opposes the House leadership bill.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A political party intimately identified with lawlessness claims to want crime to be a top issue in Tuesdays election. Somewhere near the heart of this absurdity stands the obscure and desperate figure of Nathan Hochman, Californias Republican candidate for attorney general.

On the very morning that a man hunting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a hammer put her husband in intensive care, Hochman had the chutzpah to show up in the Pelosis San Francisco neighborhood to attempt to spin the crime in his favor. Hochman told reporters that the targeted violence against the Pelosis was part of a continuum of attacks weve seen in San Francisco and perhaps even a spiral of lawlessness in that city but was probably ... not because of certain rhetoric by one party or another.

A few days later, perhaps sensing the overwhelming weight of evidence that the alleged assailant was in fact deeply influenced by the rhetoric of one party or another  namely, Hochmans  the candidate revised his message. The attack on Pelosi was now in essence a hate crime, he asserted on Fox News, and moreover part of an explosion of hate crimes across California.

Opinion

Hochmans insight on all of this, as Fox generously called it, was not that we should be concerned about his partys appalling embrace of anti-Asian, anti-immigrant, anti-transgender and other forms of bigotry. Rather, it was that California authorities arent doing enough to prosecute these offenses  at least not until we make Hochman our zealous avenger of those targeted for hatred and violence.

Hochman is far from the most viable or even identifiable of this elections Republican hopefuls. But his late-campaign histrionics epitomized the oxymoronic message of his party: Please think about crime as you vote, but please dont think about all the crimes the leaders of our party have condoned and committed.

The crimes Hochman and his fellow Republicans hope to magnify are those that scare generally paler and richer Americans into voting for anyone vaguely promising to protect them. The trouble is that he and his fellow Republicans account of the problem is dubious, and their proposed solution is nothing of the kind.

Story continues

Murders did increase dramatically across the country in 2020 and incrementally in 2021, though the rate appears to be falling this year and remains well below the levels of the 1990s. Its worth noting that this surge unfolded at the onset of a catastrophic global pandemic, under the Trump administration and in cities and states across the country regardless of political complexion or leadership. Some of the highest murder rates are found in such ruddy states as Texas, Tennessee and Missouri.

Murder, moreover, is one of the rarest crimes and one subject to fluctuations that dont reveal much about public safety in general. Most of the available data suggests no similar increase in violent crime overall or in property crime during the same period. The public nevertheless has an exaggerated sense of the disorder thanks to magnification by the media and, well, Republicans.

One trend that is clear from the data is the greater prevalence of guns and, not coincidentally, shooting. States and nations with more gun control and fewer guns are demonstrably safer. And we all know where Republicans stand on that.

The everlasting Republican answer to crime, real or imagined, is more punishment, for which there is little evidence of any reliable correlation with public safety.

Republicans do have a pretty solid plan to promote violence, however, as evidenced by the crime scene to which Hochman dispatched himself.

The attack on Pelosi is different from any of the left-wing acts of violence against Republican figures lately cited to excuse it. Thats because besides being under multiple criminal investigations, the de facto leader of the GOP, along with much of the rest of the party, has spent the past two years excusing or extolling the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, one of the darkest acts of explicitly political violent crime in our history.

Indeed, a recently published preliminary study by UC Davis researchers identifies a subset of the Republican base that is substantially more likely than others to consider violence usually or always justified to advance ... political objectives.

In that light, heeding Republicans pleas to vote for public safety should mean voting against them.
Chinese workers clean two rescued sea turtles at Jamestown port, Accra, capital of Ghana, Nov.4, 2022.(Xinhua/Xu Zheng)

by Xu Zheng

ACCRA, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Ghana's coastline on the Atlantic Ocean is home to at least three species of sea turtles.

In this natural habitat, they live, breed, and prosper, but have also been constantly facing poaching, sea pollution, and some other threats.

While many Ghanaians devote themselves to protecting the endangered species, more and more Chinese who engage in port projects in Ghana are joining in their effort.

On Friday afternoon, Chinese workers of CRCC Harbor & Channel Engineering Bureau Group Limited undertaking the Jamestown port project in Ghana received a call from locals, crying for help to rescue two trapped sea turtles along the coast.

The workers rushed to the scene, located the two sea turtles in bad condition, and conveyed them carefully back to their base by the seaside.

With the help of local workers, a temporary shelter for the turtles was quickly set up, and clean water and food were timely provided.

"We consulted local animal protectors to make sure all procedures are done correctly, and the turtles recovered their strength quickly," said Hu Yuechuan, office director of the China-aided project.

Later in the day, some Chinese workers carried the turtles to the beach and released them back into the Atlantic Ocean. They cheered when the two swam far and the heads poked out of the water.

According to Hu, since last year, the Chinese staff have rescued four sea turtles stranded onshore, from which they have gained more knowledge about the sea turtle and their prevention. "Such cases made us come to realize the importance of protecting the creature."

In its response, the project established a task force engaging in the prevention, enhanced their regular patrol along the seaside, and encouraged local fishermen to share relevant information.

"The sea turtle plays an integral part in the marine ecosystem, nobody should shy away from the responsibility of protecting them," Hu added.

As China-Ghana cooperation flourishes in recent years, Chinese-aided or Chinese-built infrastructure projects sprung up across Ghana, many of which take eco-logical protection as a top priority.

In east Ghana's Tema port, the Chinese-built and largest port in the country, a sea turtle hatchery was built by Chinese workers as early as 2017 to safeguard the vulnerable species that are sensitive to noise and artificial lights.

The Chinese project cooperated with the local wildlife society and residents nearby to meticulously care for the sea turtle eggs and create a favorable environment for them to breed, which was applauded by animal protectors.

Justice Affukaah, a Ghanaian worker of the Jamestown port project, praised Chinese projects' efforts to conserve sea turtles.

"They are shouldering their responsibility for protecting Ghana's eco-environment, which deserves a thumb-up," he said. 

A Chinese worker sprays water onto a rescued sea turtle at Jamestown port, Accra, capital of Ghana, Nov.4, 2022.(Xinhua/Xu Zheng)

Chinese workers release a sea turtle back into the sea at Jamestown port, Accra, capital of Ghana, Nov.4, 2022.(Xinhua/Xu Zheng)
Romania condemned the Putin regime for attacking Ukraine

During his speech on Russia's Day of National Unity in Moscow on Nov. 4, Putin talked of Ukraine's supposed territorial disputes with Poland, Romania and Hungary over areas that were lost after the Second World War.

Read also: Putin cant occupy Ukraine, so he seeks to destroy it, EU diplomacy chief says

"We're talking about the territories taken away from Poland by Stalin after the Second World War. We have to admit it. Large areas were seized by the Soviets in Romania and Hungary," the dictator said, apparently projecting Kremlin geopolitical ambitions onto other states.

Romaina's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in contrast said Romania fully supports the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.

It also condemned the current Russian armed aggression against Ukraine.

Read also: About the death of Putin and his entire system

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania rejects the assertions expressed by the President of the Russian Federation in a speech given on the occasion of the National Unity Day, which falsely induced the idea that Romania has territorial claims against Ukraine, the Romanian Foreign Ministry said in its post.

The (Romanian Foreign Ministry) emphasizes that the war of aggression launched by Russia on Feb. 24 represents a serious and brutal violation of the principles of international law, including the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, the post added.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Russian state media on Sunday claimed Ukraine struck a dam near the strategic city of Kherson with U.S.-made missiles, citing officials in the region.

Ukraine has not yet commented on the reports, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky previously accused Moscow of planting mines at the dam for a potential false flag attack that Moscow would blame on Ukraine.

RIA Novosti and other state media said Ukrainian troops in the purported attack used six high-mobility artillery rocket systems, a key system the U.S. has supplied to Kyiv as they fight against Russias invasion, including one rocket that damaged the dam lock.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine are not abandoning their attempts to destroy the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station and create the prerequisites for a humanitarian catastrophe, regional authorities told RIA Novosti.

Zelensky and Russian officials have previously suggested an explosion at the dam, which is located on the Dnieper River, could cause flooding downstream, including in Kherson.

The dam of this hydroelectric power plant holds about 18 million cubic meters of water, Zelensky said last month. If Russian terrorists blow up this dam, more than 80 settlements, including Kherson, will be in the zone of rapid flooding. Hundreds, hundreds of thousands of people may be affected.

In the early days of its invasion, Russia quickly captured Kherson, which is crucial to Moscows aspirations of advancing further west toward the major port in Odesa. It remains the only regional capital Russia has controlled.

Ukrainian forces have been making piecemeal gains in the region as part of a sweeping autumn counteroffensive that included major territorial advances in the northeast.

Russian forces in recent days have moved some troops and equipment across the Dnieper River and out of Kherson, but Ukrainian officials suspect Russia may be setting a trap, creating the illusion of surrender while simultaneously ramping up reinforcements for a major battle to come.

Ukraines defense ministry over the weekend accused Russia of destroying en masse private boats located on the banks of the Dnieper River in the region.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The user on Gab who identifies as Nora Berka resurfaced in August after a yearlong silence on the social media platform, reposting a handful of messages with sharply conservative political themes before writing a stream of original vitriol.

The posts mostly denigrated President Joe Biden and other prominent Democrats, sometimes obscenely. They also lamented the use of taxpayer dollars to support Ukraine in its war against invading Russian forces, depicting Ukraines president as a caricature straight out of Russian propaganda.

The fusion of political concerns was no coincidence.

Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times

The account was previously linked to the same secretive Russian agency that interfered in the 2016 presidential election and again in 2020, the Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg, according to the cybersecurity group Recorded Future.

It is part of what the group and other researchers have identified as a new, though more narrowly targeted, Russian effort ahead of Tuesdays midterm elections. The goal, as before, is to stoke anger among conservative voters and to undermine trust in the American electoral system. This time, it also appears intended to undermine the Biden administrations extensive military assistance to Ukraine.

Its clear they are trying to get them to cut off aid and money to Ukraine, said Alex Plitsas, a former Army soldier and Pentagon information operations official now with Providence Consulting Group, a business technology company.

The campaign  using accounts that pose as enraged Americans like Nora Berka  have added fuel to the most divisive political and cultural issues in the country today.

It has specifically targeted Democratic candidates in the most contested races, including the Senate seats up for grabs in Ohio, Arizona and Pennsylvania, calculating that a Republican majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives could help the Russian war effort.

Story continues

The campaigns show not only how vulnerable the American political system remains to foreign manipulation but also how purveyors of disinformation have evolved and adapted to efforts by the major social media platforms to remove or play down false or deceptive content.

Last month, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued an alert warning of the threat of disinformation spread by dark web media channels, online journals, messaging applications, spoofed websites, emails, text messages and fake online personas. The disinformation could include claims that voting data or results had been hacked or compromised.

The agencies urged people not to like, discuss or share posts online from unknown or distrustful sources. They did not identify specific efforts, but social media platforms and researchers who track disinformation have recently uncovered a variety of campaigns by Russia, China and Iran.

Recorded Future and two other social media research companies, Graphika and Mandiant, found a number of Russian campaigns that have turned to Gab, Parler, Getter and other newer platforms that pride themselves on creating unmoderated spaces in the name of free speech.

These are much smaller campaigns than those in the 2016 election, where inauthentic accounts reached millions of voters across the political spectrum on Facebook and other major platforms. The efforts are no less pernicious, though, in reaching impressionable users who can help accomplish Russian objectives, researchers said.

The audiences are much, much smaller than on your other traditional social media networks, said Brian Liston, a senior intelligence analyst with Recorded Future who identified the Nora Berka account. But you can engage the audiences in much more targeted influence ops because those who are on these platforms are generally U.S. conservatives who are maybe more accepting of conspiratorial claims.

Many of the accounts the researchers identified were previously used by a news outlet calling itself the Newsroom for American and European Based Citizens. Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has previously linked the news outlet to the Russian information campaigns centered around the Internet Research Agency.

The network appears to have since disbanded, and many of the social media accounts associated with it went dormant after being publicly identified around the 2020 election. The accounts started becoming active again in August and September, called to action like sleeper cells.

Nora Berkas account on Gab has many of the characteristics of an inauthentic user, Liston said. There is no profile picture or identifying biographical details. No one responded to a message sent to the account through Gab.

The account, with more than 8,000 followers, posts exclusively on political issues  not in just one state but across the country  and often spreads false or misleading posts. Most have little engagement but a recent post about the FBI received 43 responses and 11 replies, and was reposted 64 times.

Since September the account has repeatedly shared links to a previously unknown website  electiontruth.net  that Recorded Future said was almost certainly linked to the Russian campaign.

Electiontruth.nets earliest posts date only from Sept. 5; since then, it has posted articles almost daily ridiculing Biden and prominent Democratic candidates, while criticizing policies regarding race, crime and gender that it said were destroying the United States. America under Communism was one typical headline.

The articles all have pseudonyms as bylines, like Andrew J, Truth4Ever and Laura. According to Liston, the website domain was registered using Bitcoin accounts.

For its contact information, electiontruth.net lists a cafe inside a converted gas station in Cotter, Arkansas, a town of 900 people on a bend in the White River. The cafe has closed, however, and been replaced by Cotter Bridge Market, a produce shop and deli whose owners said they knew nothing about the website. No one at Election Truth responded to a request for comment submitted through the site.

Liston said that links to electiontruth.net appeared to be closely coordinated with the accounts on Gab linked to the Russians.

In another campaign, Graphika identified a recent series of cartoons that appeared on Gab, Gettr, Parler and the discussion forum patriots.win. The cartoons, by an artist named Schmitz, disparaged Democrats in the tightest Senate and governor races.

One targeting Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, who is Black, employed racist motifs. Another falsely claimed that Rep. Tim Ryan, the Democratic Senate candidate in Ohio, would release all Fentanyl distributors and drug traffickers from prison.

The cartoons received little engagement and did not spread virally to other platforms, according to Graphika.

A recurring theme of the new Russian efforts is an argument that the United States under Biden is wasting money by supporting Ukraine in its resistance to the Russian invasion that began in February.

Nora Berka, for example, posted a doctored photograph in September that showed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine as a bikini-wearing pole dancer being showered with dollar bills by Biden.

As working class Americans struggle to afford food, gas, and find baby formula, Joe Biden wants to spend $13.7 billion more in aid to Ukraine, the account posted. Not incidentally, that post echoed a theme that has gained some traction among Republican lawmakers and voters who have questioned the delivery of weapons and other military assistance.

Its no secret that Republicans  that a large portion of Republicans  have questioned whether we should be supporting what has been referred to as foreign adventures or somebody elses conflict, said Graham Brookie, senior director of the Digital Forensics Lab at the Atlantic Council, which has also been tracking foreign influence operations.

The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency did not respond to requests for comment about the Russian efforts. Brookie called the revived accounts recidivist behavior. Gab did not respond to a request for comment.

As before, it may be hard to measure the exact impact of these accounts on voters come Tuesday. At a minimum, they contribute to what Edward P. Perez, a board member with the OSET Institute, a nonpartisan election security organization, called manufactured chaos in the countrys body politic.

While Russians in the past sought to build large followings for their inauthentic accounts on the major platforms, todays campaigns could be smaller and yet still achieve a desired effect  in part because the divisions in American society are already such fertile soil for disinformation, he said.

Since 2016, it appears that foreign states can afford to take some of the foot off the gas, said Perez, who previously worked at Twitter, because they have already created such sufficient division that there are many domestic actors to carry the water of disinformation for them.

 2022 The New York Times Company
AMVROSIIVKA, Ukraine (Reuters) - Fighters affiliated with the Russian-installed administration of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region arrived in the town of Amvrosiivka on Sunday after being freed in a prisoner swap with the Ukrainian military.

"I still can't believe I'm home," returning prisoner of war (POW) Maxim Chekanov told Reuters.

"It was so horrible, I wouldn't wish it on anyone," added Chekanov, who said he had been captured by Ukrainian forces on Oct. 11.

The fighters were freed during a prisoner exchange on Nov. 3, with the two sides in the eight-month-old conflict releasing 107 captives each.

Prisoner exchanges have been a regular occurrence during the conflict, with both military personnel and high-ranking politicians released in the swaps.

In Amvrosiivka, a town of 18,000 people close to the internationally-recognised border with Russia, Denis Pushilin, head of the region's Russian-installed administration, greeted the returning fighters.

Some of the men wept as they were reunited with tearful family members.

One woman, Lyudmila, said her returning son, Yevgeny, had lost a lot of weight since she last saw him. He walked slowly beside her, leaning on a walking stick.

"I didn't recognise him," she said through tears as they sat next to each other, asking not to give their full names.

"Everything will be okay, sweetie," she told Yevgeny, who clutched a handkerchief to his face.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Helen Popper)
The city of Kherson and more than ten other settlements in temporarily occupied Kherson Oblast have been left without electricity; the Russian media have reported a "terrorist attack on power lines".

Source: Kremlin-aligned news outlet RIA Novosti, citing the press service of Khersonoblenergo [Kherson Oblasts energy supplier - ed.]

Quote from a Khersonoblenergo representative: "Yes, there is no power in the entire city. We are waiting for information on what [happened - ed.] and where."

Details: Later, Russian media stated that the city of Kherson and more than a dozen other settlements nearby were left without electricity due to "a terrorist attack on the Beryslav-Kakhovka power line".

It is noted that three reinforced concrete pylons of high-voltage power lines have allegedly been damaged on the Beryslav-Kakhovka line.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Ivan Fedorov, Mayor of Melitopol, has reported that over the past week, the Russian invaders have allowed only 906 Ukrainians to leave the temporarily occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Luhansk, and Donetsk oblasts for Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Source: Fedorov on Telegram

Quote: "Residents of the captured territories of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Luhansk, and Donetsk oblasts are trying every day to leave the occupied zones and go to Ukrainian-controlled territory.

The Ruscists have let only 906 people from the occupied territories of 4 oblasts leave for [the city of - ed.] Zaporizhzhia in the course of the week. Thousands more are waiting for their turn."

Details: According to Fedorov, the occupiers are forcing people to apply for passes from the so-called commandants offices in the temporarily occupied settlements in order to go to the city of Zaporizhzhia.

As a large number of people want to evacuate, sometimes they have to wait up to a month to get that pass.

The Mayor says that this is particularly the case in Melitopol, since the list of those waiting for passes is filled up until the middle of December.

Fedorov emphasised that there are two possible evacuation routes: one towards Georgia and European countries via the Berdiansk-Mariupol-Novoazovsk route, and one through temporarily occupied Crimea.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Russians forcibly relocating residents of Kakhovka area

The affected communities are those of Hola Prystan, Oleshky, Kakhovka, Hornostaivka, Velyka Lepetykha, and Verkhnii Rohachyk.

They are part of a 15-kilometer section along the left bank of the Dnipro defined by the Russians as the so-called evacuation zone, where they are now actively setting up a defense line.

Furthermore, the Russians use abandoned homes to accommodate their troops, who break into the houses and randomly loot them.

Cases of stealing hospital property were also reported. In particular, all medical equipment and medicines were reportedly withdrawn from the Hornostaivka Primary Care Center and the Central City Hospital of Nova Kakhovka towards Russia-occupied Crimea.

Read also: Threat of Russian attack on Kakhovka HPP: Scenarios and consequences of dams destruction

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin said on Krasnaya Square in Moscow on Nov. 4 that those living in Kherson must be removed from the zone of the most dangerous fighting.

Previously, Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov said the Russian occupying forces are potentially ready for another act of goodwill in Kherson Oblast.

Before that, Kremlin puppet Kyrylo Stremousov said that the Russian occupiers in Kherson Oblast would most likely retreat to the left bank of the Dnipro. Satellite images showed that the Kherson grouping of Russian troops is urgently transferring equipment and personnel to the other bank of the river.

The chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, Kyrylo Budanov, previously said that the operation to retake Kherson would most likely last until the end of November.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
NORTH MITROVICA, Kosovo (Reuters) - Kosovo Serb policemen who work in the Jarinje and Brnjak border posts in the north of the country resigned on Sunday in protest over Pristina's order to use Kosovo vehicle licence plates instead of those issued by Serbia.

The 300 resignations in the northern town of Mitrovica, reported by Serbian media, are part of a wider Serb movement to withdraw from state institutions including, courts, police, parliament and government.

In North Mitrovica, several thousand Serbs gathered at noon to protest against obligatory Kosovo licence plates. They waved Serbian flags and the Serbian national anthem was played.

The long-running licence plate row has stoked tensions between Serbia and its former province of Kosovo, which gained independence in 2008 and is home to a Serb minority in the north that is backed by Belgrade.

Kosovo police said in a statement it was aware Serb police officers had abandoned their posts and some have handed over police equipment.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti blamed Belgrade for seeking to destabilise Kosovo by supporting the Serbs in their boycott of state institutions.

"I once again I invite all Serb citizens of our country to not abandon institutions, not to resign, not to leave their jobs, because there would be less service for the people," he said.

Kosovo's government has said it will start issuing fines this month to Serb drivers using pre-independence plates, and will confiscate vehicles that have not had their registration numbers changed by April 21, 2023.

"The withdrawal of Kosovo Serbs from Kosovo institutions is not a solution to the current disputes. It has the potential to further escalate the tensions on the ground," EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell said in a statement on Saturday.

Some 50,000 Serbs who live in the Serb majority north consider Serbia their homeland and most of them use Serbian licence plates, while another 50,000 Serbs who live in other parts of Kosovo majority populated by Albanians have been using Kosovo licence plates.

(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci and Ivana Sekularac; editing by Barbara Lewis)
(Bloomberg) -- A businessman accused by the US of breaking international sanctions by transporting fuel to North Korea is currently in Singapore and has been under investigation there, the city-states police said.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The police said Kwek Kee Seng, director of the Singapore-based shipping company Swanseas Port Services (S) Pte., has been probed since April 2021 for offences committed under the islands laws, and his passport has been impounded.

The US Department of State on Thursday issued a $5 million bounty for information on Kwek, accusing him of directing the delivery of petroleum products to North Korea and using one of his own oil tankers, the M/T Courageous, to conduct illicit ship-to-ship transfers.

The US is ratcheting up pressure on anyone seen supporting the development of North Koreas weapons programs. It has also condemned what it said was the test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile by North Korea on Thursday, as Pyongyang continued a barrage of weapons tests to protest allied military drills.

Kwek was among individuals and entities sanctioned by the US last month for activities related to the exportation of petroleum to the regime. The US State Department noted on Thursday that Kwek remained at large, listing North Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Cameroon and Cambodia as his known locales.

Singapore police said they contacted the US on Nov. 4 seeking clarification on the situation as they had been in active communication with them on Kweks case. Singapore will continue to assist the US authorities within the ambit of our laws and international obligations, the police said in a statement.

Story continues

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2022 Bloomberg L.P.
CANBERRA, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has announced it will bid to co-host the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference in 2026 with Pacific nations.

Chris Bowen, minister for Climate Change and Energy, recently said the government has decided against bidding to host the 29th session of the Conference of Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2024, and will instead focus on 2026.

"Our delegation at COP27 and our COP31 bid will go a long way to help drive Australia's economic transformation to a net-zero economy, and strengthen green trade partnerships and secure jobs for Australian workers," he said in a media release on Saturday.

He said the upcoming COP27, slated for Nov. 6-18 in Egypt, is an opportunity to showcase Australia's renewed climate leadership, "as we demonstrate our potential as a renewable energy superpower."

The announcement has been welcomed by environmentalists.

Dermot O'Gorman from the World Wide Fund For Nature said hosting COP31 would "revive" Australia's reputation on climate issues.

"This is an Olympic moment -- a huge opportunity to host a nation-building global event," he told the Australian Associated Press.

At the COP27 in Egypt, Australia's delegation will demonstrate the government's commitment to action on climate change, according to Bowen. 
(Bloomberg) -- For months now, high gasoline prices have been arguably the most visible political pain point for President Joe Biden. In most towns, they can be seen every few blocks on signs at filling stations. Its the fundamental commodity Americans need to go to work, buy groceries and get around.

Most Read from Bloomberg

But in the runup to the US midterm elections, another energy cost is coming into focus: skyrocketing electricity bills.

Its a topic that led off a recent gubernatorial debate in California, home to some of the nations priciest power. In Maine, politicians have clashed over whether renewable energy is making electricity more expensive. In New York, the Republican candidate for governor is urging the state to reverse its ban on natural gas drilling to lower utility bills.

Electricity costs are already a key topic around kitchen tables, with one in six households falling behind on payments as budgets are stretched thin by rising prices for everything from food to housing. And on the cusp of elections that will decide which party controls the House and Senate, soaring utility bills are also emerging as a potent threat to the Biden administration and the transition to cleaner energy.

Tom Content, executive director of Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin, an energy-advocacy group, is trying to channel ratepayers frustration into citizen engagement.

People are fed up, Content said.

In Europe, countries including the UK and Germany are offering utility-bill subsidies and officials have been forced to explain to outraged consumers how they plan to shield people from costs that have become unaffordable. Rising power costs in the region have voters taking to the streets in protest and pledging to boycott payments.

Story continues

Though American lawmakers havent proposed measures on par with Europes interventions, that could change, said Mark Wolfe, executive director of National Energy Assistance Directors Association. Because US polling firms dont ask specifically about electricity prices, its difficult to gauge how important they are to voters relative to other issues.

Were not there yet, but we could be, Wolfe said. Theres no reason it cant happen here.

More than 20 million US households are delinquent on their utility bills, a sign of a looming crisis as electricity becomes more expensive, Wolfe said.

Electricity has long taken a back seat in US political discussions to gasoline. To explain why, consider this: The power bill only arrives once a month. Sometimes it doesnt arrive at all, if its paid by automatic withdrawal from a checking account or debit card. But the sharp increases in electricity costs16% in the 12 months through Septemberhave become impossible to ignore.

Its something every household has to face, said Paul Patterson, a utility analyst for Glenrock Associates.

Some of the most dramatic price gains are happening in states that will play a crucial role in the midterm elections. In Wisconsin, a swing state, regulators are likely to approve a rate increase for residential power of about 14% that would take effect in January, Content said. That would be on top of increased gas rates consumers are already paying for home heating.

The looming price hike is going to be a problem for Maria Beltran, 50, a Milwaukee grandmother who lives on a fixed income. Her monthly electricity bill has doubled to about $71 in the past year, representing about 5% of her monthly income. Beltran spends as many as five days a week as a volunteer community organizer, trying to boost awareness among her neighbors about energy issues and other challenges. Shes keen to see elected officials make utility prices a bigger part of their platform.

I want energy thats affordable for me, she said. Ill vote for whoever I truly believe will make a change.

Her concerns are echoing around the country as utility bills climbed over the past year. Snarled supply chains amid the pandemic have triggered international shortages of power-plant fuels, a trend exacerbated by Russias invasion of Ukraine. All of that translates to electricity prices that have left many US ratepayers unable to pay their bills.

Rising prices in general are an issue for voters for this midterm election, whether it is related to utility bills or higher gas prices, said Mark Baldassare, chief executive officer and polling expert at the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan think tank.

Supply-chain issues and concerns about reliability are already slowing the shift to greener energy. As many as 40 US coal-fired power plants that were slated to shut will now run for longer than expected, according to Andrew Blumenfeld, director of data analytics at McCloskey by Opis. And if voter frustration with high power bills propels more pro-fossil-fuel candidates to victory, renewable energy projects risk ending up on the backburner.

Republican lawmakers arent immune to the backlash against rising utility bills, however. In Texas, which has long been a reliably red state, electricity is already a big part of the political discussion after a winter storm in 2021 knocked out power for days. Higher costs are making the issue even more pressing for Robert Dye, 71, a Dallas retiree.

Hes now paying more for electricity than he spends on gasoline for his two cars after his power bill doubled in the past year, and the lifelong Republican has already cast his vote in the current cycle, for Democrats at the state level.

In previous elections, you just grin and bear it because you are going to have to pay it anyway, he said. But we had this little disaster thrown in our faces and it has brought that issue forward. Thats influencing how I vote.

--With assistance from Angel Adegbesan.

(Updates with delinquency figures in 10th paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2022 Bloomberg L.P.
NBC screengrab

Last November, Cecily Strong dropped by Weekend Update to deliver one of the most inspired desk pieces in Saturday Night Live history as a clown who felt she had no choice but to speak out about the abortion she had when she was 23 after Texas passed its six-week abortion ban.

A year later, on the eve of the midterm elections and Roe v. Wade in the rearview mirror, Strong returned to one-up herself.

This time, the veteran SNL cast member was in character as Tammy the Trucker, who promises shes here to talk about gas prices and definitely not abortion.

All Im here to talk about is gas even though the Supreme Court sent Roe v. Wade to that big pit stop in the sky, she told Colin Jost. 50 years of precedent, beep, beep!

As the bit continued, Strong gradually dropped her character to open up about how the attack on abortion rights has been wearing on her.

I am just trying to get through this moment, OK? she explained. Gas prices are up and families are hurting, but thats not going to magically disappear no matter who you vote for. Were in a global recession fueled by corporate greed and war, honk honk, breaker, breaker. But what will keep disappearing is safe access to abortion. Its not really magic because they told us thats what theyre going to do, and they have been doing it.

Amy Schumer Calls Out Nazi Kanye West in SNL Monologue

I dont want to talk about abortion on live TV or Peacock, whatever that counts as, Strong joked. But these are scary times, OK? Because they dont want to just take away access to health care. They want to criminalize it too. Its so bad, us truck drivers are warning each other to delete our period tracking apps. I just want to know what week to wear my bad underwear, but I cant in case some dickhead in Texas thinks my period is evidence of a crime!

By the end of the segment, Strong was telling Jost, The truth is, I have felt pretty helpless over the past year, and its hard to know what to say to make other truckers feel better.

Story continues

So heres one thing I can say, she continued. Theres one mother-trucking thing we can do to fight for mother-trucking freedom to make our own healthcare decisions, and thats vote. And I hope to hell everyone votes. Because remember, we all love someone whos had an abortionI mean, drives a truck, beep beep!

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Thomas James used his Hermes van to deliver drugs on at least six occasions. (Wales News Service)

A Hermes courier who used his van to deliver drugs while at work and was caught with more than 17,000 of heroin stashed in his vehicle has been jailed.

Thomas James, 35, tried to evade police after he was stopped at the Pont Abraham services on the M4 in Cross Hands, South Wales.

He wriggled out of his hi-vis delivery jacket as he attempted to flee, causing a police officer to fall to the ground and suffer injuries.

Read more: Council chief condemns disgraceful Bonfire Night disorder in Edinburgh

Once he was detained, James refused to provide a PIN number for his phone, but an investigation using automatic number plate recognition discovered he had carried out six separate trips to deal drugs.

Swansea Crown Court heard how James, from Llanddarog, Carmarthenshire, was already a heroin user while working for Hermes.

James looked nervous as police stopped him and asked to search his van at an M4 service station. (Wales News Service)

But after being approached by a third party, he decided to embark on a "commercial arrangement" to transport money to Newport and bring drugs back. He would be paid 200 and half an ounce of heroin for the service.

PC Grant Limebear said James appeared nervous and tried to walk around the rear of his Ford van when stopped off the M4.

As he became caught in a melee with the policeman trying to arrest him, more officers arrived at the scene and he was taken into custody.

James pleaded guilty to possession of a quantity of diamorphine with intent to supply, being concerned in the supplying of diamorphine, and assaulting PC Limebear in the execution of his duties.

Read more: Hunt for gunman after two men shot during Bonfire Night celebration

Sentencing him to three years and six months in prison, Judge Thomas said: "You physically resisted and caused injury to the officer's elbow and finger. I have no doubt that you acted in panic, but that is no excuse.

"Heroin brings untold misery to users and their families. You come from an affluent, supportive family and you went into this enterprise with your eyes wide open."

James appeared at Swansea Crown Court for a proceeds of crime application and was told he must repay 4,200, 140 of which is already in police possession.

Judge Thomas issued a three-month deadline for him to pay the cash, and a three-month prison sentence in default if he failed to pay.
Even a day later, Henry County sheriffs deputies are still making their presence felt on the streets near Hopewell Place and Baylor Circle.

Its near the scene of a deadly shooting that took place on Friday.

The sheriff made a very public promise that same day.

Mr. Thomas, I suggest you turn yourself in because we will not eat, sleep or rest until you turn yourself in. Turn yourself in, Sheriff Reginald Scandrett said.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

The manhunt continues for the suspected shooter, Brentson Bernard Thomas.

Thomas has two large New Orleans Saints tattoos on his neck, officials said.

As of Saturday, police had located the gray four-door Toyota Camry he was last seen in.

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Detectives are hopeful a $20,000 reward will help to flush out Thomas.

It was at Haddon Place Apartments where a Henry County detention officer was shot. He was flown to the hospital in critical condition. A second shooting victim died from his injuries.

I was shocked. I was speechless. I was devastated, Keela Lanier, a resident, told Channel 2s Veronica Griffin.

[RELATED: Henry County officer shot, second man dead; suspect still on the run]

Lanier is one of several residents who told Channel 2 Action News the name of the victim who perished. Since investigators have not released his name, Channel 2 Action News has decided not to mention it.

Story continues

Residents also told Channel 2 Action News he was a maintenance worker there.

He was very sweet, had a gentle spirit, a very fine young man. Im really saddened by this loss, Lanier said.

The start of this manhunt was a major disruption, striking fear and raising safety concerns among neighbors.

[RELATED: Who is Brentson Bernard Thomas, suspect wanted in shooting of Henry County detention officer?]

While Lanier is still reeling over news of the double shooting and loss of life, her thoughts are also with the families.

So, Im praying for both parties, Lanier said. Praying for everybodys family that they get some kind of peace and condolence.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
A lawsuit filed against Thurston County over a collision Sheriff John Snaza caused in 2018 has been stalled in county Superior Court since being filed nearly three years ago.

Louis Gillespie, a county resident, sued the county on Nov. 26, 2019, according to court records. In Gillespies complaint, he accuses Snaza of rear-ending his vehicle in Lacey on Feb. 16, 2018 and causing Gillespie significant personal injury, wage loss and property loss.

The Thurston County Sheriffs Office acknowledged the incident shortly after it happened, The Olympian previously reported. But at the time, a Sheriffs Office spokeswoman said no one was injured in the crash.

Fast forward to 2022, when Snaza has been campaigning to win another term as sheriff while fending off criticism from his challenger, Deputy Derek Sanders. Recently, details and interpretations of Gillespies case have been widely shared on the internet, raising questions about the crash, Snazas role, and how the county has handled the case.

For its part, the county has agreed to accept fault for the collision, according to Prosecuting Attorneys Office spokesperson Tara Tsehlana. However, the parties have been unable to agree on damages.

Gillespies attorneys Kamela James and Eric Fong told The Olympian the county initially denied being at fault, and has continued to dispute the extent to which Gillespies injuries and related impacts resulted from the collision.

As a result, a jury trial was scheduled to start on Oct. 17, but records indicate scheduling conflicts led to its cancellation.

The Prosecuting Attorneys Office expects the trial to be rescheduled to May 2023, according to Tsehlana. She denied the election had any bearing on the delay of the case.

Snaza told The Olympian he has not been involved in the case and only learned about it last week. He declined to comment on the countys position in this case, saying he didnt know enough about it.

When I heard about it, obviously Im just going, Great, its going to be used against me. Why is this suddenly coming out now during election time?  Snaza said. Its politics.

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How did the crash happen?

The crash occurred at about 7:20 a.m. Feb. 16, 2018, as Snaza was driving west on Pacific Avenue Southeast and approaching Sleater Kinney Road in his county-issued 2015 Ford Explorer.

The Sheriffs Office said at the time said Snaza hit a pickup truck that was stopped in front of him. Notably, the Sheriffs Office described the incident as a two-vehicle collision, The Olympian previously reported.

From Gillespies perspective, Snaza failed to stop in time when he slowed for traffic, causing the collision. And, Gillespie, 33 at the time, alleged the collision pushed his 1988 Toyota Tacoma into the vehicle in front of it, making it a three-car crash.

A Lacey police report, included among court documents, describes the same narrative but with more detail.

Snaza told a responding police officer he suffered from an illness and sneezed as he was driving, according to the report. The sneeze reportedly caused Snaza to momentarily look away from the roadway just before the collision.

Gillespie told the officer he had stopped for a red light as Snazas vehicle struck his. Snaza immediately asked him if he was okay, to which Gillespie responded, as far as I can tell for the moment, according to the report.

The force of the collision jolted Gillespie and he complained of neck pain, according to the report. Medics from Lacey Fire District 3 examined Gillespie at the scene, but he was released.

Medics also examined the driver of the vehicle ahead of Gillespie. He complained of back pain, but medics released him at the scene as well.

At the time, the report said Snaza wore his duty uniform but rode in an unmarked grey vehicle.

Snaza corroborated this series of events in an interview with The Olympian. He added Gillespie initially told him he felt fine, and he has not spoken to him since then.

I know he was out and about walking around, saying he was fine, Snaza said. To be honest with you, a lot of people do that and then they realize a day or two later that theyre hurt.

Gillespie declined to comment for this story, but The Olympian was able to speak to his attorneys.

The court case

Gillespies complaint alleges Snazas actions constitute negligence, but Snaza has not been listed as a defendant. Gillespie sued the county for damages because Snaza was acting as an employee of the county at the time.

Court records indicate Gillespies injuries included shoulder and back issues that affected his ability to do his job. His attorneys, James and Fong, said they previously requested the county acknowledge and compensate their client.

They failed to make an offer, so we were left in a situation where we had to file suit, James said.

To defend itself against these allegations, the county hired Dynan and Associates, P.S., a law firm based in Tacoma. Thurston County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Rick Peters has served as co-counsel for the county as well, according to court records.

In a prepared statement, Tsehlana, from the Prosecutors Office, said they hired outside counsel because they do not have the resources to respond to expansive litigation alone.

It is much more cost-efficient to hire outside counsel as needed rather than full-time, in-house DPAs for this role, Tsehlana said. Therefore, it is our norm to hire outside counsel to manage litigation.

The county had spent $127,283 on the defense and indemnity of this case as of Friday, according to Tsehlana. She added this amount is part of the countys insurance deductible and any costs above the deductible will be covered by insurance.

In their initial response to the complaint, the countys lawyers admitted the collision occurred but denied Snazas actions caused the significant injury, wage loss and property loss Gillespies lawyers described.

Furthermore, they denied Snazas actions constituted negligence and suggested Gillespie may be at fault for his own damages.

Since then, both sides have been gathering evidence and witnesses. For their part, Gillespies lawyers have listed his doctors, family and friends as witnesses.

Meanwhile, the county has hired its own experts. In one affidavit, dated Sept. 27, 2021, the countys lawyers present a doctors opinion that says Gillespies lower back pain resulted from a pre-existing condition and was not wholly caused by the collision.

They have hired three experts to minimize and deny that this high-speed crash that totaled two vehicles was the cause of a shoulder surgery and the need for future back surgery, Fong said.

Gillespies lawyers said they sought to depose Snaza in June 2021, but the county refused to produce him. James added the countys lawyers went as far as to say they would seek a protective order for Snaza.

I received correspondence from his attorneys saying they didnt see any reason for him to be deposed because they were accepting liability essentially for the collision, James said.

Why the delay?

The case has been moving towards a jury trial that has been repeatedly delayed. The Prosecutors Office blames these delays on COVID-19 and unsuccessful mediation.

COVID put a halt on civil trials because of safety concerns around convening a jury, Tsehlana said. Once trials started again, criminal trials took priority due to speedy trial requirements.

There are over 2,000 criminal cases that were backlogged as of Friday, meaning they had not yet been filed and are not currently set for trial, according to Tsehlana.

The Prosecuting Attorneys Office denied that the election played any role in recent delays.

The election has no bearing on the process or timeline of this case, Tsehlana said. Perhaps its helpful for the community to understand that this case is progressing the same as any typical insurance case.

The trial most recently was scheduled for Oct. 17, but Judge Carol Murphy granted a motion to continue the trial on Oct. 14.

Murphy reportedly needed to preside over a criminal trial during the scheduled trial date, so the countys attorney requested the trial be delayed again, according to court records.

On behalf of Gillespie, attorney Morgan Cartwright, from the Law Offices of Kamela James, PLLC, responded in opposition, per court records.

Murphy ordered the lawyers to work with court administration to determine a new trial date. As of Nov. 1, court records indicate at new trial date had not yet been set.
(Bloomberg) --

Most Read from Bloomberg

Without Liz Trusss economic mess there would be no UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. But his inevitable focus on the cleanup job has left allies wondering how hell handle international issues -- and whether his pragmatist, pro-growth instincts can beat out the more extreme voices in his party.

There may be an early indication at United Nations talks on climate change next week in Egypt, and at the two-day Group of 20 meeting in Indonesia starting Nov. 15 focused on boosting the global recovery from the pandemic.

Both are the type of geopolitical set-piece where real progress can be elusive, and almost certainly impossible if a world leader opts for a Trump-like stance. According to one diplomat, the world wants Sunak to revert to the steady, dependable, perhaps boring British diplomacy that predates the topsy-turvy Boris Johnson years and his ill-fated successor, Truss.

Sunaks Prize for Predicting Truss Chaos Is Chance to Fix Damage

Its an approach that ought to suit Sunak, Britains youngest prime minister in more than two centuries, who came to politics via a career in finance and an MBA from Stanford in California. But as always in his post-Brexit Conservative Party, much depends on the strength of resistance from Tory hardliners.

Any whiff of Sunak going soft on the European Union or on China -- or climate change -- is likely to trigger a political headache.

Internal Squabbling

Its a dynamic thats already visible in talks on a free-trade deal with India, where logic suggests that Britains first Hindu premier could help grease the wheels. Yet internal party politics led Sunak to appoint an immigration hardliner to his Cabinet in Suella Braverman, which risks slowing progress.

Story continues

Still, there are some signs a Sunaks arrival will soften the harder edges of recent British foreign policy. His office confirmed Thursday that Sunak has abandoned Trusss controversial proposal to move the British embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, for example.

The problem for foreign diplomats is that Sunak has yet to say much publicly about his foreign agenda.

Whereas both Truss and Boris Johnson were both former foreign secretaries -- meaning the world knew where they stood on issues when they took the top job -- Sunak rose through Treasury ranks. Even in the UK, he is still widely known as being Chancellor of the Exchequer during the pandemic, and has yet to fully emerge from Johnsons shadow.

Rishi Who?

Last month, Joe Biden inadvertently illustrated the UK premier still has some work to do. During a Diwali event at the White House, the US president mispronounced Rishi Sunak as Rashee Sanook.

Yet Sunak does come into the job with some overseas connections. According to a German official, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has a positive impression of Sunak after they met when both were finance ministers during the Covid-19 outbreak, and is looking forward to another meeting. There is some hope the British government will be more stable to boost cooperation, the official said.

Another European diplomat said they are reserving judgment to see if the nicer tone from Sunaks team translates into changes in substance.

The initial reaction has been that hopefully he will be a bit easier to work with than Liz Truss; thats a personality thing, said Emily Lydgate, deputy director of the UK Trade Policy Observatory, a partnership between Chatham House and the University of Sussex. Its a case of wait and see.

Its the Economy

Sunaks obsession with the economy is likely to mean a more pragmatic approach to foreign policy on some issues.

The embassy in Israel is a case in point. After Donald Trump moved the US embassy to Jerusalem in 2018, then British Prime Minister Theresa May denounced the move as provocative, given both Israelis and Palestinians consider Jerusalem to be their capital.

But Truss twice suggested she would follow Trumps example. Now, amid widespread criticism at home and abroad, Sunaks has made clear its not a fight he has any interest in having.

Sunak is also likely to differ to Truss on China, according to two British officials. She viewed ties through the prism of alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang province, Chinese aggression toward Taiwan and the spat over Hong Kong. Another official described her approach as binary or black and white.

As chancellor, though, Sunak took a different tone and emphasized the strength of the UK-China economic relationship. In that sense, he is more in line with Johnsons view that British policies toward China should not underestimate the importance of trade, according to one official.

China Rising

A softer approach toward China would also bring Sunak into line with Scholz, who was the first Western leader to meet Xi Jinping after the Chinese presidents third term was confirmed.

An early public indication of Sunaks position may come in the next few weeks when his foreign policy special adviser, John Bew, updates the Johnson-era integrated security, defense and foreign policy review from 2021. Bew, an academic, was appointed by Johnson and has stayed in the post since.

Truss had planned to toughen up the language. But Bew is unlikely to go much beyond the condemnation of Beijings human rights records and emphasizing the UK view of the Indo-Pacific as a region of most strategic concern, a person familiar with its current contents said.

Boris Johnsons Conservatives Are Burning Bridges With China

The issue carries political risk for Sunak. Just as Johnson was pushed by angry members of his Conservative Party into a tougher line on China, so Sunak is likely to face Tory brickbats if they see Sunak yielding ground to protect trade.

Old Brexit Battles

They are many of the same colleagues who will cause trouble for Sunak if hes seen to compromise too much with the EU over post-Brexit trade terms in Northern Ireland. The mood music around the long-running spat with the bloc actually started to improve under Truss, and the UK government says its preference is for a negotiated solution.

Publicly, Sunak is still pressing ahead with legislation to directly override parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol which the EU has said would spark a strong retaliation, perhaps even a trade war.

But that would go against Sunaks efforts to protect the economy and would also have major implications for his relationship with Biden -- both of which strongly suggest Sunak will ultimately forge a different path.

Where he will almost certainly stick to his predecessors playbook is on Ukraine, according to British officials. The officials point to the fact that Sunak chose to make Volodymyr Zelenskiy the first foreign leader he called upon taking office, promising Britains steadfast support.

Johnsons Ukraine Script

Even as he and Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt prepare to find 50 billion ($56 billion) of tax rises and spending cuts, savings wont necessarily come from the defense budget, according to one British official.

UK Premier Sunak Says He Will Attend COP27 UN Climate Talks

Meanwhile Sunaks focus on the British economic crisis has already led to a foreign stumble, after he was widely criticized for initially declining to attend the COP27 summit before being forced into a politically embarrassing U-Turn.

He is also set to attend the G-20 meeting in Bali. But dont expect any major foreign policy initiatives, warned Anand Menon, professor of European politics and foreign affairs at Kings College London. Sunaks focus will still be on domestic politics and his partys chances of re-election, he said.

The next general election is due by January 2025 at the latest, though many in Westminster predict it could be in Spring 2024.

Its all in the optics for the voters at home, Menon said. He must have a bilateral with Joe Biden and wag his finger in the direction of Vladimir Putin. Its about Brand Rishi and in the time of an economic crisis, foreign policy plays second fiddle.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2022 Bloomberg L.P.
By Lucy Craymer

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Support for New Zealand's ruling Labour Party has dropped to its lowest level since Jacinda Ardern took over the leadership, an opinion poll released late on Sunday showed.

The closely watched Newshub-Reid Research poll showed support for Ardern's party at 32.3%, down 5.9 points since the last poll in May. Support for largest opposition party, National, is at 40.7%.

New Zealand is not due to go to the polls until late in 2023 but those figures would leave Labour and its traditional partners without enough support to form a coalition government.

Ardern told Newshub AM Show earlier Monday that she takes every single poll with a grain of salt and instead focuses on what she is hearing from New Zealanders.

(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Catherine Evans)
The Supreme Court this week will hear the case of a Texas family at risk of losing one of their two adopted Native American children because of a federal law they allege gives tribes "race-based" priority in custody disputes.

The case, Haaland v. Brackeen, combines litigation from a handful of other families and multiple interested states, including Texas, where Chad and Jennifer Brackeen live with their children. The tribes defending the law, meanwhile, warn that if the Brackeens win, the case could have far-reaching consequences that undermine their sovereignty.

At the center of the controversy is the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), a 1970s law meant to protect Native American children in state custody proceedings.

"There are Americans out there who are eager to help these children out, and the Indian Child Welfare Act says they are not allowed to because their skin is the wrong color," Timothy Sandefur, an adjunct scholar at the libertarian Cato Institute, told Fox News Digital.

Chad and Jennifer Brackeen told Fox News Digital that they are worried their adopted daughter, Y.R.J., could be "ripped" from their family thanks to the Indian Child Welfare Act.

TEXAS FAMILY FIGHTS AT SUPREME COURT TO KEEP ADOPTED NATIVE AMERICAN CHILD DUE TO LAW THAT FAVORS TRIBES

"That's outrageous and unconstitutional," he said. Sandefur wrote a brief for the Goldwater institute supporting striking down ICWA.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

ICWA was a reaction to high rates of Native children being adopted by non-tribal members  often with little process and unjustly.

It prioritizes placing Native children with extended family members, members of their tribe, and if that's not possible, with another Native family. Exceptions for "good cause" are allowed but not defined.

Tribes argue that their children are key to their continuation as political entities and that their unique status under U.S. law means legislation directed at the tribes isn't race-based.

ABORTION RIGHTS PROTESTERS INTERRUPT SCOTUS ARGUMENT SESSION

"The precedent of the Supreme Court is that Indian tribes are political groups of people, they are not racial groups of people," Chrissi Ross Nimmo, the deputy attorney general of Cherokee Nation, told reporters last month. "Tribes determine citizenship ... just like countries."

Story continues

The Supreme Court will hear the case Haaland v. Brackeen on Nov. 9, 2022. Several Native American tribes and a handful of states are also parties in the case. (Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via Getty Images)

But critics of the law say it removes the best interest of a child, including staying with adults they've known for some time, in favor of placing a child with anyone of the same or a similar race.

"No other federal law that is triggered by a child's biological eligibility for tribal membership," Sandefur said. "Every other Indian law on the books applies to a person because that person is a member of a tribe."

"Congresss racial discrimination is most evident in ICWAs third placement preference  which bluntly favors any Indian famil[y] from any of 574 tribes over any non-Indian family," a brief from the Brackeens' lawyers says.

SUPREME COURT LIKELY TO BAN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS, LEGAL EXPERTS SAY

Chad and Jennifer Brackeen's journey to the Supreme Court began when Navajo Nation sought to place their adopted son, referred to in court documents as A.L.M., with unrelated tribal members who lived in a different state.

The family to whom the Navajo Nation wished to send A.L.M. stepped back from the proceedings, and the Brackeens won custody. But their adoption saga continued after A.L.M.'s mother gave birth to his half-sister, known as Y.R.J.

The biological mother supported placement with the Brackeens. But Navajo Nation sought to place Y.R.J., according to the Brackeens' lawyers, "in another state hundreds of miles away with either a great-aunt or an unrelated Navajo couple."

That case is still in a state court in Texas. But the Brackeens' lawyers say the result of their Supreme Court case, which stemmed from their fight to keep A.L.M., will likely decide the result of Y.R.J.'s case and thus the future of their family.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION CASE: JUSTICES ALITO, ROBERTS SNAP AT HARVARD LAWYER

"Our children are young, our oldest is 13, the baby sister is 4 and a half. So, to some degree, only the oldest are fully aware of what we're going through," Chad Brackeen told Fox News Digital. "And it's our responsibility to sort of shield our children at this point of the uncertainty, that she could ultimately be taken, ripped from our home and moved states away."

Another major issue Sandefur said the case could turn on is whether ICWA unconstitutionally commandeers state courts to implement federal policy.

"ICWA is the only federal law in existence that is exclusively enforced by state officials. The feds don't enforce ICWA," Sandefur said. "But our federalist system under our constitution prohibits Congress from compelling states to enforce laws against their will."

Lawyers backing top tribal leaders, however, say the consequences for Native Americans could go far beyond adoption disputes if the justices rule against them.

JUSTICES HEAR ARGUMENTS OVER AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN HARVARD, UNC SUPREME COURT CASES

Kate Fort, the director for the Indian Law Clinic at Michigan State University, called the case a "facial attack on tribal sovereignty." She also said it could "lead to a fundamental re-understanding of how Congress can or cannot pass laws for tribes."

Fort said other litigants suing over an alleged gambling monopoly for Native Americans in Washington state are already mimicking the arguments used in the Brackeen case.

Oral arguments are scheduled for Wednesday, with an extended hearing set to last nearly two hours due to the number of parties.

Unlike many politicized cases, the court may not split directly along ideological lines. Tribal law is a subject on which the justices at times may form unusual alliances to decide a case.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"A lot of people are particularly interested in how Justice Gorsuch is going to look at this case, because he has a reputation for being very sensitive to Indian law issues," Sandefur said.
Police arrested a man wanted in connection with the brutal sexual assault of a woman late Friday and early Saturday northwest of uptown.

The victim was walking from Tuckaseegee Road and Glenwood Drive when a stranger approached her near the 3800 block of Glenwood Drive, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Sgt. Alli Rooks said in a CMPD video interview on Twitter.

Rooks oversees CMPDs sexual assault unit.

Soon after the stranger struck up a conversation with the woman, the victim was brutally, physically attacked and then sexually assaulted, Rooks said.

She was able to get away from the (assailant) and report the incident, Rooks said. The victim was treated at a hospital, according to the sergeant.

Sexual assault detectives responded to the scene, along with patrol officers, and canvassed the area.

Police developed a person we would like to speak to who closely resembles the description of the assailant provided by the victim, Rooks said.

CMPD described the suspect as Black, 5-feet-5 to 5-7, skinny, with medium-brown skin, brown eyes, a mustache and a goatee and low-cut hair.

He wore faded brown jeans, a white-and-blue T-shirt under a red hoodie, and black shoes, police said.

Hes potentially missing a few teeth on the top or the bottom, Rooks said.

Police stepped up patrols in the area, according to Rooks.

Just before 5 p.m., CMPD Metro Division officers found a man matching the assailants description, according to a CMPD news release.

Officers identified the man, 29-year-old Octavis Wayne Deandra Wilson, as a person of interest and took him to police headquarters for questioning.

Wilson was arrested and jailed on charges of first-degree rape, first-degree attempted sexual offense, kidnapping, sexual battery and assault on a female.
A Precision Air flight crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania, killing 19. SITIDE PROTASE/AFP via Getty Images

At least 19 people died Sunday in Tanzania after a passenger jet crashed into Lake Victoria, the largest body of water in Africa, The Associated Press reported.

Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said the flight, which was chartered by Tanzanian carrier Precision Air, had been carrying 43 people when it crashed. In a statement, Precision Air said 26 of these people were initially taken to a hospital for treatment.

The flight, which originated in Tanzania's largest city, Dar es Salaam, was attempting to land at the lakeside Bukoba Airport. However, the plane ran into problems upon approach and ended up plummeting into the lake, with police commander William Mwampaghale telling AP, "When the aircraft was about 100 meters [328 feet] midair, it encountered problems and bad weather. It was raining and the plane plunged into the water."

BBC News reported that the two pilots were initially rescued from the cockpit, but Majaliwa said the pair may have since died. The outlet said rescue operations still remained underway, and that the death toll in the accident may continue to rise.

While bad weather was blamed as the culprit for the crash, Majaliwa said a complete investigation would occur.

Tanzanian President Samia Hassan expressed her condolences on social media, tweeting in a translated post, "I have received with regret the information of the plane crash of Precision Corporation in Lake Victoria ... Let's continue to be calm while the rescue operation continues while we ask Allah to help us."

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ISLAMABAD, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif will participate in the 27th session of the Conference of Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which kicked off in Egypt's coastal city of Sharm El-Sheikh on Sunday, the Prime Minister's Office said.

Sharif will attend the summit on Monday and Tuesday, accompanied by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, other cabinet members and senior officials, the prime minister's office said in a statement on Saturday night.

COP27 is taking place at a time when millions of people in Pakistan and millions more in other parts of the world are facing severe adverse impacts of climate change, the statement said.

"As a developing country most affected by this phenomenon, Pakistan would make a robust call, inter alia, for urgency of climate solidarity and climate justice, based on the established principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities," it added. 
The death toll from Sunday's plane crash in Lake Victoria in Tanzania has jumped to 19, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said, after the Precision Air flight with dozens of passengers aboard plunged into water while approaching the northwestern city of Bukoba.

"All Tanzanians are with you in mourning the 19 people who lost lives during this accident," Majaliwa told a crowd after arriving at Bukoba airport, where the flight had been scheduled to land from financial capital Dar es Salaam.

Regional authorities and the airline earlier said that 26 survivors out of the 43 people on board flight PW 494 had been pulled to safety and taken to hospital in the lakeside city in Kagera region.

It was not immediately clear if the 19 victims included rescuers who drowned or whether the 48-seater aircraft had more people on board than previously disclosed, a regional official said.

"We are continuing to investigate, there is a possibility that two people were not onboard but died during the rescue effort," said Kagera regional commissioner Albert Chalamila.

Precision Air, a publicly-listed company which is Tanzania's largest private airline, said it had dispatched rescuers to the scene.

"An investigation team consisting of Precision Air technical staff and TAA (Tanzania Airports Authority) has also departed to join the rescue team on the ground," the airline said in a statement.

"Precision Air sincerely understands the anxiety for confirmed information and will therefore do its best to issue more details," the company said.

It said the aircraft was an ATR 42-500, manufactured by Toulouse-based Franco-Italian firm ATR.

Video footage broadcast on local media showed the plane largely submerged as rescuers, including fishermen, waded through water to bring people to safety.

Emergency workers attempted to lift the aircraft out of the water using ropes, assisted by cranes as residents also sought to help.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan expressed her condolences to those affected by the accident.

Story continues

"Let's continue to be calm while the rescue operation continues as we pray to God to help us," she said on Twitter.

- 'Hearts and prayers' -

The African Union Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat also shared his condolences, as did the secretary general of the regional East African Community bloc, Peter Mathuki.

"Our hearts and prayers go to the families of passengers on-board a plane that crashed into Lake Victoria, with our full solidarity to the Government & people of #Tanzania," Faki wrote on Twitter.

"The East African Community joins and sends our condolences to Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan, families and friends of all those who were affected by the Precision Air plane accident," Mathuki said, also on Twitter.

Precision Air, which is partly owned by Kenya Airways, was founded in 1993 and operates domestic and regional flights as well as private charters to popular tourist destinations such as the Serengeti National Park and the Zanzibar archipelago.

The accident comes five years after 11 people died when a plane belonging to safari company Coastal Aviation crashed in northern Tanzania.

In March 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi plunged six minutes after take-off into a field southeast of the Ethiopian capital, killing all 157 people on board.

In 2007, a Kenya Airways flight from the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan to Kenya's capital Nairobi crashed into a swamp after take-off, killing all 114 passengers.

In 2000, another Kenya Airways flight from Abidjan to Nairobi crashed into the Atlantic Ocean minutes after take-off, killing 169 people while 10 survived.

str-amu/raz
Ticket-splitters are poised to play a pivotal role in a handful of key battleground states, like Pennsylvania and Georgia, where signs are growing that voters may be willing to cross party lines for certain candidates.

In Georgia, where voters will choose their next governor and U.S. senator next week, polling has routinely shown Gov. Brian Kemp leading his Democratic rival Stacey Abrams by distinct margins, while Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) has maintained a narrow edge over Herschel Walker, the Republican Senate nominee.

A similar dynamic is playing out in Pennsylvania, where Democrat Josh Shapiro has opened up a sizable advantage over Republican Doug Mastriano in the race for governor. Meanwhile, in the states Senate race, Democrat John Fetterman has seen his once-yawning lead over Republican nominee Mehmet Oz evaporate, leaving the two candidates virtually deadlocked.

Taken together, the polls suggest that voters who cast their ballots for candidates of different parties could make the difference in some of the nations premier races, despite a decades-long decline in ticket-splitting and heightened political polarization.

I think that the benefits of being hyperpartisan are starting to fall off, said Keith Naughton, a veteran Republican strategist. For both parties, its doing as much to drive their opponents turnout as it does their own. So its going to come down more to a more moderate, middle grouping of the public thats willing to split their votes.

Some strategists said that the potential for ticket-splitting this year shouldnt come as a total surprise.

Voters tend to be less likely to vote according to party lines in midterm elections compared to presidential election years when partisan sentiments tend to run higher. At the same time, factors like incumbent advantages and concerns about candidate quality may be driving some Americans to split their votes.

Kemp, for instance, has maintained an above-water approval rating for much of his first term in the governors mansion. And despite his pursuit of a hard-line conservative agenda, there are signs that hes managed to attract the support of some moderates and independents with popular policies like tax cuts and pay raises for teachers and state employees.

Story continues

Walker, meanwhile, has seen his campaign ravaged by gaffes and controversies, including allegations that he paid for his now-ex-girlfriend to have an abortion in 2009. And while his race against Warnock remains tight, hes polling several points behind Kemp in most public surveys, suggesting that voters that are committed to backing Kemp may have some reservations about Walker.

I think at the end of the day, there are a lot of people who see Brian Kemp and Raphael Warnock as relatively stable figures, one Democratic strategist who has worked on Georgia campaigns said. Herschel Walker is a mess. Voters see that. And Stacey  shes a good candidate, but its just hard to convince people to throw Kemp out of there.

I think voters are being more discerning about all of this than a lot of the political class, the media gives them credit for, the strategist added.

That dynamic has played out repeatedly in polling. A Marist College survey released on Friday found Warnock and Walker deadlocked at 48 percent support among likely Georgia voters, while Kemp led Abrams by 8 points.

But when it comes to independents, they appear poised to break for the incumbents. Forty-eight percent said theyre supporting Kemp compared to 42 percent who are backing Abrams. Warnock, meanwhile, has the backing of 49 percent of independents, compared to Walkers 42 percent.

Naughton also chalked the strength of candidates like Kemp and Shapiro up to the fact that theyre both current state officials seeking state-level offices. Kemp is seeking reelection to the governors mansion, while Shapiro is still serving out his second term as Pennsylvanias attorney general.

Naughton said that unlike Senate races, which tend to be dominated by national  and often polarizing  issues, contests for governors mansions often hinge more on state and local issues.

Theres a split between state and federal races. You have state-level politicians who are dealing with less ideological, more local concerns, he said. These races will turn on what theyve done, what theyve delivered.

While split-ticket voters could potentially swing the outcomes in Georgia and Pennsylvania, there are similar trends playing out in other states. In Ohio, for instance, Gov. Mike DeWine, whos seeking reelection this year, is running nearly 10 points ahead of Republican Senate nominee J.D. Vance, according to FiveThirtyEights polling average of the two races.

Likewise, in New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu, a popular Republican incumbent, is widely favored to win his reelection bid, while Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) appears to have a slight edge over Republican Don Bolduc in the Granite States closely watched Senate race.

With Election Day just a few days out, candidates in tough races are acutely aware that theyll need to rally the support of ticket-splitters if they want to make it across the finish line next week. Facing the potential for defeat, Fettermans campaign aired an ad recently tying Oz to Mastriano, saying that he would allow politicians like the Republican gubernatorial candidate to ban abortion without exception.

Abrams employed a similar tactic during a debate with Kemp late last month, saying that the Georgia governor defended Herschel Walker, whom she referred to as Kemps running mate.

Chuck Clay, a former state senator and Georgia GOP chair, said that Kemp and Warnocks relative strengths in their races are simply evidence of Georgias growing status as a battleground, where candidates cant rely solely on a party-line vote to win.

Georgians are going to vote the way theyre going to vote, Clay said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A beef over boorish behavior in a Midtown steakhouse ended with a Massachusetts tourist stabbed twice by a diner seated at a nearby table, police said Saturday.

A Manhattan woman was arrested hours after the red-meat ruckus where police said the suspect became outraged Friday night after the 24-year-old victims wife made snide remarks about the service and the waitstaff inside Ruths Chris Steak House, cops said.

Customer Joan Thompson, 41, intervened in the argument between the wife and a worker before grabbing a steak knife and stabbing the man in the lower back and armpit shortly after 10 p.m. at the restaurant on W. 51st St., police said.

Thompson was charged with felony assault and menacing, police said.

Ive never been to Ruths, said Bob Ostrow, who was staying at an adjoining hotel. But if youre going to start a ruckus you dont want to do it at a steakhouse. Theres too many sharp knives!

Cops spent Friday night searching for surveillance video to help identify the suspect before she was taken into custody. Thompson was sitting near the out-of-town couple when the fracas started, with the situation escalating quickly as the suspect took the side of the employees.

The victim, of Milford, Mass., was rushed to Weill Cornell Medical Center by ambulance.

When they brought him out he was holding his upper chest, said a security guard at the neighboring Michelangelo Hotel. He was stabbed and bleeding, but still talking when they put him into the ambulance.

Thompson and her dinner companion fled the restaurant and headed on foot toward the East Side as witnesses dialed 911. She was arrested a little more than four hours after the stabbing.

A restaurant worker, who declined to give his name, described the incident as stupid and a fight between customers that just got out of control. A second employee disputed the womans complaints about her treatment by the staff.

Thats not true! he said. Its great service here.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP)  Jordan Travis threw three touchdown passes, Trey Benson ran for 128 yards and two scores and Florida State became bowl-eligible with a 45-3 rout over Miami on Saturday night.

The Seminoles (6-3, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) outgained the Hurricanes (4-5, 2-3) 456-188 and were never threatened after a 31-3 lead at halftime.

Travis completed 10 of 12 passes for 202 yards before being removed early in the fourth quarter. Florida State exceeded 200 yards rushing for the fourth straight game with 225.

This is a big game that means so much to our program, it means so much to our fan base, the players, Seminoles coach Mike Norvell said. You get a chance to leave a legacy. Everybody will remember this game. We were able to dominate that game with the true character of what this team is all about. I thought that was something that showed throughout.

Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke re-aggravated an injury to his right throwing shoulder early in the second quarter. Van Dyke, who first sustained the injury against Duke on Oct. 22 and missed the next game, favored his shoulder without contact after an incomplete pass. He returned for the next drive but left for good after another errant pass missed its target.

It was the Hurricanes fourth straight loss at home, their longest skid in a season since 1973. They also have not scored a touchdown in nine consecutive quarters.

Miami leads the series against its in-state rival 35-32, but Florida State has won the last two.

Days like these are really painful, Miami first-year coach Mario Cristobal said. There is no excuse, no side-stepping it or sugarcoating it. Thats why I came here. We have to go to work. We have to do lots of it.

The Seminoles ended their first two drives on Travis touchdown passes to Ontaria Wilson and DJ Lundy. Travis connected with Wilson for 56 yards 1:38 into the game, then found Lundy open in the end zone for a 2-yard score. Lundy, a linebacker, was utilized in the short-yardage situation.

Story continues

Bensons touchdown runs from 13 yards and 1 yard in the second quarter made it 28-3.

Im very proud, seeing how far we came as a football team, Travis said. Im very impressed with the guys, how they came in to work this week. You could just see on everyones faces. We wanted to win this game bad. We came in and we dominated.

The Hurricanes drove to the Florida State 2-yard line late in the third quarter but freshman quarterback Jacurri Brown failed to retrieve a poor snap from center that lost 23 yards with Jarred Verse recovering the ball for the Seminoles.

Travis threw his third touchdown pass, an 8-yard completion to Camren McDonald on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Andres Borregales capped the Hurricanes opening drive of the game with a season-high 47-yard field goal.

The lopsided home defeat was Miamis largest since a 58-0 drubbing against Clemson on Oct. 24, 2015. That loss resulted in coach Al Goldens firing the following day.

The guys truly believe in coach Cristobal, Will Mallory, the Hurricanes senior tight end, said. Hes going to get this going and hes going to find the right guys to do it. Unfortunately, things havent gone the way we wanted to but the most important thing we can do is finish this season out strong.

THE TAKEAWAY

The Seminoles are going to a bowl game for the first time since 2019. Its a big step in the rebuilding process for the Seminoles, who went 3-6 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and 5-7 last year. FSU lost the Sun Bowl to Arizona State in 2019, didnt qualify for a bowl in 2018 and got its most recent postseason win by topping Southern Miss at the 2017 Independence Bowl.

Miami: The path to the postseason gets very complicated now for the Hurricanes, who need to go 2-1 in their final three games just to finish 6-6 and meet the minimum standard for bowl eligibility. And considering one of those games is against Clemson, the Hurricanes basically have no more room for error.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Florida State got a small amount of attention from AP Top 25 voters last week, but still has a long way to go to get back into the rankings. Miami hasnt been ranked since late September and probably has no chance of changing that by seasons end.

UP NEXT

Florida State: The Seminoles visit Syracuse on Nov. 12 for their final road trip of the regular season. They finish at home against Louisiana-Lafayette (Nov. 19) and Florida (Nov. 26).

Miami: The Hurricanes visit Georgia Tech on Nov. 12, then go to Clemson on Nov. 19 before the regular-season finale at home against Pitt on Nov. 26.

___

More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25. Sign up for the APs college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25
Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis speaks with U.S. President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at the Pensacola International Airport on November 3, 2018 in Pensacola, Florida. Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images

Trump and DeSantis are both said to be potential GOP candidates in 2024.

Trump on Saturday mocked DeSantis with a nickname, something he's often done for political enemies.

DeSantis also won't be appearing at Trump's Florida rally on Sunday, in an apparent snub.

Former President Donald Trump finally bestowed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with one of his infamous nicknames, signaling a rivalry between the two popular Republicans is heating up as both men could run for the GOP nomination for president in 2024.

Trump used the nickname on Saturday while speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania, where he was campaigning for Republican candidates like Dr. Mehmet Oz, who's running for Senate against Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman.

Trump was referencing a poll that showed he was in the lead among other potential Republican nominees when he offhandedly called DeSantis "Ron DeSanctimonious."

It was the first time Trump had debuted the nickname publicly, but New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who has long covered Trump, said on Twitter the former president had been testing out the nickname over the past two weeks.

Roger Stone, a longtime Trump ally and staunch critic of DeSantis, also used the nickname in a post on Truth Social last week. Stone wrote that if DeSantis runs for president in 2024 "it would be the most stunning act of ingratitude and treachery in the history of American politics," adding that Trump's endorsement of DeSantis "made Ron DeSanctimonius Governor #ingrate."

Neither Trump nor DeSantis has announced plans to run for president in 2024, though both are rumored to be potential candidates. Trump has dropped major hints that he plans to run, telling his supporters they'll be happy with his decision, while DeSantis hasn't ruled it out.

Story continues

Reports have suggested a rivalry between the two, with particular animosity coming from Trump's end. On several occasions, Trump has shared videos and articles on Truth Social that say DeSantis would get destroyed if he ran against the former president.

Haberman reported that in private Trump referred to DeSantis as "fat," "phony," and "whiny." The Washington Post also reported that Trump expressed frustration over DeSantis not being more grateful to him.

DeSantis, who has become a Republican star since being elected governor in 2018, has embraced many of the same political talking points and policies as Trump. But last month, DeSantis endorsed a GOP Senate candidate in Colorado, Joe O'Dea, who is a vocal Trump critic. Trump called the endorsement a "big mistake."

Trump also apparently snubbed DeSantis by not inviting him to appear at his rally in Miami set for Sunday, just two days before the midterm elections. DeSantis is up for re-election and is expected to win easily. Aside from DeSantis, Trump will be appearing alongside just about everyone who's anyone in Florida GOP politics.

One person close to DeSantis told Politico that being iced out of the rally was "an elbow to Ron's throat."

Representatives for Trump and DeSantis did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Video: How Republican convention speeches have changed over the years

Read the original article on Business Insider
A Columbus police cruiser

An Alliance, Ohio man has been arrested and charged with murder after an unidentified man was found stabbed to death Saturday afternoon inside a house on Columbus' South Side, according to court records and police.

In addition to the murder charge, William P. Barker, 19, who is from Alliance, located in eastern Stark County, is also facing a charge of tampering with evidence, police said.

Another suspect, 23-year-old Lance D. Harrison of the South Side, was also arrested and was charged with a single count of tampering with evidence in connection with the homicide, police said.

Both men are scheduled to appear in court on Monday morning, records show.

Harrison's address is listed in court records as that of the house on the 900 block of Ruma Road where Columbus police were dispatched at 1:57 p.m. Saturday to investigate a caller's complaint. The 911 caller had entered the house, located in a residential area west of Lockbourne Road, to find the victim unresponsive, according to a media release from the Columbus Division of Police.

When officers arrived, they found the man suffering from visible injuries, though the media release does not specify the nature of the wounds. However, records filed in Franklin County Municipal Court indicate the man had been stabbed.

Columbus medics pronounced the man dead at the scene.

Barker was identified as a suspect, and when questioned by police admitted to fatally stabbing the man, according to a probable cause affidavit. Police also allege in separate affidavits that both Barker and Harrison admitted to attempting to hide the evidence of the slaying by cleaning the scene and knife before moving the body.

Police have so far not been able to identify the victim.

Anyone with information can call Columbus police at 614-645-4730.

elagatta@dispatch.com

@EricLagatta

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Two arrested after man found fatally stabbed on South Side of Columbus
The Biden administration is going all out to assert itself as a global leader on climate action at this weeks U.N. climate conference. Doing so will require a diplomatic faceoff with China.

China, the world's biggest current emitter of greenhouse gases, has a head start on the U.S. in its mass rollout of solar power and electric vehicles. The U.S., which is the second biggest current emitter, plans to challenge Chinas claim to global leadership on climate action with an array of new carbon reduction initiatives.

Biden will join a 16-member delegation of senior officials  including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and USAID administrator Samantha Power  on Friday to make the case that the Trump era ofclimate inaction and denialism is over.

Bidens task: Restore U.S. credibility on climate action to counter Chinascourting of developing countries grappling with existential risks posed by a warming world. At the same time, hell be working to restore some level of China-U.S. cooperation on climate, after Chinese President Xi Jinping suspended a bilateral effort following House Speaker Nancy Pelosis trip to Taiwan in August.

There is no solution to the problem of climate change without China, White House climate envoy John Kerry said on Wednesday. We stand ready to sit down with China on the climate issue and work together to solve what is not a bilateral issue, but what is a universal, global, existential issue.

Thats ambitious given that Kerry admitted last month that meaningful dialogue with his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, had stalled.

But Biden has one advantage at COP: Xi wont be there.

That will make it easier for Biden to stake out the diplomatic high ground as a leader wholl prioritize climate action despite strained bilateral relations. And he can point out to fellow heads of state in person the hundreds of billions of dollars in investments in clean energy sources embedded in the Inflation Reduction Act that he signed in September as proof of his resolve.

Story continues

The geopolitical competition can actually be helpfulthe U.S. doing more [on climate] can lead China to do more, argued Alexandra Hackbarth, a China expert at the D.C.-based climate change think tank E3G.

Biden is playing catchup because Beijing  despite its stubborn reliance on heavily polluting coal at home  has made climate a key prong of its diplomatic outreach for years. Xi announced in 2015 the creation of a $3.1 billion fund to help developing countries mitigate the effects of climate change. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng launched a China-based facility in April dedicated to boosting the capacity of Pacific island countries to adapt to rising sea levels.

Bidens decision to attend COP27 has already raised expectations of a new level of U.S. engagement on climate action.

Presidents don't normally show up at these things unless they are bringing something with them, said Joanna Lewis, an associate professor at Georgetown University and an expert on Chinas climate policies.

What Biden is likely bringing is cash to support one of COP27s key objectives: funding for mitigation and adaptation initiatives by developing countries hardest hit by a rapidly warming world. We are doing major lifting with respect to providing new climate finance, Kerry said. That sets the stage for Biden to either increase the $11 billion in annual funding he committed for those purposes in 2021 or advance its rollout ahead of the 2024 target date.

But Biden is trying to prod and coax China on climate change measures at a time when relations between the two countries are continuing to deteriorate. The U.S. has accused China of predatory trade practices, pervasive espionage targeting U.S. firms and of accelerating plans for a military invasion of Taiwan. China rejects those accusations and blames the U.S. for adopting a "cold war mentality that is stoking bilateral hostility

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hinted last week in a call with Blinken that China wants bilateral relations on a stable development track. But he laced that comment with an accusation that the U.S. was pursuing containment and suppression of China.

Biden needs to be conciliatory about China to avoid alienating senior officials of developing countries at COP27 who are impatient with U.S.-China bilateral acrimony hampering meaningful cooperation. We have urged them to demonstrate what we are used to of leadership from both of them, Wael Aboulmagd, Egypt's special representative to the COP27 presidency, told reporters on Friday.

But the GOP on Capitol Hill will be watching carefully.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, warned that GOP members will closely monitor Bidens performance at COP to see whether he sells out America for a politically correct talking shop with Xis dictatorship.

The Chinese government hasnt shared its priorities for COP27. But it is less well-positioned to burnish Chinese Foreign Ministry spokespersons Wang Wenbins claim last month that China is a doer on ecological progress and climate governance.

And Xi has climate action credibility problems due to both his announcement last month that China will increase the production of fossil fuels and his lack of follow-through on his earlier climate promises.

Xi made commitments in 2020 to peak Chinas carbon emissions by 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2060. But he has failed to provide a detailed road map and timetable on how China will meet those goals. That might be because of the daunting price tag. The World Bank warned last month that China would need to invest up to $17 trillion in the transport and power sectors alone to hit carbon neutrality. Although Xi promised last year to begin cutting Chinas dependency on coal in 2026, a surge in construction of coal-powered plants across China makes it unlikely hell meet that goal.

Domestic economic strains caused by Russias invasion of Ukraine will also likely limit the Chinese governments willingness to make any significant new climate action commitments at the conference.

The politics for that are pretty difficult, said Li Shuo, a Beijing-based policy adviser at Greenpeace East Asia. We have a hot war happening right now and food and energy crises across the world  that reduces the appetite for [China] to commit more to carbon emission reductions.

But climate experts agree that U.S.-China cooperation is essential to meet the 2015 Paris agreement goal of capping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.

Lewis at Georgetown University sees hope in the fact that unofficial lower-level COP27 preparatory discussions between U.S. and Chinese environmental experts have continued since August. And those contacts might help pave the way for an official resumption of U.S.-China climate cooperation in the coming week.

I think it's very likely that they will resume engagement either before or at the COP just because I think it's in China's self-interest to be engaging with the United States, Georgetown Universitys Lewis said.

Others say that a resumption of bilateral climate dialogue is unlikely.

Climate is a global collective action problembut were starting to see indications that China is trying to go it alone, said Cecilia Han Springer, assistant director of Boston Universitys Global China Initiative and an expert on Chinese industrial decarbonization. It makes me worry about the future U.S.-China climate cooperation.

A decoupling of U.S.-China cooperation due to worsening bilateral tensions could effectively kneecap global efforts to meet the goal of limiting global warming.

If each country is just doing their own thing [on climate]we are basically in a car crash situation, said Greenpeaces Li.

Karl Mathiesen contributed to this article.
The United States privately asked Ukraine to drop its public refusal of peace talks with Russia and signal a willingness to engage in negotiations, as the war in Ukraine drags into its ninth month, The Washington Post reported.

The move is reportedly a strategic effort by the U.S. to ensure ongoing support for Kyiv, according to the Post.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky initially expressed a willingness to negotiate early in the war. However, after Russian President Vladimir Putin formally annexed four regions of Ukraine in late September, Zelensky issued a declaration stating that it would be impossible to hold peace talks with Putin.

Zelenskys refusal to engage with Putin has drawn concern from other countries. South Africa joined about three dozen other countries in abstaining from a United Nations vote in October condemning Russias annexation of Ukrainian territories, instead urging for a focus on facilitating a cease-fire, according to the Post.

In the U.S., congressional support for the war in Ukraine has also begun to falter, among both Republicans and Democrats. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) suggested last month that Republicans will rein in Ukraine spending if they retake the House in Tuesdays midterm elections.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) took a more extreme approach earlier this week, promising that not another penny will go to Ukraine under Republican leadership in Congress.

House progressives also sent a letter to President Biden last month, which they have since withdrawn, urging him to push harder for a diplomatic resolution to the the war in Ukraine.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration is privately encouraging Ukraines leaders to signal an openness to negotiate with Russia and drop their public refusal to engage in peace talks unless President Vladimir Putin is removed from power, the Washington Post reported on Saturday.

The paper quoted unnamed people familiar with the discussions as saying that the request by American officials was not aimed at pushing Ukraine to the negotiating table, but a calculated attempt to ensure Kyiv maintains the support of other nations facing constituencies wary of fueling a war for many years to come.

It said the discussions illustrated the complexity of the Biden administrations position on Ukraine, as U.S. officials publicly vow to support Kyiv with massive sums of aid "for as long as it takes" while hoping for a resolution to the eight-month conflict that has taken a big toll on the world economy and triggered fears of nuclear war.

The paper said U.S. officials shared the assessment of their Ukrainian counterparts that Putin is not for now serious about negotiations, but acknowledged that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's ban on talks with him had generated concern in parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America, where the war's effects on costs of food and fuel are felt most sharply.

"Ukraine fatigue is a real thing for some of our partners," the Post quoted one unnamed U.S. official as saying.

The White House National Security Council had no immediate comment when asked if the report was accurate, while a spokesperson for the State Department responded by saying:

"We've said it before and will say it again: Actions speak louder than words. If Russia is ready for negotiation, it should stop its bombs and missiles and withdraw its forces from Ukraine.

"The Kremlin continues to escalate this war. The Kremlin has demonstrated its unwillingness to seriously engage in negotiations since even before it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine."

Story continues

The spokesperson also noted remarks by Zelenskiy on Friday, in which he said: "We are ready for peace, for a fair and just peace, the formula of which we have voiced many times."

In his nightly address to the Ukrainian people on Friday, Zelenskiy added: "The world knows our position. This is respect for the UN Charter, respect for our territorial integrity, respect for our people."

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said during a visit to Kyiv on Friday that Washington's support for Ukraine would remain "unwavering and unflinching" following next Tuesday's midterm congressional elections.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Christian Schmollinger)
KYIV/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday warned of more potential Russian attacks on his country's energy infrastructure, as officials urged residents in the capital Kyiv to consider making plans to leave as ongoing strikes threaten the power supply.

Zelenskiy, in his regular nightly address, said Russia was "concentrating forces and means for a possible repetition of mass attacks on our infrastructure. First of all, energy."

More than 4.5 million consumers were already without power, Zelenskiy said, amid concerns support for Ukraine's cause could waver as the war's impacts of energy and food prices persist into winter.

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who travelled to Kyiv on Friday and pledged Washington's "unwavering and unflinching" support for Ukraine, has held undisclosed talks with Russian officials designed to avoid further escalation, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

News of those contacts emerged after a report said Washington was urging Kyiv to signal an openness to talks with Russia.

Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said earlier on Twitter that Ukraine would "stand" despite Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure, adding that this would be done by using air defence, protecting infrastructure and optimising consumption.

The country faced a 32 percent deficit in projected power supply Monday, Sergei Kovalenko, CEO of YASNO, a major supplier of energy to the capital, said on his Facebook page.

The warnings followed remarks by Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko urging residents to "consider everything" including a worst-case scenario where the capital loses power and water.

Residents should consider staying with friends or family outside the city, he said in a television interview.

In the south, Russia and Ukraine continued to trade allegations as a Ukrainian advance continues on the southern city of Kherson. Reuters was unable to immediately verify battlefield accounts from either side.

Story continues

Yaroslav Yanushevych, governor of Kherson region, said Russian forces destroyed about 1.5km of power lines, cutting the power supply to the city of Beryslav.

"It is likely that there will be no electricity in Beryslav until it is fully freed from occupation," Yanushevych wrote on the Telegram messaging app, adding that power lines leading to Kherson had also been destroyed.

Russian news agencies reported on Sunday that Ukraine's vast Russian-held Nova Kakhovka dam, upstream of Kherson on the Dnipro river, was damaged in shelling by Ukrainian forces. The reports provided no evidence to support the allegation, which could not be immediately verified by Reuters.

Russian state-owned TASS quoted an emergency services representative as saying that a rocket launched by a U.S.-made HIMARS missile system had hit the dam's lock and caused damaged. The official quoted said it was an "attempt to create the conditions for a humanitarian catastrophe" by breaching the dam.

DIPLOMACY

The warnings came as the Wall Street Journal reported that the White House's Sullivan held confidential conversations in recent months with Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov and Russian Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev that were not disclosed publicly.

Few high-level contacts between U.S. and Russian officials have been made public in recent months as Washington has insisted that any talks on ending the war in Ukraine be held between Moscow and Kyiv.

The White House declined to comment on the report, responding to questions about the story only with a statement attributed to National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson: "People claim a lot of things."

On Saturday, the Washington Post reported that the Biden administration is privately encouraging Ukraine to signal an openness to negotiate with Russia, the Washington Post reported, as the State Department said Moscow was escalating the war and did not seriously wish to engage in peace talks.

The newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying the request by American officials was not aimed at pushing Ukraine to the negotiating table, but a calculated attempt to ensure Kyiv maintains the support of other nations.

U.S. and Ukrainian officials acknowledged that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's ban on talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin had generated concern in parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America, where the war's effects on costs of food and fuel are felt most sharply, the Post said.

"Ukraine fatigue is a real thing for some of our partners," it quoted an unnamed U.S. official as saying.

Zelenskiy signed a decree on Oct. 4 formally declaring the prospect of any Ukrainian talks with Putin "impossible" but leaving the door open to talks with Russia.

The White House National Security Council had no immediate comment on the accuracy of the report.

A State Department spokesperson responded: "We've said it before and will say it again: Actions speak louder than words. If Russia is ready for negotiation, it should stop its bombs and missiles and withdraw its forces from Ukraine."

(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Michael Perry and Simon Lewis; Editing by William Mallard, William Maclean and Diane Craft)
Press Release

November 6, 2022 Poe: Tiyakin ang konsultasyon para sa IRR ng SIM registration Dapat tiyakin ang malawakang konsultasyon sa mga stakeholder sa pagbuo ng implementing rules and regulations (IRR) ng Republic Act 11934 o Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Registration Act, ayon kay Sen. Grace Poe. "Hihintayin natin ang isang IRR na kakatawan sa diwa ng batas para mabigyan ang mamamayan ng depensa sa paglaban sa text scam at misinformation," sabi ni Poe, sponsor ng batas sa Senado. Ayon sa isang noncommissioned nationwide Social Weather Station survey na isinagawa mula Sept. 29 hanggang Oct. 2, mayorya ng mga Pilipino ay pabor sa SIM Registration Act. "The rules will get the ball rolling on our aim to provide a secure and safe mobile phone use in the country while protecting the right to privacy," diin ni Poe. May 60 araw ang gobyerno para bumuo ng IRR mula sa pagiging epektibo ng batas noong Oct. 28. Isinasaad sa Section 12 ng SIM Registration Act na ang National Telecommunications Commission, kasama ang Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), National Privacy Commission, telcos at pangunahing major consumer groups, ang babalangkas ng IRR. Sa ilalim ng batas, ang mga mobile phone user ay kailangang magparehistro ng kanilang SIM bilang prerequisite para sa activation nito. Lahat ng kasalukuyang SIM holders ay dapat magparehistro sa kanilang mga telco sa loob ng 180 araw mula sa effectivity ng nasabing batas. Maaaring pahabain ng DICT pagpapatala ng hanggang 120 araw. Ang pagpaparehistro ng SIM ay maaaring gawin electronically sa pamamagitan ng isang platform o website na itatalaga ng telco. Sa mga malalayong lugar na limitado ang telekomunikasyon o internet access, ang mga inatasang ahensiya ng gobyerno at telco ang magsasaayos ng SIM registration. Libre ang pagpaparehistro ng SIM sa ilalim ng batas. Una rito, nagpahayag ang grupong CitizenWatch Philippines na umaasa itong ang mga ahensiya ng gobyernong bubuo ng IRR ay magsasagawa ng hayag at inklusibong konsultasyon. Ang IRR ay magbibigay ng detalye sa registration requirements at proseso nito para gabayan ang publiko at tiyaking maayos ang implementasyon. Aniya, ang mga probisyon ng batas na magbibigay ng pananggalang laban sa security risk at data breaches ay dapat ma-highlight sa IRR. Kasama dito ang mga direksiyon para sa epektibong pagtugon at pagresolba kung sakaling mayroong mga reklamo. "Coming up with the IRR not only signals the urgency to protect the people from scams and misinformation. It also conveys that registration will be facilitated efficiently and securely," ani Poe. Ang SIM Registration Act ang unang batas na nilagdaan ni Pangulong Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. Poe expects timely IRR of SIM registration law in fight vs. text scams Sen. Grace Poe urged wide-ranging consultations involving concerned stakeholders in the drafting of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 11934 or the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Registration Act. "We await an IRR that will embody the spirit of the law to provide the people a defense in fighting text scams and misinformation," said Poe, sponsor of the measure. A noncommissioned nationwide Social Weather Station survey conducted from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2 showed that majority of Filipinos approved of the law making SIM registration mandatory. "The rules will get the ball rolling on our aim to provide a secure and safe mobile phone use in the country while protecting the right to privacy," Poe stressed. The government has 60 days to come up with the IRR from the effectivity of the law on Oct. 28, 2022. Section 12 of the SIM Registration Act states that the National Telecommunications Commission, in coordination with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), National Privacy Commission, telcos and major consumer groups, shall promulgate the IRR. The landmark legislation requires all mobile users to register their SIM as prerequisite for activation. All existing SIM holders must register with their respective telcos within 180 days from the law's effectivity. The DICT may extend the registration for 120 days. The registration of SIMs may be done electronically through a platform or website to be provided by the telcos. In remote areas with limited telecommunication or internet access, relevant government agencies and telcos will facilitate the SIM registration. The registration process under the law is free. Earlier, the group CitizenWatch Philippines expressed hope that agencies involved in crafting the IRR will adhere to a transparent process and inclusive consultation. Poe said the IRR will further elucidate details on registration requirements and procedures to give the public ample knowledge and time to comply. The provisions of the law that would put safeguards against security risks and data breaches must be highlighted in the IRR. This should include avenues for redress in case of complaints, the senator said. "Coming up with the IRR not only signals the urgency to protect the people from scams and misinformation. It also conveys that registration will be facilitated efficiently and securely," Poe said. The SIM Registration Act is the first law signed by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
NEW DELHI, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Russia, which met India's minimal oil requirements till March this year, emerged as the country's biggest oil supplier in October surpassing traditional sellers Saudi Arabia and Iraq, India's private news network Zee News reported on Sunday.

Citing data from the energy cargo tracker Vortexa, the report said Russia in October accounted for 22 percent of India's total crude imports, compared to Iraq's 20.5 percent and Saudi Arabia's 16 percent.

"Russia supplied 935,556 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil to India in October, even as it made up for just 0.2 percent of all oil imported by India in the year until March 31, 2022," the report said.

"India imported just 36,255 bpd of crude oil from Russia in December 2021, as compared to 1.05 million bpd from Iraq and 952,625 bpd from Saudi Arabia," added the report.

According to the report, there were no oil imports from Russia in the two months of January and February, and India has imported more Russian oil after the conflict in Ukraine broke out in late February.

India imported 68,600 bpd of Russian oil in March, and the import increased to 266,617 bpd in the following month and peaked at 942,694 bpd in June. But in June, Iraq was India's top supplier with 1.04 million bpd of oil. Russia in that month became India's second biggest supplier, said the report. 
Israel Adesanya goes 1-on-1 with Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole to talk Alex Pereira ahead of their main event matchup at UFC 281 for Adesanya's middleweight title. After two losses to Pereira in kickboxing, Adesanya describes what went wrong and why the outcome will be different in their third fight.

Video Transcript

KEVIN IOLE: What is up, everybody? I am Kevin Iole, and I am really looking forward to UFC 281. A number of great fights on the show, but the main event, of course, is the big one. Going to be a special night of fighting. The champ, Israel Adesanya, fighting the number one contender in the middleweight division right now, Alex Pereira.

You two have a history. It's going to be an unbelievable fight, I think. A lot of people hyped up for it. You're back in the United States now, getting ready early. How does it look as you go into this thing? Is it a different feel, given that it's MMA now, instead of kickboxing?

ISRAEL ADESANYA: The fight itself-- different feel? I'm gonna say so, but I haven't seen him yet. I haven't seen him yet, so yeah, but it feels different. It feels different for me because I'm not the same fighter. Neither is he, but I know who's devolved more, when it comes to fighting.

I know who's involved more, and he does as well. But he's got his history with me and his victories over me, so he can bank on that if he wants to.

KEVIN IOLE: Everybody's talked about his victories over you, even from the first time you came into the UFC, right? But I want to ask you this question because this is interesting. You come off a win over Jared Cannonier, which, to me, might have been a more difficult fight for you than Alex would be, from this standpoint-- Jared wasn't willing to engage with you. Jared stayed back and was more passive than I guess we would have thought, and so you being a counter-striker-- it doesn't create the openings for you.

You think, with Alex-- and now you're wearing 4-ounce gloves-- that may change the dynamic of how the fight goes, don't you?

Story continues

ISRAEL ADESANYA: It will. It will change the dynamic. And Jared came prepared. He had a great team behind him, but unfortunately, when you're in there with me, it's lonely. It's lonely when you're in there with a guy like me, and then you do everything to try and survive, and, woo, at least I didn't get knocked out. Some of them consider that a win.

But yeah, for me, this is different. This guy-- he's gonna come aggressive. He's gonna throw strikes. He's not gonna lay back and try and counter. Even me-- I can attack. I counter-strike, but when you give me the opportunity, I can go forward. And I feel like this guy's gonna give me the opportunity to go forward because he can't fight going backwards.

KEVIN IOLE: The fact that you have such good footwork, in MMA-- and then, he has to be wary, I guess, of you trying to surprise him, maybe, with a takedown or something, or a knee, or who knows what. How does that change the fight, knowing that you can create different angles on him in a fight that, maybe in a kickboxing fight, would not be there.

ISRAEL ADESANYA: Even the arena is different. We're in the Octagon this time, not a ring. You can't pin someone to the ropes or to the corner and then try and tee off on 'em.

Surprise takedown-- it's not my forte. I don't get on my knees and try and-- it's not my forte. But he might try. He might decide he wants to take me down. And I welcome that because my grappling is not to be played with, and defensively grappling as well. I've been forced to defensively grapple since my UFC debut, and that's why I'm so good at it.

But yeah, we'll see. If the opportunity presents itself and he shoots for a takedown, I'll take his neck.

KEVIN IOLE: You said something in July after your win over Cannonier at UFC 276, and it was unlike you. And I was surprised that you said it, and I'm wondering if it had something to do with the Alex fight. And you talked right at the end. You said to the media there, I respect a lot of you, and I know you're doing your job, but remember, I can do your job, but you can't do my job.

That seems unlike you, and I didn't know what prompted that. And where did that come from, and what was the point you were trying to make when you said that?

ISRAEL ADESANYA: Just for the media to be mindful of how they speak to these fighters and speak of these fighters, 'cause sometimes-- this is why I don't do as much interviews as I used to. First of all, I've got freestyle banter on my YouTube. But for me, I see what they do. They'll get a 40-minute interview, even, and I know how YouTube works now.

So they get a 40-minute interview. That's the whole interview. Then they clip that into three different segments, and then two of those segments will have really clickbaity headlines that really doesn't represent what I said, just so they can get the clicks, you know what I mean? And for me, I know how they get paid. I'm like, wait, I'm doing this [MUTED] for free, and then you still disrespect me?

So that was what prompted that. I'm just like, just be mindful of how you speak on these fighters or how you use these opportunities to interview them, because yeah, without us, they wouldn't have a job. But also, I could do their job. I went to school. I went to uni. I know how to use a laptop. I know how to use a microphone. I know how to comprehend very well. I'm very well-spoken.

And yeah, I was just trying to make a point. And some people took offense to that and said, oh, well, I can hit a bag. I can do your job. I'd like to see you try.

[LAUGHS]

I don't remember who said that, but I read that somewhere. Someone sent me a screen shot, and I was just like, this idiot. So I'm like, oh. I think what I was trying to get across went over those people's heads who are really sensitive. And probably, if the shoe fits, wear it, you know what I mean? If they felt a way about the way I said, then it was probably them I was talking about.

KEVIN IOLE: Izzy, the only thing that I would ever say that I can hit is a pillow trying to get the dust out in the backyard. So you never hear me--

ISRAEL ADESANYA: [LAUGHING]

KEVIN IOLE: You never hear me saying that. So knock the dust out of the pillow and move on. Other than that, we're on.

ISRAEL ADESANYA: I mean, you always give me a fair shake. You always give me a fair shake.

KEVIN IOLE: How much do you think-- and this is gonna be a mental part of it, because this is my second part of that question, then. I think you're gonna see a lot of people that-- the knockout of you in your second fight-- they're gonna post that clip. You're gonna deal with that over and over. You're gonna deal with questions.

ISRAEL ADESANYA: I've been dealing with it.

KEVIN IOLE: You're a smart guy, and you're a thoughtful guy, right? So you have thought about that this is gonna happen. How do you think it affects you, and how do you deal with it? Because it's gonna get repetitive at some point.

ISRAEL ADESANYA: I've seen it. I don't even know how many times. I never shied away from it. For years, it never really showed up on my radar, but then, once I started to get popping in the UFC, it started to pop up again because he was posting it. And it's like, why are you trying to live off me? You already beat me, but yeah, you're still chasing me because I'm doing way better than you.

But yeah, I've already seen that so many times, it doesn't affect me. I've seen it. And that's also one thing that frees me. In this fight, if he goes out there and knocks me out, I'm like, OK. I remember what it was like.

A lot of people-- their worst fear is getting knocked out in a big fight. That happened to me, so I'm like, cool, it's already happened. That frees me. That frees me enough where it doesn't hold me, you know what I mean? It doesn't restrict me in a sense that I'm going to go out there and be like, this can't happen.

I'm like, no it can happen, and it has happened. But I also know what can happen and almost happened, and that's what I'm gonna make happen when it comes to November 12.

KEVIN IOLE: It's almost like you're heartened by-- Michael Bisping got knocked out by Dan Henderson in one of the most viral KOs in UFC history, and what did he do after that? He came back and became the UFC middleweight champion and then a UFC Hall of Famer. So a knockout doesn't define you unless you let it.

ISRAEL ADESANYA: Yes, exactly. And like I said, the worst has already happened. I woke up the next day and talked to my parents. My dogs still loved me when I went home. My people still loved me. I still made a lot of money from that fight, and I was just living my life.

So it wasn't something that I affected me in a sense that I went into a dark place or into a hole or anything. I think I knocked my next opponent out, my next two opponents out. So yeah, if you want to see me get knocked out, go on YouTube. Or you want to see him get knocked out, tune in this time.

KEVIN IOLE: MSG.

Hey, let me ask you this. Was there a frustration in that fight? Not so much the knockout, but you had him in trouble early in the fight, the rematch--

ISRAEL ADESANYA: Yeah, it was me.

KEVIN IOLE: --and you didn't finish him, right? And is that-- like, when you look at it, are you more annoyed the fact that you didn't take advantage of an opportunity when you had him hurt to finish him, or the fact that you made a mistake and got caught and got finished yourself?

ISRAEL ADESANYA: No, the knockout doesn't even bother me. I said this years ago, actually. I said this years ago. The knockout never bothered me. I remember clearly what bothered me was me not staying true to my style, me not staying true to who I am, me.

You watch my other fights in kickboxing, King of the Ring, the heavyweight one, when I had someone hurt. I wait, look for the shot, boom, look for the shot boom, and they're gone. I put 'em away. But this one, because I was coming off a loss that was controversial that I should have won, kickboxing world title-- I was younger then, so I got influenced by people's words, and I just threw spam right hands at him. Threw a couple of uppercuts, but right hands.

And then, for me, I'm like, why did you even-- I should have gone to the body. I should have taken away his legs and then go back to the head. Stay true to my style.

So that's what bothered me the most. Not the knockout. The knockout never really bothered me. But for me, what bothered me was me not staying true to my style.

KEVIN IOLE: Two other things. He got the fight by virtue of a really devastating finish of Sean Strickland. Sean Strickland had been on a roll, but it seemed to me like Sean was still a developing, growing fighter in the division, not an established top-of-the-level guy yet. He was on his way up. And do you think that was favorable matchmaker, or do you give Alex credit for, hey, beating a really good, high-level opponent?

ISRAEL ADESANYA: Come on. [LAUGHS]

[INTERPOSING VOICES]

ISRAEL ADESANYA: I know. But I'm saying, Sean Strickland is the only top-- put it this way. He's only here 'cause of me. He's only fighting for the title because of me, because it's me. If it was someone else, if Rob were still champion, he would have had a tougher road to get to the belt, and I bet you he would have got exposed way quicker.

But I'll expose him. I'll expose him, yeah. But he's only here 'cause of me, and it was favorable. Everything was set up for him because it made sense, and I agree it made sense. We don't want him to lose before he gets to fight me. You don't want to give him the hard fights before he fights me. So I think he got favorable matchups.

And yeah, he's here now, and I asked for it. I was like, right. Also, 'cause I cleared out the [MUTED] way for him. I cleared out the division, the pathway, so he had a clear line to the title. Only fought a few guys and then one top guy, and then I was like, yeah, you know what? Bring him.

I'd rather take him out now, because he's actually easy. I'll say he's a good athlete. I think he's the kind of guy that learns quickly, so I'd rather take him out now. And then, that way, I'll cause a blemish on his career.

KEVIN IOLE: Last question. You are a big guy with a great reach, and you use that distance really well. But he's a big guy, too, right? And, I mean, this way, he's massive, right? How does the fact that you're not gonna have this big reach and size advantage that you have over a lot of your opponents affect the way you perform and the way you go about training, I guess?

ISRAEL ADESANYA: I just do what I do. I actually just remembered the other time. Shout-outs to my guy Filip Verlinden. He's a guy that I fought in my debut in some kickboxing company, and then he beat me then. And then, we had a rematch in China, and I was a big boy then. I wasn't a skinny. I started to put on some size, and then we had a rematch.

And yeah, he was a guy that was able to bully me back then because he had the size advantage, reach advantage on me. Maybe not reach, but size advantage. But this time, I put on some size, and then I whooped his ass, too, even more than he did me. But yeah, shout-out to Filip.

But in regards to that, this is another time where it's like different game. I'm a big boy now, too. I'm not as scrawny as I am back then. And you ask anyone that's fought me, they say the same thing every time-- he's a lot stronger than he looks. And since then, I've even gotten stronger because I've been training with Abiola, base benefit, and we've put the building blocks in this camp, built the foundation, because I wanted to make sure that I'm not built for show. I'm built for go.

I went on tour. I think, after my last fight, I went to Canada. I brought him along. Went to Dallas to watch Kai fight. I brought him along just so we can get working. And yeah, they'll soon find out. They'll soon find out, Kevin.

KEVIN IOLE: I will see you at ringside, UFC 281 in New York on November 12. This man, Israel Adesanya, against Alex Pereira. It is going to be a fantastic night of fighting. Izzy, good luck. I look forward to seeing you in New York. Thanks a lot.

ISRAEL ADESANYA: Bless you, and thank you so much.
UK bank Santander is set to block real-time payments to crypto exchanges next year.

According to an email to customers first reported by Reuters, the move is intended to protect consumers from scams.

Santander has not said when in 2023 the change will take effect. In the short term, the bank is going to enforce a more limited set of restrictions.

From November 15 onwards, payments to cryptocurrency exchanges using mobile and online banking will be limited to 1,000 per transaction with a total limit of 3,000 in any rolling 30-day period.

The new rules will not impact the ability of customers to make withdrawals.

In recent months weve seen a large increase in UK customers becoming victims of cryptocurrency fraud, said a Santander spokesperson. We want to do everything we can to protect our customers and we feel that limiting payments to cryptocurrency exchanges is the best way to make sure your money stays safe.

Santander will continue to block payments being sent to Binance, in line with the UK Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) harsh stance on the exchange, which was banned from operating in the UK in 2021 by the watchdog group. The FCA claimed the firm is not capable of being effectively supervised and its complex and high-risk financial products pose a significant risk to consumers.

Santander to Roll Out Crypto Trading Services in Brazil

Santanders policy seems to be in line with the FCAs cautious recent approach to crypto.

In August 2022, the FCA announced plans to tighten up its rules on crypto advertising significantly, bringing these in line with the regulations governing traditional securities such as stocks and bonds.

Santander isnt exactly unique among the British High Street banks in taking a prohibitive approach to crypto transfers.

Almost half47 percentof the UKs major banks do not support cryptocurrency according to data from the price comparison site Finder.

Bank of England Wants Stricter Rules for Crypto to Avoid 'Systemic Risk'

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This group is mainly composed of traditional high street banks such as Lloyds, Nationwide, HSBC, and TSB Bank, but also includes some of the newer crop of challenger banks such as Starling Bank.

But not all UK banks are pulling back from crypto. Neobank Revolut, which has been operating in the UK since 2015, recently launched a card that allows users to pay in crypto for their goods and services.

Revoluts spend from crypto feature enables users to choose crypto from over 1,000 tokens and enables users to get cash back on their purchases.
The University of Kentucky is investigating a disturbing incident which occurred early Sunday morning on campus at Boyd Residence Hall where a woman physically assaulted and spouted racial slurs at a student desk clerk.

A video of an intoxicated young woman resisting and physically assaulting a student desk worker inside the residence hall was posted on social media. The student is seen beginning to say racial slurs toward the woman, and continues to sing and taunt others with the use of racial slurs.

She also made additional derogatory comments, according to video, which features explicit language.

The victim of the incident posted about the incident on her own Instagram. She said she is a UK student and desk clerk at the dorm.

Early this morning, a disturbing incident was captured on video in a residence hall. The video is deeply offensive, and we take it very seriously.  University of Kentucky (@universityofky) November 6, 2022

An arrest has been made. We are conducting an immediate review and have reached out to the student victim to offer support.  University of Kentucky (@universityofky) November 6, 2022

The safety and well-being of our students is our top priority, and we will not tolerate behavior that threatens it.  University of Kentucky (@universityofky) November 6, 2022

this is the incident in question. pic.twitter.com/1nu35SBaFe  arabelle (@astbellaa) November 6, 2022

This girl, she walked in about 1-o-clock or 1:15, somewhere around that time. She did not look like a resident so I did not open the door, the victim said in a video posted to her Instagram story. But when she came in she stumbled across the front desk and came in and started to talk to the elevator.

She said it is protocol that when someone appears drunk, clerks are required to call a resident advisor and have them come to file a report, and to make sure the student gets to where they need to be safely.

I reach my head out of the clerk office desk and say Are you OK? the victim said in the video she posted. At that point, the victim said the other student repeatedly called her a racial slur.

Police were called to the scene, where the 22-year-old woman  identified in police documents as Jane Doe  was arrested.

In an arrest citation filled out by UK Police, one officer said that the suspect was repeating a racial slur to a group of Black females when the officer arrived. The officer wrote that she kept repeating the slur after she was placed in custody.

The suspect stated that she has lots of money and (gets) special treatment, the officer wrote. When I told her to sit back in the chair she kicked me and bit my hand.

An ambulance arrived and evaluated the suspect. She refused to identify herself and had no ID on her, police wrote in the citation.

According to the Fayette County Detention Center website, the woman was charged with first and second offenses of public intoxication, third-degree assault of a police officer, fourth-degree assault and second-degree disorderly conduct. UK officials confirmed the students name was Sophia Rosing, as had been previously reported. She had also been identified in videos posted to social media.

Maj. Matt LeMonds from the Fayette County jail told the Herald-Leader that Rosing arrived at the jail with no identification. He said the jail would update records with her name once she identifies herself in court.

In a tweet from the university, officials said the safety of their students was their top priority and more details would be released as they learn more.

UK President Eli Capilouto released a statement on Sunday afternoon and said the Office of Student Conduct is conducting an immediate review. Student success teams are reaching out to the student victims who were subject to the behavior for support, Capilouto said.

He said the student worker and victim involved in the incident acted with professionalism, restraint and discretion. He condemned the behavior of the woman arrested and said it will not be tolerated under any circumstance.

The safety and well-being of our community has been  and will continue to be  our top priority, he wrote.

The video images I have seen do not honor our responsibilities to each other. They reflect violence, which is never acceptable, and a denial of the humanity of members of our community. They do not reflect civil discourse. They are deeply antithetical to what we are and what we always want to be as a community, Capilouto said.

How long will student conduct review take?

Jay Blanton, a spokesperson for UK, said the university typically does not place a timeline on student conduct reviews.

Even as we are beginning our process, we also dont want to do anything that might interfere with a criminal investigation that is underway, Blanton said. Without question, we will move as quickly as possible, but also thoroughly and comprehensively. We will follow our process.

Reporter Chris Leach contributed to this story.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Another fundraising initiative is expected to be launched next week, according to Zelenskyy.

Read also: Ukrainian-made drones carry out unprecedented attack on Russian warships in Sevastopol

We will accumulate funds for a fleet of maritime drones, Zelesnkyy said.

I think that absolutely everyone understands what this is and what it is for, and Im sure that millions of people will support such a direction in our defense. Everyone has already seen how it works.

The invasion authorities of Crimea announced a drone attack had taken place in the waters of the Sevastopol Bay on Oct. 29. There were also reports of Russian air defenses in the occupied city engaging targets in the air.

Read also: At least three Russian Black Sea Fleet ships damaged in Sevastopol, investigation shows

The Russian Defense Ministry accused Ukraine and the United Kingdom of being behind the attack, without providing any evidence.

The Russians claimed that they had allegedly destroyed all air targets. They maintained that the attack by the Ukrainian military took place under the guidance of British specialists who are in Ochakiv (a town in Ukraines Mykolaiv Oblast, about 200 kilometers to the north-west of Sevastopol).

Read also: Russia summons UK ambassador over attack on Black Sea Fleet

The Russian Ministry of Defense said that, in addition to the Ivan Golubets warship, minor damage was caused to a protective barrier in the south bay.

Ukraine has not officially claimed responsibility for the attack. The Ukrainian South Central Command said that the explosions in Sevastopol could have been caused by unsuccessful launches of anti-aircraft missiles

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  The mayor of Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, is warning residents that they must prepare for the worst this winter if Russia keeps striking the country's energy infrastructure  and that means having no electricity, water or heat in the freezing cold cannot be ruled out.

We are doing everything to avoid this. But lets be frank, our enemies are doing everything for the city to be without heat, without electricity, without water supply, in general, so we all die. And the future of the country and the future of each of us depends on how prepared we are for different situations," Mayor Vitali Klitschko told state media.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation Sunday that about 4.5 million people were without electricity. He called on Ukrainians to endure the hardships and we must get through this winter and be even stronger in the spring than now.

Russia has focused on striking Ukraine's energy infrastructure over the last month, causing power shortages and rolling outages across the country. Kyiv was having hourly rotating blackouts Sunday in parts of the city and the surrounding region.

Rolling blackouts also were planned in the Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Kharkiv and Poltava regions, Ukraines state-owned energy operator, Ukrenergo, said.

Kyiv plans to deploy about 1,000 heating points, but it's unclear if that would be enough for a city of 3 million people.

As Russia intensifies its attacks on the capital, Ukrainian forces are pushing forward in the south. Residents of Ukraine's Russian-occupied city of Kherson received warning messages on their phones urging them to evacuate as soon as possible, Ukraine's military said Sunday. Russian soldiers warned civilians that Ukraine's army was preparing for a massive attack and told people to leave for the city's right bank immediately.

Russian forces are preparing for a Ukrainian counteroffensive to seize back the southern city of Kherson, which was captured during the early days of the invasion. In September, Russia illegally annexed Kherson as well as three other regions and subsequently declared martial law in the four provinces.

Story continues

The Kremlin-installed administration in Kherson already has moved tens of thousands of civilians out of the city.

Russia has been occupying and evacuating Kherson simultaneously, trying to convince Ukrainians that they're leaving when in fact they're digging in, Nataliya Humenyuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraine's Southern Forces, told state television.

There are defense units that have dug in there quite powerfully, a certain amount of equipment has been left, firing positions have been set up, she said.

Russian forces are also digging in in a fiercely contested region in the east, worsening the already tough conditions for residents and the defending Ukrainian army following Moscow's illegal annexation and declaration of martial law in Donetsk province.

The attacks have almost completely destroyed the power plants that serve the city of Bakhmut and the nearby town of Soledar, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the region's Ukrainian governor, said. Shelling killed one civilian and wounded three, he reported late Saturday.

The destruction is daily, if not hourly, Kyrylenko told state television.

Moscow-backed separatists have controlled part of Donetsk for nearly eight years before Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. Protecting the separatists' self-proclaimed republic there was one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's justifications for the invasion, and his troops have spent months trying to capture the entire province.

Between Saturday and Sunday, Russia's launched four missiles and 19 airstrikes hitting more than 35 villages in nine regions, from Chernihiv and Kharkiv in the northeast to Kherson and Mykolaiv in the south, according to Zelenskyy's office. The strikes killed two people and wounded six.

In the Donetsk city of Bakhmut, 15,000 remaining residents were living under daily shelling and without water or power, according to local media. The city has been under attack for months, but the bombardment picked up after Russian forces experienced setbacks during Ukrainian counteroffensives in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions.

The front line is now on Bakhmut's outskirts, where mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a shadowy Russian military company, are reported to be leading the charge.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the group who has typically remained under the radar, is taking a more visible role in the war. In a statement Sunday he announced the funding and creation of militia training centers in Russias Belgorod and Kursk regions in the southwest, saying that locals were best placed to fight against sabotage on Russian soil. The training centers are in addition to a military technology center the group said it was opening in St. Petersburg.

In Kharkiv, officials were working to identify bodies found in mass graves after the Russians withdrew, Dmytro Chubenko, a spokesperson for the regional prosecutor's office, told local media.

DNA samples have been collected from 450 bodies discovered in a mass grave in the city of Izium, but the samples need to be matched with relatives and so far only 80 people have participated, he said.

In one sliver of good news, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was reconnected to Ukraines power grid, local media reported Sunday. Europes largest nuclear plant needs electricity to maintain vital cooling systems, but it had been running on emergency diesel generators since Russian shelling severed its outside connections.

___

Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
The Armed Forces of Ukraine have repelled attacks by the occupiers near settlements in Kharkiv, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts over the past 24 hours.



Source: the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on Facebook, information as of 06:00 on 6 November.

Details: Occupiers attacks have been repelled in areas in and around the settlements of Zybyne in Kharkiv Oblast; Belohorivka in Luhansk Oblast; Andriivka, Bakhmutske, Berestov, Maiorsk, Makiivka, Marinka, Ozarianivka, Opytne, Pavlivka, Yakovlivka and Yampolivka in Donetsk Oblast and Shcherbaky in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Over the course of the past 24 hours, Russian forces carried out 4 missile strikes and 19 airstrikes, as well as over 75 attacks using multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS).

More than 35 Ukrainian cities, towns and villages came under Russian fire, including the settlements of Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts.

There were no significant changes on the Volyn and Polissia fronts.

On other fronts, the Russians continued to attack military and civilian targets:

On the Sivershchyna front: the Russians deployed mortars and tubed artillery to shell areas in and around the settlements of Mykolaivka and Senkivka in Chernihiv Oblast and Studenok in Sumy Oblast;



On the Slobozhanshchyna front: the Russians deployed mortars and tubed artillery to shell areas in and around the settlements of Bolohivka, Budarky, Zybyne, Krasne, Odnorobivka, Okhrimivka, Starytsia, Strilecha and Udy in Kharkiv Oblast;





On the Kupiansk and Lyman fronts: the Russians deployed tanks, mortars and tubed and rocket artillery to fire on areas in and around the settlements of Berestov, Vyshneve, Kotliarivka of Kharkiv Oblast, Nevske in Luhansk Oblast, and Lyman and Torske in Donetsk Oblast;





On the Bakhmut front: the Russians used tanks and various artillery to fire on areas in and around Andriivka, Bakhmut, Bakhmutske, Bilohorivka, Verkhnokamianske, Ivanivka, Klishchiivka, Maiorsk, Opytne, Soledar, Spirne and Yakovlivka in Donetsk Oblast;





On the Avdiivka front: the Russians used tanks, mortars, and tubed and rocket artillery to fire on areas in and around the settlements of Avdiivka, Krasnohorivka, Marinka, Nevelske, Novomykhailivka, Opytne, and Pervomaiske in Donetsk Oblast;





On the Novopavlivka front: Russian forces used all types of artillery to fire on areas in and around the settlements of Bohoyavlenka, Velyka Novosilka, Vodyane, Vuhledar, Vremivka, Pavlivka and Prechistivka in Donetsk Oblast;





On the Zaporizhzhia front: the Russians deployed tanks, mortars and tubed and rocket artillery to fire on areas in and around the settlements of Zaliznychne, Olhivske, Shcherbaki and Yurivka in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.





On the Pivdennyi Buh front: more than 25 cities, towns and villages situated along the line of contact came under Russian fire.





Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
(Reuters) - Ukraine's Russian-held Nova Kakhovka dam was damaged in shelling by Ukrainian forces, Russian news agencies reported on Sunday, citing emergency services.

Russian state-owned news agency TASS quoted a representative of the emergency services as saying that a rocket launched by a U.S.-made HIMARS missile system had hit the dam's lock and caused damaged. The official quoted said it was an "attempt to create the conditions for a humanitarian catastrophe" by breaching the dam.

The reports provided no evidence to support the allegation, which could not be immediately verified by Reuters.

The vast Nova Kakhovka dam, which blocks the Dnipro river upstream of Kherson where Ukrainian forces have been making advances, has taken on vital strategic significance in recent weeks.

Both Russia and Ukraine have since October repeatedly accused each of planning to breach the dam using explosives, in a move that would flood much of the area downstream in what would likely cause major destruction around Kherson city.

(Reporting by Reuters, Editing by William Maclean and Hugh Lawson)
KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday to discuss macro-financial aid for Ukraine and further sanctions on Iran, Zelenskiy said.

"Noted the importance of continuing the grain initiative for world food security. Discussed increasing sanctions & opposing actions of Iran, which supports aggression," Zelenskiy wrote on Twitter.

(Reporting by Max Hunder; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
MOGADISHU, Somalia  The United States military says it has carried out an airstrike in support of the Somali governments operations against the al-Shabab extremist group that has killed some of the groups fighters.

A statement by the U.S. Africa Command on Saturday describes the airstrike as being carried out Thursday in collective self-defense and at the request of the Somali National Army near the town of Cadale in the Middle Shabelle region.

Cadale is 220 kilometers (137 miles) north of the capital, Mogadishu.

The U.S. statement says al-Shabab fighters had been attacking Somali military forces. It says the initial assessment is that no civilians were killed.

The U.S. has carried out dozens of drone strikes against extremists in Somalia in recent years.
Valerie Bertinelli on "Today" on June 9, 2022. NBC via Getty Images

Valerie Bertinelli posed as Elon Musk on Twitter to show flaws in his new verification system.

After changing her display name, she posted dozens of tweets in support of Democratic candidates.

She changed her name back on Sunday, writing: "I think I made my point."

Actor Valerie Bertinelli impersonated Elon Musk on Twitter this weekend, posting and retweeting in support of Democratic candidates under the guise to make a point about his newly proposed verification system.

Bertinelli first changed her name on Saturday, shortly after Twitter rolled out the billionaire's controversial paid-verification system, which requires users to shell out $7.99 a month to receive a blue checkmark.

Critics have voiced concern that the plan could foster the spread of misinformation by paving the way for impersonators acting as notable politicians, journalists, and celebrities. Several celebrities  including Shonda Rhimes and Sara Bareilles  have expressed plans to leave Twitter since Musk took over, citing concern with his leadership.

"The blue checkmark simply meant your identity was verified," Bertinelli wrote on Twitter after changing her name. "Scammers would have a harder time impersonating you. That no longer applies. Good luck out there!"

Over the next several hours, the actor posted and retweeted dozens of tweets in support of Democratic candidates ahead of midterm elections Tuesday.

As "Elon Musk," she posted hashtags like #VoteBlueToProtectYourRights and shared tweets supporting gubernatorial candidates Gretchen Whitmore in Michigan and Beto O'Rourke in Texas, among others.

As other users pointed out, many of the tweets on their feed appeared as if Musk himself had actually retweeted them.

The actress, who recently made news after Matthew Perry claimed in his memoir that the two kissed while her then-husband Eddie Van Halen was passed out drunk next to them, began trending on Twitter on Sunday.

As buzz over her prank mounted, she opted to change her display name back, writing on Sunday: "Okey-dokey I've had my fun and I think I made my point. I'm just not a 'trending' kind of gal. Never have been, never want to be. Have a safe Sunday everyone! xo"

Read the original article on Business Insider
By Mayela Armas

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's government rejected on Saturday a decision by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to resume an investigation into alleged human rights violations by the South American country's officials.

On Tuesday, ICC Prosecutor Karim Kham applied for authorization to continue the investigation after he had received "a significant amount of information provided by Venezuela to date, as well as other credible sources".

But the Venezuelan government pushed back.

In a statement, it called Kham's vision "prejudiced" and vowed "to defend the truth and demonstrate the productive work of the authorities in the investigation of all the complaints of serious crimes against people" in the pre-trial chamber.

"It is especially worrying that the ICC prosecutor's request is basically based on secondary sources lacking any credibility," the government said in a statement published on the foreign ministry's official Twitter account.

It also accused the investigation of "marked bias and clear politicization, to the detriment of the rigor expected from an international instance."

The ICC had started a preliminary investigation in 2018; Khan said in March that he would open an office in the Venezuelan capital Caracas.

(Reporting by Mayela Armas; Writing by Stefanie Eschenbacher; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
(Bloomberg) -- Americans are headed to the ballot box amid a surge of partisan election lawsuits in another sign of growing US polarization around the franchise.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Even before Tuesdays midterm elections, more lawsuits have been filed this year than in all of 2020 by Democrats and Republicans challenging everything from who can vote to where ballots are collected and monitored.

So far, at least 157 suits were filed by partisans, and more are likely after Election Day, according to Democracy Docket, a left-leaning website that tracks such cases. In 2020, there were about 150, including dozens of failed attempts by Republicans to overturn President Joe Bidens victory over Donald Trump.

Cases filed in almost three dozen states raise questions about virtually every aspect of voting, from the purging of voter rolls to the counting of mail-in ballots with missing details. Other suits seek to reign in use of drop boxes and allow private groups to monitor people as they cast their ballots. Under the US Constitution, each state can run all its own elections, so the legal challenges hinge on how courts interpret different state election laws and constitutions.

We are in an era where we are going to see more litigation around elections and election results than we have in the past, said Marc Elias, a lawyer who runs Democracy Docket and has ties to the Democratic Party. The precise contours of the litigation will depend on what the election results are and the willingness of Republicans to accept them and certify the results.

Defending Access

Democrats and voting rights advocates say their lawsuits are driven by a desire to protect and defend access to the polls. Theyre also challenging laws adopted by state legislatures over the past two years that they say make it harder for people to cast their ballots and can open the door for partisan interference in elections.

Story continues

Republicans claim their courtroom blitz is designed to protect future elections from the kind of widespread voting fraud that Trump and his allies falsely blamed for his 2020 loss. Among other things, the GOP alleges increased use of mail-in ballots during the Covid-19 pandemic has increased the chances of abuse.

One side is pushing for more security to instill confidence in how elections are run, and the other side is pushing for less security under the guise of more people voting being better, said Tom Fitton, president of the conservative nonprofit Judicial Watch.

Americans should ask: why is it that the Left opposes virtually every election integrity measure? One conclusion, said Fitton, is that Democrats want to steal elections when necessary.

Adav Noti, legal director at the non-partisan Campaign Legal Center, which advocates for increased participation in elections, expressed concern about the jump in anti-voter complaints filed by Republicans. They have the potential to be significant because they can sometimes necessitate last-minute changes to procedures and who is ultimately able to vote or not, said Noti, whose organization is involved in several election suits.

The bulk of the pending suits may not impact Tuesdays vote. Thats because the US Supreme Court has discouraged judges from changing election laws and practices right before people cast their ballots, to avoid causing confusion or creating a negative interference, said Sean Morales-Doyle, director of the voting rights program at the Brennan Center for Justice.

Absentee Ballots

In one case, Fittons Judicial Watch challenged an Illinois law allowing absentee ballots to be counted up to two weeks after Election Day. The suit claims that violates the law establishing a single national Election Day. In 2020, Illinois received 4.4% of votes during that two-week window, according to that suit.

The concern is that vote-by-mail raises ballot security concerns that havent been addressed, Fitton said.

Democrats argue it would be unconstitutional to disregard a ballot mailed on Election Day.

Arizonas Republican Party, building on unfounded claims of voter fraud, sued in May to block mail-in-voting in the state, which has allowed all residents to vote by mail since 1991. A judge in June ruled the law doesnt violate the state constitution.

Kari Lake, Arizonas Republican candidate for governor and a Trump supporter, alleged in a lawsuit that the US shift to voting machines created unjustified new risks of hacking, election tampering, and electronic voting fraud. A judge rejected her theory, noting that speculative allegations were insufficient to establish an injury, and dismissed her claim as flatly wrong that the state failed to use paper ballots.

Many of the Republican claims about ballot security and fraud are chasing a problem that doesnt exist, said Celina Stewart, chief counsel and senior director of advocacy and litigation at the League of Women Voters. She believes theyre likely part of a longer-term strategy to restrict voting among Black and Brown people.

Missing Information

In Pennsylvania, the Republican National Committee challenged plans by county election boards to notify voters with absentee ballots that are missing information, which the GOP alleged would result in unequal treatment of otherwise identical ballots and an erosion of public trust in the system.

On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled no mail-in ballots can be counted without a date written on their outer envelope, and to instead separate and preserve them. The court said it was evenly divided on whether those ballots should be counted and that additional opinions would follow. As of Friday, there have been 1.4 million mail-in and absentee ballots requested in Pennsylvania and 1.06 million returned -- 70% by Democrats and 21% by Republicans, according to Department of State data.

Pennsylvania Republicans also sought to overturn the states 2019 bipartisan legislation that expanded mail-in voting by allowing any voter to use an absentee ballot for any reason. They argue the law known as Act 77 is invalid because part of it was vacated in a different lawsuit.

On Friday, the NAACP, League of Women Voters and other groups sued in Pennsylvania to prevent the states county election officials from rejecting any mail-in ballots in Tuesdays election over the meaningless omission of a signed date next to the voters signature. Such a trivial paperwork error is not material to determining if a voter is qualified to cast a ballot, the groups said.

GOP-Backed Successes

In Wisconsin, there are several suits over ballot curing, or correcting information on absentee ballots like missing zip code addresses.

A local judge sided with Republicans in September and said election clerks should not be able to fill in missing information, striking down prevailing guidance issued by the states election commission. A separate judge rejected a bid by the League of Women Voters to get the ballots counted, saying that acting so close to the election would cause confusion.

North Carolina settled a lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch, after the group alleged some counties had registration rates close to or exceeding all eligible citizens. The state agreed to remove more than 430,000 ineligible names from the voter rolls.

In Delaware, the states top court on Oct. 7 unanimously struck down a new vote-by-mail law, saying it impermissibly expanded the categories of people who can use absentee ballots under the state constitution. The court also threw out the states same-day voter registration statute.

Some of the cases arent likely to impact voting until 2024. For example, in Utah, Notis Campaign Legal Center sued over a redistricting map that split the states one Democrat-leaning district -- in Salt Lake City -- into multiple Republican-leaning districts.

In Texas, an omnibus election law adopted last year faces legal challenges, and lawsuits were filed against a Georgia law that prohibits the distribution of food and water to voters outside polling places.

Meanwhile, the outcome of Tuesdays elections will impact whether even more litigation emerges ahead of 2024, said Noti.

If some of these election-denier candidates get elected and start illegally changing election procedures, theres going to be a lot of litigation over that, and theyre going be watched very carefully, he said.

--With assistance from Mark Niquette.

(Updates with NAACP lawsuit over Pennsylvania mail-in ballots and updates tally of mail-in ballots returned in the state. An earlier version corrected the description of Democracy Docket.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2022 Bloomberg L.P.
Former President Trump is holding a rally in Latrobe, Pa., Saturday evening.

During the event, he will continue to campaign for Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz and gubernatorial candidate state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R).

Its four days before the midterm elections Tuesday, and polling shows Oz now leading Fetterman in the key battleground state.

President Biden and former President Obama are on the other side of the state in Philadelphia Saturday evening, campaigning for Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman and gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D).

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Weathered Souls Brewing Co. is putting the finishing touches on its 10,000-square-foot space in South End.

There was a flurry activity at 255 Clanton Road yesterday, with tables being assembled, last-minute projects and painting. Weathered Souls will host its grand opening on Nov. 12.

Its a fantastic craft beer market. We actually looked at opening in Charlotte six years ago, says Marcus Baskerville. Now, we have that bandwidth to manage both locations.

ALSO READ: Bang Bang Burgers aims to make more of South End restaurants patio space

Baskerville and Mike Holt are behind the brand, which got it start in San Antonio, Texas, in 2016. The duo met while Baskerville worked at a small brewery where Holt was an investor. They were sharing a beer one day when the idea surfaced to start their own brewery.

It was important to me because he has a talent that was not being utilized, Holt says. My goal was to just offer him an opportunity and see where we could go with it.

Weathered Souls expects to invest about $1.6 million in its Charlotte facility. The space houses a 4,000-square-foot taproom, 10-barrel brewhouse and a cocktail lounge. James Beard-nominated chef Greg Collier is behind the food offerings.

It is the Queen Citys only Black-owned brewery, following the closure of Three Spirits Brewing in 2019.

Weathered Souls also will house an incubator program designed to support minorities and women looking to tap into the craft-beer scene.

Read more here and check out additional photos here.

(WATCH BELOW: Company behind popular South End brewery buys $7.3M of land in North End)




STATESBORO, Ga. (AP)  Sophomore La'Damian Webb rushed for a school-record 247 yards and four touchdowns to rally South Alabama to a 38-31 victory over Georgia Southern on Saturday night.

Webb carried 35 times to post his record total for South Alabama (7-2, 4-1 Sun Belt Conference), surpassing the previous mark of 203 set by Tra Minter in 2018 against Coastal Carolina.

Webb scored the final three touchdowns of the game. His 5-yard scoring run with three minutes left in the third quarter pulled the Jaguars within 31-24. Webb added another 5-yard touchdown run with 11:46 remaining in the game to knot the score at 31 and gave South Alabama the lead with 5:50 left on a 9-yard run.

Georgia Southern (5-4, 2-3) led 21-7 after one quarter on Khadry Jackson's 43-yard interception-return score, Jalen White's 54-yard scoring run and Kyle Vantrease's 16-yard touchdown pass to Derwin Burgess Jr.

Webb's first TD run helped South Alabama pull within 24-17 at halftime.

Carter Bradley completed 16 of 27 passes for 193 yards for the Jaguars with two interceptions. His 10-yard scoring toss to Jalen Wayne came in the first quarter.

Vantrease totaled 278 yards on 26-of-45 passing for the Eagles with two touchdowns and an interception. Jjay Mcafee had the other touchdown catch. Burgess finished with eight receptions for 96 yards.

___

More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25. Sign up for the APs college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25
White House

Read also: Putin says he is ready to wait for Kyiv's consent to negotiations

The request by U.S. officials is not aimed at pushing Ukraine to the negotiating table, according to these sources. Rather, they called it a calculated attempt to ensure the government in Kyiv maintains the support of other nations facing constituencies wary of fueling a war for many years to come.

The Biden administration is privately encouraging Ukraines leaders to signal an openness to negotiate with Russia and drop their public refusal to engage in peace talks unless President Vladimir Putin is removed from power, the Washington Post reported.

Previously, President Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine will only be able to begin peace talks with Russia if the invading forces retreat from occupied Ukrainian territory and admitted that they had made a "terrible mistake.

Read also: No dialogue with Moscow possible under current conditions, says Zelenskyy

The Ukrainian president on Oct. 4 enacted a decision taken by the National Security and Defense Council to outlaw any negotiations with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

The President's Office said that Kyiv would be ready for negotiations when the Russian leader changes.

Read also: Negotiations possible with Russia only with next Russian president, says Zelenskyys office

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The White House is raising eyebrows with its midterm strategy, which has President Biden largely staying out of key battleground states in favor of safer spots.

Biden did make a trip to Philadelphia on Saturday to provide last-minute support to Democrat John Fetterman in his pivotal Senate battle with Republican Mehmet Oz.

But Philadelphia is a true-blue city, and the president is largely staying absent from the big Senate battlegrounds in Georgia, Ohio, Nevada and Arizona.

The president is expected to end the campaign season in Maryland for a rally with Democrat Wes Moore, who is a sure bet to win his race for governor.

One strategist dubbed the decision to keep Biden out of the hot spots as the do no harm strategy. Its a reminder that Biden is energizing GOP voters, and that his faltering poll numbers are a drag on many Democratic candidates.

Hes not going to do any harm to Wes Moore, the strategist said. But he would potentially hurt some of these other candidates who dont need a reminder of the 80-year-old president with the bad economy beside them.

He wants to be part of the 2022 conversation with as little impact as possible that he can be blamed for, the strategist said.

Of course, this isnt the best sign for a president who has hopes of running for reelection himself in 2024.

No one wants to talk about it, but he should be doing more of the Obama stops and he cant, a second strategist said, noting that former President Obama has made a number of trips to battlegrounds in recent weeks. I dont think it paints a good picture of whats in store in 2024.

The White House has been on defense over Bidens schedule, even if the answer is fairly obvious to followers of politics.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre this week argued that Biden can be helpful to Democrats from anywhere because of his bully pulpit.

It goes beyond just the state that hes in, it goes beyond just the people hes speaking in front of, and we think that matters, she said on Thursday, adding that Bidens speeches are televised and covered widely by the press.

Story continues

Its not that Biden has been completely absent.

Bidens visit to Philadelphia on Saturday was one of many trips to the Keystone State recently.

Biden traveled to Florida last week to boost two Democrats who are trailing in the polls by double digits.

In a recent poll, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) was leading challenger Rep. Val Demings (D) by 11 points and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) was leading challenger Charlie Crist (D) by 14 points.

Some look at the week before Election Day as the time to build on momentum, but not change voters minds.

Overall, at this point, its all get out the vote. At this point, its motivating our early vote, you know, not necessarily persuading. So, I think hes going everywhere that is required of him and having a very strong close, said Ivan Zapien, a lobbyist and former Democratic National Committee (DNC) official.

First lady Jill Biden is traveling to Arizona on Saturday to campaign for Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), who has seen his race with Republican Blake Masters tighten. Vice President Harris will join Biden in true-blue Chicago on Sunday, while second gentleman Doug Emhoff traveled to Iowa on Friday to campaign for gubernatorial candidate Deidre DeJear (D).

Jean-Pierre, pressed Thursday on why Biden is only visiting blue states, pointed to stops where other officials are visiting and said, this is an  if you will  all of government, kind of, process here.

Obama is arguably Democrats most helpful surrogate and has been using his star power on the trail.

Brandon Neal, former DNC political director and political adviser to Obama and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, said that using surrogates like Obama to help Biden get out the vote is essential.

You cant go to everything all at once. I think its a matter of identifying who will be the most appropriate person, deploying the top surrogates, he said. I think having former President Obama go in his place is equally fine.

Obama has garnered headlines in the last week for his fiery rhetoric. He has made stops alongside Mandela Barnes, the Democratic Senate hopeful, in Milwaukee, and in Atlanta, where he lambasted Republican Herschel Walker, who is running to replace Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock.

Walker is someone who carries around a phony badge and says he is in law enforcement like a kid playing cops and robbers, Obama said as part of a speech full of scathing attacks on the candidate.

But some strategists say that both Biden and Obama have taken on traditional roles in the midterm elections. When he was president, for example, Obama relied on surrogates including former President Clinton to headline rallies for candidates, particularly in 2010 and 2014.

Its normal in presidential campaigns or just campaigns, especially in midterms, Neal said. If you are in a place thats considered conservative or considered not necessarily a blue state, then some states would rather have a former president versus an existing just by way of whos in the White House.

Some strategists argue that having Biden end the campaign season with the Maryland trip for Moore is a smart move because he is considered a rising star.

I think that Wes Moore brings a certain energy and certain excitement back to Maryland, very similar to what President Obama gave when he ran for president in 2008, Neal said. I also think its a state that is close, its not far geographically, so its easy to go in and seal the deal.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Doug Mills/The New York Times

Former President Donald Trump mocked Ron DeSantis at his Saturday night rallycalling the Florida governor Ron DeSanctimonious.

And hours later, Trump found himself in hot water with fellow conservatives who werent pleased that hed taken aim at the increasingly popular DeSantis.

During his rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, while touting his poll numbers (from a month ago), Trump found an opening to take a swing at DeSantis, whos quickly turned into an unofficial 2024 Republican presidential rival.

There it is, Trump at 71. Ron DeSanctimonious at 10 percent, Trump said. Mike Pence at 7oh, Mike Pence doing better than I thought. (Its the first time Trumps tried out the nickname, but longtime ally Roger Stonea fierce DeSantis criticposted the dig about a week ago.)

The reactions to the Trump name-calling werent favorable in conservative circles.

Calling it now, DeSantis is going to run, and hes going to beat Trump badly, Will Chamberlain, the publisher of Human Events and a right-wing lawyer, said in response to the Trump jab. This is just weak.

Right-wing Daily Wire pundit Matt Walsh also expressed frustration at Trump over the dumb nickname.

Trump isnt going to be able to take this one [DeSantis] down with a dumb nickname. He better have more than that up his sleeve, he wrote. Also, nice job launching your public attack against the most popular conservative governor in America three days before the midterms when were all supposed to be showing a united front.

It didnt end there.

RedState editor Jennifer Van Laar commented, Enough, Trump. Stop. Move on, while a Townhall writer asked what DeSantis has done to earn Trumps scorn here right before an election? Its inexcusable and just shows this has always been about him, the writer added.

Story continues

What an idiot, Rod Dreher, an editor at the right-wing website, The American Conservative, tweeted. DeSantis is a far more effective leader of the Right than Trump was, if, that is, you expect a leader to get a lot done, rather than just talking about it and owning the libs.

Congressman Chip Roy (R-TX) sided with DeSantis, too, writing: Or Ron DeSaidNoToFauci thats another angle.

TrumpWorld Becomes Unglued Over Trumps Praise of Vaccine and Booster Shots

Trumps attacks on DeSantis are going to have a boomerang effect. Almost all Trump supporters are big fans of the Florida governor and agree with his policies and approach in running Florida, Fox News contributor Joe Concha said. This comes just 3 days before an election and reflects poorly on the former president.

Even vigorous Trump defender and former Federalist co-founder Ben Domenech said the new Trump nickname needed some workshopping.

Roger Stone Threw a Fit After Not Getting Pardon, Called Ivanka Abortionist Bitch

A Trump spokesperson didnt return The Daily Beasts request for comment on Saturday night.

The Daily Beast previously reported that Trump intends to hit DeSantis and isnt backing down anytime soon.

Trumps going to end up doing to DeSantis and his wife what he did to Cruz and his wife, a Trump adviser told The Daily Beast.

The Quiet Way Trump and DeSantis Are Preparing for a Fight

DeSantis and Trump plan to be in Florida on Sunday and hold competing rallies over 240 miles apart.

Trump is going to try to destroy him, an adviser said.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
A woman accused of stabbing a tourist inside a posh Midtown Manhattan steakhouse, piercing his lung, told cops she doesnt remember the attack  and her parents told the Daily News she was only defending herself after being punched.

Joan Thompson was celebrating her 41st birthday with her cousin by visiting Ruths Chris Steakhouse on W. 51st St. for the first time Friday night.

The 24-year-old victim, eating with his wife as part of a large party at another table and a stranger to Thompson, needed surgery after he was stabbed in the back in an attack prosecutors say was partially captured on video.

Police said Thompson flew into a rage Friday night after the victims wife made snide remarks about the service and the waitstaff at the W. 51st St. steakhouse.

Video taken by another patron showed Thompson standing on a chair or bench, gripping the steak knife and shouting, assistant District Attorney Samantha McCarthy said during Thompsons arraignment Saturday in Manhattan Criminal Court.

She can be seen repeatedly plunging the knife downward, and the blade connected with the victim once, going through the flesh of his back and piercing his lung, prosecutors say.

But Thompsons father claimed his daughter was punched in the face and harassed as the mayhem broke out around her, based on what his daughter and her cousin told him.

Workers at the restaurant who did not want to be named but who spoke to witnesses told the Daily News that diners at the victims table insulted the suspect and her cousin and punched the suspect before the stabbing. They insulted Thompson and her cousins clothing, calling them prostitutes, the workers claim.

Thats exactly how it started, Carlos Stapleton, 84, said Sunday. These people left their table to come to my daughters table to start harassing them for nothing. He put his hands on her is what I was told.

He said another woman from the group at the next table also approached and started harassing his daughter.

Story continues

My daughter told them, Were not here to fight  we came here to have dinner, he said. My daughter got the worst of it and shes the victim protecting herself.

The woman who approached Thompson threatened her, saying, Im going to bust your nose, Thompsons mother, Barbara Stapleton, 64, claims.

If shes protecting herself, why is she in jail and theyre not in jail? the mother said. Thats cruel to me.

Thompson, is charged with assault, was ordered held on $40,000 bail. Prosecutors argued that while she has no previous criminal record, the fact that she fled the restaurant indicates shes a flight risk.

Shes not OK, Carlos Stapleton said of his daughter. Shes highly upset because this has never happened before. She was never in any trouble at all.

Thompson fled but police were able to identify her from the table reservation and arrested her later that night, prosecutors said.

She told police she remembered being in the restaurant and getting into an argument but didnt remember the stabbing itself, McCarthy said. But Thompson acknowledged she was the woman in the video and that it appeared to show her stabbing the victim, according to the criminal complaint.

The victim, who police said hails from Milford, Mass., was released from New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell after surgery, prosecutors said.

Thompsons mother said she spoke to her daughter from Rikers Island.

She said, Mommy, I didnt mean to do it but I was scared, the mom said. Shes very scared. I dont think they should have taken her to Rikers. Im furious that shes at Rikers.

The family was still trying to pull together enough money to get her released on bond Sunday.

It was unjust. For her being a victim, yes it was unfair, her father said of the bail amount. Its hard. It hit everybody unexpected. Its hard on the family.

Thompson is a mother of two young children and a Costco supervisor.

Joanies not a violent person, whatsoever, her mother said. Shes the sweetest person youd want to meet and Im not just saying that because Im her mother. Everybody who meets my baby says shes a beautiful person.

With Emma Seiwell
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has emphasised in his nightly video address that if Iran supplies Russia with weapons, it must be held responsible for the effects of the war on Ukraine on par with Russia itself.

Source: President Zelenskyys video address

Details: Zelenskyy said that he discussed increasing pressure on the Iranian government with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.

Quote from Zelenskyy: "[Irans] complicity in Russian terror must be punished. And we will make sure this issue is taken up not just by our usual partners. The whole world will know that the Iranian regime is helping Russia prolong this war, and therefore to extend the global threats caused by the Russian war.

If it were not for Iran supplying weapons to the aggressor, we would be closer to peace now. And this means we would be closer to solving the food crisis. Closer to solving the cost-of-living crisis. Closer to stabilising the energy market. Closer to being protected from Russias relentless nuclear blackmail.

Therefore, absolutely everyone who helps Russia prolong this war must be held responsible for the consequences of this war along with Russia itself."

More details: Zelenskyy said that Russia is continuing to amass forces and equipment that would enable it to renew its attacks on Ukraines infrastructure, including, first and foremost, on the energy infrastructure.

"Thats why Russia needs Iranian missiles. We are preparing to respond," he said.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that he held a phone conversation with Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission.

Source: Zelenskyy on Telegram

Quote: "We discussed macro-financial assistance to Ukraine for the current and coming years.

We also stressed the importance of continuing the grain initiative for world food security."

Details: Additionally, the two leaders touched on the subject of strengthening sanctions against Iran and opposing its actions in support of the aggression against Ukraine.

Background:

Russia has been making massive use of kamikaze drones, identified by specialists as Iranian-made Shahed-136 (Russian forces refer to them by the name Geran). Tehran has denied supplying UAVs to Russia multiple times. The White House thinks that Irans denial is false.

On 5 November, Iran admitted having supplied UAVs to Moscow for the first time, but before the invasion of Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called a lie the statement of Iran that "a small number" of Iranian-made UAVs was sent to Russia several months before Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
The Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance held its annual Business Hall of Fame Gala on Friday at The Virginian Hotel and honored two new inductees.

Megan Lucas, CEO of the Alliance, said these inductees have impacted business, industry and the community of the region in a substantial manner, either through their sustained superior accomplishments or through a specific and important achievement.

The Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance strategically chose our organizations tagline, where creativity and commerce connect, to intentionally emphasize how powerful things can be when those two things come together, she said. To that end, the recognition tonight combines creativity with the inductees contributions to commerce.

Luke Towles, chair of the Alliance, said this years inductees have spent their lives not only building their business but building their community.

I hope that their stories will inspire others in this room, he said.

Christine Kennedy, COO of the Alliance, said criteria include being a professional from large and small businesses who have made an outstanding contribution to the free enterprise system. The individual may be the founder or someone who contributed significantly to company development and may be active, retired or deceased. Civic and/or philanthropic activities are relevant but not the primary factor in selection. The volunteer selection committee seeks individuals representing ethnic diversity who have demonstrated exceptional business leadership within their community.

The laureates may or may not currently hold the position in which they achieved major success and for which they are being honored. Nominees must have resided in the Lynchburg metropolitan area during their contribution to the community, but do not need to currently reside there.

This year, the Alliance honored local attorney Arelia Langhorne and now deceased N.B. Handy founder, Nathan Handy.

Langhorne is a retired attorney who practiced law for 36 years, during which time she also served many organizations in the Lynchburg community. She is a graduate of Valparaiso University and attended the University of Virginia School of Law. Her legal career began as counsel with Babcock & Wilcoxs Naval Nuclear Fuel Division where she negotiated government contracts to manufacture fuel for the Navys aircraft carriers and submarines and provided legal advice in regulatory compliance.

Her law practice was established in 1985 to serve ordinary people, small businesses, churches and non-profit groups. Langhorne served on the Virginia State Bar committee to review and rewrite the Code of Professional Responsibility. She was a substitute judge for the General District Court and the Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court. Her community service began as a member of the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA and continued with her involvement with the Lynchburg Chapter of Jack & Jill of America, STEP with Links, the League of Women Voters of Lynchburg. She also was awarded the Lynchburg Mayors Service Award.

John Falcone, a friend and colleague of Langhorne, said she has been a path breaker and opened doors for both women and members of the Black community in her career.

I attribute a great deal of her success, not only to her intelligence and determination, but to her extraordinary personal style with which she conducted business, Falcone said. She was a lawyer advocating zealously for her clients. But she conducted her advocacy without unnecessarily offending or demonizing her opponents. She conducted it with grace and dignity, which is very different from what we do often see today in business and politics. Her manor was genteel and understated but firm and effective.

Handy started his career as an employee at E.D. Bell & Co., a branch of Jones Watts Hardware Co., and was associated with W.P. Clark Hardware firm.

Handy also worked with Virginia Nail and Iron Works and engaged in publishing at The Lynchburg Progress, which was absorbed by The News and The Daily Advance. Handy started and became President of N.B. Handy Co. on April 1, 1891, specializing in steel roofing, copper, solder, and accessories delivered to customers by horse and wagon.

After 38 years, Handy built the 65 10th Street building in Lynchburg to house the firm. After the boom succeeding World War II, the company added heating and air conditioning services. He later retired and N.B. Handy was placed under the stewardship of his grandson, James Christian, Jr. The company went into its fourth generation of family ownership.

Today, N.B. Handy has grown to 16 locations from Maryland to Florida and has become a leading distributor of metals, HVAC, commercial roofing, and machinery products.

Tom Mills, CFO for N.B. Handy, introduced Handy into the Hall of Fame saying he is one of thousands of employees who have benefited from the 131 years of the company.

It really hit home to me that Ive been so fortunate to be a part of this organization and to experience that melting pot of opportunity and business and being a part of the force in the community that N.B. Handy has, he said.

Bruce Christian, Handys great grandson, said all N.B. Handy employees are considered family.

Theres some of us who share blood with N.B. Handy, however I discount that in terms of all the people who are in this organization and have worked at N.B. Handy and are legacies of his vision, he said.
Work is complete on 90 Sands Street, a 30-story residential tower in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Designed by Beyer Blinder Belle and developed by Breaking Ground, the project involved the redevelopment of the former Jehovahs Witness Hotel and yields 491 units with a portion devoted to deeply affordable housing and supportive housing for the formerly homeless, as well as a 28,000-square-foot community facility and commercial space spanning the first and second floors and a public plaza at the corner of Sands and Jay Streets.

We are thrilled to open 90 Sands at such a critical time for New York City to abate a relentless homelessness crisis and provide much-needed housing for low-income and formerly homeless New Yorkers, said Brenda Rosen, president and CEO of Breaking Ground. Over the course of two years the redevelopment of 90 Sands remained on schedule and in turn was scaled for impact to help more than 300 people leave homelessness behind and find dignity and security with a home of their own.

The affordable component includes 185 units designated for extremely low to moderate-income households, and 305 units reserved for formerly homeless individuals. Half of the units, a total of 246, are permanently affordable, and the balance are affordable under a 60-year regulatory agreement.

Amenity spaces include a multipurpose room for community events and meetings, a digital library, a fitness room, and bike storage. The Center for Urban Community Services will provide onsite social services to 90 Sands residents including case management, primary medical care, mental health services, employment readiness, and benefits counseling, among others.

Our first hotel conversion project to open amid the pandemic, 90 Sands advances key goals of equity and inclusion, bringing an additional 185 affordable apartments for New Yorkers with extremely low- to moderate incomes in one of the citys most expensive neighborhoods, Rosen said.

Breaking Ground purchased the hotel in August 2018 for $170 million. For the acquisition of 90 Sands, Breaking Ground received $2 million from the New York City Council, a $155 million loan from the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), and a $10 million grant from Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. Breaking Ground provided a $6.7 million sponsor loan to finance acquisition and pre-construction costs. The Leviticus Fund also provided $1.5 million in pre-construction financing. Subsequent to the acquisition, Breaking Ground obtained a zoning change for the project in 2020 after an approval pursuant to the citys land use review procedure.

The renovation and repositioning of the building as supportive and affordable housing was financed by 501c3 and taxable bonds totaling more than $70.4 million issued by the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC). HDC provided an additional $6 million in capital subsidy. Construction financing was also supported by a grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of New Yorks Affordable Housing Program. JPMorgan Chase provided a construction letter of credit.

Other contributions include a $3 million lead grant from Wells Fargo, support from Deutsche Banks DB SHARE program, and National Grid.

90 Sands demonstrates exactly why we fought for hotel conversion legislation in Albany: To create affordable housing more quickly and efficiently than we can starting from scratch, said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. I promised we would celebrate New Yorkers getting into homes, not people signing deals, and I am proud to say that with our innovative referral pilot, we housed 80 people here in just one week.

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Serving in the military takes a lot of sacrifice, and Omaha artist John Lajbas sculpted figures at the Bayliss Park Veterans Plaza are a tribute to the men and women who put their lives on the line to serve the country.

Veterans Plaza, located along Pearl Street on the east side of Bayliss Park, was dedicated on July 4, 2003. The project was the brainchild of a group of Pottawattamie County veterans in 1999, and the $820,000 price tag was shouldered by contributors such as the Iowa West Foundation, the county board of supervisors, the Council Bluffs Parks Department and Ameristar and Harrahs casinos.

The granite surface of the plazas wall contains the names of county residents, dating back to the Civil War, who died while serving in the military. The names are grouped by the respective wars in which they were killed.

Placed along the plaza are three different statues sculpted by Lajba. On the south side of the monument stand a weeping couple who are pointing to names inscribed on the wall. In the middle is a man holding a folded U.S. flag.

The Vietnam War memorial is located on the north end of the plaza, with a soldier carrying a rifle and standing tall, watching over passersby.

They were willing to pay the ultimate price so that we could enjoy what we have today, the U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska said at the plazas dedication in 2003. They understood that they were serving interests greater than just their own.

Memorials such as the one in Council Bluffs, he noted, acknowledge the service of individuals who left their families and entered the armed forces because they believed it was necessary.

Anyone who is a veteran, or is a family member of a veteran, knows there is no glory in war, Hagel, a Vietnam veteran himself, said. There is only suffering.

Guests who wish to see more of Lajbas work only need to walk a block north to the First Responders Safety Plaza, located along West Broadway between Main and Pearl streets. The plaza features a police officer and his service dog, a firefighter holding a child, an Iowa State Patrol Trooper and a deputy sheriff.
Dottie Barickman is a leader in the local veterans community.

Instrumental in the effort to construct the new Nebraska Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Papillion, she has also served as the national director-at-large of the Vietnam Veterans of America since 2015.

A VVA member since 1987, she has participated in VVAs National Finance, Constitution, Women Veterans and PTSD committees. At the state level, Barickman has been active with the VVA Nebraska State Council, and she has held the positions of president, vice president, secretary and delegate with Chapter 279 in Omaha. She has also held leadership roles with the Nebraska Veterans Home Board, Nebraska Veterans Council and Governors Round Table.

She is dedicated to honoring veterans  a cause near and dear to her.

Barickman helped stage the Omaha production of A Piece of My Heart, a play depicting the struggles of nurses serving in Vietnam, and she participated in events with the Women in Military Service Association, the Vietnam War 50th Commemoration and the Offutt Air Force Base Open House Committee.

Barickman was born in Nashville, Tennessee, but grew up in Mississippi. While attending Memphis State University during the Vietnam War, she felt compelled to join the military.

"I believe everyone should contribute to our freedom," she said.

Barickman served in the U.S. Air Force from 1970 to 1974. Stationed at Lackland, Barksdale and Offutt, she specialized in data automation and computer programming.

After serving at Offutt, Barickman lived in Omaha for a number of years. Upon her son's graduation from Iowa State University, she and her husband moved to Council Bluffs, where they live today.

When her son went off to college, Barickman felt compelled to give back in some capacity. Her husband  also a veteran  suggested she get involved with an organization that centered on military. After a few months of searching for the right fit, she got a phone call from Washington, D.C., referring her to the Vietnam Veterans of America's local meeting.

"The group honestly welcomed me with open arms," she said. "I was treated exactly the way I would want others to be treated. It was a wonderful feeling; I felt blessed that I had found them."

Thus began Barickman's extensive service through the organization, culminating in her national involvements.

Still, Barickman isn't afraid to put in the work. In fact, it's what she enjoys most.

When a couple of the Omaha VVA chapter members proposed a Nebraska Vietnam veterans memorial, she asked if they needed help.

She started investigating, first trying to help pull in an architect. Then she met with Papillion Mayor David Black, and later with city staff, before the city donated two acres of land for the project.

"My role is to push us ahead, put us in the right place," Barickman said. "I want to be a worker. This gives me the opportunity to work on behalf of the veterans."

She helped build a partnership with Bellevue University, who aided the memorial effort by starting a website and recruiting volunteers to begin telling veterans stories, with the goal to share as many stories of individual Nebraska Vietnam veterans and their families as possible.

"People inspire me," she said. "Military inspires me; red, white and blue inspires me  to hear people talk about human touch, telling the story. Every single story is different; every way they look at it is different; every takeaway is different."

This spring, ground was broken on the Nebraska Vietnam Veterans Memorial  located on a hill just south of the SumTur Amphitheater off 108th Street near Papillion La Vista South High School. Groundwork is expected to be laid before the end of the year, Barickman said.

A prime location, it's within a one-hour drive time for 65% of Nebraskas residents, and it's situated between the Omaha National Cemetery in Papillion and the Eastern Nebraska Veterans Home in Bellevue.

The $5.5 million project will feature 11 obelisks that will create a historical journey of the events of the Vietnam War. An honor wall will memorialize the 396 Nebraskans who lost their lives in the conflict and flagpoles will display the United States flag, POW/MIA flag and the five branches of the U.S. military. There will be benches and greenspace for people to gather.

Aviation students at Iowa Western Community College restored a Vietnam-era UH-1 "Huey" helicopter, completing the work in September. The helicopter will become part of a mixed-media sculptural depiction of the rescue of a wounder solider that will be the centerpiece of the Vietnam War memorial.

Between donations, grants and fundraising, Barickman believes more than 80% of the project has been funded.

"Momentum is definitely building up," she said.

Originally, organizers hoped to open the memorial on National Vietnam War Veterans Day, March 29, 2023, but Barickman said that schedule has been pushed back due to logistics, along with delivery and supply issues compounded by the pandemic.

"We're working so hard," she said. "We want to make sure that everyone understand that this memorial is for all those that served.

"We want a living, breathing memorial. It's not just going to be granite and stone  it's going to come alive."
Renewable energy powers southwest Iowa

Its no secret that Iowa knows what were doing when it comes to renewable energy. Weve been doing it since 1983, when Iowa became the first state in the nation to adopt a renewable portfolio standard. Today, 59.5% of all electricity produced in Iowa comes from renewable sources, totaling 12,591 MW.

The positive impacts of this development can be seen in every corner of the state, specifically here in southwest Iowa.

Major companies and organizations see what Iowa is capable of in terms of renewable energy generation and choose to bring their operations here to help meet their clean energy goals. The business and investment that have been attracted to this region is outstanding: food production, manufacturing, distribution, transportation, logistics organizations, technology, data centers and more.

These industries are critically important to what were able to attain here in our community, and its thanks to our renewable portfolio.

But it doesnt stop there. Council Bluffs own Iowa Western Community College offers programs in renewable energy technology and solar installation  programs that are designed to provide the skills and knowledge required for careers in the installation and maintenance of renewable energy systems.

The renewables industry offers students in Iowa a whole new world of opportunities for their future, and were able to educate them right here in our own community and often keep them here with the jobs that clean energy projects create.

The success that we have seen here in southwest Iowa can be achieved in every community in Iowa with the acceptance and implementation of clean energy. It is my hope that fellow community leaders can use our region as an example to follow and help Iowa continue its national success.

Drew Kamp

Council Bluffs

Commonsense laws protect pit bulls

Misleading people to believe pit bulls are like any other breed, as Colin Dayans opinion piece does, is dangerous and irresponsible.

In my 35 years of animal protection work, including as an animal control officer and shelter manager, Ive seen firsthand that pit bulls are the most abused dogs. Their strength, tough appearance and tenacity make them frequent targets for dogfighters and other criminals. On a daily basis, PETA fieldworkers find pit bulls chained, starved and neglected.

Dogs who were designed and bred to kill other animals and are disproportionately abused sometimes lash out, with fatal results. One man told me that his pit bull was never right after being fed gunpowder. A police officer shot the dog to death in an attempt to stop his relentless, ultimately fatal attack on another dog.

Pit bulls are also the number one breed admitted to shelters, and the hardest to place responsibly. With millions of animals suffering for lack of homes, breeding more of any kind especially a breed so vulnerable to exploitation  should be illegal.

People who have pit bulls best interests at heart support humane, commonsense laws regulating these dogs acquisition and care, including requiring them to be spayed or neutered.

Teresa Chagrin

Animal Care and Control Issues Manager, PETA
Weather Alert

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS EVENING... * WHAT...Mixed precipitation expected. Total snow accumulations of 1 to 4 inches and ice accumulations of a light glaze. Winds gusting as high as 40 mph. * WHERE...Portions of northeast Nebraska. * WHEN...Until 6 PM CST this evening. * IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. Patchy blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Slow down and use caution while traveling. The latest road conditions for the state you are calling from can be obtained by calling 5 1 1. &&
Several officials and personalities who participated in the 14th edition of the MEDays Forum, organized by Amadeus Institute in Tangier November 2-5 have expressed support to Moroccos territorial integrity and to the Autonomy Initiative as the sole basis to settle the Sahara issue.

In this connection, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, reaffirmed the firm support of his country to the territorial integrity of Morocco and to the autonomy initiative presented by the Kingdom to settle the Sahara issue.

We, Antigua and Barbuda, continue to strongly support the Moroccan autonomy plan, which is the only plausible solution to the Sahara issue, stressed Browne in an address at the closing ceremony of the Forum.

Hungarys Minister of Foreign Affairs, Peter Szijjarto, reaffirmed on his part, from Tangier, his countrys support to the Morocco-proposed Autonomy Plan and to the UN process to resolve the Sahara issue.

I would like to reaffirm the joint statement of last year () underlining Hungarys support to the autonomy concept presented by Morocco, said Szijjarto in a statement to the press on the sidelines of his participation in the MEDays Forum.

We will use all opportunities within the framework of the UN to promote a peaceful solution to the Sahara issue, to advance as soon as possible peace, stability and tranquility in this region, he stressed, while welcoming the cooperation between the Kingdom and Hungary as well as his personal cooperation with his Moroccan peer Nasser Bourita.

Referring to his participation in the MEDays Forum, the Hungarian official said he was particularly honored to take part in this event, saying that this is a wonderful opportunity to talk about current circumstances and challenges we face.

I come from a country that is a direct neighbor of Ukraine. So, you can imagine that the impacts of the war on Hungary are serious and immediate, he said.

Szijjarto took the opportunity to plead for the cessation of the conflict in Europe, urging the international community to refrain from any kind of decision or statement that would trigger the risk of a new escalation of the war.

In his speech, the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, addressed the numerous challenges facing the countries of the South, noting that the many health, food and other crises that are currently shaking the world require greater cooperation between countries to address inequality, poverty and end conflicts.

These crises require greater cooperation and integration of countries to achieve global peace, he noted.

In this sense, the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda called on the countries of the South to work for a new world order, based on peace and equity in the world.
Akwa Africa, a subsidiary of Moroccan Akwa group, is set to acquire Total Energies fuel distribution subsidiary in Mauritania, the competition council said.

The council said it was informed about the sale without offering details on the transaction which Financial Afric said would amount to 185 million dollars.

Akwa Africa was established to help the group expand into the fuel business in Africa.

Akwa Group is already Moroccos market leader in oil and gas importation, storage and distribution.
Morocco celebrates this Sunday Nov.6, 2022 the 47th anniversary of the Green March epic, a token of Moroccans unwavering attachment to the territorial integrity and unity of their country.

The Moroccan people and their King are therefore commemorating the anniversary of this epic, which is, and will remain, an unprecedented model of commitment and unfailing patriotic attachment to the homeland.

This year, Morocco and its people are celebrating the 47th anniversary of the Green March that set in motion an unprecedented dynamic in a context marked by strong Moroccan diplomatic breakthroughs and gains on the Sahara issue.

As explained by political analyst, Driss Aissaoui, in an interview with the news outlet MoroccoLatestNews, this celebration provides an opportunity to highlight all the efforts made by the Kingdom to preserve its territorial integrity and the advances scored at the diplomatic level.

In this vein, he recalled the recognition of the Moroccanness of the Saharan provinces by Donald Trumps administration, a move that was followed by many other countries. Donald Trumps gesture was innovative, and at the same time very special, as it enabled Morocco to move forward in terms of consolidating this territorial integrity, the analyst said.

The analyst then explained the genesis of the Sahara conflict and how it was artificially nurtured by Algeria and Mouamar Khaddafis Libya after the departure of Spain in 1975, through the creation of a separatist front.

Since then, the separatists of the polisario, supported, trained and armed by Algeria, have been involved in all kinds of trafficking and connivance with terror groups, leading a vain fight to impose a puppet entity, called the SADR.

Meanwhile, Morocco set itself to develop the southern provinces at the economic and social level and continued its efforts to serve its cause and sovereignty, particularly within the framework of the mechanisms provided by the United Nations. These efforts were crowned by the latest resolutions of the UN Security Council recognizing the pre-eminence of the Autonomy Plan as a serious basis for the settlement of the Sahara issue.

The Kingdom put on the table the Autonomy Plan in 2007, allowing the Sahrawi populations to manage their own affairs, under Moroccan sovereignty. An initiative that has been applauded by the international community as a realistic and workable solution to resolve this artificial conflict.

Today, nearly 30 countries have opened diplomatic representations in the southern provinces, in Dakhla and Laayoune, a diplomatic breakthrough that also opens up economic prospects, investment opportunities and consolidation of the Moroccan Sahara as a gate to the rest of Africa.

So, if the epic of the Green March was a model of solidarity, commitment and citizenship, all developments that followed showed that Morocco remains committed to its values, firmly attached to its principles, and dedicated to ensure the countrys progress and prosperity.
King Mohammed VI has pointed out this Sunday that he considers the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline project as a project for peace, for African economic integration and for co- development.

This is a project for peace, for African economic integration and for co- development: a project for the present and for future generations, said the Sovereign when he brought up the project in a speech he delivered in commemoration of the 47th anniversary of the Green March that enabled Morocco to free peacefully its Sahara provinces from Spanish dominion.

Given the continental dimension of the NMGP, I consider it to be a major flagship project which will link Africa to Europe, the Sovereign said.

The Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline Project (NMGP) was launched by King Mohammed VI and President Muhammadu Bukhari of Nigeria in 2015 and a related contract was signed in December 2016.

Several working sessions were held by the two sides, namely the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC Ltd), and lOffice national des hydrocarbures et des mines (ONHYM) and recently they signed in Rabat a Memorandum of Understanding with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and another MoU was signed in Nouakchott, with Mauritania and Senegal.

The NMGP provides opportunities as well as guarantees in terms of energy security and economic, industrial and social development for the fifteen ECOWAS Member Countries, as well as for Morocco and Mauritania.

The King who welcomed the progress made in this major project, said the signing of these agreements reflects the commitment of the countries concerned to contribute to the completion of this strategic project, and attests to their desire to see it through.

Considering the special importance I attach to the partnership with West African countries, I consider the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline Project to be more than just a bilateral project between two sister nations.

In fact, I want this to be a strategic project that benefits all of West Africa  a region which is home to more than 440 million people, he stated further.

The King also commended the support of regional and international financing institutions, which have expressed their wish to participate in the implementation of the NMGP.

I would like to stress how keen we are, in Morocco, to continue to work closely, responsibly and with the utmost degree of transparency with our brothers and sisters in Nigeria, as well as with all partners, in order to implement the NMGP as soon as possible, he insisted, noting that the project initiators are open to all forms of constructive partnership for the implementation this major African project.

In his speech, the king also insisted on the role played by the Moroccan Sahara, throughout history, as a link between Morocco and its African roots at the human, spiritual, cultural and economic levels.

Through our development agenda, we seek to consolidate this historical role and make sure the region is more open to the future. This approach is in line with the special relations Morocco enjoys with other African countries, and which I am keen to strengthen in order to serve our peoples shared interests, King Mohammed VI stated.

To continue to be faithful to the spirit of the Green March and to its everlasting oath, we need to remain mobilized and vigilant in order to defend our nations unity, achieve greater progress and strengthen Moroccos bonds with its African roots.
Voters in Lincoln County and five of its neighbors Tuesday will settle a Unicameral race that changed greatly from where it started 17 months ago.

Either appointed state Sen. Mike Jacobson or May 10 primary leader Chris Bruns, both Republicans from North Platte, will represent the expanded Legislative District 42 after one of Nebraskas more expensive races for the Legislature.

Southwest Nebraskas District 44, which absorbed Dawson County when redistricting relocated term-limited Gothenburg Sen. Matt Williams District 36, will have a new senator in Teresa Ibach of rural Sumner.

Ibach easily led May primary opponent Edward Dunn of Grant, who then withdrew, in her bid to succeed term-limited Sen. Dan Hughes of Venango.

Sens. Tom Brewer of Gordon and Steve Erdman of Bayard, who represent Districts 43 and 47 respectively, will return to Lincoln in January to begin the next-to-last years of their terms.

Bruns, a second-year Lincoln County commissioner from District 4 and the County Boards 2022 chairman, is the last remaining candidate among the original trio who set out in summer 2021 to win what was supposed to be an open seat on Tuesday.

Should he win the Unicameral seat Tuesday, a three-member panel of County Clerk Becky Rossell, County Treasurer Alex Gurciullo and County Attorney Rebecca Harling will appoint someone to finish the last two years of Bruns District 4 County Board term.

The 37-year-old insurance agent, rancher and U.S. Marine Corps veteran was second to announce his District 42 candidacy after Mel McNea, then in his last months as CEO of Great Plains Health of North Platte. Brenda Fourtner of Maxwell entered the race after Bruns.

All hoped to succeed former North Platte Sen. Mike Groene, who started his eighth year in the Legislature in January and was prevented by term limits from running again.

Then a series of events altered the shape of this years District 42 contest:

A special Unicameral session in September 2021 added four counties and part of a fifth to the district to account for 2020 census results. District 42 now covers Lincoln, Logan, McPherson, Hooker and Thomas counties and the northern and eastern three-fourths of Perkins County.

Groene resigned Feb. 23, with just over 10 months left in his term, amid a controversy over photos he took of a legislative aide in his office. He was cleared of wrongdoing in follow-up investigations.

Instead of filling the seat with one of Groenes three would-be successors  all of whom were interviewed  Gov. Pete Ricketts turned to Jacobson, the 68-year-old founder and CEO of NebraskaLand Bank and then the chairman of both the North Platte Airport Authority and the Community Redevelopment Authority.

When Jacobson filed for a full four-year term, McNea, a longtime friend, chose to pull out of the District 42 race. Hes unopposed for re-election Tuesday to the Educational Service Unit 16 board.

In the primary two months later, Bruns outpolled Jacobson by a mere 137 votes as both advanced to the general election. Fourtner ran a distant third.

The shapeshifting District 42 race is nearing the $600,000 mark in combined campaign donations, counting the $105,810 raised by McNea before he pulled out of the race.

Despite his late start, Jacobson had raised $337,283 to Bruns two-year total of $138,655 as of the Oct. 24 cutoff date for pre-election campaign finance reports. Final reports are due after the election.

Statewide political action committees that routinely donate to state government candidates have largely broken for Jacobson, who has sunk $100,000 into his campaign through loans or outright donations.

But the Nebraska Republican Party endorsed Bruns in District 42s all-GOP final for the officially nonpartisan Unicameral. Bruns and his wife, Ashley, donated a combined $4,032 to his campaign in 2021 but havent listed any personal donations this year.

Besides the pairs own lists of official endorsements submitted to The Telegraph, their campaign finance reports reveal other supporters among elected officials and current and former 2022 election candidates.

Bruns has received donations from Groene; former GOP gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster of Falls City; presumptive District 5 Public Service Commissioner Kevin Stocker of Scottsbluff; fellow Lincoln County Commissioners Jerry Woodruff, Joe Hewgley, Kent Weems and Micaela Wuehler; County Sheriff Jerome Kramer; County Surveyor Boni Edwards; and North Platte City Councilmen Ed Rieker and Mark Woods.

McNea has donated to Jacobsons campaign, as has City Councilman Ty Lucas, Jacobsons chief lending officer at NebraskaLand Bank. David Gale, Sandhills State Bank co-founder and CEO and Nebraska Public Power District Subdistrict 4 candidate, has given to both Bruns and Jacobson.

Both candidates fundraising reports since 2021 are available online at nadc.nebraska.gov/view-campaign-filings.
Brazil's president-elect, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, waves a Brazilian flag during a rally on Oct. 20, 2022, in Sao Goncalo, Brazil. (Photo: Buda Mendes via Getty Images)

Brazil's president-elect, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, waves a Brazilian flag during a rally on Oct. 20, 2022, in Sao Goncalo, Brazil. (Photo: Buda Mendes via Getty Images)

SAO PAULO  Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvas victory in Brazils presidential election last Sunday has energized world leaders, climate activists and environmentalists ahead of this years United Nations climate change summit, which kicks off Sunday in Egypt.

In an election many saw as crucial to the future of the Amazon rainforest and staving off catastrophic planetary warming, the leftist da Silva, known affectionately as Lula, narrowly ousted far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, a staunch climate change denier who has presided over skyrocketing deforestation in the Amazon rainforest that turned him into a global pariah.

Da Silva, who oversaw drastic reductions in deforestation rates and carbon emissions during his presidency from 2003 to 2010, seized on climate issues during the race to paint Bolsonaro as a global outlier who had isolated Brazil on the world stage. In his first speech as president-elect, he pledged to fight for zero deforestation and combat the illegal logging, mining and ranching that has ballooned under Bolsonaros watch.

Brazil and the planet need the Amazon alive, da Silva, who will travel to Egypt next week as an early sign of his intention to reassume a leading role in the climate fight, said Sunday night. We will prove once again that it is possible to generate wealth without destroying the environment.

Brazil controls the vast majority of the Amazon rainforest and is also home to other sensitive environmental regions that scientists see as crucial to the global battle against climate change. There and abroad, climate advocates did not mince words when the election results were clear.

Its fucking over! the Brazilian Climate Observatory, a Sao Paulo-based think tank, said in a release Sunday night. The nightmare is due to end at last.

Story continues

Christian Poirier, program director at the environmental nonprofit Amazon Watch, told HuffPost that a Bolsonaro victory would have meant the end of the Amazon. Indeed, scientists have sounded the alarm that the rainforest is nearing a tipping point beyond which it will be unable to recover.

Lula winning it, particularly on a platform of environmental preservation and respect for human rights, particularly the rights of forest peoples and Indigenous peoples, was a great victory in the face of the extreme threat posed by another four years of Bolsonaro  the existential threat, Poirier said. Given the importance of the Amazon, the importance of this biome to world climate stability, this was the most consequential election on the planet.

An aerial view of a burnt area in the Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho in the Brazilian state of Rondonia on Aug. 31, 2022. Experts say Amazon fires are caused mainly by illegal farmers, ranchers and speculators clearing land and torching trees. (Photo: DOUGLAS MAGNO via Getty Images)

An aerial view of a burnt area in the Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho in the Brazilian state of Rondonia on Aug. 31, 2022. Experts say Amazon fires are caused mainly by illegal farmers, ranchers and speculators clearing land and torching trees. (Photo: DOUGLAS MAGNO via Getty Images)

The environment does not typically play a leading role  or any role at all  in Brazilian elections. But during this campaign, da Silva outlined an ambitious set of proposals that allies have likened to a Brazilian version of the Green New Deal that progressives in the United States pushed. He also promised to restore protections for Indigenous tribes that accused Bolsonaro of genocide and crimes against humanity, pledging to create a new Indigenous affairs ministry and to appoint a tribal leader to helm it.

The road ahead, however, will not be easy. Deforestation rates continued to climb in the months before the election, surging 81% over last years total in August and another 48% in September. They are likely to keep rising at least through the first year of da Silvas presidency, and the forests recovery over the next four years is far from guaranteed.

Truly, what were seeing in the Amazon is a Wild West scenario, Poirier said. This scenario is not going to change overnight.

An Ambitious Agenda Faces Massive Challenges

The Amazon is only one of the major environmental regions that faced rampant destruction under Bolsonaro, but it is indicative of the broader challenges that will face da Silva as he attempts to rebuild Brazils global image and reassemble a government capable of making Brazil a leader of the international climate fight again.

Bolsonaro spent four years gutting Brazils once-robust environmental regulatory regime and the government agencies that implemented it. Constraints on federal spending will make it difficult to fully reconstruct environmental ministries, while a conservative Congress and a crowded list of priorities could easily prevent any major climate proposals from advancing.

In the Amazon boomtowns where illegal miners and loggers sought their fortunes with Bolsonaros blessings, federal officers tasked with overseeing conservation and Indigenous rights struggled to even keep vehicles in working order. Bolsonaros lack of enforcement created backlogs of unpaid fines and fostered a culture of impunity toward environmental destruction.

Organized crime networks that thrived under Bolsonaro and drove much of the environmental devastation that occurred on his watch are now far larger and more sophisticated, technologically savvy and financially robust than they were during da Silvas prior two terms in office.

The most difficult thing is going to be the crime in the Amazon, said Marcio Astrini, the executive secretary of the Climate Observatory. Crime in the Amazon is today more powerful, and has more political influence and money, than ever.

In parts of the Amazon, rebuilding a government capable of enforcing environmental protections and combating criminal activity will be enough, Astrini said. But in large swaths of the region, a lack of formal economic opportunities has made entire communities dependent on criminal networks, meaning da Silva and his government will have to help create jobs, provide investments into businesses and build local economies capable of breaking that dependence.

Children gather outside in Manicore, a city located on the banks of the Madeira and Manicore rivers in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil's Amazonas State, on June 6, 2022. (Photo: MAURO PIMENTEL via Getty Images)

Children gather outside in Manicore, a city located on the banks of the Madeira and Manicore rivers in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil's Amazonas State, on June 6, 2022. (Photo: MAURO PIMENTEL via Getty Images)

Despite the challenges, da Silva and his team are confident that they can repeat the success of his first presidency, when deforestation rates plunged 70%. That, in turn, will help reverse a troubling rise in overall emissions, which increased 9.5% in 2020, a year in which the pandemic led emissions to fall globally. That has taken Brazil far off-pace to meet the targets laid out in the Paris Climate Agreement.

Deforestation is responsible for 70% of our emissions. If we reduce deforestation, we reduce emissions, Marina Silva, who served as environment minister during da Silvas presidency and is among the contenders to assume the role next year, told reporters in Sao Paulo days before the election.

But da Silvas ambitions are bigger than merely meeting the Paris goals, she said.

During Bolsonaros presidency, Brazilian environmental groups forged international partnerships in an effort to promote green policies and protect the forest at the state and local levels, with some success. Prominent members of the Brazilian left, meanwhile, made connections with progressives in the United States and Europe in an effort to craft an environmental response ready-made for da Silva to adopt and implement.

Three months after Bolsonaros inauguration in 2019, Alessandro Molon, the Socialist Party opposition leader in the lower house of Brazils national legislature, told HuffPost in an interview at his office in Brasilia that he took inspiration from the Green New Deal framework U.S. lawmakers like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) advocated at the time. The three-word moniker was used to describe a host of progressive ideas for dealing with climate change and signaled a shift in mainstream political thinking on how to curb planet-heating emissions away from carbon pricing and toward industrial policy, where the government sets economic priorities by pumping subsidies into sectors like clean energy.

The following year, Jaques Wagner, a Brazilian senator from da Silvas party and a former defense minister, appeared on a panel in New York City alongside the academic Daniel Aldana Cohen and writer Naomi Klein, two of North Americas most influential eco-socialist authors.

Wagner touted Brazils great potential in what wed call the bio economy, meaning diesel fuel refined from plants and more ecologically efficient crops. In keeping with the economically populist spirit that animated early calls for a Green New Deal, he said the only way to gain support for slashing emissions would be structural solutions that build an economy that works for everybody.

It is absolutely crucial that we see climate change as not only the biggest challenge but also as an opportunity to [generate] solutions for our development.Izabella Teixeira, former Brazilian minister of the environment

Molon unveiled Brazils version of the Green New Deal at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, last year. In June, he presented the plan directly to da Silva and his environmental team, which reportedly agreed with the basic concept.

Da Silva later released a slate of proposals that drew on similar ideas: As Reuters reported, his plans called for stronger federal protections of large swaths of the Amazon and new investments meant to promote a greener Brazilian economy.

The last time da Silva served as president, environmentalists criticized him for prioritizing the economy over the Amazon and Indigenous rights. It was his government that authorized the construction of the Belo Monte Dam, a controversial hydroelectric project in the Amazon region, despite fierce pushback from human rights advocates and tribes.

Yet during da Silvas last administration, Brazil distinguished itself from other emerging economies as the only major nation to reduce deforestation while maintaining record economic growth. In the years since, the influx of scorched acreage and uptick in global temperatures has made striking that balance again more difficult, but da Silvas allies have stressed that his climate aims are part of a broader economic agenda  an argument they will likely deploy in an effort to win over both Brazils Congress and the public.

This is a development agenda: Climate is part of the equation of development solutions in Brazil, said Izabella Teixeira, who served as minister of the environment under da Silva and his successor, Dilma Rousseff. It is absolutely crucial that we see climate change as not only the biggest challenge but also as an opportunity to [generate] solutions for our development.

Brazilian environmentalist Marina Silva, left, speaks next to president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during a press conference in Sao Paulo on Sept. 12, 2022. (Photo: MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL via Getty Images)

Brazilian environmentalist Marina Silva, left, speaks next to president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during a press conference in Sao Paulo on Sept. 12, 2022. (Photo: MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL via Getty Images)

That view, she said, can help Brazil connect the dots between climate and other major da Silva priorities, including his plans to bolster the Brazilian economy, combat poverty and reduce rates of extreme hunger, a problem that re-emerged during the pandemic and now tops da Silvas list of concerns.

[Hunger] is a good example of how we can improve climate performance, she said. We are one of the most important food producers in the world, and we should come up with solutions to provide for international society. Its not only a huge opportunity for Brazil to develop innovative equations to solve development problems and social inequalities, but also to share our technology and solutions with other countries, mainly in the Global South.

With The Worlds Eyes On Brazil, A New Brazil Looks Back

Given the constraints da Silva will face at home, the sort of international help that dried up under Bolsonaro will likely play a crucial role in helping him deliver on his promises. And after four years of Bolsonaro, the worlds major powers seem more than happy to welcome Brazil back to the climate fight.

On Thursday, Brazils Supreme Court ordered the resumption of the Amazon Fund, an international financing mechanism for forest protection projects, in January, four years after Bolsonaro shut down its most powerful programs. Norway and Germany, which froze payments to the fund in response to Bolsonaros policies and a record outbreak of fires in 2019, have said they are open to resuming payments under da Silva.

Truly, what were seeing in the Amazon is a Wild West scenario. This scenario is not going to change overnight.Christian Poirier, program director at environmental nonprofit Amazon Watch

The European Union has signaled its optimism about the completion of a trade deal with Mercosur  a bloc of South American nations that includes Brazil  that was on hold largely due to French President Emmanuel Macrons opposition to Bolsonaros environmental policies. And U.S. President Joe Biden, who discussed climate with da Silva during a congratulatory phone call this week, may still be open to crafting an international financial aid package to help protect the forest.

But da Silvas trip to Egypt this week is not merely meant to bolster international support for his agenda. Brazil once held a unique role in the global climate fight: It was perhaps the only Global South nation that had the power, influence and a large enough share of vital resources to elbow its way into a leadership position among the worlds largest countries.

Under da Silva and his leftist successor, Rousseff, Brazil typically used that position to push wealthy nations to provide broader assistance to low- and middle-income countries on the front lines of the climate crisis.

Now da Silva wants to reclaim that position four years after Bolsonaro abandoned it. Silva, the former minister of the environment, told reporters last week that Brazil will push to provide more financial aid not just to developing nations but to civil society groups and Indigenous populations that are confronting climate change head-on. Last years summit promised more money to Indigenous tribes, whose knowledge and adaptive efforts have taken on an increasing role in the climate fight. But Silva wants to push for even more.

Brazil will also renew its efforts to partner with other tropical nations  particularly Indonesia and those in Africas Congo Basin  that are home to most of the planets rainforests, Celso Amorim, a former foreign minister under da Silva, told reporters. Brazil will also work closely with other nations in the Amazon basin to reduce deforestation in the Venezuelan, Peruvian and Bolivian regions of the forest, Amorim said.

Amorim, who may also earn a ministerial role in da Silvas government, told Reuters in October that Brazil would seek to host an international summit on the Amazon, and said prior to the election that Brazil will fight to strengthen existing treaties meant to protect the forest.

Da Silvas victory caps off something of a green tide in Latin America as left-wing leaders pledging to reset their countries relationships with nature have won elections in countries stretching from Chile to Colombia to Honduras. Ambitious new presidents have already found it difficult to implement their plans in those nations. But with the regions largest and most important economy on board, there is at least hope that Brazil could help make South America a new power center in global negotiations over emissions.

I am optimistic, the Climate Observatorys Astrini said. Its not just better than Bolsonaro. Its a whole new situation. Weve never in this country had a president talking about zero deforestation, climate and environmental protection like were seeing right now.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
November 5 will officially be known as the Day of Remembrance as three of Lee Countys mayors read a proclamation declaring so to a crowd at the Lee County Courthouse Square on Saturday morning.

The proclamation was read by the Mayor of Opelika, Gary Fuller, the Mayor Pro Term of Auburn, Beth Witten and the Mayor Pro Term of Smiths Station, Morris Jackson.

There can be no reconciliation in healing without remembering the past. Whereas marking this day of remembrance in Lee County creates a time and place of public healing, acknowledgment and unity honoring all victims of lynching and racial injustice by remembering their lives and stories with the wider community, read Fuller and Witten.

The Lee County Remembrance Project is a community-driven initiative that aims to commemorate, educate and advocate for the victims of racial terror and present racial justice and equity.

Today was about remembering these men and their legacies, acknowledging what happened, and finding ways as a community to move forward, said Ashley Brown, co-executive director and co-founder of the Lee County Remembrance Project.

The inaugural Day of Remembrance Ceremony was further celebrated with a performance of literature, a gospel soloist and a reading of an award-winning essay.

The performance of literature was presented by the Auburn University Mosaic Theatre Company, a project that creates work about issues of diversity, equity and inclusion.

The troupe of seven students and two professors performed a stylistic reading of local historical journalistic articles written about the lynchings that took place in Lee County.

We tried to figure out a way to include a poetic pushback response from the African American community that was not given a voice in the public discourse at that time, said Tess Carr, co-artistic director of the Mosaic Theatre Company and professor at Auburn University.

The performance was written by students and professors of the group, that integrated media from the late 1800s and current events, which include the phrase said by one of the students, Hip-hop to gangster rap, toys to guns,.

This is about the murder of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old African American boy, who was killed in Ohio after a police officer mistook a toy gun Rice was carrying as a real firearm.

For our students, theyre not just getting up there and doing a performance about any old thing. This is intense material they have to sit with, understand and honor, said Carr.

Another integral portion of the ceremony was reading the winning essay from the Racial Justice Essay competition.

This competition allowed 9-12th grade students from public schools in Lee County to write an essay that examines the history of a specific racial injustice topic and its legacy today.

The winner, JaNiah Hoskins, wrote about the history and current issues of voter suppression for African American Alabama residents.

The competition was scored on the students vision of justice, knowledge of content, its connection to the present, ability to engage the reader and clarity and organization.

When you see the voice of the youth connecting with the elders who were directly affected and living in that time, it makes you realize this is a powerful thing, said Abdul-Khaliq Murtadha, co-artistic director of the Mosaic Theatre Company, and professor at Auburn University.

The ceremony also included a performance of Deep River, a traditional African American spiritual song of hope and longing, by an Auburn University gospel choir member, Kourtney Clay.

The Day of Remembrance concluded with a prayer from Apostle Carolyn Morton, chaplain of the NAACP Lee County Branch.
Lmao right when whats his face is trying to sue cause hes an anti-vaxxer.





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lol I'm disappointed they're dropping this requirement....but I'm glad he's probably pissed and lost his job

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Hate to see it but also lolllll at that dude from yesterdays post that sued for getting dropped from one of these showshe must be so livid

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Oh no :(

Okay then :(

I guess it's over now :(

:(

:(

:(

:(

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right? I can't at people thinking its all over and behind us. Ima be masking up until the day I die tbh. I don't know where everybody's been and what kind fucky germs they have.

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The mask has become so normal for me that I often forget Im wearing one. Ill come home with it on and I wont remember to take it off unless I touch my face. Having them around has made litter box cleanup much easier, too. Ive seen people giving me looks (esp. at the Texas airport) but Im not going to stop wearing it.

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has it not been over for a year+ now?

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If I'd be in charge of hiring for any of these I'd make sure to get people back who I know had gotten it for the time when the requirement was in effect.

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I saw fran drescher's disappointing ass all excited about this 

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She's an anti-vaxxer? :((( noo

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she's a full on nutter. I'm pretty sure she blamed the virus on 5G in the beginning

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She's the president of SAG, so I guess she was happy for all actors. *shrugs*

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Ellen doesn't even look like she wants to be there in that still lol

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After finding out about one of the new interns being Derek's nephew I went and watched clips and one of them was of Mer talking to Zola about Boston and it seemed serious. I knew Ellen was taking a step back this season because she isn't happy but I didn't think Mer would actually move!!

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I think they are tip toeing to see if viewership drops significantly in episodes or chunks of episodes without her. If it holds, I wouldn't be surprised if the deal becomes that she pops in for an episode here or there but is paid the same as a full season, just to keep the show going longer.



I also think there's a chance Boston becomes a "we can't move yet, we'll send Zola to residential programming or in with Uncle Jackson" as a way to figure out what to do with a kid that's not baby cute and not old enough to be on-screen as a full character.

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Got my bivalent on Friday and did better with it than my booster 6 months ago. I'm excited! Last round my jaw hurt and I couldn't chew for a day.

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Got mine on Friday too and my side effects were pretty much the same except I didn't throw up this time, so that was nice lol. My arm is so itchy today though.

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My arm has been itchy too. It's the first time I've had that particular side effect with any vaccine.



I wish it would stop though since it's still a little sore to the touch and I keep forgetting until go to scratch it.

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Same here! Side effects were super mild compared to the original 2 shots and the first booster. My friends and fam who got the bivalent booster reported mild reactions, too 

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yeah for my 3rd i was in bed for two days, but i barely had a sore arm for my 4th

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woop! I got my 4th shot a month ago and side effects were waaay less. was so glad

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My school did the same too. Crazy how quick theyve changed their stance since they reopened on ground campus. Was about to submit my updated card but they were basically like "oh ??? we dont need this anymore congrats tho I guess k bye". Even silence fell when young adult people in my classes were asked if theyve voted. Mess!

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whats the percentage of those on set who are vaccinated, though? at some point the mandate will no longer be necessary if everyone's followed it.



anyway were apparently having a nasty flu season already so get your shot if you havent!!

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we are. most of my nephews class was out with it. D:

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and RSV has also been hitting a lot of areas, a bunch of friends with kids in school have been it with it in the last few weeks

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I can't wait to get the new booster with my flu shot. It's bullshit they're not free anymore.

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My booster was free in September :/

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Mine was free :(

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Are you in the States? If so, you got scammed because theyre still free according to the CDC and HHS.

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I am! This is great news! I thought I'd read months ago they'd start charging for them and I lost my insurance a few months back.

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I got a pneumonia vax (I have anemia so best to get it even tho Im not elderly) and it was over $100 bucks.

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I'm so tired of people moving like ronna still isn't a thing



In a country with the same population as California Canada has over 21k active cases and Ontario alone has over 10k. And cases are rising with the under 30 population, especially the teens.



And I can probably count the number of masked people I've seen in the past month in one hand and those coughing openly in public with 8 hands.





Rant over



Stay masked and vaxxed people, yall don't wanna miss the Trump de*th post and the fall of his supporters

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y'all still wear masks? It's even more pointless now that everyone isn't.

I was happy to still wear one, but around May of this year, pretty much none of my co-workers, places i shop, places i go on vacation, etc. wore them anymore, so i was like "wtf am i still doing this for?"



It's as good as its gonna get.

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do you have any disabled people in your life? do you care for someone who has a weak immune system? or have you yourself ever been so sick in your life that you never want to go through that again?



there are still people masking. in this very post there are multiple people saying that we still mask. if you don't mask anymore, that's your business. but what is it to you that we are still masking? why do you want us to also give up on community care just because you have?



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I don't understood this reasoning, what do you mean there's no point? If there's someone with covid and everyone else is not wearing a mask and you are you're less likely to get sick. I haven't been sick since winter 2019 and I used to get flu/cold twice a year so I'm not about to risk my health because randos decided to fuck around with their health.



Also, one thing covid taught me is that there are a disturbing number of adult among us who don't know how to wash themselves so I will not be raw dogging communal air any time soon. My N95 is part of me now



But you are free to risk long covid because idiots decided to jump off a bridge. I personally left peer pressure in my early 20s.



Edited at 2022-11-06 08:02 pm (UTC)

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"I have given up on other people, so I'm going to join them in spreading a disease or catching it myself" is a hell of a take, but ok.

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there's always a benefit to wearing a mask, even if slight.

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I'm so sick of people pretending COVID is over.

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I just watched an unmasked woman straight up try a lipstick straight to her lips from the sample left out at the mac counter. not only do people think covid is over but apparently all bacteria

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yuck



I've seen teens using the mascara samplers at Sephora, applying directly to the eyelids... no thank you, enjoy your pink eye!

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frank Laugh to keep from crying reaction when

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People are so fucking disgusting like we have all this knowledge about germs and how we can keep ourselves healthy and yet a ton of people just disregard it. And its not just ~my body my choice (Ive heard this saying being hijacked by unhealthy ppl too many times) when it comes to this bc your germs end up everywhere to impact other people but they wouldnt know that bc they remain uneducated

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I started working at a bank during the pandemic and the amount of people who lick their fingers and then touch dirty ass money is downright shocking

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Do they still do testing? I find that way more important anyway. By now we know the vaccine doesnt do shit against transmission unfortunately

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pic.twitter.com/oIJoq3z2OT  Notorious-celt (@CelticNotorious) October 26, 2022 Remember when they all said if you get the vaccine, you're immune and can go back to living life? Wonder if this was just a blatant lie for simpletons to feel guilt tripped into getting it, or they really believed that.

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You are sharing a tweet from an account that is pro putin, anti vaccine and anti mask lmao the hell is wrong with you?

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I wondered why people were so upset for getting it after getting the vaccine. I kept thinking a vaccine and cure are two different things.



After saying that a mask would not help in Jan 2020 I only read the CDC report. Lie to me once shame on you. twice shame on me.





I wear 3 masks and a face shield. I live in a weird city so no one cares. None of the hand sanitizer machines work in my building anymore.



I wonder about this woman who got aressted for not taking off her shark mask at a bank about 1 month before lockdown. I would never shut up about being right, but my friends would say that I should have worn a less scary mask







https://www.insideedition.com/media/videos/woman-who-wore-face-mask-in-bank-says-teller-hit-panic-button-on-her-58333 I have never seen this before. I was very depressed and slept and ate from Jan-June of 2021. No tv after the Capitol Riots. I remember being told about double masking.I wondered why people were so upset for getting it after getting the vaccine. I kept thinking a vaccine and cure are two different things.After saying that a mask would not help in Jan 2020 I only read the CDC report. Lie to me once shame on you. twice shame on me.I wear 3 masks and a face shield. I live in a weird city so no one cares. None of the hand sanitizer machines work in my building anymore.I wonder about this woman who got aressted for not taking off her shark mask at a bank about 1 month before lockdown. I would never shut up about being right, but my friends would say that I should have worn a less scary mask

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Remember when they all said if you get the vaccine, you're immune and can go back to living life?



They? Not the immunologists. They weren't saying that at all.

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the vaccines do reduce transmission, though. that's part of why they are useful as a public health measure

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The Nebraska volleyball team rallied to beat Northwestern in five sets Sunday, avoiding what would have been a surprising loss that could have altered the Big Ten title race and NCAA Tournament seeding.

The No. 4 Huskers won 27-29, 25-20, 23-25, 25-23, 15-6 in front of a school-record crowd of 4,019 in Evanston, Illinois.

For much of the match, it looked like Nebraska (21-2, 13-1 Big Ten) may not be able to overcome one of the great individual matches from an opponent this season.

Northwestern outside hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara kept going over the Nebraska blockers for kills early in the match and finished with a season-high 26. But after having 21 kills through three sets, she had just five in the final two sets.

Northwestern played really well. Temi was unbelievable, Nebraska coach John Cook said on the Huskers Radio Network. I told the team before the match if she has a big night, theyre really good. And she had a big night and there was a long time there where we couldnt do anything. I think that impacted how we played on our side of the net because were not used to somebody going off like that.

Whitney Lauenstein had 16 kills on .353 hitting to lead Nebraska. Madi Kubik added 15 kills and Lindsay Krause had 14.

Thomas-Ailaras big match helped Northwestern to a .189 hitting percentage. Nicklin Hames (19 digs) and Kaitlyn Hord (nine blocks) came up big for the Huskers defense.

In the deciding fifth set, Nebraska rushed out to a 4-1 lead that included two blocks against Thomas-Ailara.

Nebraskas lead reached 9-3. Then there was a lengthy injury timeout after Northwestern setter Sienna Noordermeer suffered a scary injury. She collided with a hard object in the front row of the fan seating while trying to save an errant shot.

After several minutes with medical personnel, Noordermeer was able to sit up but was taken out of the arena on a stretcher.

Noordermeer was the only setter in uniform for the Wildcats. As a result, Grace Reininga, a junior defensive specialist, had to finish the match at setter.

After the match, the Nebraska players went to the other side of the net and formed a circle with the Northwestern players.

I feel awful for what happened, Cook said. That was a tough one. Ive never seen that in all my years of coaching.

Nebraska had a .289 hitting percentage but was hurt by 14 serving errors.

It was just the third time Nebraska has played a fifth set this season.

It was a great match, Cook said. It was good for us to get down and fight back and get in a slugfest like this.

Thomas-Ailara was the story of the first set. She had kills on each of her first seven attempts, and it wasnt until her ninth swing that Nebraska stopped her.

The Huskers rallied from a 22-17 deficit to tie the match, and had three set-point chances. But Northwestern hung around until Thomas-Ailara got back in the front row, and she ended the set with three consecutive kills to win the 29-27.

Thomas had 11 kills on 12 attempts in the first set with a .833 hitting percentage.

She hit some shots where we could do everything right and it didnt matter, Cook said. She hit off our blocks; inside our block. Thats not many players in the country that can do that.

After Nebraska won the second set, Thomas-Ailara heated up again in the third set with seven kills. Once again, she had the kill on set point to give the Wildcats a 2-1 match lead.

Nebraska had to win the fourth set to extend the match. Northwestern led 23-21 and was closing in on the win. But Lexi Rodriguez served a 4-0 run to end the set, giving Nebraska the 25-23 win and forcing a fifth set.

Down the stretch in the fourth set, the Wildcats made a few errors, and Bekka Allick had a big block. On set point, Lauenstein dropped an off-speed shot into the center of the court.

Lexi put some tough serves on them, and they took a couple of big swings and missed, Cook said.
Theres been little time to rest this year for Lincoln native and actor Harrison Drake.

In June, Drake was in Omaha for the Broadway national tour production of Anastasia. This week, he returns to the Orpheum Theater this week with the Broadway national tour of the beloved musical Annie.

Drake said he knew in May that he would be returning to Omaha later in the year. He had one week in August between shows where he could return to Lincoln to visit family and pack for a new road tour that will go through July 2023.

The 29-year-old holds a degree in advertising and public relations from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, but has spent much of his career as an actor, traveling for Broadway tours and in cruise ship performances. Drake said he enjoyed working on Anastasia and is very proud of the casts work in Annie.

Drake called his life is busy but good.

Annie is very much a household name and its really great to be a part of something so widely recognized, he said. When I tell someone that I am in Annie, they already know the story, so I dont have to explain it.

There is a long history to Annie that predates the popular musical. In 1885, poet James Whitcomb Riley wrote The Elf Child which eventually became Little Orphant Annie. The poem depicts the story of an orphan named Annie, who entertains other orphan children with tales and lessons. In 1924, cartoonist Harold Gray turned the poem into a comic strip, Little Orphan Annie, which followed the adventures of Annie, her dog, and her adoptive father Oliver Daddy Warbucks. The comic strip inspired a radio show in 1930, film adaptations in 1932 and 1938, and the Broadway musical in 1977. The musical would go on to have four film adaptations in 1982, 1999, 2014 and 2021.

While her appearance has changed with the adaptations over the years, Annies common trait is her upbeat, positive personality and her ability to help people feel good and enjoy life. The songs most famous song, Tomorrow is a reflection of Annies good-naturedness.

In Annie, which opens Tuesday night, Drake will play Drake (yes, the same name), the head butler at Warbucks mansion. Along with Grace Farrell, Oliver Warbucks secretary played by Julia Nichol Hunter, Drake helps usher Annie through her transition from the orphanage to life in the mansion.

At the beginning of the show, hes a very professional, stern butler, Drake said. I based him on Mr. Carson from Downton Abbey. By the end of the show, Annie has helped to not only warm his heart, but all of the peoples she encounters. For the end of the show, I base his transformation on Martin the butler from Parent Trap, who is a bit more domestic, happy-go-lucky.

Drake said he enjoys the journey his character takes and noted that one of the shows prevailing themes, hope, is something everyone can relate to and resonates with people of all ages.

First and foremost, Annie is about hope and optimism, which is a theme that society can never get enough of, he said. Annie has clearly stood the test of time because its central themes are among the more prevalent and necessary for society.

He added that this show holds extra excitement for him because his best friend and fellow Lincoln native, Carly Ann Moore, is also a member of the national tour cast. Moore is the female swing member and an understudy. The two met 10 years ago while working in community theater, Drake said.

Its just the luckiest opportunity in the world to be able to travel the country with your best friend, let alone traveling while doing a musical, which is the thing you were doing when you met, he said.
After a military career that took her both near and far, Yen Nguyen hopes to inspire the younger generation to consider a life of service.

The 41-year-old retired Army major spent nearly 22 years in the military. Since then, shes been both an ROTC instructor at her alma mater, Creighton, and a JROTC instructor at Buena Vista High School in Omaha.

Nguyens family fled Vietnam in 1987. After two years in refugee camps in Thailand and the Philippines, they reached the United States and have called Omaha home since.

Being 8 years old when the family immigrated, Nguyen said it was never lost on her what a privilege it was to grow up in the U.S. She remembers her parents working hard to provide for their six children.

When you come from a struggling country, to a country where you can be free to make anything of yourself  we didnt feel like we were struggling in that sense, she said.

After graduating from Central High School in 1999, Nguyen headed straight for basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Nguyen said she remembers being the shortest one in the room and surrounded by mostly men, but was proud that she was able to keep up.

Basic training was great, she said. The best decision I made was to join the Army.

While her initial reasoning for enlisting was to be able to afford college, Nguyen said she stayed because she wanted to serve her country. She and her family owe everything they have to this country, she said.

When she did move on to college, Nguyen joined the ROTC at Creighton and graduated in 2005. She described her experience as challenging and humbling, in a good way.

Nguyen then received her first commission in December 2005. She started at officer training, then moved on to training for the military police. She was first stationed with the 530th Military Police Battalion in Elkhorn.

However, not all of her assignments were domestic. Nguyen went to Iraq in 2008 and said one of her favorite assignments of her career was when she was a first lieutenant overseas.

Nguyen then ended her career as an instructor at Creighton until she retired from the military in December 2020, after which she stayed on as a contract ROTC instructor until June. Ending her career at Creighton felt like a full circle moment, Nguyen said.

It feels so good because I started my officer career at Creighton and I ended there, she said. It all comes around.

Nguyen and her husband have two sons, Lewis and Richard. Lewis is a senior at Millard North High School and Richard is a freshman at Burke High School, where he is involved in the JROTC.

Nguyen comes from a military family. Her father fought in Vietnam, as did her uncles and her grandfather.

To continue that lineage, its an honor, she said. And to be the first female in my family to be in the service, thats even more of an honor.
Stronger enforcement of a Nebraska Humane Society policy to deter owner-surrendered pets except in emergency situations is creating huge problems for already strapped rescue groups in the Omaha area.

People have nowhere to put their animals, said Joni Cisney of Homeward Bound in the Heartland Animal Rescue Inc. Everybody is full to the brim. Its so horrific out here, and animals are suffering every day.

Most small organizations like Cisneys dont have the resources to handle the influx of pets created by the Humane Society crackdown. A tough economy and people returning to work after the pandemic have heightened the problem.

Terri Larson of Muddy Paws Second Chance Rescue said she receives calls every day from people who have tried to take a pet to the Humane Society and have been turned away. Instead of the usual 120 to 150 animals on her books, her rescue now has around 240.

There are no options for people, she said.

Pam Wiese, Nebraska Humane Society vice president of public relations and marketing, said her nonprofit organization is facing the same challenge as the smaller rescue organizations. There simply is not enough room.

Even with some newly created kennels, the Humane Society is nearly full with 575 animals, down from last months 675. A certain number of kennels have to be saved for cruelty cases or the stray animals that the Humane Society is obligated to pick up through its contract with the City of Omaha and Sarpy County.

Wiese said its been a long-standing policy to try to divert owner-surrenders. Its just been followed more strictly post-COVID. Part of the problem, as with many companies, she said, is that the Humane Society has struggled to fill open staff positions.

Were trying some new things to divert people from leaving animals at the shelter, she said. What were really trying to do is use us as a last resort instead of a first choice.

That may mean asking an owner to list a pet on the Humane Society rehoming website and keep it until its found a new home, asking friends or family for help or posting on social media about an animal needing a home.

A pet food pantry, for instance, can provide help for people who cant afford to feed their animals.

As opposed to bringing in a pet, and saying, I cant have it any longer, were trying to help people rehome on their own if at all possible. If they cant and have tried all of the resources, then we will take the pets, Wiese said.

The Humane Society also is recommending rescue groups to owners who cant keep a pet, which adds to the overwhelming influx to those organizations.

Its a mess, said Debbie David, owner of Hands, Hearts and Paws Rescue.

Adoptions are incredibly slow, she said. Requests for intake whether it be shelters or owner surrenders or puppy mills are at an all-time high.

Eryn Swan, who operates Hops + Co. Small Animal Rescue, said pet overpopulation has always been a problem. But it seems to have grown worse the past few years.

Rescues are trying their best to answer the need, but Swan said there always seems to be more animals than they can handle. That the Humane Society is following a stricter policy isnt helping.

We feel like were bailing out a sinking ship with a shot glass, Swan said. Spay and neuter is everything. Thats going to limit the number of animals out there.

However, the Humane Society closed its low-cost spay and neuter clinic in April, again due to staffing shortages, Wiese said. It is also not spaying and neutering all the animals it adopts out.

All cats are being fixed, as well as bully breeds, puppies and dogs with behavior issues. Those with no issues are being done when possible. But she said waiting to be fixed can hold up the adoption process and slow the creation of a space for another animal.

The Humane Society doesnt want to have to euthanize any animals to create space. Right now, they have an 86% live release rate.

Owners are being offered a voucher for $500 for spaying and $300 for neutering instead of those procedures being done by the Humane Society. Wiese said $52,800 in vouchers have been redeemed in 2022.

A spot check of the costs involved in spaying a 1-year-old, 35-pound dog ranged from $110 to $600. One animal hospital said it had no openings until January.

Were asking the public to step up and make an appointment with their veterinarian, Weise said. Were hoping the public does that. The redemption rate shows that the public is doing this. We dont have another answer.

Homeward Bounds Cisney said the spay and neuter clinic was crucial for rescues, especially those working to contain the high number of feral cats in Omaha.

What we really desperately need out here is for the Humane Society to come out with a lot of us to do spays and neutering, Cisney said.

Swan said its too easy for even the best-intentioned owner to accidentally let a pet out or have it escape from a yard while its in heat and become pregnant.

That animal would then contribute to the overpopulation problem. Swan said that risk is too high not to provide that service.

To me, its just scary and not the responsible thing to adopt out animals that are not spayed or neutered, she said.

The Humane Society recently hired another veterinarian and veterinary tech and plans to add another to reach its usual staff of five. That will enable them to spay every animal that is adopted. Wiese said the spay and neuter clinic will reopen, likely in 2023.

Wiese said she understands that rescues are feeling frustrated with the Humane Society. Swan said the shelter needs to operate with more transparency, especially with rescues.

You guys are the one with all the huge funding and giant volunteer base and you are handing out our names where we have nominal budgets and limited fosters, Swan said. It doesnt feel good.

The Nebraska Humane Society has a budget of $14 million per year, with about 40% coming from donations. But Wiese said it also has a utility bill every month of $40,000.

Thats just some perspective, she said.

Muddy Paws Larson and Homeward Bounds Cisney said they are doing everything they can to help pet owners in a bind. Larson said her rescue assists with medical expenses and offers free behavioral training for its animals. They spay or neuter every adopted pet.

Larson said her groups medical expenses were $70,000 the past few months, due in large part to the rehabilitation of dogs with parvo that it does in conjunction with the Humane Society.

But Larson said owners have to step up, too. She recommends getting training if having issues with a pet or not waiting until the last minute to find a new home for a pet if they have to move and a dog or cat cant come along.

Unfortunately, a lot of people think pets arent a commitment for the life of the pet, she said. I think thats part of the problem. People arent problem-solving and working through some of the issues with their pets. They figure, rehome them.

Cisney said something needs to be done to ease the situation because its reaching a breaking point. Rescues fear that Nebraska will have the same issue as some states in the South, which have much larger problems with stray animals.

Its absolutely horrifying, Cisney said. Its not the good life. The animals are getting the shaft and nobody is paying attention. Its really damaging and dangerous.
LINCOLN  Nebraska Medicaid officials have delayed signing new contracts with private companies to manage most of the states $1.8 billion Medicaid services until a protest filed by a losing bidder is resolved.

But the Department of Health and Human Services said last week that there should be plenty of time for the three winning bidders to prepare before the planned Jan. 1, 2024, start date for the contracts.

Community Care Plan of Nebraska, doing business as Healthy Blue, filed a protest last month of the departments announced intent to award new Medicaid managed care contracts to three other companies. Healthy Blue currently holds one of the contracts.

HHS officials announced plans in September to award the new contracts to Molina Healthcare of Nebraska, Nebraska Total Care and United HealthCare of the Midlands. Two of those, Nebraska Total Care and United HealthCare, have current contracts. Molina Healthcare is new to Nebraska but provides Medicaid, Medicare and Affordable Care Act marketplace plans in several other states.

The three companies will be responsible for managing physical and behavioral health care, pharmacy services and dental benefits for almost all Medicaid patients in a program called Heritage Health. Together, they will oversee the care of some 347,000 Nebraskans.

State Medicaid Director Kevin Bagley told state lawmakers Friday that Healthy Blue had been in third place after evaluators reviewed and scored all of the bids.

But he said the margin between the third- and fourth-place companies was very small, prompting officials to add oral interviews with all the bidders. Molina moved up in the rankings after those interviews, which focused on the companies plans for innovation, integration and access to care for marginalized communities.

Larry Kahl, the HHS chief operating officer, denied the companys protest in a letter dated Oct. 24. Healthy Blue now has the option to request a meeting with Dannette Smith, the HHS CEO. The company also can pursue the issue in court.

Bagley said he was not part of the initial scoring and is not involved with the protest. But he defended the bidding process that the state has followed.

We believe this has been a very robust and clean process, he said in a briefing for the Health and Human Services Committee.

Nebraskas procurement process has come under scrutiny after a series of cases in which officials wound up choosing a low-cost bidder that failed to do the job. The most recent case was the selection of St. Francis Ministries, a Kansas-based nonprofit, to manage Omaha-area child welfare cases.

St. Francis got the job after bidding 40% less than the previous contractor, the Omaha-based PromiseShip. Although the agency fell short on key contract requirements, the state was forced to sign an emergency rate increase in January 2021. By December, state officials announced an early termination of the contract.

Bagley said Friday that the Medicaid managed care bidders were not competing on cost. Rather, each was required to accept the per-member, per-month payment rates set by the state and to compete on other factors, such as being able to produce better health care results.

The winning bidders were selected from among five contenders. The fifth bidder, Medica Community Health Plan, which currently offers health coverage to Nebraskans through the ACA marketplace, has not filed a protest.

The current Heritage Health contracts date to 2017, when the state signed with three private companies to administer what was then $1.2 billion worth of Medicaid services. Since then, two of the original three companies merged, which led to the state signing a contract with Healthy Blue.

Heritage Health does not cover nursing home care and other long-term support and services for the elderly and people with disabilities.
As revolutions go, that one in France in 1789 was about as messy, violent and complicated as they get. And yet, for one brief shining moment on Aug. 26, 1789, the National Assembly passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen  and true egalitarianism was enshrined.

But wait! Cue the record scratch. Those good old boys of the Estates General (OK, yeah, they were actually nobles, clerics and the bourgeoise) really meant it on the Man part. As enlightened as they thought they were, the representatives never even considered French women as part of this landmark civil rights document. And therein lies the central conceit of "The Revolutionists," playing Nov. 10-19 at Heartland Theatre.

The play is the work of the prolific playwright Lauren Gunderson, and it centers on an imagined meeting between three real-life figures of the revolution: writer Olympe de Gouges (Drea Fecht), unrepentant assassin Charlotte Corday (Mia Katz), perplexed former queen Marie Antoinette (Brooke Moonan) and, one of historical fiction, abolitionist Marianne Angelle (Janet Ademilua).

Do these women have a lot to talk about? Girl, let me tell you. While I wasnt a huge fan of some the wink-wink, meta-meta let's debate the value of theater patter, Gunderson is to be commended on creating a story that, while set in the French Revolution, is about as prescient as it gets in todays political climate. These women ask the hard questions of each other and of the audience. Identity politics, white privilege and schisms within the feminist movement are just a few of the themes touched upon in sometimes heated and sometimes comedic discussions.

The irony isnt lost that it is seemingly the character most out of touch with reality, Marie Antoinette, who hits the proverbial nail on the head when she asks, Its always the women who have to do the changing. What about what we want? Indeed. And what do these women want? Well, that depends on the woman.

Marianne has come to visit Olympe for her help on writing pamphlets as she and her husband lead a revolt in the French colony of Haiti. (Spoiler alert: It will be successful.) Charlotte has come because, while shes solid on her motive for killing the journalist Jean-Paul Marat, Because hes awful, she deadpans, she needs a killer catchphrase to cry out once shes done the deed. I need a line, she tells Olympe,  something with a lot of f-you in it.

And the former queen? Why has she come to visit De Gouges? Probably the most obvious motive of all: I need a rewrite, she declares. No one listens to me. To say Marie Antoinette had a slight image problem is an understatement. The scandalmongering writers of the era were merciless to her. Its a testament to Moonans acting prowess that she makes the dethroned monarch such a sympathetic character, particularly in the first act when she insists Olympe make her the lead character of the play, while also giving her fabulous exit lines.

Fecht gives Olympe frenetic oomph as she struggles to focus on what to write. Katz is the real where did she come from It Girl of this production. The energy level immediately rises on her first entrance, and were drawn to her killer charisma. Angelle, from Nigeria, makes her American stage debut. At times, the audience struggles a little with her accent, but the message never falters. She has a wonderful naturalistic acting style and does some lovely scene partner work with Katz and Moonan.

Director Sanhawich Meateanuwat has cast well, and thats sometimes half the battle of a good production. Unfortunately, I found his staging to be a missed opportunity. Set designer John Stark has built up half the stage on a 15-inch rise or so, a rarity for a Heartland production. However, rather than use the upstage elevated area, and avoid the downstage corners, there are frustrating amounts of time where the blocking keeps actresses backs to the side audiences.

Costumer Lauren M. Lowell has dressed the women in 18th century splendor. Kudos to Moonan and Fecht, who have particularly challenging garments to navigate, along with gravity-defying wigs by Ken Sprouls. Jesse Folks lighting design is particularly creative on the murder of Marat. Im not sure where sound designer Dean Brown found an 18th century guillotine sound effect, but it slices through the air with a somber, knowing chill. The sad reality was, after all, Citizen Guillotine was the only truly egalitarian thing about the French Revolution. Everyone was equal in death.

The production is rated R for language. Audience members are required to be masked.
Bloomington- Normal

Galleries, museums

Some cultural institutions are open or making plans to reopen under current COVID restrictions. Check with each facility for indoor, online or outdoor programming. Open facilities have face covering, distancing and other guidelines in effect; see websites or call for details.

Angel Ambrose Fine Art Studio; 101 W. Monroe St. Suite 201, Bloomington; Open First Fridays 5-8 p.m. and by appointment; 309-825-4655; angelambrose.com.

David Davis Mansion; 1000 Monroe Drive, Bloomington; open for tours, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat.; by donation; daviddavismansion.org; 309-828-1084.

Eaton Studio Gallery; 411 N. Center St., Bloomington; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays; 5-8 p.m. First Fridays, or by appointment or ring bell; eatonstudiogallery.com; 309-828-1575.

Illinois Art Station; 101 E. Vernon Ave., Normal; Gallery open Saturdays 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; illinoisartstation.org; 309-386-1019.

Inside Out: Accessible Art Gallery & Cooperative; 200 W. Monroe St., Bloomington; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; Saturday 8 a.m.-2 p.m.; by appointment Sunday-Tuesday; and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. First Friday; insideoutartcoop.org; 309-838-2160.

Jan Brandt Gallery; Normandy Village, 1100 Beach St., Building 8, Normal; by appointment; janbrandtgallery.com; 309-287-4700.

Joann Goetzinger Studio and Gallery; 313 N. Main St. Suite A, Bloomington; open first Fridays 5-8 p.m., Saturdays 9 a.m.-4 p.m., also by appointment; masks and social distancing required; 309-826-1193.

Lois Jett Historic Costume Collection; Turner Hall 126E - ISU Campus, Normal; 12-2 p.m., Tuesday, 2-4 p.m., Wednesday, and 10 a.m.-12 p.m., Thursday through Dec. 9; also open 1-4 p.m., Nov. 6; 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday by appointment.

Main Gallery 404; 404 N. Main St., Bloomington; 12-5 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays; 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturdays; By chance or appointment at 309-590-6779.

McLean County Arts Center; 601 N. East St., Bloomington; open; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday, 12-4 p.m. Saturday; masks and social distancing required; mcac.org; 309-829-0011.

McLean County Museum of History; 200 N. Main St., Bloomington; 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday; closed Sundays, until further notice; reservations at education@mchistory.org or 309-827-0428; mchistory.org; 309-827-0428.

Merwin and Wakeley Galleries; Illinois Wesleyan University; Bloomington; open; 12-4 p.m., Monday through Friday; 7-9 p.m., Tuesday evening; 1-4 p.m., Saturday through Sunday; iwu.edu/art/galleries; 309-556-3391.

Prairie Aviation Museum; 2929 E. Empire St., Bloomington; opens April 2; hours 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; prairieaviationmuseum.org; 309-663-7632.

University Galleries of Illinois State University, Normal; open; 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday, noon-4 p.m. Saturday, Sunday; 309-438-5487; galleries.illinoisstate.edu/about/visit/.

Central Illinois

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, 212 N. Sixth St., Springfield; advance reservation required; adults $15, seniors $12, under 5 free; presidentlincoln.illinois.gov; 217-558-8844.

Art Center at Greater Livingston County Arts Council; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday; noon-4 p.m. Sunday; 209 W. Madison St., Pontiac; pcartcenter.com; 815-419-2472.

Contemporary Art Center of Peoria; Riverfront Arts Center, 305 S.W. Water St., Peoria; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; peoriacac.org; 309-674-6822.

Dickson Mounds Museum; 10956 N. Dickson Mounds Road, Lewistown; open, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; free; illinoisstatemuseum.org; 309-547-3721.

Illinois State Museum; 502 S. Spring St., Springfield; open, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; Monday-Friday, free; illinoisstatemuseum.org; 217-782-7386.

Lincoln Heritage Museum; Lincoln Center at Lincoln College, 300 Keokuk St., Lincoln; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 1-4 p.m. Saturday, closed Sundays, Mondays and on Lincoln College breaks; $4-7; museum.lincolncollege.edu; 217-735-7399.

Peoria Art Guild; 203 Harrison St., Peoria; open; 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Friday or by appointment; peoriaartguild.org; 309-637-2787.

Peoria Riverfront Museum; downtown riverfront Peoria; open 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday and Friday; 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday; 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday; and closed Sunday; adults $11, seniors, students $10, ages 3-17 $9; peoriariverfrontmuseum.org; 309-686-7000.

Simpkins Military History Museum; 605 E. Cole St., Heyworth; Open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 1-5 p.m.; Free admission (donations accepted); Private tours, call first; 309-319-3413; Open House, 1-5 p.m., March 19, marking 63 years of collecting military items.

Time Gallery; 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday; 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Saturday; Closed Sunday; Clock Tower Place Building, 201 Clock Tower Drive, East Peoria; 309-467-2331.

U of I Krannert Art Museum; 500 E. Peabody Drive, Champaign; open; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; Thursdays until 8 p.m. when classes are in session; closed Sunday and Monday; kam.illinois.edu; 217-333-1861.

Exhibits

Andy Warhol: Endangered Species; Owens Gallery; through Dec. 11; Mars; Experience Gallery; through Spring 2023; American Revolutionaries: Art & Distribution; Gallery 1; through Spring 2023; Archibald Motleys Bronzeville at Night; Owens Gallery, through March 2023; "Nathan Gunn: The Art of Opera"; through Spring 2023. Peoria Riverfront Museum.

Stories of Survival; Object. Image. Memory.; through Jan. 22, 2023; Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

2022 Honoring the Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans; through Nov. 12; Simpkins Military History Museum.

Climate Change in Your Back Yard; first floor Hot Science Gallery; through April 22, 2023; Illinois State Museum.

Midwest; group exhibit; through Nov. 4; Holiday Show and Sell; group exhibit; Nov. 10-Dec. 23; Lincoln Arts Institute.

When All Things Could Speak; Sarah Edmands Martin; Merwin Gallery; In the Foothills of the Endless Mountain, Vol. 2; Lisa Lofegren; Wakeley Gallery; through Dec.11.

Holiday Treasures; Brandt/Armstrong/Dolan Galleries; Nov. 8-Dec. 31; McLean County Arts Center.

"Art Therapy is My Necessity"; by Kathy Zehr; through Nov. 30; Art Center at Greater Livingston County Arts Council.

"Play of Color"; through Feb. 10; Lois Jett Historic Costume Collection.
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

Nov. 6, 1922: A rat entered the Decatur home of Mr. and Mrs. A.A. Luckenbill and attacked their 13-month-old baby. The parents were awakened by screams and found the rat had bitten clear through one of its little toes. Mr. Luckenbill went on a hunt for the rat, which he ultimately found and succeeded in killing, although it "fought like a terrier."

75 years ago

Nov. 6, 1947: With just two days remaining before the first broadcast of the new Quizdown contest, the Towanda Grade School team is all set to give their opponents, Bent School, a hard battle. The Daily Pantagraph and Radio Station WJBC, sponsors of the new Quizdown contest, will present the winning school with a large Rand McNally eight-colored world map, and each team member with a special pencil. The Quizdown programs, pitting two schools against each other, will be presented at 10 a.m. each Saturday at the Bloomington High School auditorium and broadcast over WJBC.

50 years ago

Nov. 6, 1972: A Scintillation Camera, a machine that gives physicians a "picture" of organs such as the lungs, kidneys, brain, heart and liver, is now in use at St. Joseph's Hospital, department of nuclear medicine. The $52,000 machine is a diagnostic tool that aids doctors in determining the condition of an organ. The new machine takes about a quarter of the time that a previous machine took to produce an image.

25 years ago

Nov. 6, 1997: An important state grant will be funneled through LeRoy to help the proposed Dixie Truck Stop bring its growing project to completion next summer. Gov. Jim Edgar announced the approval of a $500,000 economic development grant to LeRoy that the city will use through its tax increment financing district to help Dixie President Mark Beeler develop the property. "We (the city) weren't necessarily waiting for it as far as we were concerned," but the impact will affect Beeler's development, LeRoy Mayor Bob Rice said.
Founded in 1934 by A.H. Gus Belt, the first restaurant  located at the corner of Main Street and Virginia Avenue in Normal  is now the site of a Monicals Pizza.

Not surprisingly, the collections of the McLean County Museum of History include objects and papers relating to Steak n Shake. In the museums Working for a Living exhibit, for instance, one will find on display a carhop serving tray and an order pad  with the latter highlighting instructions to motorists, such as, For service, turn lights on, and the all-important, Remain parked until tray is removed.

The museums archives also contain a collection on the iconic restaurant chain, including newspaper clippings, menus, and a binder of franchise papers, 1954-1969, including incorporation and organization documents, franchise agreements and stock information.

As a not-for-profit cultural institution, the museum relies mainly on donations, and so this archive collection and the objects on display were acquired through a series of gifts made over time  many by everyday folk who just so happen to appreciate local history. Without their support, there simply would be no museum to visit!

Although the existing archive collection is an invaluable record of Steak n Shake, the museum staff is always on the lookout to add new material to help better tell the story of this cherished hometown business.

And lo and behold, in late September of this year, Twin City resident and loyal museum supporter and volunteer Amy Miller donated some 60 issues of Steak n Shake News, the companys employee newsletter. The generous gift included the very first issue, January 1945, and continued into the 1950s. During the past decade or more, Amy has made some wonderful donations to the museum, but this one might top them all!

Some of the newsletters are addressed to employee Marie Meadows, a remarkable woman who worked at Steak n Shake for just a few years, 1949-1951. While there, she edited the newsletter and was secretary to President Arthur S. Babe Smith.

During World War II  before her time at Steak n Shake  Marie served as a yeoman second class in the SPARs, the U.S. Coast Guard Womens Reserve. She also was a classical guitarist, and for a few years in the late 1930s, she had a music program that aired Sunday evenings on WJBC AM 1230.

Eventually moving to Washington, D.C., Marie worked for the National Advertising Council, and was active in a national classical guitar society, serving as D.C. president. She passed away in 1978.

Marie Meadows was the aunt of donor Amy Miller, which explains how many of these newsletters came to be held by Amy. Warren Miller, Amys father, also worked for Steak n Shake  he started out in the late 1940s as a delivery driver and retired in the early 1970s as director of purchasing.

One can track the Steak n Shake careers of Marie Meadows and her brother Warren Miller through the pages of this newsletter  as one could do for any number of employees.

Generally speaking, the newsletters came to the museum in surprisingly good shape  thanks to the tender loving care given to them by donor Amy Miller. The oldest newsletters were printed on highly acidic paper, so rough handling is certain to chip or crack pages.

These most-endangered issues were placed in archival clear sleeves to better ensure their long-term integrity. In addition, all the donated newsletters were inventoried, placed in acid-free folders and then incorporated into the existing Steak n Shake Collection, which is housed in the museums climate-controlled archives.

The newsletters themselves are a fantastic resource for former employees, genealogists, students, researchers, or the simply curious. Each issue numbering four or more pages  is chockablock with photographs of company restaurants (exteriors and interiors), as well as messages from the home office, updates from restaurants and photos of employees  from carhops to cooks and night waitresses to fountain operators.

The July 1949 issue commemorated the 15th anniversary of the opening of the Normal drive-in. The cover of this issue includes portraits of Gus and Edith Belt, with Gus listed as chairman of the board of directors, and Edith as food consultant.

At the time, Steak n Shake boasted 26 restaurants in four states  Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Arkansas.

In one year, noted the July 1949 issue, the company processed more than 1 million pounds of beef, ground in our own commissary; 160,000 gallons of ice cream, made in our own freezers; and 140,000 gallons of pasteurized milk. The ice cream and milk, of course, went into making the restaurants' celebrated milkshakes.

Each newsletter itself is a window into a lost world. The May 1951 issue, for instance, showcased the six Steak n Shakes in the Chicago area, though at this time all were in the working-class south suburbs  Blue Island, Chicago Heights and Harvey  or Northwest Indiana  two in Hammond and one in Whiting.

This issue also includes a two-page spread featuring Normal Steak n Shakers (as employees were called), including Frances Zimmerman, assistant curb captain, along with curbies Guy Bandeko, Gerry Fedrigon and Buddy Houk  all sporting their new white-striped curb jackets.

Each issue also includes news and gossip from various restaurants. The May 1951 update for the Steak n Shake at 113 E. Monroe St. in Bloomington (this at a time when the company had several small storefront restaurants downtown) includes this gem: We extend a big welcome to the new girls on the night crew  Mary Vogel, Margaret Bair and Lorraine Woosley. Hope to have them with us a long time!

One also learns this: We were happy to see Don Hefler when he was home on furlough a couple weeks ago, and we were sorry to see him leave again, as he was on his way overseas. By the time you read this, Don will be in Korea.

Gus Belt died in 1954, and his wife Edith ran the company until 1969. After her passing, Steak n Shake was sold to an out-of-state corporation. Today, the chain is part of a San Antonio, Tex.-based holding company, with restaurants throughout much of the United States and as far away as the Middle East.

Safeguarding the historical treasures from our shared past is serious business. And preserving for generations to come these Steak n Shakes newsletters and the rich, personal stories they tell is the business of the McLean County Museum of History.
These are divided times in a nation divided, of cancel cultures, of vastly different views and visions, of angered extremes and threats to a democracy, perhaps only paralleled by the times of the Civil War and Jared Browns dad.

Oh yes, they compare, says Jared.

A Twin Citian, Brown is now 85.

A highly accomplished sort, he is the retired head of the theater and acting department at Illinois Wesleyan University, author of books, active in local theater, a guy who grew up at the epicenter of Hollywood, the son of an actor who was a star of radio and then a cast member on one of televisions original sitcom/variety programs, the Jack Benny Show.

His dad acted with George and Gracie Burns, opposite Bea Benaderet (Petticoat Junction) on TVs Burns & Allen, and he appeared in I Love Lucy.

During the Golden Age of Radio, he was a mainstay on the era-carving Fred Allen Show.

He worked with the Nelsons, Ozzie and Harriet, and sons David and Ricky.

It was the Browns  actor John; mother June, an actress herself; their two children, Jared and Julie  living among the movers and shakers of an era and the motion-picture industry, at the apex of Hollywood.

The future was so bright, they needed sunglasses.

Then it all ended, all in one afternoon in 1953.

It was the era of the so-called Red Scare  thats when America and the communistic Soviet Union severed ties from their victory as partners in World War II, and a paranoia grew as some politicians told the public they should be fearful of a subversive Red influence, that communists are lurking everywhere and using their positions as schoolteachers, college professors, labor organizers, artists and journalists to aid the program of world communist domination.

Even President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Americas hero general of World War II, was brought into the discussion as a potential sympathizer.

Especially targeted was Hollywood.

One of those was Jared Browns dad, John Brown.

A British-born actor, he was A-list of the time, a familiar face who also appeared in movies, including Alfred Hitchcocks Strangers on a Train.

A political activist, he was before his time, active in the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, where he vigorously supported residuals for actors, which at the time was a dangerously radical idea.

Today, actors residuals, such as being paid for TV reruns, are an automatic.

But they werent in the conservative, post-war 1950s, when TV was an infant.

Coincidentally, another pro-residuals actor of the era was a Central Illinoisan who at the time also was a liberal Democrat.

That was Ronald Reagan.

But Reagan didnt get called to testify before a U.S. House committee  the House Committee on Un-American Activities  as Jared Browns dad was.

On that afternoon in 1953, in the fervor and fear of spreading communism, in another version of a cancel culture and Salem witch-hunt of a different kind, Jared Browns dad found it none of anyone elses business his political leanings, and before the House committee, took the Fifth, the constitutional amendment about everyones right to remain silent.

Repeatedly on that afternoon, to their questions, Brown offered the committee only his name and address.

That was translated, in that time, as a guilty admission.

Thus, Jared Browns dad, along with about 250 others, was blacklisted in Hollywood.

Instantly caught in the current, much like those of today, he was fired by TV producers.

His contracts were voided.

Ozzie Nelson, believing John Brown was well-intentioned, refused to fire him  at least until, as Jared Brown attests, the TV network and the advertising sponsors of the popular Ozzie and Harriet Show were threatened with cancellation unless he fired my dad.

And so, John Brown was fired there, too.

Living in a nice area of Hollywood was in time no longer affordable, as the Brown family, without work, became financially strapped, forcing them to move farther and farther out into the California valley.

They lost many of their friends who either stayed away because of their own fears of being targeted, or they just didnt visit because the Browns now lived so far out in the Hollywood sticks.

My mother, says Jared, she was devastated  intensely angry; I think maybe even more so than my father was. At first, it wasnt that particularly sad. But then it got sadder, and sadder...

His dad went into woodworking.

(It) sold reasonably well, but it didn't pay all the bills, says Jared Brown.

Then sadly  tragically in the truest sense  it ended.

On May 16, 1957, at only age 53, his dad died of a massive heart attack.

I'm certain the stress of all of that contributed greatly, says Jared.

And so now, nearly 70 years later, in another time of cancel culture, of divisive interests and zero tolerance, of anger and toxic inner tensions when a country founded on a freedom of spirit is having problems finding any middle road  Jared Brown says he worries greatly about the future.

He has reason.

Hes already been there.
Question: True or false? With two movies out, actress Jamie Lee Curtis is back in the Hollywood headlines, after taking time off to author children's books and concentrate on philanthropic projects that began 39 years ago by kissing hundreds of Central Illinoisans.

Answer: Thats true. While in Pontiac in 1983 filming the movie Grandview USA, Curtis befriended a Pontiac 13-year-old whod undergone an experimental and uninsurable heart transplant and even set up a kissing booth in Pontiac to help raise money. Sadly, the girl, Lori Tull, died six years later, but it started a lifelong passion for Curtis, who has become a leading advocate for childrens charities, thanks, she says, to her Lori Tull and Pontiac experience.
A Tanzanian passenger plane has crashed into Lake Victoria as it attempted to land in the lakeside town of Bukoba, killing at least three people.



The Precision Air flight was carrying 43 people, 26 of whom have been rescued and sent to hospital, an official said.

Rescue workers and local fishermen are on the scene searching for survivors.



The plane is almost completely submerged with only the brown and green tail fin above the water, surrounded by rescue workers and fishing boats.



One end of the runway at Bukoba airport lies right next to the shore.



Top regional official Albert Chalamila said that three bodies had been recovered so far following the crash, which has been blamed on bad weather.



Emergency workers are using ropes to try and pull the ATR-42 aircraft out of Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake.

"We want to see if the landing gear is stuck so that we can ask for more technical assistance to push it out of the waters," said Mr Chalamila.



The two pilots and two crew have not yet been found.



President Samia Suluhu Hassan has expressed her condolences to those affected and called for calm as the rescue operation continues.



The plane was flying from Tanzania's biggest city, Das es Salaam, to Bukoba via Mwanza.



Precision Air is Tanzania's largest private airline and is partly owned by Kenya Airways. It was founded in 1993 and operates domestic and regional flights.

Source: BBC









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Journalists and news organisations irrespective of their ideology should not be a fulcrum for spreading untruth, Dr Koryoe Anim-Wright, has said.



The Registrar at the University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA) said news organisations and journalists must have safeguards to check misinformation often championed by actors, who went beyond ethics of Public Relations and Journalism to mislead the public.



Journalists as communicators who work in the service of truth, including inconvenient truth can find themselves becoming target of lies, rumours and hoaxes designed to intimidate and discredit them,  she observed.



Dr Anim Wright who delivered a lecture on the topic, Ethics in News Reporting: The Post-Truth Era, said the digital spread of hatred, division, and misinformation in the form of fake news was a peril for democracy and a pollutant of channel of information that informed democratic citizens.



She, therefore, urged journalists to let ethical codes designed to ensure information gathering and verification in public interest be their compass in fighting misinformation.



She said the framework for establishing borders of journalism that favoured trust and accountability in the interest of building meaningful relationships must be used to ensure people took good decision based on having reliable and accurate facts.



With clicks becoming the determining factor of advertising revenue, she observed that voices were being obliterated by the proliferation of new media voices on the online space.



That situation, she added, had been compounded by the falling standards of Journalism practice due to the proliferation of sub-standard Journalism institutions and low knowledge level among young journalists.



Spread of misinformation and disinformation is taking place largely through social media networks and platforms that are accused of blurring the lines of truth and fiction,  she said.



With fear of governments supressing press freedom in the form of legislations to combat fake news and disinformation, the interconnectivity of social media, she said, made combating disinformation a shared responsibility of every citizen.

Source: GNA









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Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has released the District Assemblies Common Fund and other statutory payments to Members of Parliament.



This comes days after some NPP MPs demanded his removal.



Some have suggested that the monies were released due to the calls for him to be axed.



Member of Parliament for Afigya Kwabre North, Collins Adomako-Mensah however believes the two were just "mere coincidence and not due to pressure".



"The Minister is just fulfilling a statutory obligation," he added.









Renowned Journalist and Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt reacting to this said if the MPs' action can cause monies to be released then "they should do more Aluta".



"This seems to be a miracle . . . sometimes these MPs will cry and cry but the monies won't be paid for three quarters, but as for this two quarters have immediately been paid; what has happened? . . . if that is the case then they should do more of such actions (Aluta) and they will get everything they want," he said.



Listen to him in the video below





Both were speaking on's morning show ''.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Vice President, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, says it is wrong to measure the government's performance only by the current post-COVID-19 economic difficulties.



He said Ghana's economic outlook before the onset of the pandemic was positive; thus, the government continued to attribute the current crisis to factors emanating from the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.



"Judging government by the development in the global space and not including the performance of the economy when we assumed office in 2017 to 2020 is an anti-climax. And we all know that period gave us a strong economy," he said.



Dr Bawumia said this in an address at the 60th Anniversary celebration of Hogbetsotsoza at the Anloga park.



According to the World Bank, Ghana's GDP growth rate was 8.1 per cent in 2018; 6.5 per cent in 2019: 0.5 per cent in 2020 and 5.4 per cent in 2021.



However, the listing of the achievements was not well received by a small section of the celebrants, who protested audibly.



Nevertheless, the Vice President said these successes were unequal to successive governments' performance on all fronts.



The government, he said, was working assiduously to stem the high food and fuel prices and urged Ghanaians to be patient.



He identified with the strong cultural heritage of the Anlo people, which is a panacea for the development of the creative industry, an enabler and a driver for sustainable national development.



He said Keta and Anloga continued to harness a chunk of the tourism traffic and urged the residents to maintain the peace at all times.

Source: GNA









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The Deputy Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party, George Krobea Asante, has, in a panel discussion, appealed to the members of the party not to lose hope as things will turn around sooner than later.



Appearing on Asempa 94.7 FMs popular afternoon talk show, Ekosii Sen on Friday, November 4, 2022, emphasized that though things are difficult and the struggles of Ghanaians are real, the government is not slumbering as it is scrambling to get the people out of these economic challenges.



As a member of the ruling partys communications outfit, I am privileged to be in the know of some of the cogent measures or steps the government is considering to bring in some affordable fuel to enable price reduction. When that becomes successful, prices on general goods and services will come down and thereby offer some economic relief to our people he said.



He continued: This initiative coupled with a possibility and anticipated decision by the President to reduce the size of government and also undertake reshuffling of some appointees will help to restore sanity and breath new hope into the system



He assured the members of the ruling party that two years are enough to turn the economy around.



Fellow Kukrudites, we still have over two years to the next elections and when we all decide to keep doing our best to support the party and government coupled with the right decisions by government, we will be able to change the narratives.



Dear party people, I am humbly appealing that we dont throw our hands in despair. Our party, government and mother Ghana need us more now than ever. We have a constitutional duty to protect and defend the party and the country at all times. Lets uphold the spirit and latter of the constitution and do as it prescribes

He reiterated the fact that the populace is aware that the NPP is a better party at governance than the opposition party.



The good people of this great nation are much aware that, we in the NPP have better records in governance than the NDC in terms of social intervention policies and programs that are benefiting the vulnerable in our society as well as physical infrastructural developments



What is most pressing and very important for us to do now is to at all costs, find a way to bring down the untold hardships which have been imposed on our people largely as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia/Ukraine war which are adversely impacting global economies including that of the super powers or what we call the advanced economies on their knees he stated further.



He also emphasized the need to empathize with Ghanaians as plans are being rolled out to turn things around.



Lets empathize with the ordinary Ghanaian with the assurance that things will get better and that they should keep supporting the President and his government just as they did during the era of Covid



The Deputy Communications Director of the NPP had a piece of advice for the appointees of the government, imploring them to promote the good works of the government and to welcome party people with open arms when they call on them.



To the appointees, my appeal to you is that promote the positive achievements of this government. Promote the wonderful achievements of our government. Lets welcome party members when they visit us. These would help give them hope and the energy to work assiduously to help us survive these trying times



Fellow Ghanaians, lets be optimistic about a number of good policies and programs the President will be introducing in the yet to be read 2023 budget as was promised in his Fellow Ghanaians Speech on the economy recently.



Fellow Ghanaians, the NPP and President Akuffo - Addos government is grateful to you for your support in this difficult moment he appealed.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Founder of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Akwasi Addae Odike has predicted that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will not be Ghana's president by January 2023.



Odike blamed the president for the current economic turmoil, adding that power does not lie with Akufo-Addo but the citizens of Ghana.



"We will uproot Akufo-Addo like cassava. The sovereignty of this country lies in the people and not the president. Akufo-Addo has degraded the economy. He is the reason our water bodies are in a bad state because of the galamsey menace. He is the reason we lack good governance and education."



Speaking at the 'Kume Preko Reloaded' demonstration held in Accra on November 5, the politician reiterated, "I am telling you Akufo-Addo won't be president by January 2023. We will demonstrate until he steps down."



This is not the first time Akufo-Addo has been asked to resign. Some known figures, members of the opposition, and citizens have demanded that the president, his vice, and the finance minister step down.



Martin Kpebu who addressed the 'Kume Preko Reloaded' demonstrated at Black Stars Square in Accra said;



We are calling on the trio, Akufo-Addo, Bawumia, and Ken Ofori-Atta to resign immediately or latest by Wednesday because as we know that for every cedi, for every dollar, that we borrow as a country president Akufo-Addos family gets richer through Ken Ofori-Atta. How can that continue to happen? That is a clear breach of the constitution and Article 204 yet the president has put his cousin Ofori-Atta in charge of the Finance Ministry."



But Odike threatened that if by Monday, Akufo-Addo does not heed the calls of Ghanaians, there will be a continuous nationwide demonstration.



"Economic activities will come to a halt. No one will work. No matter what he does we will oust him. We are giving him time to prepare to step down as head of state. But if he becomes recalcitrate and stubborn, we will take him down by force."



Asked by Kofi TV in an interview how the president will be forced out of office, he explained that the 'Kume Preko Reloaded' protest was an example of what he meant, assuring that there are many more demonstrations to come.



Ghanaians showed up in their numbers to demonstrate in demand for better living conditions and also called for the resignation of Akufo-Addo, Bawumia, and Ken Ofori-Atta at the demonstration.



The organizers noted that this is to send a "strong message" to the government to act in order to relieve Ghanaians of the challenges they currently face.



They also called for the resignation of the leadership of the country.

Source: Ghanaweb.com









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Cassiel Ato Forson, Member of Parliament for Ajumako Enyan Essiam Constituency in the Central Region has alleged that government went on a borrowing spree in the lead-up to the 2020 polls.



Ato Forson, who is the Ranking Member on Parliaments Finance Committee said a total of GH67 billion was borrowed, an amount which he says the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led government splurged on campaigning.



He said the amount was also shared among members of the governing New Patriotic Party, NPP, like 'kelewele'  a local snack made of fried chopped plantain with pepper usually accompanied with groundnuts.



Because of the elections, they decided to borrow GH67 billion, and shared the money to their party supporters. They shared Ghanas money like kelewele, Ato Forson claimed in an interview with pro-National Democratic Congress channel, Woezor TV.



The NPP government has serially been accused of overborrowing and reckless spending leading Ghana into financial difficulties.



The government insists that the twin effects of the COVID-19 aftermath and the Russia-Ukraine war are to blame for the headwinds and that measures are being put in place to rectify the challenge.



Ghana is hoping for an International Monetary Fund programme to help stabilize the economy amid fears that it could collapse sooner or later.



President Akufo-Addo in late October delivered an address on the economy, admitting that Ghana was in a crisis, whiles outlining measures being undertaken to reverse the tide and put the economy on a path of growth and prosperity.

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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SunStar Cebu: 40 Under 40 is a campaign by SunStar Publishing Inc. in celebration of SunStar Cebus 40th anniversary. The campaign identifies and recognizes 40 Cebuano individuals no older than 40 years old who have greatly influenced and contributed to their respective fields of expertise.



On the days leading up to the anniversary on Nov. 25, these individuals will be featured in separate lifestyle articles that cover each category  ranging from Health and Wellness to Business. A special publication release will be scheduled on Nov. 23 covering all categories and honorees.



Cebu is no stranger to beauty. From its culture to its heritage, Cebu is in no way short when it comes to giving the world something beautiful and profound. Over the years, Cebu has produced gorgeous and exquisite women who all have it all: beauty and brains.



Today, Nov. 7, get to know these exceptional women and see how Cebuano beauty is deeper and far beyond what meets the eye.



Gazini Ganados, 26 | Miss Universe Philippines 2019



Growing up filled with utmost love by her grandparents, Gazini Ganados has made it a personal mission to ensure that societys vulnerable seniors are given the love and care that they deserve, most especially those who are left alone and unable to fend for themselves.



Gazini emphasized what we need to give the elderly as they get older.



One of the better ways to help is to give them your most valuable time. Giving them moral support, showing heartfelt humility and respect makes them aware that someone really does care about them and is trying to improve their condition.



A beauty with a heart, Gazini is an example of how beauty shines bright through actions rather than face value. She shows her compassion to the elderly by ensuring that they are given the right and proper care.



By providing them with the opportunities to improve their condition on their own would increase their self-esteem and help them in overcoming barriers they face every day. Work with the poor and needy people and help them discover their own capabilities and capacity and put them to use at the right place at the right time. Support them and let them know that they have something of value.



Beatrice Luigi Gomez, 27 | Miss Universe Philippines 2021 | Miss Universe top 5



Beauty pageants havent only been a way to uplift the Cebuanos but they have become an outlet for the causes, the talents, the history and culture of the many empowered women who are products of Cebu.



Beatrice Luigi Gomez is more than her ethereal beauty. As a naval sergeant of the Philippine Navy stationed at the Naval Reserve Central - Eastern Visayas, Gomez is more to what she is on stage. Even before her pageantry stint, Bea has long been an advocate for children in conflict with the law.



As a student athlete raised by a single parent, it has been taught that I have to fight my way through challenges but if it was possible for me I know that if the youth are given the guidance and right opportunities, it will also be the same for them.



As much as it is important to amplify the voices of the youth, Bea also emphasizes how it is essential to pay it forward by using her platform in putting a spotlight on various social issues.



Having volunteered in non-profit organizations and being a part of the Philippine Navy Marines Reserve Force has taught me that if you are willing and that if your intentions are right then there is always a way to help.



Nicole Borromeo, 21 | Binibining Pilipinas- International 2022



I take pride in being part of the court of Binibining Pilipinas 2022 together with the Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc. (BPCI) organization who have been a powerful force in impacting our nation for decades. From workshops and skills building to public awareness and relief operations, I believe the platform benefits the country and especially my home, Cebu.



Beauty must go beyond its glitz and glamour and Nicole Borromeo, crowned Binibining Pilipinas 2022, is a testament to that. As an advocate for public health and safety, Nicole aims to bring utmost attention to it as it is more important than ever to address the gaps between our healthcare system.



She elaborated: I prefer to help wherever I can, but I would say I am an advocate for public health and safety. The devastation caused by typhoon Odette on Dec. 16, 2021, was my wake-up call. We were not ready nor prepared for something preventable, but I saw empathy in times of such uncertainty.



Chantal Schmidt, 20 | Miss Universe Cebu City 2022



Despite being the rookie of the queens, Chantal Schmidt struts like she has been one all her life. Representing Cebu City, Chantal has always had her eye on the prize. However, her grit and determination do not stop in the glitz and glamour of pageantry as she is rather keen on amplifying social issues that society sorely needs to address.



I personally do not believe in settling for one advocacy, she said. The very core of being an activist is extending your help to anyone, anywhere. However, while I am very vocal about animal welfare and the emancipation of women, I am mostly recognized for my work regarding suicide prevention. Upon concluding my Miss Universe Philippines journey, I received an influx of messages from hundreds of people, not just Cebuanos.



Chantal has made it her personal mission to help spread awareness about mental health and why it is important for global mental health to be discussed more.



Global mental health care is so lacking, that simply being vocal already brings forth monumental change. What I did on the Miss Universe Philippines stage was to simply exist and unabashedly so.



Tracy Maureen Perez, 29 | Miss World Philippines 2021



Being a beauty queen is a dream for a lot of people and just like any other dream, it also requires 100 percent of effort, consistency and dedication. But aside from truly working on honing your skills and your totality as a person, it is far more important that you stay true to your principles and also push for the things that you believe in.



Standing your ground and consistently working on the causes that you truly believe in is something that Tracy Maureen Perez has exceptionally been doing since she was crowned Miss World Philippines 2021. An advocate for single parents, Tracy aims to shed light on the plight of single parents who struggle trying to be both the mom and dad for their children.



Pushing for access to education, especially to the impoverished youth, and honoring my mother through helping the solo parents are some of my biggest life missions and through the years, I have been working on those through the different organizations Im associated with, especially as Miss World.



Being the true queen that she is, Perez continues to advocate for solo/single parents through the various organizations that she is involved in.



I am actively spreading word and participating in different fundraisers and trainings that help send school supplies to mountain barangays that help the most vulnerable, especially during the pandemic, and that help solo parents gain new skills, especially when it comes to computer literacy and BPO, she added.



Follow SunStar Lifestyle for the next edition of SunStar Cebu: 40 Under 40.




'Platypuses are arguably the most irreplaceable mammal,' the lead author of the new study says.

The future of the platypus, a unique duck-billed, egg-laying mammal only found in Australia, is under threat because they cannot climb over tall river dams, according to a new study.

The platypus is an oddity in many ways. As well as its duck-like bill and egg-laying, it is a rare venomous mammal, brandishing centimeter-long poisonous spurs on its hind legs.

They are also one of the only mammals who can locate prey by detecting electric fields and whose fur glows blue-green under an ultraviolet light. Platypuses even have 10 sex chromosomesmost mammals have two.

But the number of platypuses has fallen by 50 percent since Europeans settled Australia more than two centuries ago, according to previous research.

Its habitat has increasingly come under threat from climate change-fuelled extreme weather events including drought and fire. They are also preyed upon by invasive species such as foxes, cats and dogs.

A new study published in the journal Communications Biology this week identified a new threat: platypuses are not able to climb over large, human-madedams in rivers.

The study's lead author, Jose Luis Mijangos of the University of New South Wales, told AFP that "there might be as few as 30,000 mature platypuses" left in Australia.

More than three quarters of Australia's dams measuring over 10 meters (33 feet) are in regions where platypuses live, the study said.

Some platypuses, which mostly live in rivers and streams but can use their webbed feet to walk on land, have been reported to be able to cross smaller dams.

But they cannot get over taller dams, isolating the animals from each other, the study found.

A platypus held by the researchers near a river dam in Australia.

Increased inbreeding

The researchers took the DNA samples of 274 platypuses from nine rivers in the states of Victoria and New South Wales. Five of the rivers have dams between 85 to 180 meters tall, while the others flow unimpeded.

Comparing the samples, they found that genetic differences were four to 20 times higher in platypus populations around the dammed rivers compared to those not living near dams, indicating the first group rarely mixed with others.

They also estimated that the genetic differences had increased in every platypus generation since the nearby dams had been completed.

"These results suggest that almost no or no platypuses have passed around the dams since they were built," Mijangos said.

As a result, "populations are fragmented, which means that the ability to recolonise available habitat or migrate to areas with more suitable conditions is restricted," he added.

"Fragmentation also simultaneously reduces both local population size and gene flow, each of which is expected to lead to increased inbreeding and reduction of the genetic variation."

To address the problem, the researchers propose structures be built to help the platypuses scale the dams. They also suggested that humans could relocate some platypuses to promote diversity.

After all, the platypus is too weird to be lost.

"Platypuses are arguably the most irreplaceable mammal because they have a unique combination of features," Mijangos said.

More information: Luis Mijangos, Fragmentation by major dams and implications for the future viability of platypus populations, Communications Biology (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-04038-9. www.nature.com/articles/s42003-022-04038-9 Journal information: Communications Biology

 2022 AFP
Warren Countys preliminary $184 million budget for 2023 calls for a decrease in the tax rate for the third year in a row.

On Friday, county Budget Officer Frank Thomas presented the budget to the Board of Supervisors. He said the three goals in mind when the budget was prepared were: continue property tax cap compliance, invest in county resources, protect the countys finances long-term.

Under the tentative spending plan, the countywide property tax rate would decrease by $0.32 to $3.578 per $1,000 in assessed value, according to a county news release. The overall property tax levy will increase by $1.77 million, which is below the New York State tax cap that allowed an increase of up to $1.84 million. The proposed tax levy is a 3.79% increase from the 2022 budget.

Warren County will continue to have one of the lowest property tax burdens in New York, while also having the lowest sales tax rate, 7%, in the state.

A $10.7 million dollar increase in gross appropriations is attributed to increases in salary and retirement costs, the county said.

The county is also allocating a large amount of funds, $7 million, to paving projects on the 250 miles of county roads. This will allow the county to undertake 25 to 30 paving projects.

The budget presentation indicated that by the end of the year, $8 million will have been spent on paving projects.

Our 2023 budget allows Warren County to continue its multi-year plan to maintain county public works infrastructure, including our roads and bridges, while investing in the workforce and equipment that we need to maintain vital services, said Thomas, who is also the town supervisor of Stony Creek. We were also cautious with revenue projections in light of concerns that our economy may slow down in the coming months. But we are confident that our years of fiscally conservative budgeting will help us ride out whatever turbulence we may encounter.

Kevin Geraghty, Warrensburg town supervisor and chairman of the Warren County Board of Supervisors, thanked the budget team for their efforts.

I would like to thank our budget team for their hard work to bring a fiscally responsible budget for 2023 amid uncertain forecasts for revenue and for the regional and national economy. We will continue our mission of providing the essential services that Warren County residents expect, while being cognizant of the need to keep property tax bills as low as possible to continue to make Warren County a great place to work and live, Geraghty said.

The Warren County Board of Supervisors set a public hearing on the budget for Nov. 18 at the boards regular meeting beginning at 10 a.m. The board could adopt the budget following the hearing.
BRIGANTINE  Atlantic Shores postponed until December a meeting that was to be held Saturday to provide more information and answers to the community about its offshore wind plans.

Atlantic Shores is the offshore wind energy company that plans to have 111 wind turbines about 10 miles off Brigantines coast operational by 2027, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities having provided its approval. The board also has approved the Danish company rsted North Americas project to build 98 wind turbines about 15 miles off Brigantines coast.

The Atlantic Shores open house was scheduled for Nov. 12 at the Brigantine Community Center to directly answer peoples questions. But the meeting has been postponed until early December to better address resident questions and concerns and to provide better information, Brigantine Mayor Vince Sera said in a release Saturday.

I spoke with a representative from Atlantic Shores and he explained that the reason for the postponement was to allow Atlantic Shores to better focus the open house exhibits around the specific concerns of the Brigantine community, Sera said.

Sera said Atlantic Shore has reviewed the questions and concerns that were brought up at an Oct. 12 Brigantine community meeting and decided to make changes to its presentation.

Sera said Atlantic Shores was putting together a series of visuals and short videos that will educate the community on different aspects of the project. The company also will have experts available to answer most of the questions the community has, he added.

Atlantic Shores was very apologetic about postponing for a second time but explained that this is their first community open house and they want to make sure they fairly and accurately address everyones concerns, Sera said.

About 100 residents, second homeowners and public officials attended the October meeting at the Brigantine Community School to discuss offshore wind projects and their potential impacts on the barrier island. Resident concerns included impacts on the environmental, property values and energy rates. Visibility of the turbines from Brigantine beaches was one of the main concerns.

Atlantic Shores didnt have an appropriate visual representation of what the wind turbines would look like from Brigantine, although the presentation showed windmills towering to almost the size of the Empire State Building.

Residents and city officials have been asking for months, at the least, for an accurate depiction of what the turbines would look like from Brigantines beaches.

Sera said Atlantic Shores would also use the open house in Brigantine as a gage for future meetings in other communities.

We did a similar open-house style meeting when Atlantic City Electric was doing upgrades to our main power feed and substation, said Sera, who noted that meeting worked very well and gave most people a better understanding of the project.

Some of Atlantic Shores staff used to work for Atlantic City Electric, and they were the ones who helped put the ACE meeting together, so they understand what we are asking for with this meeting, said Sera.

Sera will announce the date of the December meeting when it is set.
ATLANTIC CITY  The Eternal Gandhi Peace Center and Museum in the Tanger Outlets The Walk officially opened its doors to the public Tuesday.

The museum, located on North Arkansas Avenue, is the first museum in the United States dedicated to recounting Mahatma Gandhis life. It is based on the National Gandhi Museum in India and features many of the same interactive displays, said Ren Parikh, director of the local center.

We dont have anything in Atlantic City other than casinos and a lot of violence, said Parikh to why the nations only Gandhi museum is in the city.

Mahatma Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, politician, social activist and writer. He is best known for his nonviolent practices advocating for political and social progress when he became the leader for the nationalist movement against Britains rule of India.

Gandhi spent a lot of time fighting for independence and sharing his teachings, Parikh said.

The museum, next to the Adidas store at the Tanger Outlets, is run by Parikh, the founder of the Ideal Institute of Technology. It is also managed by youth enrolled at the institute as a first step in its career training program.

The Ideal Institue of Technology is a vocational school aimed to teach those ages 16 to 24 about alternative work options. It is billed as the first school to use an earn while you learn approach, which allows more than 200 of its students to work at the Peace Center and get paid while they learn.

Parikh noted gun violence and poverty are some of the main issues Atlantic City faces.

A lot of the students have an extra interest in promoting nonviolence, said Parikh, noting two of his students have been shot within the past two years.

Parikh, a city resident since 2000, said the city is very diverse, with people from more than a hundred countries living in it, and at least 27 million people a year visiting the tourist town. So giving everyone in the community, especially the youth, a neutral zone was important.

The community should feel like they have a place to go, said Parikh.There are no costs, no membership fees, so we can spread communal harmony and promote conflict-resolution in Atlantic City.

Three years in the making

At least 300 to 400 people have visited since its official opening last week, Parikh said.

A very realistic and life-sized statue of Gandhi kneeling, holding thread to a weaving mechanism, sits at the entrance of the museum, which many passersby thought was real. Gandhi made his own clothes because he believed in self-sufficiency of the individual and the community, Parikh said.

The digital installations of the exhibit consist of interactive screens, videos, and audio commentary, sometime in the voice of the Gandhi himself, that highlight the timeline of Gandhis life. One exhibit offers the opportunity listen to Gandhis radio broadcasts.

The Eternal Gandhi Peace Center and Museum, which is operated in collaboration with The Gandhian Society and Ideal Institute of Technology, was made possible due to a half million-dollar donation from The Aditya Birla Group. The Tanger Outlet accommodated the museum with a specialty lease for a premium store at a significantly reduced rent, Parikh said, adding the shopping district has become more community-oriented.

Its creators hope the museum hopes to become an added attraction for families visiting Atlantic City that helps spread the word of Gandhiji and Martin Luther King Jr., who is also featured. Parikh said the Peace Center will also document Kings life.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was also inspired by Gandhiji, so we thought it was a good idea to showcase where he got his inspiration from, said Parikh.

Although the museum officially opened its doors Tuesday, the museum hosted a Remembering Gandhi event Oct. 9 to celebrate the 153rd anniversary of Gandhis birth.

Last Sunday, Mayor Marty Small Sr. had an inaugural dinner for the pre-opening of the Peace Center and Museum. Gov. Phil Murphy was among the attendees.

Parikh said the museum also plans to work with the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, Atlantic County Prosecutors Office, the citys police department and other organizations to promote peace and conflict-resolution in the city. Parikh also hopes to get more schools and students involved with the exhibit.

We invite the community and all organizations to see the Gandhi exhibits firsthand and how its relevant to todays America, he said.

The exhibit days and hours are still in the works, said Parikh. But it should be fully open sometime between Nov. 15-20.

For more information on the Eternal Gandhi Peace Center and Museum, visit their website.
East Moline Police Sgt. William Lind has been released from the intensive care unit and moved to the step-down unit at OSF St. Francis Medical Center, Peoria.

This is a big milestone in the progression for his recovery from the serious head injury he suffered on Oct. 24, 2022, Police Chief Jeff Ramsey said in a news release issued Saturday.

Step-down units provide an intermediate level of care for patients with requirements between a general ward and intensive care.

He (Lind) will continue his recovery at OSF, and we are hopeful and optimistic he will continue to improve day by day, Ramsey added. This will be a long recovery road with good days and bad days, according to his medical team.

Sgt. Lind is a fighter and has an amazing strong family by his side to support him in this fight, Ramsey said. The family along with our department are forever thankful for the encouragement from everyone who has reached out in so many ways. Thank you for showing such great support for our hero.

East Moline's Sgt. Billy Lind met with man hours before violent attack The man accused in the serious assault of an East Moline police sergeant had encountered the officer at the police department shortly before the attack.

At about 6:30 p.m. Oct. 24, Lind was attacked in the 1900 block of Morton Drive. Adrian W. Rogers, 52, has been charged for the attack.

Rogers was wanted on an arson charge out of Rock Island where he is alleged to have set fire to a home in the 1600 block of 12th Street. The blaze was reported about 3:40 p.m.

About 20 minutes after the fire, Rogers went to the East Moline Police Station where he chanced to speak with Lind.

About an hour later, Lind learned that Rogers was wanted for the Rock Island fire.

Lind found Rogers on Morton Drive. Police say Rogers struck Lind on the head, causing severe injuries, including a skull fracture. Lind was left lying unconscious in or near the street. Linds body camera captured the violence.

Rogers is charged with attempted murder and aggravated arson, both Class X felonies under Illinois law that carry a prison sentence of six to 30 years. Rogers also is charged with residential arson, a Class 1 felony that carries a prison sentence of 4-15 years, and aggravated battery to a peace officer, a Class 2 felony that carries a prison sentence of 3-7 years.

Rogers is being held in the Rock Island County Jail on $1 million bond, or 10% for the attempted murder and aggravated battery charges, and a consecutive $500,000 bond, or 10% on the arson-related charges. A review hearing is scheduled for Nov. 30 in Rock Island Circuit Court.

Rogers was released from the Federal Bureau of Prisons on July 1, 2021, after spending about 26 years in federal prison for convictions of bank robbery with a firearm and drug trafficking.

Breakfast Optimist Club names Officer of the Year and Top Cop The Breakfast Optimist Club that serves the Illinois Quad-Cities has announced its annual Police Officer of the Year and Top Cop for 2021.

Lind earned 2021 Officer of the Year honors from the Breakfast Optimist Club that serves the Illinois Quad-Cities.

Lind was nominated for his work at the Quad-City Federal Gang Task Force.

Lind spearheaded one of the largest cases in the task force for illegal drug and weapon distribution in the Quad-City area. He also worked to stop several shootings in the spring of 2021 between two gangs that led to multiple arrests for firearms violations.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation has released the names of the six officers involved in the Oct. 30 shooting during which a 24-year-old Davenport man was killed.

From the Iowa State Patrol, they are troopers Kenneth Voorhees and Dwight Swartz. Voorhees has 6  years of experience, while Swartz has 5  years of experience.

The Davenport Police officers involved are Brandon Askew, Mason Pauley and Benjamin Betsworth. Askew has 10 years of experience, while Pauley has just shy of two years of experience at one year, 11 months. Betsworth has been with the department for 14 months.

The Bettendorf officer involved is Sgt. Zachary Thomas, who had 13 years and one month of experience.

The officers remain on paid administrative leave while the investigation into the incident continues.

According to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, at 2:50 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 30, multiple agencies were patrolling in the area of 5200 Grand Avenue when officers initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle and the driver failed to stop, which resulted in a pursuit.

The pursuit ended after the vehicle became inoperable near Kimberly Road and Elmore Avenue. The occupants of the vehicle then fled on foot.

During the foot pursuit officers exchanged gunfire with a man identified as Kenneth Jamel Carrol, of Davenport. Carrol was pronounced dead at the scene.

Once the investigation is complete, the findings will be sent to the Scott County Attorneys Office and the Iowa Attorney Generals Office for review.

UPDATED: Dead subject identified, officers placed on leave after fatal officer-involved shooting early Sunday in Davenport The Iowa Department of Public Safety's Division of Criminal Investigations is investigating a fatal officer-involved shooting following a pursuit reported in Davenport early Sunday morning.

According to Scott County District Court and Iowa Department of Corrections electronic records, Carrol was discharged from probation on Oct. 2 for being a felon in possession of a firearm. At the time he was arrested for the gun charge, Carrol was on probation for convictions of theft, forgery and using a juvenile for an indictable offense.
Later this week, a whirlwind of campaign ads, candidate visits and frantic get-out-the-vote efforts will cease as voters in the Quad-City area make their final decisions in the 2022 midterm election.

Tuesday is Election Day, but voters on both sides of the river have already been casting their ballots.

The Rock Island County Clerk's office did a brisk business Friday afternoon as a steady stream of early voters cast ballots ahead of election day.

"It's been pretty busy all week," Rock Island County Clerk Karen Kinney said. "We have had quite a few people come into the clerk's office and a fair amount of people who voted at our off-site locations.

"It looks like voter turnout is looking pretty good."

In Scott County, statistics show fewer voters have chosen to vote early than in the 2018 election. But it won't be clear if that translates to overall lower turnout until polls close the evening of Nov. 8.

Voters in Rock Island County  and across Illinois  have been able to cast ballots since Sept. 29 and can vote early until 7 p.m. Monday at the county clerk's office. The four off-site early-voting locations closed Friday.

For voters in Iowa and Scott County, the early voting period began Oct. 19, which was 20 days before Tuesday's election. Voters still may cast an early ballot Monday at the Scott County Auditor's Office, but voting at the county's five satellite voting locations concluded on Saturday.

Mail-in ballots in Illinois must be postmarked by midnight Tuesday to be counted. In Iowa, mail-in ballots must be received by the county auditor by 8 p.m. on Election Day, a new change in Iowa law.

For those who want to vote on the day of the election, polls open in Illinois at 6 a.m. Tuesday and close at 7 p.m. In Iowa, polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

Early voting in Scott County

As of end-of-the-day Thursday, 20,507 early ballots were cast in Scott County. That's about 5,500 fewer ballots cast than four days ahead of the previous midterm election in 2018. By Nov. 1, 2018, early votes returned totaled 25,658 in the county.

In 2021, the Iowa Legislature passed a law shortening the early voting window from 29 days ahead of the election to 20.

And now, mail-in ballots must arrive at an auditor's office by 8 p.m. on Election Day, regardless of whether it was postmarked ahead of Nov. 8.

Scott County Auditor Kerri Tompkins, who was appointed in early 2021, said it's hard to say whether those lower absentee numbers would translate to a lower turnout overall. Voters who previously voted early may have decided to cast their ballot on Election Day.

"I hope everyone comes out to vote and we get the same amount of people," Tompkins said. On Friday, Tompkins said the Auditor's Office was very busy with people early voting and that she expected the office to be just as busy Saturday.

In Iowa: What if I haven't yet put my ballot in the mail?

Because of the law change in Iowa, mail-in ballots in the state must be returned to the Auditor's Office by poll closing on Election Day in order to count.

Voters may drop off their ballots at the Auditor's Office or at a drive-up drop box in the parking lot, both located at the Scott County Administrative building, 600 W. 4th Street, Davenport.

In Iowa: I haven't received my absentee ballot, what do I do?

If voters have requested a mailed absentee ballot but haven't received it, they can go to the Auditor's Office on Monday and vote early or go to their precinct to vote on Election Day.

There are lost or never-received ballot forms for voters to fill out and sign.

Early voting in Rock Island County

Kinney explained how the write-ballots and early votes would be counted.

"They are counted by election judges after the polls close at 7 p.m.," Kinney said. "And any write-in ballots received by midnight Tuesday will be counted. Of course, all of the counting is done by election judges and verified by the State Board of Elections."

Early-vote totals in Rock Island County are ahead of the pace in the last midterm election four years ago, Kinney said. A total of 17,300 mail-in and early votes have been cast.

Here's how that number breaks down:

 A total of 14,330 mail-in ballots were requested in Rock Island County, and 11,717 of them have been returned. A total of 2,613 have not been returned.

 Another 2,604 early votes were cast at off-site venues since they opened Oct. 24.

Kinney noted the clerk's office received a high number of Freedom of Information Act requests about the 2020 election, but those requests "pretty much stopped" in recent weeks.

She also said "because of some of the things going on across the country" and "some local concern about election integrity," Kinney had discussions with the Rock Island Sheriff's Department and the office of the State's Attorney.

"Voting will be secure and safe," Kinney said. "We will not have officers in polling places, because I think that could intimidate voters, but sheriff's deputies will be close by."

In Scott County, Tompkins said, the county also has received FOIA requests and expects poll watchers, but she doesn't expect any more than what her employees tell her is typical. She said election security also would be as-usual.

She said the office typically worked with local law enforcement to ensure safety of poll workers and voters.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP)  Campaigning for Malaysias general elections started Saturday in a highly competitive race that will see the worlds longest-serving coalition seeking to regain its dominance four years after a shocking electoral loss.

The Nov. 19 election will determine if Barisan Nasional, or National Front, can make a strong comeback or whether political reformers can secure another surprise win that will see their leader, Anwar Ibrahim, achieve a long-held dream of becoming prime minister.

Led by the United Malays National Organization, the coalition had ruled since Malaysias independence from Britain in 1957. But anger over government corruption led to its defeat in 2018 polls to Anwars Pakatan Harapan, or Alliance of Hope. The election victory sparked hopes of reforms as once-powerful UMNO leaders were jailed or hauled to court for graft, but it was short lived after defections caused the new government to crumble in early 2020 and brought UMNO back to power.

Scores of candidates, including Anwar and 97-year-old, two-time former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, submitted their nomination papers Saturday, paving the way for the start of a 14-day campaigning period. Local media reported that police fired tear gas to quell an unruly crowd outside a nomination center in a rural district on Borneo island.

More than 21 million Malaysians are eligible to cast ballots to fill 222 seats in federal Parliament and choose representatives in three state legislatures.

The general consensus is that the old ruling party Barisan Nasional will do very well and it is very likely that the only other coalition that can challenge BN is Pakatan Harapan, said James Chin, an Asian expert at Australias University of Tasmania.

Caretaker Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, from UMNO, registered to defend his seat in central Pahang state as he warned there will be no easy win.

Anwar, escorted by drummers and supporters waving party flags, filed his nomination in Tambun in northern Perak state  a new seat for him where he will face off with the incumbent who had defected from his alliance.

We are here to offer an alternative because of the failure of the present policies ... and the social tension among various communities, said Anwar, as he began his rounds to meet residents.

Anwar, 75, didnt participate in the 2018 vote because he was in prison for a sodomy conviction he said was politically motivated. The campaign was led at the time by Mahathir, who became the worlds oldest leader at 92. Anwar was pardoned shortly afterward and was to take over the baton from Mahathir. But distrust and infighting led to the governments collapse, sparking turmoil that has continued.

Malaysia has had three prime ministers since the 2018 polls. Ismail dissolved Parliament on Oct. 10, nine months ahead of schedule, at the behest of party leaders despite a risk of floods from monsoon rains. Spurred by several state victories, UMNO believes it has the upper hand over a fragmented opposition and before an economic slowdown expected next year.

Analysts said the emergence of two new Malay-based political alliances in Peninsular Malaysia could split votes among ethnic Malays, who form two-thirds of Malaysias 33 million people.

The Perikatan Nasional, or National Alliance, is led by former UMNO leader Muhyiddin Yassin. His Bersatu party was a part of Anwars group in 2018 polls but defected to form a new shaky government with UMNO that was riven with rivalry.

Mahathir, once Asias longest-serving leader for 22 years until 2003 and before his brief 2018 stint, also formed a motley alliance to contest 121 parliamentary seats. Despite his fading popularity, he is defending his seat in the northern resort island of Langkawi. He said he is young at heart and has unfinished business to oust a corrupt UMNO and revamp the country.

I am not as old as my age. I have been fortunate to have been able to function just as well as many younger people," he said.

In two states on Borneo island that jointly account for a quarter of parliamentary seats, a slew of other parties are battling it out. The ruling state governments are traditionally aligned with BN.

In 2018, it was a long-serving BN government against a long-serving opposition but now, it is not so clear. People have more choices, Chin said. Some analysts cited possibilities of a hung parliament with no single coalition able to gain a majority that could see new alliances formed post-election.

Analysts said the addition of 6 million new voters due to a lower voting age also adds to the uncertainty, while voter turnout could be impacted by bad weather. Parts of Malaysia have already been affected by floods. Malaysias meteorological department warned that severe monsoon rains would start next week that will cause flash floods in low-lying areas.

This story corrects name of state where Anwar is running.
The Bitter Root Humane Association has been serving the community and beyond for over 50 years and invites everyone to visit during Shelter Appreciation Week, Nov. 6-12.

Board Chair Mary Gehl said the doors have been open since 1972.

We were here yesterday, were here today and will be here tomorrow, Gehl said. We invite you to visit our beautiful shelter during Shelter Appreciation Week and see for yourself the work we do to provide safety, shelter, food, medical care and love to all the homeless animals that come through our doors until their forever homes are found.

To celebrate BRHA during Shelter Appreciation Week, visit the shelter to see what BRHA does, tell the staff how much they are appreciated for the hard work they do and realize the great need for folks to adopt right now.

On Friday there were 150 cats and kittens of all ages and the dog kennels were full.

Thank goodness we have this new facility, Gehl said. There is no way we could have fit in all these animals before. They are all healthy and were able to keep them all separate. We could really use the publics help. If they are going to adopt a pet, now is the time.

BRHA has a cat-buddy program right now where if someone adopts a cat, the second is free. And for kittens the first is regular price, the second is 50% off.

Were hoping people will take two because cats do well with the buddy system, Gehl said. We have a senior program where if anyone over age 55 comes in and the animal is over 7 years old, there isnt an adoption fee. Well cover the price of spay or neuter and vaccinations.

Other ways to support the BRHA include purchasing or renewing the BRHA specialty license plate at the Motor Vehicle Department, volunteering, becoming a member, and making donations.

Monetary donations, large or small, allow us to provide shelter, safety, food, medical attention and love to over 1,000 animals that come through our doors 365 days a year, Gehl said.

For November, the BRHA has a 30-days of giving Business Challenge where local businesses raise funds for the shelter, and compete against other businesses to see who can raise the most money. So far there are four participating businesses  Olive U & Vinegar, Daly Dog Care, First Security Bank and Mimis Portico. Other businesses are welcome to join. Plus, there are 53 BRHA collection jar locations thorough out the Bitterroot Valley.

Each business participating in the 30 days of giving Business Challenge decides a fundraiser that is right for them  a donation jar, rounding up customer purchases, raffles, employer/employee matches, hosting events and whatever the business chooses. BRHA assists with marketing, provides posters and directs customers to the business. For more details contact Gehl at 406-642-3785, email her at dogmommy@aol.com, or sign up online at bitterroothumane.org/events.

The winner receives bragging rights and some awesome prizes, Gehl said. First Security Bank is taking donations of wet and dry pet food and supplies. Our community pet pantry is being used all day long, every day. There are so many in need and were trying to help them so they dont have to surrender their pet.

BRHA takes pet food donations every day and, if the shelter is closed, has a donation box just outside the front door.

Another fundraising choice for individuals is to download the ResQ app and TAKE A WALK. Get all the details at: https://bestfriends.org/resqwalk. Help the BRHA raise money by hitting the road.

Upcoming ways to support the BRHA include Bitterroot Health Festival of Trees, Nov. 19-22; Happy Tails Online Holiday Auction on Nov. 24-28; #Giving Tuesday on Nov. 29; and the annual Cookie Walk & Bake Sale on Saturday, Dec. 10. Watch for more information on these events.

The Bitter Root Humane Association is located at 262 Fairgrounds Rd. in Hamilton and is closed Mondays, but open 1  6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and noon to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information visit https://bitterroothumane.org/ or call 406-363-5311.
Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child, shoeboxes packed full of gifts for children around the word, begins Nov. 14 and continues through Nov. 21.

Area Coordinators Greg and Debbie Reinhardt organize the greater Missoula area which includes Ravalli County, Missoula County and Sanders County, as well as Salmon, Idaho.

Were excited and are looking forward it, Greg Reinhardt said. The program has blessed over 200 million children since the Operation Christmas Child program began in 1993.

He said shoeboxes may still be available from local participating churches or there is a display of empty shoeboxes outside of the Mosaic Church on Main Street in Hamilton while supplies last, or contact the Reinhardts at 406-360-4253.

Were praying for our area team and for 8,000 shoe box gifts this year, Reinhardt said. Churches have already hosted packing parties but there is still time and community members are invited to pack a box and drop it off.

Drop-off locations for packed shoeboxes are in Hamilton at the Mosaic Church, 206 West Main St., and Cornerstone Bible Church, 208 Fairgrounds Rd.; in Stevensville at the Stevensville Community Baptist Church, 409 Buck St. Visit sameritanspurse.org to find the nearest drop off locations across the U.S.

Reinhardt said each year he packs shoeboxes as a way to share the gospel.

I pack shoeboxes because it is a tangible gift of Jesuss love, Reinhardt said. It is an opportunity to share the gospel with children around the world without leaving home. I get to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Others can be too.

He said Mosaic church filled 607 boxes last year and is on track to beat that goal.

Every year I have the same goal and heres the bottom line mantra from Greg  pack one more box than you did last year, tell one more person than you did last year and help one more person pack a box than you did last year, he said.

Reinhardt shared about setting up the display outside Mosaic Church last Saturday, when a family who hed never met came up and began asking about the Operation Christmas Child project.

Turns out the family spent the last 16 years in Butte, Reinhardt said. The mom had been a refugee in Poland. She told about growing up in an orphanage in Poland and sharing everything but her toothbrush. On Saturday, the family took many boxes because she wanted to build shoeboxes to send to other countries.

For more information go online to visit samaritanspurse.org. The site has details on how to pack shoeboxes, what to include and where they are sent.

Each shoebox costs $10 to ship.

Its the third time in the history of the program that the cost has increased, Reinhardt said. You still get a good deal. For each child who receives a shoebox, they have figured out that seven more people hear the gospel. So, if you pack 100 shoeboxes, 700 people hear the gospel.

He said there is still time for people to give.

Some people cant afford to build a shoebox and so they join forces, working together to build one, Reinhardt said. Yay, sweet, thats one kid. We are looking forward to seeing what God is going to do this year.
Winter weather is moving in as colder arctic air pushes its way into western Montana.

Wind gusts of 50-60 miles per hour were recorded throughout the Bitterroot Valley on Saturday with peak wind gusts hitting 80 miles per hour in the mountains, according to the National Weather Service. Snow accumulations of 6-10 inches were reported in elevations between 5,000 and 6,000 feet, and 1-2 feet of snow in the mountains above 6,000 feet.

A Winter Weather Advisory for localized snow accumulations and gusting winds is in effect through Sunday morning for the Northern and Southern Clearwater Mountains, Lower Clark Fork Region, Missoula and Bitterroot Valleys, Bitterroot and Sapphire Mountains, Butte, Blackfoot and Potomac-Seeley Lake regions.

Hunters heading out into the mountains on Sunday should be prepared for snow accumulations and possible downed trees in the backcountry.

This terrain got slammed with some pretty strong winds, National Weather Service meteorologist Jenn Kitsmiller said. Weve seen even from the Montana Department of Transportation, they put up a message of trees down along Highway 12. It wouldnt surprise me at all if theres trees down in the backcountry areas. So maybe just another thing for folks to be aware of.

Highs are expected to be in the 30s Sunday and Monday in the Bitterroot Valley, and then dip into the upper 20s on Tuesday and Wednesday with early morning temperatures in the single digits expected through Thursday. There is a 30% chance of snow before 7 a.m. on Sunday with little to no snow accumulation expected in the valley. An 80% chance of snow is predicted on Monday with about an inch of accumulation possible.

Whats kind of interesting about next week is that we have some arctic air that settles into the area beginning on Monday, National Weather Service meteorologist Travis Booth said. So were looking at high temperatures in Stevensville and Hamilton anywhere from the mid to upper 20s for Tuesday, Wednesday, and warming up closer to freezing on Thursday. Then overnight lows in the single digits for Tuesday morning, Wednesday morning and Thursday morning.

Some weak disturbances are expected to pass through early next week that could produce light to moderate snowfall, with Monday afternoon and evening having the highest probability of snow on the valley floor.

Weather is expected to be mostly cloudy in the Bitterroot with a high of 29 degrees on Tuesday for Election Day, with only a slight chance of snow predicted after 7 p.m.

So definitely leave open the potential for snow next week, Booth said. It looks like theres definitely a good, good probability of some snow, especially early next week.
Richmond police are investigating a man found fatally shot Saturday.

Officers responded at around 6:22 p.m. to the 2500 block of Lancelot Avenue in South Richmond.

The man had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

The medical examiner will determine the cause and manner of death.
With temperatures in the mid-to-upper 70s, Saturday didnt feel much like the Christmas season, but the spirit seemed alive inside two pavilions at the Richmond Raceway Complex, where a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd shopped and perused the homemade crafts and art for sale at the 43rd annual Craftsmens Christmas Classic.

The promoters anticipated a larger crowd than the estimated 15,000 people who attended last years three-day event  the first after the COVID-19 pandemic  and arts vendor Mark Adams was very pleased to see Saturdays full house.

The crowds have been great, as you can see, said Adams, a Hanover County artist who was selling Old South Art at the event for the fifth year  minus the pandemic, of course. This is the biggest show that I do each year. This is always well-attended, well-promoted, [and] people spend money here. I know several of the vendors here, and theyll tell you the same thing.

Adams art is based on Virginia themes, so it appeals to state and local residents.

Some of my stuff is historical, like a street map of Richmond from the 1860s, he said. So, if youre from the area, youre nostalgic about it, and youre drawn to it.

There appeared to be something for everyone at the show, as more than 100 vendors offered a wide variety of items that ranged from the traditional to the exceptional.

In the latter category, Ellen Brooks and her sister, who own Smokn Hot Brass, offered jewelry thats integrated with bullet cartridge and shotgun shell casings. Some of the casing ends are adorned with precious stones, which must be seen to be appreciated.

We just incorporate a portion or all of the bullet casing into the design of our jewelry, said Brooks, who resides in North Carolina near Charlotte and has been working the shows for years. Its very unique, very different. Everybody here is trying to be unique and different.

The homemade knives that Robert Davis makes also fits into the unique category. Theyre of various sizes, shapes and designs, and Davis makes them all from scratch. That includes the handles and leather sheaths.

None of it comes pre-made, said Davis, a Columbia, S.C., resident who travels the art-and-craft show circuit that Gilmore Enterprises produces in the Southeast. I do everything but the tempering of the knife blades.

All my knives are guaranteed for life  and unfortunately, thats my life, he quipped.

Shalom  he uses only one name  supports himself by selling colorful candles at events like the Craftsmens Christmas Classic, an event hes attended for 28 years.

Thats how I make a living, he said. Every year is different. Its a good show; I sell more or less, but you never know. A lot of people come.

Among the throngs of people drawn to the event was Brenda Absher, who traveled with her adult daughter from Buckingham County to see what this years show had to offer.

Its been really hectic today because I guess after COVID, its a beautiful day, and people are wanting to get out, said Absher, who was buying Christmas gifts, among other things. Ive enjoyed coming and seeing the artists and what they can do. We really enjoyed looking at the jewelry.

Rhonda Berlin traveled alone from Portsmouth to enjoy the day and shop.

Im actually waiting for the paint to dry on a house sign I bought, Berlin said as she stood to the side of a busy aisle; she also purchased some earrings and pastries. Im being selfish today, she said with a smile.

Christy Brando and several family members came from Petersburg and Montpelier to shop for Christmas gifts and personal items. The goods included some coasters, a cutting board and a couple of little purses for the grandkids.

We used to go [to the show] before and took off a couple of years, Brandon said. And now, were back.
When 19 children and two adults were killed in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, over the summer, school boards across the country, including in Roanoke County, began calling for new security measures.

In the county, the shooting renewed the boards calls for hiring a resource officer for every school in the district  29 schools total.

Tim Greenway, the board member representing Vinton, said he was the first to bring the idea of recruiting resource officers to the board, following the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012.

I led that discussion when we first had it, Greenway said. This time, when it happened again, it put my antennas up, and made me start calling for new officers again.

Following the renewed interest in hiring resource officers, the Roanoke County Board of Superviors applied for and received a grant of $491,591 from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services to hire new part-time resource officers.

In the last year, Roanoke County has hired six full-time resource officers to monitor schools, each with salary paid through allocations by the Board of Supervisors, with equipment and training provided by the Roanoke County Police Department.

However, as of the Oct. 27 joint meeting of Roanoke Countys School Board and Board of Supervisors, the part-time positions covered by the grant had yet to be filled.

In a presentation during that meeting, Jimmy Chapman, the deputy chief of police administration, outlined some of the problems with finding people to fill those jobs.

There are some challenges here for us, Chapman said. First and foremost, the requirements for the position are at least three years of law enforcement experience, and you must have been certified as a law enforcement officer in the last 60 months, so its a unique kind of unicorn were looking for here.

With those considerations, the ideal candidates for the jobs would be recent retirees, according to Chapman.

Weve already reached out to all of our recent retirees to see if they would be interested in this, and so far weve gotten two applicants, he said.

The discussion of hiring issues led to a heated debate between members of the two county boards, with Greenway expressing disappointment to the supervisors for not doing enough to entice applicants.

This isnt something we can be talking about now. We shouldve been having these conversations months ago, Greenway said. Were only just talking about how to get these people into these jobs.

Greenway claimed that the supervisors had nothing to show for their work to hire new resource officers.

Jason Peters, supervisors vice chairman, dissented during Greenways comments, citing efforts to get the grant and benefits negotiations.

We did a lot of work for this, Peters said. We negotiated with administration for health benefits and other measures to attract people to apply.

Greenway said having an officer in every school was a key security measure and something that the supervisors needed to have a greater sense of urgency about.

We cant afford to have one of these kids get hurt, he said.

After the meeting, Greenway said he stood by his original goal of having a resource officer at every school, regardless of whether the money for it comes from grants, the Board of Supervisors or from the schools general fund.

The world has changed, and I think there needs to be an officer in every school, Greenway said. It doesnt mean it would stop anything, but it would allow these officers to connect to these kids.

Howard Hall, Roanoke Countys police department chief, echoed Greenways comments on resource officers in schools, saying that maintaining a relationship with students, teachers and officials was a more important aspect of what resource officers do than providing security.

Historically, SROs (school resource officers) have not been responsible for stopping things like mass shootings, Hall said. Columbine had SROs. The more important thing is that they have a relationship with these schools, and can help with filing certain reports for incidents and help to prevent violence within the schools.

Hall said that for most schools  elementary schools especially  the most important security measures are automatic door locks and keeping a register of everyone who enters the schools.

If you look at the data, most shooting at the secondary school level, almost all of them, come from within, Hall said. In most elementary school shootings, like Uvalde or Sandy Hook, its from outside, so its more important to keep track of who is allowed to enter the school.

The School Board and Board of Supervisors are still working toward finding a way to hire new resource officers, with some suggestions including modifying the grant to allow for hiring full-time officers, or recruiting through the county sheriffs department, which has a less restrictive hiring process that would allow more applicants to qualify.

In response to Greenways implication that the Board of Supervisors hasnt done enough to facilitate hiring new resource officers, Paul Mahoney, the supervisors chairman, said he didnt know where the animosity was coming from.
So long, its been good to know yuh.

This dusty old dust is a-gettin my home,

And I got to be driftin along.

From Dusty Old Dust by Woody Guthrie, 1935

A dark cloud of dust rose high into the air, reaching as far as the eye could see. Many people living on the Southern Prairies thought the world was coming to an end. To many on that Black Sunday, April 14, 1935, it appeared to be the final blow.

Dust had been piling up on the drought-stricken land for five years. The Dust Bowl, as AP reporter Robert Geiger coined it, covered the Oklahoma Panhandle and the four states bordering it  northern Texas, northeast New Mexico, southeast Colorado and western Kansas. Crops failed, livestock died, and property was abandoned as many farmers migrated to California and elsewhere to find work.

As dust found its way inside homes and collected on floors, people shoveled it out. They wore masks and goggles to protect their lungs from the suffocating particles. Many developed and died from dust pneumonia.

The dust storms halted train traffic. Surgeries were stopped as dust seeped into hospital operating rooms. Aviation was also disrupted. Pilot Laura Ingalls, who was trying to break Amelia Earharts transcontinental speed record, flew blindly for four hours at 22,000 feet.

The previous year, winds blew prairie topsoil to Richmond. A yellow pall covered the city creating a premature twilight, according to the Richmond News Leader. A ghostly effect genuinely alarmed the superstitious. The 1,500-mile blanket of dust reached ships in the Atlantic Ocean.

Prairie grass once covered the windy Dust Bowl region, prone to periodic droughts. The grass grew deep roots gathering moisture and holding the soil in place.

The landscape quickly changed during World War I as the government encouraged farmers to help Win the War with Wheat. German U-boats disrupted the importation of wheat in war-torn Europe and its price tripled.

As prices and demand dropped after the war, the region also experienced a long drought. To cover their costs, farmers plowed up more grassland. Without the vegetation and soil moisture, the Plains acted as a furnace, according to the National Weather Service. Mid-Atlantic states recorded record high temperatures in 1936.

The Dust Bowl of the Dirty Thirties was one of the worst environmental disasters worldwide of the 20th century. Farm techniques have since improved, and prairie grass has been planted and protected in such regions as the Rita Blanca National Grasslands.

One technique is to leave crop residue on the fields in order to protect the soil and keep it in place, said Sumit Sharma, irrigation specialist at Oklahoma State University in Goodwell, Okla. He said planting cover crops also helps as does tilling only where the seed will be planted with a 36-inch-wide space covered with crop residue between rows. In comparison, land in the 1930s was overtilled.

In the 1990s, Sharma said the introduction of center pivot irrigation systems enabled more efficient water usage of the Ogallala Aquifer. It is a finite source that is not being replenished as quickly as it is being used in the Panhandle area.

Today, the pivot systems can be controlled from cellphones, which receive an alert when something goes wrong. Farmers can manage larger areas and be more productive.

Since a drought began in September 2021, both ranchers and farmers have suffered from the smaller crop yields, Sharma said. Most of the wheat crop last fall did not survive.

In the past 22 years, the Southwest has experienced its longest period of drought in over 1,200 years. The data comes from a recent Park Williams study at UCLA. It is based on information gleaned from ancient tree rings that show climate conditions since 800. The last known megadrought was in the late 1500s.
CHARLOTTESVILLE  Insignia Capital Group will sell its majority interest in Woolen Mills-headquartered app creator WillowTree to TELUS International for $1.225 billion, officials announced Thursday.

The deal is anticipated to close in January and is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

New owner TELUS International designs, builds and delivers generation digital solutions to enhance customer experience, including artificial intelligence applications.

WillowTree was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Albemarle County. The company provides beginning-to-end marketing services from strategy, design and development. Its roster of clients includes Fortune 500 companies in telecommunications and media, healthcare and life sciences, financial services, and technology and software.

Insignia Capital Group invested in WillowTree in 2018. Since then, the company has quadrupled revenue and grown from locations in Virginia and North Carolina to 13 offices and studios across three continents.

WillowTree and Insignia made significant investments in their own organization and bought several companies that allowed them to increase their scope and reach.

The moves accelerated the companys growth and strengthened its market positioning.

In 2019 WillowTree and Insignia acquired Dynamit Technologies, of Ohio, a move that combined the local companys expertise in mobile, voice and user experience software with Dynamits similar expertise in business applications.

The acquisition gave WillowTree an estimated 500 employees with offices in Columbus, Ohio; Durham, North Carolina; and Brooklyn, New York.

The combined company continued designing front-end applications for companies and expanded applications in financial services, media, utilities, hospitality and employee-facing mobile and web applications.

WillowTree is a leader in media delivery, loyalty programs, payments and connected devices and works with clients that have included Synchrony Financial, 21st Century Fox, PepsiCo, American Express, Regal Cinemas and National Geographic.

Dynamits focus was on serving clients in hospitality, restaurants, technology and public utilities.

It has been an honor to partner with the world-class team at WillowTree during a period of transformative growth over the last four years. Managements execution of the strategic plan we envisioned at the outset of our partnership has been truly exceptional, said Tony Broglio, Partner at Insignia Capital Group.

The team at Insignia were outstanding partners during a critical period of explosive growth, and we are grateful for their insight, support, and commitment to our vision, said Tobias Dengel, CEO of WillowTree. We believe the best is yet to come for WillowTree, and were excited to execute on the major opportunities ahead with TELUS International.

Canaccord Genuity served as exclusive financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Davis & Gilbert LLP served as legal counsel to Insignia Capital and WillowTree.
When 19 children and 2 adults were killed in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, this summer, school boards across the country, including in Roanoke County, began calling for new security measures.

In the county, the shooting renewed the boards calls for hiring a resource officer for every school in the district  29 schools total.

Tim Greenway, the board member representing Vinton, said that he was the first to bring the idea of recruiting resource officers to the board, following the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012.

I led that discussion when we first had it, Greenway said. This time, when it happened again, it put my antennas up, and made me start calling for new officers again.

Following the renewed interest in hiring resource officers, Roanoke Countys board of superviors applied for and received a grant of $491,591 from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services to hire new part-time resource officers.

In the last year, the Roanoke County Sheriff's Office has hired six full-time resource officers to monitor schools, each with salary paid through allocations by the board of supervisors, with equipment and training provided by the Roanoke County Police Department.

However, as of the Oct. 27 joint meeting of Roanoke Countys school board and board of supervisors, the part-time positions covered by the grant had yet to be filled.

In a presentation during that meeting, Jimmy Chapman, the deputy chief of police administration, outlined some of the problems with finding people to fill those jobs.

There are some challenges here for us, Chapman said. First and foremost, the requirements for the position are at least three years of law enforcement experience, and you must have been certified as a law enforcement officer in the last 60 months, so its a unique kind of unicorn were looking for here.

With those considerations, the ideal candidates for the jobs would be recent retirees, according to Chapman.

Weve already reached out to all of our recent retirees to see if they would be interested in this, and so far weve gotten two applicants, he said.

The discussion of hiring issues led to a heated discussion between members of the two county boards, with Greenway expressing disappointment to the supervisors for not doing enough to entice applicants.

This isnt something we can be talking about now. We shouldve been having these conversations months ago, Greenway said. Were only just talking about how to get these people into these jobs.

Greenway claimed that the supervisors had nothing to show for their work to hire new resource officers.

Jason Peters, supervisors vice chairman, dissented during Greenways comments, citing efforts to get the grant and bebefits negotiations. We did a lot of work for this, Peters said. We negotiated with administration for health benefits and other measures to attract people to apply.

Greenway said that having an officer in every school was a key security measure, and something that the supervisors needed to have a greater sense of urgency about.

We cant afford to have one of these kids get hurt, he said.

After the meeting, Greenway said that he stood by his original goal of having a resource officer at every school, regardless of whether the money for it comes from grants, the board of supervisors, or from the schools general fund.

The world has changed, and I think there needs to be an officer in every school, Greenway said. It doesnt mean it would stop anything, but it would allow these officers to connect to these kids.

Howard Hall, Roanoke Countys police department chief, echoed Greenways comments on resource officers in schools, saying that maintaining a relationship with students, teachers and officials was a more important aspect of what resource officers do than providing security.

Historically, SROs (school resource officers) have not been responsible for stopping things like mass shootings, Hall said. Columbine had SROs. The more important thing is that they have a relationship with these schools, and can help with filing certain reports for incidents and help to prevent violence within the schools.

Hall said that for most schools  elementary schools especially  the most important security measures are automatic door locks and keeping a register of everyone who enters the schools.

If you look at the data, most shooting at the secondary school level, almost all of them, come from within, Hall said. In most elementary school shootings, like Uvalde or Sandy Hook, its from outside, so its more important to keep track of who is allowed to enter the school.

Despite that, both the school safety advisory committee, both a civilian group that makes security recommendations to county schools, and a school security task force, composed of police, firefighters and other safety personnel, listed resource officers as their top safety recommendation, said Dr. Rhonda Stegall, assistant superintendent of administration.

Whenever a student makes a threat, or anything like that, we have to make a report, Stegall said. Resource officers can really help with that process.

The school board and board of supervisors are still working toward finding a way to hire new resource officers, with some suggestions including modifying the grant to allow for hiring full-time officers, or recruiting through the county sheriffs department, which has less restrictive hiring process that would allow more applicants to qualify.

In response to Greenways implication that the board of supervisors hasnt done enough to facilitate hiring new resource officers, Paul Mahoney, the supervisors chairman, said he didnt know where the animosity was coming from.

The county has already transferred a lot of money to the school board for safety and security, Mahoney said. Its baffling to me that someone would say were not doing anything.

The search for new resource officers in the county has also been complicated by renewed interest in recruitment in the region.

In Roanoke, the current goal is to have one SRO in every elementary and middle school, with two in each high school. To that end, the citys police department is still actively seeking two new officers, while the sheriffs department has six open positions.

In Salem, since 2018, there has been a resource officer in every school.

In Botetourt County, every secondary school has an officer, and the county was recently awarded a grant to hire a new resource officer assigned to Breckinridge Elementary, in Fincastle. Once that position is filled, Botetourt County will have officers in each school in the district.

Cities and counties throughout Virginia have been working to recruit new school resource officers, a fact Hall said would continue to complicate the search for recruits.

Were dealing with a situation where we have a shallow applicant pool with a lot of competition, Hall said. So that complicates the situation.
CHRISTIANSBURG  Video recordings of James Hunter Stallard repeatedly saying that he killed his sometime-girlfriend Crystal Dawn Raines Hannah were played in Montgomery County General District Court before a judge sent charges of second-degree murder and concealing a body on to a grand jury.

The grand jury will decide if Stallard, 38, should be tried in the countys Circuit Court.

Stallard was arrested in June after his statements to sheriffs office investigators led to the discovery of the body of Hannah, 44, in a wooded area near Stallards residence in the 2600 block of North Fork Road in eastern Montgomery County. He is being held in the Western Virginia Regional Jail.

At a preliminary hearing last week, Chelsea Hannah testified that her mother had a very toxic, off-and-on relationship for about a dozen years with Stallard. She said that her mother and Stallard fought a lot, that she had heard Stallard threaten to hurt and kill her mother, and that she had seen marks of physical violence on her mother during her relationship with Stallard.

More than two dozen people in the courtrooms spectator gallery wore buttons with pictures of Crystal Hannah. Several broke into tears as Chelsea Hannah described her mothers tattoos, which were used to identify her body.

Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Chris Obenshain questioned a series of investigators who described Stallards initial statements that he did not know where Hannah was, then said that he killed her after she objected to him looking at messages on her phone.

Deputy Jonathan Kuzma said that after Hannah was reported missing, he went to Stallards house a bit after 1 a.m. June 6 and Stallard told him that he had not seen Hannah for a couple of days.

Investigator Brandon Marshall said that he accompanied Kuzma and that he told Stallard that phone records showed Hannah was likely at his house on the morning before. Stallard said that perhaps she had pulled into his driveway but that he had not seen her.

But about three hours later, Stallard called a dispatcher and asked to speak to Kuzma. When the deputy called him back, Stallard asked him to return and said he wanted to talk.

A body-cam video showed that when the deputy arrived, Stallard said that he had messed up, then added, I hurt her.  Shes dead, man.

In the video, Stallard went on to say that Hannah had been at his home on June 5, that they had struggled over her phone, and that he hit, then strangled her. Stallard said that he put her body in a wooded area across North Fork Road.

Defense attorney Brad McConnell of Blacksburg asked Kuzma if Stallard was smoking marijuana when the officer returned to the residence. Kuzma answered yes.

Investigator Dustin Williams testified that later on June 6, he found Hannahs minivan parked in the woods and that disturbed leaves showed where something was dragged away from the vehicle into a ravine. There he found a large pile of leaves and twigs covering Hannahs body, Williams said.

Three pink flowers had been placed on a rock beside the makeshift burial site, Williams said.

Marshall said that starting at about 6:30 or 7 a.m. on June 6, he questioned Stallard at the sheriffs office for about two hours. Stallard was read his Miranda rights and agreed to speak without an attorney being present, Marshall said.

A video of the interrogation that was played in court showed Stallard saying that Hannah was getting ready to leave for her job at a Food Lion in Blacksburg when he took her phone and started looking through it to see if she was exchanging messages with other men.

Stallard said that Hannah told him that what was on her phone was none of his business. He replied, I want to see what youre hiding, Stallard said in the video.

The argument moved from Stallards residence into the yard, with Hannah trying to grab her phone back, Stallard said. One of her grabs scratched the back of his neck and Stallard said he hit Hannah several times in the face and threw her to the ground.

Then, he said in the video, I choked her out.  I took her to a flat spot and I covered her up.

McConnell said that the defense would put on no evidence at the preliminary hearing.
CHRISTIANSBURG  A Roanoke man accused of killing a Patrick Henry High School senior and wounding two others in a February shooting in downtown Blacksburg is to stand trial in April.

Jamel Duquon Flint, 25, is charged with first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, and three counts of using a firearm to commit a felony, all brought by a grand jury that met Oct. 25.

Two counts of aggravated malicious wounding were added last week. Commonwealths Attorney Mary Pettitt said that prosecutors decided the aggravated malicious wounding charges better fit the facts of the case than did the counts of attempted first-degree murder. But the attempted murder charges have not been dropped at this point, Pettitt wrote in an email.

Flint is accused of firing shots into a crowd of people entering a Main Street business referred to in court as the Melody Hookah Lounge. Isiah Oshay Robinson, 18, was killed in the Feb. 4 incident and four others were wounded.

Charges related to two of the woundings were dropped at a preliminary hearing after the victims did not show up in court.

At a brief Monday hearing, Chief Deputy Commonwealths Attorney Patrick Jensen and defense attorney Cathy Reynolds of Roanoke told Judge Robert Turk that they had agreed on a two-day jury trial for Flint that would begin April 17. Turk scheduled the trial and told the attorneys to file any pre-trial motions well ahead of time.
A week ago I launched the 2022 election contest with a challenge to readers to predict the percentage of the vote that Rep. Ben Cline, R-Botetourt, would win among Roanoke voters Tuesday.

Theres still time to enter, by emailing your guess to dan.casey@roanoke.com. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. Monday and the rest of the rules are below.

The congressman is seeking reelection to a third term. His Democratic challenger, Jennifer Lewis of Waynesboro, lost to Cline in his first bid for Congress back in 2018.

As presently constituted, the districts a safe Republican seat. In the past 10 contested elections in the 6th Congressional District, Republicans on average took 68% of the vote districtwide.

The GOPer who performed the worst was Cline in 2018, when he finished with 59.7%  a still-healthy double-digit margin. But in those same elections, Republican candidates didnt fare as well in Democrat-dominated Roanoke, the 6th Districts largest municipality.

In the last 10 contested 6th District elections, the Republican candidate averaged 52.5% of Roanokes vote. But there are a couple of asterisks we must put beside that number, otherwise its misleading.

To begin with, there were no Democratic candidates in three of those contests, which no doubt depressed Democratic turnout. Moreover, in eight of those elections, the Republican candidate  Bob Goodlatte  was a Roanoke resident who likely pulled some votes as a hometown favorite.

When counting only elections in which Democrats fielded a candidate, the Republican average in Roanoke congressional elections drops to 47.4%.

Cline, whos never lived in Roanoke since he entered politics, hasnt met that mark in the city since he began running for Congress.

In 2018, running against Lewis, Cline took 36.9% of the Roanoke vote. In his only other congressional election, 2020, Cline took 41.2% of city ballots, running against Democrat Nicholas Betts, a former mayor of Harrisonburg.

Thus, Clines Roanoke average with a Democrat on the ballot is 39.05% of the vote.

Will he do better or worse this time around? Thats the heart of the election contest. Your guesses should be a three-digit percentage, such as 44.5.

As a tie-breaker only, contestants should also predict the total number of congressional votes cast in Roanoke. That may be tricky, too, because the number has seesawed wildly over the years. Its largely dependent on whether or not theres a Democrat in the race.

Over the last 10 contested 6th District elections, an average of 29,909 Roanoke voters turned out. But in three of those elections no Democrats were on the ballot. The only opponents were independent candidates or those running under another party banner, such as Libertarian.

In the seven elections for which Democrats put up a candidate, the average Roanoke turnout was 34,014. In the other three elections with no Democrat on the ballot, the Roanoke turnout averaged 12,964.

Still unclear at this point is whether Clines status as a 2020 election-denier will have any affect Tuesdays totals.

Recall, in the latter days of 2020, Cline signed onto a Texas lawsuit in which the U.S. Supreme Court was asked to nullify the presidential election. Cline also voted against certifying the election after the Jan. 6 insurrection, during which he and other lawmakers were forced to flee after Trump-inspired insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol and delayed the certification votes.

So far we have 24 readers in the contest. And if those entries have proved anything, its that some entrants are guessing with their hearts rather than their heads.

Three readers predicted Cline would win the city with more than 55% of the vote. One of them guessed Cline would take 68.7%.

On the other end of that spectrum, theres a character in Daleville who predicted Cline will get hardly any votes at all from Roanoke.

Knowing that good Americans would not support an election denier, I fearlessly predict that Cline will receive 02.5% of the vote in Roanoke, Robert Stutes predicted. He added: Feel free to quote me if I dont win!

The next lowest guess from a reader was that Cline would take 25.9% of Roanokes vote. Though apparently sincere, even thats an unreasonable prediction. Clines number is far more likely to wind up somewhere in the range of 30 to 40%.

Conversely, we have Randal Sowers of Roanoke County. He predicts an impossibility  that Cline will take 466.6% of the Roanoke vote. Sowers also guessed the total number of votes would be 42,666.

Seems like hes a bit stuck on the number 666. Perhaps hes been reading the Book of Revelation recently.

So theres some more information that might assist you in devising your prediction for the percentage of votes Ben Cline will take among Roanoke voters in Tuesdays election. Whoever guesses closest, based on certified results, wins a lunch on me. (Please pay attention to the rules, below).

Well wrap this up with a curious political morsel about congressional redistricting that has little bearing on the election or the Roanoke outcome.

Thanks to decennial redistricting, the 6th District boundaries have shifted southward. All of Salem is now part of the 6th District. (Salem Registrar Dana Oliver confirmed that Friday.) Used to be, Salem was in the 9th District, which is represented by Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem.

Thats unusual but kosher, because Virginia has no law requiring members of Congress to reside in districts they represent.

But it also means Griffith wont be able to vote for himself on Tuesday, because he now resides in the 6th District. Assuming he casts a ballot, the 9th District congressman will be forced to choose between Ben Cline and Jennifer Lewis.

And because the boundaries wont change again until 2032, if Griffith stays in his current residence, he might never be able to vote for himself again.

Ponder that one as you head to the polls on Tuesday.
Seeds of doubt do not seem as widely sown this midterm election season as during votes of recent past, but lies and deceit still grow aplenty, depending on where you look as Tuesdays election approaches, officials caution.

Theres still the misinformation that is out there, and of course, social media keeps that going, said Traci Clark, Botetourt County director of elections. It is frustrating for those of us who work in the field, but we just do our best to get the correct information out there, and be as transparent as possible for the voters. Thats all we can do.

About 13% of Botetourts registered constituency had already cast ballots through in-person and by-mail voting options as of early last week, Clark said.

The biggest thing that causes us heartburn is knowing that we put so much effort into trying to make sure that everything that we do is by the letter of the law, Clark said. It just causes heartburn when theres information put out there that is not true, put out there by people who dont do their research before they start passing stuff around.

Out of about 26,000 registered voters in Botetourt, 2,314 had voted early in-person, while another 1,043 mail-in ballots were already received as of Tuesday, she said. Early voting ended at 5 p.m. Saturday.

In Botetourt, there are two competitive races this year: the 6th District congressional contest between U.S. Rep. Ben Cline, R-Botetourt, and Democrat Jennifer Lewis. Buchanan residents also have a competitive town council race with four candidates running for two seats: James Eubank, Mitchell Fritz, James Manspile and Elwood Donald Schechterly, Jr.

Everybody has been very nice, very cordial to the officers working up front with the early voting, Clark said. It doesnt seem to be as contentious as it was last year, or the year before, of course.

Presidential elections like in 2020 tend to attract more voter participation than midterm elections, like the vote occurring this year. Nonetheless, some people in Botetourt concerned about the process have asked about being election observers, Clark said.

So we may have a couple in our precincts, but probably not very many, Clark said. Botetourt doesnt have a lot of that, and usually when we have people with questions, its not a contentious thing.

People who do have questions about the electoral process should fill out some volunteer paperwork and get involved with their local department of elections, Clark said. Any Virginia locality could benefit from more people working the polls, and the volunteers usually benefit themselves from the firsthand experience.

Work an election or two, Clark said. Youll get an inside look at all the preparation and the checks and balances that we have, and the laws that we have to follow to make sure that the election is done correctly.

Same-day voter registration was a new offering this year. During the 45-day early voting period, people could register and vote all at once.

Weve had quite a few people who have taken advantage of that, Clark said. The majority of those were youngsters who were just turning 18 weve had a really good turnout with the youngsters this time.

Overall early voter participation is up from last midterm election in Botetourt County, when 970 voters cast ballots before Election Day 2018, she said.

Expanded access to early voting as a result of the coronavirus has led more people statewide to participate early in recent elections, rather than waiting for the second Tuesday of November.

Really there hasnt been any wait at all to speak of, Clark said of early voting. Its been a pretty smooth operation.

A lot of people might not realize the extent of effort required to put on an election, she said. It takes months or work and many volunteers to prepare this American tradition, tried and true as apple pie.

We want to make sure that we provide a safe, fair environment for all voters, regardless of age or political persuasion, Clark said. Ive lived in Botetourt all my life, so its very important to me that things are done right, because this is my home.

For anyone in Virginia heading to the polls on Tuesday, Clark reminded voters to double-check their registrations, because polling places might have changed due to redistricting.

Heres a look at at other localities in the region:

RoanokePreliminary early voting totals in Roanoke suggest evidence of strong voter turnout for this midterm election.

Early voting in Roanoke had brought in the votes of about 6,150 people as of Monday, equal to 9% of the citys 65,758 registered voters, officials said.

In 2018, the most recent year with a city council election but no presidential election on the same ballot, voters cast 22,853 total votes. Assuming all voters cast all three of their votes apiece, about 7,617 voters went to the polls in all of 2018.

For comparison, more than 31,000 people voted in the 2020 Roanoke City Council election, which occurred alongside that years presidential election.

This year, there is the 6th District congressional race on Roanoke ballots and also 11 candidates are running for four city council seats: Democratic incumbents Joe Cobb and Vivian Sanchez-Jones along with Luke Priddy and Peter Volosin; Republicans Dalton Baugess, Nick Hagen, Maynard Keller and Peg McGuire; and independents David Bowers, Jamaal Jackson and Preston Tyler.

The Roanoke elections office had welcomed 4,052 in-person early voters and received 2,100 mailed ballots as of Monday, Director of Elections and General Registrar Andrew Cochran wrote by email.

That means early voting this year on its own attracted close to as many voters as in 2018, and that was with six days still left for further participation.

Were still enjoying good early results for early voting, said Matt Jones, who is managing the campaigns of the Democratic candidates for city council and who made the comparison.

Jones said its hard to know for sure what voting trends will emerge now that city council elections take place in November. But he also said the data so far provides a good idea of what we can expect to see in off-year election for city council turnout.

Roanoke County

Roanoke County Registrar Anna Cloeter said approximately 9,000 of the countys roughly 73,500 registered voters had voted early as of Thursday afternoon.

The county is split into two 6th and 9th congressional districts.

The 6th as noted before, involves the incumbent Republican Cline against Democrat Lewis. In the 9th, U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, is running against Democrat Taysha DeVaughan of Big Stone Gap.

The congressional races are the only competitive races on Roanoke County ballots.

Salem

Salem Registrar Dana Oliver said 2,870 of 17,888 registered voters in the city in the city had cast their ballot early as of Thursday afternoon.

Oliver said she expected that number to reach well over 3,000 participants by the time early voting ends Saturday.

Four candidates are vying for two city council seats this year. Incumbents Randy Foley and John Saunders are seeking reelection, while challengers Anne Marie Green and Hunter Holliday hope to get enough votes to serve their first term on the governing body.

Salem is in the 6th District congressional district, so voters will choose between Cline, Lewis or a write-in candidate.

Montgomery County

In Montgomery County, about 10% of registered voters cast ballots early in person or otherwise mailed in their choices, officials said Thursday.

As of Thursday in Montgomery County, 4,242 people voted early in-person, and another 2,079 mailed in ballots.

Of those mailed ballots, 1,900 had been pre-processed, and another 179 were marked, said Registrar Connie Viar. Pre-processed means the ballots were put through the machine, while marked means they were scheduled to go through the machine the following day.

Montgomery County has 61,453 registered voters, according to Viars office. Viar said her office has seen an increase in early voters within the past week

Viar couldnt comment Thursday on how the turnout so far compares to other periods. She did note that there are no local racesincluding Blacksburg and Christiansburg town council electionsin the county this year.

The only race on Montgomery County ballots is the 9th congressional contest.

Franklin County

Of Franklin Countys almost 40,000 registered voters, 4,309 voted early as of Friday, according to an email from county Registrar Kay Chitwood.

Leading up to the election, Chitwood said local voters main concern has been about redistricting and where they should vote. Mailed notifications from the Virginia Department of Elections have helped address that.

In addition to the 9th congressional race, there is a competitive race for Rocky Mount Town Council in Franklin County. The mayoral race includes incumbent Steve Angle and challenger Holland Perdue. Six candidates are running for three council seats: incumbents Ralph Casey and Bobby Moyer along with Ben Pinckard Sr., Philip Bane, Ben Mullins and David Clements.

Radford

As of Thursday in Radford, 828 ballots had been cast early in-person and 210 were mailed in, Registrar Tracy Howard said. The city has approximately 9,700 registered voters, putting turnout at that time at just more than 10%, he said.

This type of election, if we hit 30% overall, well be doing very well in the local election, Howard said of voter participation.

Howard said during this time last year a few hundred more people had cast early ballots, a turnout he added seemed to have been helped by the governors race at the time.

This year, however, is still an eventful one for the citys political landscape as there are three competitive races  the 9th congressional as well as city council and school board races.

Six candidates are running for four council seats: incumbent Jessie Foster, Kellie Banks Artrip, Bob Davis, Seth Gillespie, Janiele Hamden and Chad McClanahan.

Four candidates are running for three seats: Gloria Boyd, Chris Calfee, Ed Dickenson and Jane Swing.

Staff writers Molly Hunter, Yann Ranaivo, Jeff Sturgeon and Sam Wall contributed to this report.
We return once again to the most recently released results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nations report card, and what they do and dont say about the state of education in Virginia.

The NAEP scores indicate that across the country fourth and eighth grade students have lost competence in reading and math skills compared to three years ago. As the primary culprit, experts point to the shutting down of schools in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting loss of in-person class instruction.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin, in response to the alarming NAEP results, asserted that Virginias decline in scores goes back further than the pandemic can account for. In that, hes not wrong.

Still, determined to portray the previous eight years under Democratic governors as failures, Youngkins administration apparently finds it inconvenient to acknowledge that even in this crisis, Virginias results compared to other states are still essentially on par or above average.

When Virginia students scores are viewed in competition with their own past results, thats another matter.

Matt Hurt, director of the Comprehensive Instructional Program Consortium headquartered in Wise, put it this way: though all of Virginias scores went down multiple percentage points, eighth grade scores actually didnt go down as much as others  we gained ground there relative to other states. The fourth grade scores, though, were a bloodbath any way you slice it.

Although Virginias fourth graders landed in percentiles better than most states in math as well as about half the states in reading, their scores in 2019 were much higher. We had a lot further to drop, Hurt said.

Good ideas amid political hyberbole

We should emphasize that the NAEP and Virginia standards of learning tests are quite different, and comparing them isnt an apples to apples comparison. Also, standardized test results should not be viewed as the whole sum of what education is about. Nonetheless, they can provide snapshots of progress and serve as a basis for positive action.

Youngkin has released a seven-point plan to address Virginia students learning loss. Regardless of the narrative the administration is trying to construct, the plan contains good ideas, such as $30 million in grants to assist families with tutoring and a $10 million investment in teacher recruitment.

As explained before in this space, Hurts job entails guiding school districts to help students from all backgrounds excel at Virginia SOLs. Regarding Youngkins seven point plan, the potential step that Hurt cited as encouraging was the first: raise Virginias expectations for students.

Taken broadly, claims that Virginias education standards are the lowest in the nation, as phrased in the governors plan, are demonstrably untrue  but there is a narrow sense in which that claim is true. The scores that count as the equivalent of a passing grade on Virginias SOL tests for reading and math  referred to as proficiency cut scores in educator parlance  are the lowest in the nation.

In a March 22 commentary (Set high expectations, not low standards), part of a series by Hurt on SOLs published in these opinion pages, he wrote, One thing we have learned in our Comprehensive Instructional Program consortium regarding student outcomes is that when expectations are higher, performance is higher. The inverse is also true.

In other words, set the bar high, and the results will reflect students and teachers that support them aiming high. Set the bar low, the results will reflect the lower bar.

Raise expectations, brace for consequences

The past three years have seen multiple instances of lowering the bar at the state level. In 2019 the Virginia Department of Education lowered the SOL cut scores for math and in 2021 the same was done for reading, even though the previous cut scores were already the lowest in the nation. The difficulty of the tests could be said to justify those low cut scores, but lowering them even further was a questionable choice. Since the early 2010s student outcomes have counted for 40% of teacher evaluations, but that was reduced to 12% in 2019. If educators are not held accountable for student outcomes, who is? said Hurt. When it comes to student performance on standardized tests, a dedicated teacher can make all the difference.

Another problem Hurt highlighted, that weve discussed in this space (Look again at standards for students, Oct. 21), is that in 2021 the General Assembly instituted a new system for assessing student progress for purposes of accreditation that actually makes it possible for students to perform progressively worse year to year and still have that count as growth. Hurt even suggested, based on results from the program he runs, that one of the problems contributing to lower SOL scores in the wake of the pandemic could be that teachers, especially veteran teachers, might already expect their kids to be less successful on the tests, and thus unintentionally enable that result.

That does not mean repairing these problems would produce an instant fix. Hurt said Youngkin was wise to say that the data shows us that when we challenge our students and our teachers, they rise to the occasion but to acknowledge that raising the cut scores will cause test results to decline in the short term.

With that statement in mind, it will be interesting to see how the administration reacts when those test scores are released.

In the meantime, the best thing Youngkins Department of Education could do  a strategy Hurt heartily endorses  would be to decide what the ideal education goals for the commonwealths students should be, and gear everything else toward doing what it takes to make those goals possible.
Twitter has launched a subscription service for $8 a month that includes a blue checkmark now given to verified accounts as new owner Elon Musk overhauls the platforms verification system
 Oklahoma Gov extends execution stay for Richard Glossip as courts still consider innocence claim | Main | Recapping last week's SCOTUS arguments in two complicated review procedure cases 

November 5, 2022

Rounding up recent disheartening stories in incarceration nation

In recent days, I have seen a number of notable stories and commentaries focused on various discouraging incarceration realities in US prisons and jails:

From The Marshall Project, "Why So Many Jails Are in a State of Complete Meltdown"

From NBC News, "Tech glitch botches federal prisons' rollout of update to Trump-era First Step Act"

From the New York Post, "Rikers Island detainee is 18th person to die in NYCs prison system in 2022"

From the New York Times, "Dying Inside: Chaos and Cruelty In Louisiana Juvenile Detention"

From the Omaha World Herald, "Waiting on death: Nebraska prisoners are getting older, and its costing taxpayers"

From PennLive, "Sick people in Pa. jails are suffering, dying: The Constitution allows for medical neglect"

From the Reno Gazette-Journal, "Inmate deaths, drug overdoses on rise at Washoe County Jail"

From Washington Monthly, "Do Prisons Need to Be Hellholes?"

From WSB-TV, "Reality star Joe Exotic says zoo has better living conditions than Atlanta Federal Penitentiary"

November 5, 2022 at 08:58 PM | Permalink

Comments

Working in a jail is a thankless job. Here in Lexington, Kentucky, the local jail is at least 118 officers shot of the number needed to properly run it. Many officers are working double shifts 3 days per week. About six Saturday nights ago, there were more than 1,000 inmates in the jail, which was reportedly being run by only eight (8) officers, including intake. The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government spends more than $40 million per year running this jail, or about 14% of the entire budget. For most of the 82 counties (out of 120 total counties) that have jails in Kentucky, operating the county jail is generally the single largest expense for the Fiscal Court and the Judge-Executive. Something has to change. And it's more than sending defendants to rehab!

Posted by: Jim Gormley | Nov 5, 2022 10:12:37 PM

Post a comment
Lee Brown died while on holiday in Dubai in 2011. (SWNS)

A British tourist died from "neglect" in a Dubai police station after being "starved and beaten" by guards, an inquest has ruled.

Lee Brown, 39, was arrested after appearing to suffer a psychotic episode, behaving erratically towards guards and inmates at the Bur Dubai police station on 7 April, 2011.

He was taken to the prosecutors office a day later, where his behaviour is said to have been erratic and offensive to other people, the inquest at Walthamstow Coroner's Court was told.

On his return, he was allegedly beaten and kicked in the head by guards before being placed in solitary confinement, where he barely ate or drank and began to lose consciousness.

He died on 12 April, 2011  five days after arriving at the police station - with jurors recording a narrative conclusion of neglect on Friday.

Read more: Pro-life group takes legal action over abortion clinic 'buffer zone'

Lee Brown was taken to a police station in Dubai following his arrest in April 2011. (Getty)

Mr Brown, from Dagenham, east London, had been planning to stay in Dubai for a few days before flying to Indonesia to visit his girlfriend.

Jurors were told he arrived in the Gulf state on 6 April 2011 and allegedly assaulted a maid at the Burj Al Arab hotel where he was staying the following day.

He said the woman had come into his room without permission and he was soon surrounded by 20 people who dragged him to the police station.

He may have been having a mental health episode when he arrived at the prison, the hearing was told.

One detainee, who could only be referred to as Detainee One, told jurors in a written statement read by the coroner: I was told he was beaten up at the prosecutors office and then beaten in the van. I was told by many prisoners guards had boasted about having beaten him."

Another inmate, known as Detainee Two, said in their statement that Mr Brown was bleeding head to toe after returning from the prosecutors office and had told the detainee that he had been beaten and kicked in the head.

Story continues

Read more: Decarbonising UK public buildings will cost up to 30 billion

The inquest into Lee Brown's death was held at Walthamstow Coroner's Court. (PA)

Recording a narrative conclusion of neglect, the jury forewoman said: The factors that probably contributed to his death are as follows.

Bruises from other detainees, guards and police officers, a lack of adequate food or water, a lack of habitable living conditions and a lack of access to necessary medical care while at the police station.

Factors that possibly contributed to his death are a lack of access to services and adequate clothing.

The neglect was by the authorities at Bur Dubai police station.

Jurors recorded his medical cause of death as unanswered.

Nadia Persaud, Area Coroner for East London, will write a prevention of future deaths report to the Foreign Office raising concerns about the issues raised during the inquest.

These are a potential lack of emergency access to British nationals when they are detained, warnings about the risk of detention and conditions of detention in Dubai, and a potential lack of clarity about the process around accessing detainees who are experiencing a mental health episode while detained.
Looking for travel inspiration? National Geographic has just dropped its must-see top destinations list of 2023, and it includes a new category.

In December 2021, Laos inaugurated a train linking the north, from the small town of Boten, to the capital Vientiane. The train is about 400 kilometers long and is designed to boost domestic tourism. Around the world, such local initiatives for tourism that support community conservation have been identified by National Geographic, which has decided to make them a category of their own in its annual list of must-see destinations for the coming year.

Eighty-four percent of travelers in the United States, Germany, Brazil, France and the United Kingdom would choose Italy for a vacation, according to a Confcommercio / Istituto Piepoli study relayed by the Schengen news portal this week. Meanwhile a few weeks ago, the accommodation reservation giant Booking.com reported that Paris had regained its position as the most coveted destination in the world this fall.

And just a few days ago, the World Travel Awards named Portugal as the best tourist destination in Europe. Thats right, the lists of top destinations and title-winning cities and countries often draw on the same locations, just switching up the order from year to year.

But for US travel-focused media National Geographic, a new element has been added to its listings dedicated to identifying interesting trips and top destinations to plan in 2023. While the adventure and nature categories will rightly be of interest to backpackers, a new genre, under the heading community, now offers suggestions for where to go when looking for a sustainable getaway that embraces the principles of slow travel and inclusiveness.

Take Laos, featured in National Geographics top five. While the countrys borders reopened last May, the country didnt wait for foreign travelers to return to boost its tourism, instead focusing on fostering domestic travel. In December 2021, a train named after an ancient kingdom in the area, Lane Xang, was inaugurated, taking travelers some 400 kilometers from the city of Boten to the capital Vientiane. To visit the ancient capital Luang Prabang, it took at least five hours by road, whereas with the train, Laotians now need only two hours.

Story continues

more like this

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penang-war-museum

Luang Prabang in Laos. Image credit: Molydar Souama/Unsplash

At a time when tourism must include more local community involvement to better preserve both culture and ecosystems and avoid spawning museum cities, National Geographic also highlights the Dodecanese Islands. While Rhodes and Kos are the two tourism superstars of this part of Greece, the island of Karpathos should soon take the spotlight through its efforts to integrate locals, such as fishermen and winemakers, in the tour excursions.

Among the other destinations singled out for their efforts in sustainability and local involvement mentioned by the media is Ghana. Pre-pandemic Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo invited travelers with African heritage to visit this country to explore their roots.

Meanwhile in North America, two destinations are part of the inclusive travel dynamic: the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. because of the transformation of traditional neighborhoods including an art and cultural center dedicated to African-American art, and Alberta, a Canadian province, where various sites allow visitors to learn about of the history and culture of the areas Indigenous peoples.

Alberta, Canada. Image credit: Andy Holmes/Unsplash

Here is the complete list of National Geographics top must-see 2023 destinations:

Culture

Appian Way, Italy

Busan, South Korea

Longmen Grottoes, Henan Province, China

Egypt

Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Nature

Scottish Highlands, UK

Botswana

Slovenia

Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA

Azores Islands, Portugal

Adventure

New Zealand

Choquequirao, Peru

Utah

Austrian Alps

Revillagigedo National Park, Mexico

Community

Dodecanese Islands, Greece

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Alberta, Canada

Laos

Ghana

Family

Trinidad & Tobago

San Francisco, California

Colombia

Manchester, England

Switzerland

Book Your Flights Here

Book Your Stay Here

This article is published via AFP Relaxnews

The post National Geographics top destinations of 2023 for your vacation plans appeared first on Prestige Online - Singapore.
Meetings and events

The monthly Carmelite Board Meeting will be held Monday, Nov. 7, at the Carmelite Monastery, 2901 S. Cecelia Street with Mass at 7 a.m. followed by a large mailing and refreshments at 8 a.m. Our business meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m., the rosary will start at 9 a.m. and prayers with the Sisters at 9:15 a.m. Honorary members are always welcome.

Loess Hills Chapter OES meeting will be Thursday, Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m. Draping the Altar, Election of Officers, and Honor Veterans. Refreshments: Barb Wood and Marvin Hanson. Morningside Masonic Temple, 4110 Morningside Ave.

Vasa, Swedish American Fraternal Organization, will meet at 12 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12, at United Lutheran Church, 315 Hamilton Blvd. All Saints Day will be recognized with a candle ceremony. Marie Shattuck will present the program, "Swedish Exchange Students." Call Bob Swanson at 252-1446 for more information.

Lions Club meetings are first and third Mondays of each month, excluding holidays, at 12 p.m. at Active Generations located at 313 Cook St Sioux City. If interested in a strong service club helping sight and hearing impaired individuals we are the people to join with.

Dakota County Historical Society meets at 7:30 p.m. on third Thursday of the month, Dakota City Library. Contact Dennis Reinert at 712-253-1609 for more information.

Top O Morning Toastmasters Club, Mondays, noon to 1 p.m. Contact LeAnn Blankenburg, 712-870-1120, for meeting information.

The Siouxland Ostomy Support Group, find us on Facebook. For more information and meeting times contact Dick Lindblom at 712-251-2453.

Southside South Bottoms former residents, 6 p.m. potluck, second Wednesday of the month at Goodwill Industries cafeteria, 3100 Fourth St. Gert, 258-2227.

Siouxland Metal Detecting and Archeology Club, 6:30 p.m., first Tuesday of the month in the Gleeson Room at 4510 Buckwalter Drive. Visitors welcome. Ray Turner, 712-899-2114.

American Legion Post 64, 7 p.m. last Thursday of the month at 4021 Floyd Blvd. 712-258-3986.

Marine Corps League, 6 p.m. second Tuesday of the month at Elks Club on TriView Ave. All marines welcome. For more information, call Cathy Moreno, 712-899-8441.

Sioux City Chapter of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 7 p.m. fourth Tuesday of the month at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 1421 Geneva St. 712-203-2052.

Sioux City Duplicate Bridge Club, 12:30 p.m. Mondays (open); at the Senior Center. Mary 605-670-9613.

Siouxland Fly-Fishing Club, 10 a.m. last Saturday of the month at the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center on Hwy 12. All interested in fly fishing; beginners welcome. Monthly programs provided. For more information, call Bob Gillespie, 712-251-9463, or Diana, 402-987-3945.

Siouxland Coin Club, 7 p.m. first Tuesday of each month at First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, 1915 Nebraska St. Bob, 255-4829.

The Siouxland Pride Alliance, peer support group, 5:30 p.m. Fridays; Youth Pride group, 1:30 p.m. second Sunday of the month; potluck, 5:30 p.m. third Sunday of the month. First Unitarian Church, 2508 Jackson. Call 712-223-0931

Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild, 7 p.m. second Monday of the month at the Redeemer Lutheran Church, 3204 S. Lakeport St, door #2. Visitors and new members welcome.

Siouxland Sewing Guild, 6:30-8 p.m. first Thursday of the month at South Sioux Public Library, 2121 Dakota Ave., South Sioux City. For anyone interested in sewing. Denise, 402-922-1822.

Sooland RC Modelers, 7 p.m. second Thursday of the month at Morningside Lutheran Church. Non-profit club that flies remote control aircraft. Anyone interested in RC is welcome.

Retired Educators, 10:30 a.m. third Tuesday of the month, at the Redeemer Lutheran Church, 3204 S. Lakeport St., door #6.

Mid-Step Services for Handicapped, meal at 5 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month, at the Redeemer Lutheran Church, 3204 S. Lakeport St., door #6.

Confirmation Instruction and Midweek Lessons, 5 p.m. on Wednesdays, at the Redeemer Lutheran Church, 3204 S. Lakeport St., door #6. Open to all kids 5 years old through 8th grade.

Primetime (Potluck), 12 p.m., second Thursday of each month, at Whitfield United Methodist Church, 1319 W 5th. For more information call 252-3261 Tuesday-Thursdays, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

Abundant Life Fellowship, 809 S. Alice St., in Sioux City will distribute food boxes after their 11 a.m. Sunday services. For additional information contact Pastor Bob at 605-205-0718 or Donna at 605-205-0719.
Daylight saving time ends this weekend in the U.S. and Canada, meaning clocks are set back one hour. But does gaining or losing an hour of sleep affect a person's health?

The spring forward, fall back seasonal time change can disrupt the body's biological clock, says Dr. Lois Krahn, a Mayo Clinic sleep medicine expert.

The human brain has a circadian or biological clock that runs on a 24-hour cycle.

"Humans do best if our schedule is consistent, and we go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time each night, day after day, because that's when our clock is really optimized," Krahn says.

The clock change from daylight saving time to standard time can affect a person's ability to concentrate or pay attention to detail.

"Studies done on different continents show that the rate of motor vehicle accidents increases after the clocks change in many different parts of the world," Krahn says.

Along with a clock change comes less sunshine. If you struggle with darkness, Krahn suggests turning on the lights when you first wake up and consider a light box.

Getting exercise is another way to adjust to the change, says Krahn.

"Exercise helps signal to the body that it's time to get going in the morning. Also, live as healthy a lifestyle as possible."
SIOUX CITY -- At this moment, much of Antonio Ferraro's time is consumed by music.

Not only is the West High School senior getting ready for the annual Madrigal dinner and concert, he is also concerning himself over musical selections while applying to colleges.

More immediate for Ferraro is the Iowa High School Music Association's 76th annual All State Music Festival, which takes place Nov. 17-19 at Iowa State University.

Ferraro, a violinist in West's orchestra, is one of only two Sioux City Community School District students to be selected this year for All-State four years in a row.

It places Ferraro, as well as Michael Toben, a tuba player in North High School's band, in the top 1% of all Iowa high school musicians.

"All-State is stressful because you have two days to learn new music before you play it in a concert," Ferraro explained. "But All-State is so rewarding because you'll be meeting and playing with the top high school musicians from around the state.

"If you're serious about music, you need to try out for All-State," he said.

Ferraro happens to be very serious when it comes to the violin.

Indeed, he'd like to attend the University of South Dakota, Curtis Institute of Music, in Philadelphia, or the New England Conservatory of Music, in Boston, to become a violin soloist.

Yet Ferraro freely admitted he didn't begin as a musical prodigy.

"I didn't pick up a violin until the fourth grade and didn't receive private lessons until the seventh grade," he said.

Even though Ferraro also sings and plays the piano, he said the violin was always special.

"The violin just made sense to me," he remarked. "It was something that felt right for me."

Certainly, the discipline required in mastering the violin came naturally to the goal-oriented Ferraro.

"I never had a problem practicing the violin in my bedroom," he said.

But Ferraro cautioned against what he called "mindless practicing."

"Sometimes, you're practicing just for the sake of practicing," he said. "If you hit a flat note, you simply blow past it."

Instead, Ferraro will take the time and analyze why the flat note was played while making sure not to repeat it the next time.

"You have to concentrate on the hard stuff first," he said. "Once you do that, the other stuff will come naturally."

Ferraro said the discipline he gained in music may also be applied in other school subjects.

"I'm a pretty social person but I like challenging myself," he said. "Currently, I'm trying to teach myself how to speak Spanish."

After he masters Spanish, Ferraro may also teach himself how to speak Romanian. He is considering doing graduate work in Romania.

"I like traveling and I like meeting new people," he said after detailing recent excursions to both Mexico and New York City.

As he prepares for the remainder of his senior year, Ferraro has advice for any aspiring high school musician.

"While practicing is important, so is being willing to take a break," he said. "It may be a 10-minute break or, even, a half-hour break, but being able to turn your mind off a bit is so beneficial.

"A well-deserved break will also make the rest of your practicing time more meaningful."

Whenever he practices, Ferraro likes to play something by Mozart or by Antonin Dvorak, who are two of his favorite composers.

"I love the way playing the violin makes me feel," he said. "I also love seeing how my playing impacts other people.

"Many people have never heard classical music played before," Ferraro continued. "If I can make one person find enjoyment in my music, then, it will all be worthwhile."
The Democratic Partys most powerful voices are warning that abortion, Social Security and democracy itself are at risk as they labor to overcome fierce political headwinds over the final weekend of the 2022 campaign. At a rally in Pittsburgh, former President Barack Obama told several hundred voters that sulking and moping is not an option. Looking ahead to Election Day on Tuesday, he said, The only way to save democracy is if we, together, fight for it. In Philadelphia, President Joe Biden joined Obama at another rally. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump campaigned in southwest Pennsylvania to boost Republicans, calling the U.S. "a country in decline under Democrats.
MILAN (AP)  Italy allowed a humanitarian rescue ship carrying 179 migrants to enter a Sicilian port and begin disembarking minors early Sunday, while refusing to respond to requests for safe harbor from three other ships carrying 900 more people in nearby waters.

Italy's new far-right-led government has closed its ports to rescue ship run by non-governmental groups and insists that the countries whose flag the ships fly must take in the migrants. It granted the Humanity 1 alone access to port to land minors and people needing medical attention.

Officials at the German-run charity that operates the Humanity 1 challenged Italys move to distinguish vulnerable migrants, saying all were rescued at sea and that alone qualifies them for a safe port under international law.

Italys only Black lawmaker in the lower chamber, Abourbakar Soumahoro, met the Humanity 1 at the port in Catania and decried the government's closure of ports to NGO ships as a shame.

Right now, in the port of Catania there is a selective disembarkation under way, Soumahoro said on Twitter. Worn bodies of castaways already exhausted by cold, fatigue, trauma and torture are considered objects by the government of Giorgia Meloni.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said Friday that the Humanity 1 would be allowed in Italian waters only long enough to disembark minors and people in need of urgent medical care.

The measure was approved after Germany and France each called on Italy to grant a safe port to the migrants, and indicated they would receive some of the migrants so Italy wouldn't bear the burden alone.

No such provisions have been offered to the other three ships. The Norway-flagged Geo Barents, carrying 572 migrants, and the German-run Rise Above with 93 entered Italian waters east of Sicily this weekend to seek protection from storm-swollen seas, but without receiving consent from Italy or a response to repeated requests for a safe port.

The Ocean Viking, operated by the European charity SOS Mediteranee, with 234 migrants on board, remained in international waters, south of the Strait of Messina. Is requests for a port also unanswered.

We have been waiting for 10 days for a safe place to disembark the 572 survivors," said Juan Mattias Gil, head of mission for the Geo Barents, which is operated by Doctors without Borders. Operation chief Riccardo Gatti said that besides suffering from skin and respiratory infections, many on board were stressed by the prolonged period at sea.

SOS Humanity, which operates Humanity 1, said it had made 19 requests for a safe port, all unanswered. The boat was carrying 100 unaccompanied minors as well as infants as young as 7 months, it said.

Italys new government is insisting that countries whose flag the charity-run ships fly must take on the migrants. Speaking at a news conference late Friday, Piantedosi described such vessels as islands that are under the jurisdiction of the flag countries.

Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini, known for his anti-migrant stance, cheered the new directive that he signed along with Italy's defense and interior ministers.

"We stop being hostage to these foreign and private NGOs that organize the routes, the traffic, the transport and the migratory policies," Salvini said in a Facebook video, repeating his allegation that the ships' presence encourages smugglers.

Nongovernmental organizations reject that interpretation, and say that they are obligated by the law of the sea to rescue people in distress and that coastal nations are obligated to provide a safe port as soon as feasible.

The Italian minister of interiors decree is undoubtedly illegal, sas Mirka Schaefer, advocacy officer at SOS Humanity. Pushing back refugees at the Italian border violates the Geneva Refugee Convention and international law."

Most have traveled via Libya, where they set off in unseaworthy boats seeking a better life in Europe, often facing abuses by human traffickers along the way.

While the humanitarian-run boats are being denied a safe port, thousands of migrants have reached Italian shores over the last week, either on their own in fishing boats or rescued at sea by Italian authorities. On Saturday, 147 arrived in Augusta, including 59 on the oil ship Zagara that also carried two bodies.

The situation on the Rise Above, operated by the German NGO Mission Lifeline, was said to be particularly desperate, with 93 people packed aboard a relatively small 25-meter (82-foot) boat.

Spokeswoman Hermine Poschmann described a very critical situation that ... led to very great tensions on board, because passengers saw land and didnt understand why they werent docking.

The head of mission on the vessel, Clemens Ledwa, demanded a port of safety immediately, citing bad weather and the limited capacity of the small ship.

This is not a wish. This is everyones right, he said Friday night.

Emily Schultheis reported from Berlin.

Follow APs coverage of global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
The captain of a charity-operated migrant rescue ship has refused Italian orders to leave a Sicilian port after authorities refused to let 35 migrants disembark. Italys new far-right-led government is targeting foreign-flagged rescue ships. The Humanity 1 was ordered to vacate the port of Catania on Sunday after disembarking 144 rescued migrants. They included women with children, more than 100 unaccompanied minors and people with medical emergencies. The Germany charity that operates the vessel said the captain refused until all survivors rescued from distress at sea have been disembarked. Another ship with 572 rescued migrants arrived at the port for the same vetting process, but two other ships carrying hundreds are still at sea.
2023 budget should be 'adaptive and responsive' to forthcoming calamities - Tolentino

MANILA - Senator Francis 'Tol' N. Tolentino has suggested that the proposed P5.268-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2023 must be adjusted into an annual government allocation program that is both flexible and receptive to future natural and man-made disasters.

Tolentino made the remarks during his weekly radio program on DZRH, amid the catastrophic devastation of Tropical Storm Paeng in various parts of the country last week.

?After personally witnessing the damage brought by Paeng's onslaught, Tolentino suggested that the proposed General Appropriations Act (GAA) for next year should be 'responsive' to these kinds of nature's wrath which causes not only lost lives but also shattered livelihoods and flattened local economies.

"Year-round na yung calamity natin eh. At yung calamity natin, yung epekto hindi lang naman sa mga bahay at yero, agrikultura, edukasyon. Lahat na pati land transportasyon, gaya nitong naputol na tulay (sa Batangas-Quezon), di ba po? Halos lahat 'yon apektado na kaya siguro i-adjust yung budget to make it more adaptive and responsive to existing, forthcoming calamities," said Tolentino.

Congress is set to resume its session on Monday, November 7, ?where the Senate Committee on Finance is expected to wrap-up this week its panel deliberations for the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) under House Bill No. 4488.

According to Tolentino, once the GAB is endorsed and elevated for plenary deliberations, one of his priorities during the periods of interpellation and amendments is to make sure that the budget bill can adjust to these kinds of catastrophe so that funds will be easily made available for government agencies in-charge.

"Nakatutok lahat ngayon sa National Budget, kung ano yung babaguhin dahil nga kailangan maging responsive sa mga kalamidad," he said.
Iowa authorities say an 18-year-old sex trafficking victim who pleaded guilty to killing a man she said raped her escaped from a womens center where she was serving her probation sentence. A probation violation report said Pieper Lewis was seen walking out of the women's center early Friday, and her GPS monitor was later cut off. A warrant was issued for Lewis arrest and the probation report asked for her deferred judgment to be revoked. She could face up to 20 years in prison for killing 37-year-old Zachary Brooks in 2020. Lewis said she was trafficked to Brooks for sex and stabbed him in a fit of rage. Prosecutors didn't dispute that she was sexually assaulted.
PHILADELPHIA (AP)  Four people remain in critical condition following a shooting that wounded nine people on a busy northeast Philadelphia street over the weekend, police said.

Police said several people emerged from a vehicle and opened fire on a crowd at Kensington and Allegheny avenues in the Kensington neighborhood at about 10:45 p.m. Saturday.

Police said a 23-year-old man, a 27-year-old man and two 24-year-old men were critically wounded. Two other 24-year-old men and two 40-year-old men were listed in stable condition, as was a 23-year-old woman. Police said at least 40 shots were fired. No arrests were immediately announced.

Deputy Police Commissioner John Stanford said police could not immediately determine a reason for the shooting.

At this point in time, it just looks like these individuals may have spotted someone they wanted to shoot at, exited the vehicle and began firing at the group of individuals that were there. We dont have much more than that in terms of motive, Stanford said.

There were officers in the area who heard the gunshots, Stanford told WCAU-TV.

Our men and women are where theyre supposed to be in the sense of being out here patrolling, but we have some brazen individuals in this city that dont care," he said. They dont care how many police officers are out here, and some of them dont care in terms of how many people are out here.
DES MOINES  The final push is on.

Candidates in Tuesdays election are delivering their closing arguments  their tightened message that is designed to motivate or sway as many voters as possible.

At the same time, their campaign operations are in the full-blown sprint to the finish  knocking on doors, sending text messages and airing ads on TV and social media, all to maintain constant contact with the targeted voters on their lists.

With the general election just days away, candidates and their campaigns are exhausting all their strategies to drive up voter turnout in their favor.

But thats bad news for potential voters already suffering from election fatigue. It means more campaign ads, more ringing doorbells, more mailers and more text messages are on the way.

Im pretty sure campaign managers dont want to end up with money in the bank. Youd rather win after spending it all than lose with unspent money still there, said Dennis Goldford, a political-science professor at Drake University. All this despite the fact that any and all civilians  non-political, everyday people  are truly sick of all of the ads. Still, you want to scare people about your opponent and say how wonderful and on-your-side your own candidates are.

Donna Hoffman, a political-science professor at the University of Northern Iowa, also warned voters that they should expect those ads to continue to flood the airwaves and streaming services right up to the election. The only respite, Hoffman said, could come for Iowans who already have cast early ballots: They may see fewer targeted campaign contacts like door knocks and text messages.

As for the candidates, Hoffman said the final days of a campaign commonly feature a focused version of a classic stump speech.

Candidates typically craft a closing message in the last week of a campaign where they are focusing on getting out the vote, projecting a sense of urgency, and highlighting what they feel are the key issues for the voters at that point in time, Hoffman said.

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Early voting will be open through Monday at local elections offices across the state. Mailed ballots must be received in the local elections office by 8 p.m. Tuesday.

So what are the candidates in Iowa saying in these final days of the campaign? Here are some examples from this past week.

U.S. Senate

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassleys closing pitch appears to contain themes of working hard and in bipartisan fashion.

The 89-year-old Republican incumbent seeking an eighth six-year term in the Senate unveiled his final campaign ad this week, which is titled, Im not done yet. The ad reminds viewers that Grassley still jogs every morning at 4 a.m., travels to each of the states 99 counties every year and cultivates bipartisan relationships.

Democratic challenger Mike Franken, 64, a retired U.S. Navy admiral, is mounting by far the biggest challenge Grassley has faced in his re-election campaigns. Frankens closing message, as heard at a campaign event this past week in Cedar Rapids, argues that Grassley is no longer the bipartisan senator he once was, that Grassley has been in the Senate too long and its time for a change.

We deserve something other than a senator for life, Franken said in Cedar Rapids.

Governor

If polling and fundraising are indicators, Republican incumbent Kim Reynolds stands on the precipice of another four-year term, and perhaps a re-election victory by a wide margin over Democratic challenger Deidre DeJear and Libertarian candidate Rick Stewart.

Reynolds has spent the last two weeks of the campaign barnstorming the state with a bus tour. Her message has been consistent throughout her campaign  highlighting what she believes are the successes achieved during her tenure and with Republican control of the Iowa Legislature: three rounds of state income tax reductions, a state budget with a $2 billion surplus, moves to reopen businesses and schools sooner than many other states during the COVID-19 pandemic and a ban on transgender girls playing in girls sports.

Here in Iowa, we still know right from wrong, boys from girls, and liberty from tyranny, Reynolds says in her final campaign ad.

DeJear told reporters its that type of decisive issue that is one of the reasons she believes Iowa needs new leadership. That notion of new leadership, along with an appeal for unity, have been among the top of DeJears closing arguments.

I see Iowans for who we truly are, and were hardworking people, DeJear said this past week. And there is no doubt in my mind, as Ive been traveling throughout this state, Iowans are working way too hard. And a large part of the impediment in that way is our current failed leaderships ability to overcome the challenges that Iowans are facing.

Iowa Legislature

Iowa House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst joined Democrat Elizabeth Wilson, a former Linn-Mar school board member running for House District 73, for a news conference Thursday in Marion to discuss Iowa House Democrats four-part policy agenda of lowering costs for Iowans, investing in public schools, protecting reproductive freedom and legalizing marijuana for recreational use.

The proposal, dubbed the people over politics agenda, will be the framework for Democratic proposals in the next legislative session.

It is based on what weve heard from Iowans all across the state  rural, urban, suburban, said Konfrst, of Windsor Heights. We have heard from people who want the Legislature to come together and just get something done.

To lower costs, Konfrst said House Democrats would pass legislation that expands access to affordable housing and child care, and lowers taxes for working families while stopping tax cuts for large businesses.

Their agenda also calls for codifying a fundamental right to abortion in the Iowa Constitution, which would require Democrats to win back majorities in both the Iowa House and Senate, and hold those majorities through a second election so they could pass a proposal, which would then go to Iowa voters.

Winning back those majorities is unlikely to happen this election. Republicans have a 32-18 majority in the Senate and a 60-40 majority in the House.

One of the most competitive districts this election is in Eastern Iowa, in Senate District 46, where two incumbent senators  Democrat Kevin Kinney and Republican Dawn Driscoll  were put in the same district by the decennial redistricting process.

Both parties have put significant resources into that election. Kinney has been endorsed by a number of current and former Republicans, and Reynolds has swooped in late in the campaign to help Driscoll, including by appearing in a campaign ad in which she advocates for Driscoll and attacks Kinney.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  Iowa authorities say an 18-year-old sex trafficking victim who pleaded guilty to killing a man she said raped her escaped from a women's center where she was serving her probation sentence.

Pieper Lewis was seen walking out of the building at the Fresh Start Women's Center in Des Moines shortly after 6:15 a.m. Friday, and at some point that day her GPS monitor was cut off, according to a probation violation report.

A warrant was issued for Lewis' arrest and the probation report asked for her deferred judgment to be revoked and have her original sentence imposed, KCCI reported. She could face up to 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors had called the probation sentence she was given in September merciful for a teen who endured horrible abuse, although some questioned the $150,000 restitution she was ordered to pay. A GoFundMe campaign raised over $560,000 to cover the restitution and pay for her other needs.

Polk County Judge David Porter told Lewis that her probation sentence was the second chance you asked for. You dont get a third," the Des Moines Register reported.

If Lewis had successfully completed five years of closely supervised probation her prison sentence would have been expunged.

Lewis pleaded guilty last year to involuntary manslaughter and willful injury in the June 2020 killing of 37-year-old Zachary Brooks, a married father of two. Lewis was 15 when she stabbed Brooks more than 30 times in a Des Moines apartment.

Lewis has said that she was trafficked against her will to Brooks for sex multiple times and stabbed him in a fit of rage. Police and prosecutors did not dispute that Lewis was sexually assaulted and trafficked.

The Associated Press does not typically name victims of sexual assault, but Lewis agreed to have her name used previously in stories about her case.
BARRE, Mass. (AP)  About 150 artifacts considered sacred by the Lakota Sioux peoples are being returned to them after being stored at a small Massachusetts museum for more than a century.

Members of the Oglala Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes traveled from South Dakota to take custody of the weapons, pipes, moccasins and clothing, including several items thought to have a direct link to the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre in South Dakota.

They had been held by the Founders Museum in Barre, Massachusetts, about 74 miles west of Boston. A public ceremony was held Saturday inside the gym at a nearby elementary school that included prayers by the Lakota representatives. The artifacts will be officially handed over during a private ceremony.

Ever since that Wounded Knee massacre happened, genocides have been instilled in our blood, said Surrounded Bear, 20, who traveled to Barre from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, according to The Boston Globe. And for us to bring back these artifacts, thats a step towards healing. Thats a step in the right direction.

The ceremony marked the culmination of repatriation efforts that had been decades in the making.

It was always important to me to give them back, said Ann Meilus, president of the board at the Founders Museum. I think the museum will be remembered for being on the right side of history for returning these items.

The items being returned are just a tiny fraction of an estimated 870,000 Native American artifacts  including nearly 110,000 human remains  in the possession of the nations most prestigious colleges, museums and even the federal government. They're supposed to be returned to the tribes under the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

Museum officials have said that as a private institution that does not receive federal funding, the institution is not subject to NAGPRA, but returning items in its collection that belong to Indigenous tribes is the right thing to do.

More than 200 men, women, children and elderly people were killed in the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Congress issued a formal apology to the Sioux Nation a century later for one of the nation's worst massacres of Native Americans.

The Barre museum acquired its Indigenous collection from Frank Root, a traveling shoe salesman who collected the items on his journeys during the 19th century, and once had a road show that rivaled P.T. Barnums extravaganzas, according to museum officials.

Wendell Yellow Bull, a descendant of Wounded Knee victim Joseph Horn Cloud, has said the items will be stored at Oglala Lakota College until tribal leaders decide what to do with them.

The items being returned to the Sioux people have all been authenticated by multiple experts, including tribal experts. The museum also has other Indigenous items not believed to have originated with the Sioux.
The Journal has endorsed Sen. Chuck Grassley every time he has run for Senate and, more than likely, we would have done so this year, too.

But several factors trouble us.

 For years, the senator has talked about lowering pharmaceutical prices, but has not accomplished much in that area. When the Democratically-controlled Senate recently gave him the opportunity to cap insulin prices, he didnt accept it.

 When President Barack Obama offered Merrick Garland as a Supreme Court candidate, Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said, It only makes sense that we defer to the American people who will elect a new president to select the next Supreme Court Justice. Yet when Ruth Bader Ginsberg died during the 2020 election year, he didnt oppose holding hearings before the end of Donald Trumps presidency. You cant have one rule for Democrat presidents and another rule for Republican presidents, he said in 2018. Yet, thats exactly what happened in 2020.

 Grassley also appears to have had a change of heart regarding Trump. He criticized the former presidents claim that the 2020 election had been stolen and admitted he belittled and harassed elected officials across the country to get his way.

Yet Grassley was more than willing to tout Trumps support when he came to Sioux City for a rally Thursday. Trump made a point of emphasizing President Bidens age (79) and fitness for the job, yet didnt mention Grassleys (89), even though the Senate term is six years, putting him at 95 if he serves the entire term.

At what point does a candidate become too old to run? Should we ignore the issue so he can move up the list of longest-serving senators (he currently stands at No. 8) and still wont pass Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont)? Dianne Feinstein, D-California, is the oldest sitting senator and she, too, is 89.

Shouldnt we thank Grassley for his many years of service and elect Sioux City Democrat Mike Franken?

A decorated vice admiral who has considerable military experience and has worked closely with the executive branch in a host of positions, he has valuable insight and a fresh approach to the countrys place in the world.

An Iowa native, he knows the agricultural needs of the state and the importance of jobs, renewable energy and affordable health care.

Grassley does, too. But he has had more than 40 years to get the job done.

Maybe its time to let someone else have the opportunity. We endorse Mike Franken for the U.S. Senate.

FOURTH DISTRICT CONGRESS: We endorse Rep. Randy Feenstra. While Feenstra has only been in office for two years, he has demonstrated he understands the district and what fuels it. Like Reynolds, he needs to be more willing to listen to those who dont agree with the Republican Partys platform. Though dominated by GOP voters, the district is comprised of Democrats and independents, too. They deserve a voice in Congress just as much as the Republicans who nominated him.

GOVERNOR: We endorse Gov. Kim Reynolds for a second full term. Faced with COVID-related woes (including business closings, school setbacks and employee shortages), the Republican governor remained firm in her convictions and pressed forward, giving Iowans a degree of confidence during troubling times. While there are still issues that deserve more study (funding for public education among them), we hope she will use her legislative support and reach out to those who havent agreed with her decisions. Whats best for Iowa often emerges when parties discuss their differences and explain why they believe what they do.
In Los Angeles, the trial of That 70s Show star Danny Masterson just finished its third week. Three women have accused Masterson of rape in incidents dating from 2001 to 2003. He has denied all the charges.

Among trials of celebrities for sexual abuse, this one is particularly notable because Masterson was and is a Scientologist, as were the three women at the time of the alleged assaults. (Theyve since left the group.) The plaintiffs are also pursuing a civil case against the organization for alleged harassment, stalking, and intimidationincluding the killing of petsthat they say was retaliation for going to the Los Angeles Police Department with their stories. (Scientology denies the claims.) On the stand, one accuser broke down as she spoke about this retaliation, saying I cant breathe, and seeming, as one reporter who was in the courtroom wrote, to have a panic attack.

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After a couple of decades marked by high-profile and powerfully negative media portrayals of Scientology, the trial has provided another unflattering window on the internal dynamics of the organization. To learn more about how deeply this will cut for the church, I spoke with Mike Rinder, an ex-Scientologist who was in the group for almost 50 years, including time spent as its international spokesperson, before finally leaving in 2007. Rinder recently published a book, A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology, and co-hosts a podcast, Fair Game, with prominent fellow ex-Scientologist Leah Remini. Rinder and I talked about the stakes of this trial for an organization that seems to be losing traction among celebritiesand in the wider world. Our discussion has been edited and condensed.

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In a lengthy response, a Scientology spokesperson disputed nearly every claim in this interview, said that Rinder was excommunicated, and suggested any malfeasance Rinder described would have happened under his watch. Rinder says he was unaware of the alleged rapes until years after he left Scientology.

Rebecca Onion: In this trial, there have been a couple of interesting moves that Mastersons defense lawyers have made. They screened jurors for having consumed media about Scientology, including shows like Leah Reminis Scientology and the Aftermath, and have tried to get the judge to agree that Scientology should not be discussed at all. The judge said that the trial will not be a trial on Scientology, but wouldnt exclude any mention of the organization.

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Mike Rinder: Obviously, the issue in this case is that the three alleged victims were, at the time of the incidents that hes being prosecuted for, all Scientologists, and the circle of people around them were all Scientologists, and the world in which they lived and the way that they made decisions about what to do in any circumstance was influenced enormously by their participation in Scientology. Its hard to keep that out when you have people that are talking about, This is what I believe happened to me, and this is what I did subsequent to that. When the issue becomes, Well, so why didnt you go to law enforcement immediately?, the thinking of people in the world of Scientology is entirely based on, What does Scientology tell you that you should and shouldnt do? Thats obviously part of just the facts of the case.

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It seems so far, from reading coverage of how the trial is unfolding, that the topic of Scientology is popping up in the courtroom, even though the injunction was given to try not to bring it in too much.

If youre a Scientologist, Scientology dictates everything about your life, everything about how you make decisions, everything about what you think is right and wrong. It also impacts your relationships with your friends, with your family. The threat of losing your friends and losing your family through Scientology disconnection is a very, very real, visceral threat. Its not a hypothetical. The organization has enormous influence on peoples decisions, so its not surprising to me that despite the judge saying that she doesnt want this to be a trial on Scientology, its almost inevitable that the issue of Scientology and how Scientologists act is going to be a part of it because Scientology pervades peoples lives. Its very difficult for those outside of Scientology to understand just how pervasive it is.

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If you have someone thats accusing someone of being a pedophile or a rapist inside Scientology, their first inclination if that person is a Scientologist is not to go to law enforcement, but to go to Scientology, to what is called the Office of Special Affairs, which is what I used to be the head of, and report it. Then efforts to deal with this situation inside the Scientology bubble go into full effect, and that means rounding up anybody else that knows anything about it or may have seen something and making sure that they are keeping everything inside the bubble of Scientology, and not going off and talking about it to inappropriate people or thinking that they have to make a report outside of the organization. Youre required to report inside the organization, but discouraged from reporting outside the organization.

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Why required to report inside?

Because Scientology is a snitch culture. If you see something or even suspect something that is detrimental somehow to Scientology or is in violation of the laws and rules of Scientology, you are required to report it in writing to the Scientology organization. The penalty for failure to do that is that you are liable to the same penalties as the perpetrator of that transgression, if its discovered subsequently that you knew or suspected that that was going on but didnt report it. [Scientology denied this policy or practice exists.]

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So that then, the organization can control the fallout from it.

Absolutely. The organization can make sure that there is no leakage of information, nothing that goes by that they dont know about that could be a problem.

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These rules even apply to celebrity members like Masterson?

Yes. They apply to anybody. Celebrities are given greater leeway [within the organization] in certain things. For example, if a celebrity wishes to end their marriage for some reason, particularly if the other person in the marriage isnt a big fan of Scientology, that is facilitated rather than frowned upon. But if youre a [non-celebrity] Scientologist, youre expected to resolve any issues in your marriage using Scientology. Its a bit of a case-by-case analysis when it comes to celebrities as to what may be enforced or not because always, the decisions about what happens in Scientology are based on whats good for Scientology.

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Maybe if the person is a really big celebrity, they might have a different set of reactions.

Yes, I wrote in my book about how when Tom Cruise [who was married to Scientologist Mimi Rogers at the time] wanted to get together with Nicole Kidman, and Nicole Kidman was a huge up-and-coming rising star. That was seen as being something that would be beneficial for Scientology, so they went ahead with the divorce. And when Kirstie Alley wanted to divorce Parker Stevenson  Parker was never a Scientologist. I mean, he may have dabbled, but he didnt consider himself to really be any sort of dedicated Scientologist, so that was like, OK, well put that aside. Like I said, its a case-by-case basis.

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When I was reading your book, I had some revelations about the culture inside Scientology that I hadnt had before, especially around the topic of abuse, which obviously overlaps with rape. It seems almost like a culture where dominance, or having power over someone else, is just the way life is.

The most important thing to understand about Scientology, when it comes to this topic, is this concept of what [Scientologys founder L. Ron] Hubbard called the overt-motivator sequence, or as its shorthanded in ScientologyWhat did you do to pull it in? This is an absolutely fundamental principle of Scientology. That if you get run over by a car, you are supposed to look with the Scientology e-meter, and search out and find the time when you ran someone over with a car, because you did something bad first and then craved something bad happening to you of a similar nature.

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If a woman reports that she has been raped by someone, the Scientology response to that is, OK, write a report about it. Now, we are going to find out what you did to pull it in. This is the ultimate in victim-blaming, and it is an absolute inviolate law of Scientology, this idea that if something bad happens to you, its because you did something similar bad yourself previously. It is very, very dangerous and damaging, but if you ask a thousand Scientologists or ex-Scientologists, What does What did you do to pull it in mean to you, they would all give you exactly the same answer. It is such a standard thing in Scientology. [Scientology said this is false, and contended nothing in Hubbards teachings ever used this phrase.]

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The second thing that is really important is that Scientology doesnt believe in law enforcement, the judicial system. Hubbard wrote a lot about how its corrupt and criminal, and getting yourself in the hands of the judiciary is tantamount to your death sentence. Instead, we need to apply Scientology justice procedures. The idea in the mind of a Scientologist is, We have the only answers to resolve the crazy things that people do. If we have someone here who is a kleptomaniac, turning them over to law enforcement will just punish them but will not cure their urges to steal things. Only Scientology can do that. Only Scientology can get to the bottom of why someone feels the need to steal. It is cruel and unusual punishment to turn someone over to the judiciary or law enforcement when we could actually help them and solve their problem and get rid of their impulses to steal in the future.

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This is the mindset that Scientologists have. Theres a lot of discussion about, Well, Scientology, youre forbidden from going to law enforcement. Scientology comes out and puts out these statements saying, No, thats not true. Theres no policy that forbids that. Well, actually, there is  But also, what isnt understood generally is, in the mind of Scientologists, its not just following a rule. It is what they believe is the best thing to do, to turn the person over to Scientology to be helped, not turn them over to law enforcement to be locked up and tortured.

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I was interested to hear that they surveyed the jurors in this trial for having consumed media about Scientology. I feel like, with the podcasts, documentaries, and books like yours out there, the last 20 years have really saturated the market with negative perspectives on Scientology. (One potential juror, Variety reported, said during the selection process that hed read many articles about the organization; when asked if those articles were positive or negative, he said I dont believe Ive read a positive article about that organization. He was excused.)

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I think that theres been a lot that has happened that has brought the sort of dirty underbelly of Scientology out into the light. I think that Going Clear, when Alex Gibney made that film and it appeared on HBO, that sort of put a big crack in the dam of secrecy of Scientology. Then I think that The Aftermath showed, because it went on for so long every week over three seasons, with just peoples stories  The idea that every one of them was just a liar, and theyre all just making this stuff up, and theyre all doing it for the moneywhatever Scientology would say? It sounds ridiculous. I think the perspective has changed.

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The other thing that has accomplished that is just the internet. I mean, these days people Google everything. You Google Scientology and its not pretty. It cant be that everything that anybody ever has said thats negative about Scientology is not true, because there are so many people who have now spoken up, and they all tell similar sort of stories. Its not like you have one guy over here saying one thing, and then someone over here saying something completely different. The experiences that people have had in Scientology are so consistent that its impossible to dismiss them.

I mean, youre even seeing it in the mayoral race in Los Angeles. Rick Caruso and Karen Bass are in a mudslinging contest as to who can shit on Scientology the worst. Ten years ago, nobody [in a race like that] would even utter the word Scientology. They just wanted nothing to do with it. Now its like, Im going to get brownie points with the electorate by saying that I hate Scientology more than you do.

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What do you think the stakes are for Scientology, of this trial? It feels like, within the world of celebrities, that being a Scientologist doesnt seem to be quite the thing anymore. They seem to be having a little bit more trouble attracting people. I dont know if thats an accurate thing to say. It feels like people have left, and it doesnt feel like you hear about new celebrities joining, necessarily.

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Thats the information age. There hasnt been any new big-time celebrity come into Scientology that I can actually recall. The only one who has emerged as sort of a major star is Elisabeth Moss, but she was raised a Scientologist. Shes a second-generation Scientologist. Shes not someone that was brought into Scientology and suddenly had a revelation about how This has made my career. That was the world of John Travolta and Tom Cruise and Kirstie Alley back in the day. Nowadays, those guys dont talk too much about it either. There is a change in the perception of Scientology in the world at large.

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As you say, its the volume of stories on the internet, but its also justthe internet is just hard for anyone to manage. In Googling your name, for example, I noticed that theres a paid Google result with a negative website about you. But immediately Im like, OK, Scientology paid to put that there, and then every other result is your work. Its just like, its too big. Theres just so much out there that any given entity is going to have trouble.

Information is the poison that ultimately kills cults. There is no battling the information age and the internet. Scientologys future is doomed unless they were to change how they go about doing things. But they cant change anything because its all dictated by L. Ron Hubbard, and hes dead.
North Korea and Russia appear to have restored the rail link between the two countries this week for the first time since the start of the covid-19 pandemic. The first shipment is said to include 30 horses, but the West believes that North Korea is also sending something else to Russia.

Two days after he is the spokesman for the White House National Security Council John Kirby Pyongyang accused that in the war in Ukraine covertly helps Russia, because he is sending artillery shells to Russia, according to satellite images, a train with three wagons crossed the Russian-North Korean border yesterday. According to the portal 38 North, which monitors events in North Korea, something like this has not happened for several years. It is not known exactly what was in the wagons.

In February 2020, during the initial period of the covid-19 pandemic, North Korea is expected to close the 800-meter-long bridge over the Tumen River, which is the only land connection between the two countries, reports the Reuters news agency. The border with Russia in the extreme northeast of North Korea runs along the Tumen River. The Russian Veterinary and Phytosanitary Control Service announced on Wednesday that a train carrying horses entered Russia from North Korea. They explained that for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, rail traffic between the two countries had been restarted, and that the first cargo included 30 Orlov Trotter horses.

In September, North Korea denied that it would help Russia with weapons and ammunition. They also stated that they do not plan to do so even in the future. Kirby, on the other hand, said a few days ago that according to their information, North Korea sends military aid to Russia through countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
Dr. Amar Bose (Photo: www.bose.com)

November 2 was Dr. Amar Bose's 93rd birth anniversary. It escaped my attention. Here is what I wrote in tribute to him on July 13, a day after he died in 2013.

July 12, 2013

My first and only meeting with Dr. Amar Gopal Bose in the early 1990s in New Delhi nearly led me to write his biography. It was after a press conference that Dr. Bose gave in the Indian capital that I separately chatted him up a bit.

It was my sense then that he was somewhat amused by all the media attention he was getting there. He seemed genuinely surprised that his work in acoustic engineering was known to many at the news conference. Of course, most of that knowledge was about the famous line of Bose stereo speakers.

When I mentioned that perhaps he should consider a biography about his life and perhaps he should consider me as his biographer, he flashed an incredulous smile. He said something to the effect that the thought had never crossed his mind. He gave me his business card with his companys address in Framingham, Massachusetts and asked me to send a formal proposal. I promptly did but never heard back. So that was that.

My recollection of that news conference is that reporters were surprised to hear Dr. Boses fully American accent without a trace of his partly Bengali origin. Of course, many did not know at the time that he was born in Philadelphia to Noni Gopal Bose who was married to an American school teacher. He was, for all practical purposes, American. Born on November 2, 1929, he came of age at a time when America was in the grip of the Great Depression.

I remember asking him how that experience influenced his formative years. I am not quoting him verbatim but he said he was too young to have been directly affected by it, although he had memories of the era.

Among my superficial impressions of Dr. Bose then was that he was dapper in an understated way. A tall man, his bearing was friendly and had a smile that was wide open. I also remember him often moistening his lips with his tongue as if he felt parched. Do excuse me but I do tend to be observant about these inane details. Another feature I remember was that for some reason he reminded me of Dev Anand. Very likely it was his partly toothless smile that made me think of Anand. At the very least, there is the feel-alike touch between the two, if not look-alike.

Check out the two images below, one of their hands and the other of their faces.

Left, Dr. Boses hand, Right, Anands.

Left, Dr. Bose, and Anand

There is no particular relevance to these comparisons while writing about Dr. Bose other than the fact that I have a weakness to look at things and people from many different angles.

According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with which he had more than six decades of association, Dr. Bose received his bachelors degree, masters degree and doctorate from MIT, all in electrical engineering. He was asked to join the faculty in 1956, and he accepted with the intention of teaching for no more than two years. He continued as a member of the MIT faculty until 2001.

During his long tenure at MIT, Dr. Bose made his mark both in research and in teaching. In 1956, he started a research program in physical acoustics and psychoacoustics: This led to his development of many patents in acoustics, electronics, nonlinear systems and communication theory.

He was among the most popular MIT teachers whose classes were much sought after. Amar Bose was a legend at MIT, said MIT Chancellor Eric Grimson, who served as a faculty colleague of Dr. Bose in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He was an incredible teacher, an inspiring mentor, a deep and insightful researcher. He has influenced multiple generations of students, both directly through the classroom and laboratory, and through the many students he influenced who have themselves pursued careers as faculty, propagating Professor Boses approach to mentorship and teaching.

Bose Corporation, the company that he founded nearly 50 years ago and which revolutionized sound technology, was a closely held entity. He did not take it public because he knew the pressures of corporate bottom lines would deviate him from his largely R and D mindset.

It was a tribute to his unusual way of doing business that in 2011, Dr. Bose gave MIT the majority of the stock of Bose Corporation in the form of nonvoting shares. Under the terms of the gift, dividends from those shares will be used by MIT to sustain and advance MITs education and research mission. MIT cannot sell its Bose shares, and does not participate in the management or governance of the company, the MIT said.
https://sputniknews.com/20221106/africa-needs-funding-to-face-climate-change-risks-brought-on-by-g20-states---cop27-head-1103836330.html

Africa Needs Funding to Face Climate Change Risks Brought on by G20 States - COP27 Head

Africa Needs Funding to Face Climate Change Risks Brought on by G20 States - COP27 Head

SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt (Sputnik) - African nations require additional funding to confront the negative effects of climate change given that their populations... 06.11.2022, Sputnik International

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The annual climate conference kicked off in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El Sheikh earlier in the day, with Shoukry formally elected as the COP27 president."Indeed, African countries suffer greatly from the effects of climate change without being major contributors to this problem," Shoukry told a press conference.According to the official, African countries need assistance to adapt to climate change, and it is important to provide them with modern technological solutions and funding to mitigate the negative effects of the rising global temperatures.Simon Stiell, the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, pointed out that the G20 nations are the main contributors to the problem, accounting for as much as 80% of emissions."Its important that parties cooperate But where there is no collaboration in terms of national obligations [to cut CO2 emissions], all parties know what they need to do," Stiell stressed.On November 7 and 8, more than 120 heads of state will speak at the Climate Implementation Summit as part of COP27 and take part in six round table discussions.

https://sputniknews.com/20221105/ahead-of-cop27-egypt-accuses-governments-of-inability-to-keep-their-hefty-public-climate-promises-1103816298.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20221106/airliner-plunges-into-lake-victoria-in-tanzania-1103826658.html

Death Toll in Tanzania Plane Crash Reportedly Rises to 19 - Video

Death Toll in Tanzania Plane Crash Reportedly Rises to 19 - Video

The plane was reportedly manufactured by the Franco-Italian concern ATR and belongs to Tanzania's largest private airline, Precision Air. 06.11.2022, Sputnik International

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A Precision Air passenger plane crashed in Tanzania and a rescue team was sent to the scene, the airline said on Twitter. According to the country's prime minister, 19 people on board have died."Precision Air flight number PW 494, flying from Dar es Salaam to Bukoba, was involved in an accident as it was approaching Bukoba Airport. A rescue team has been dispatched to the scene," the Tweet says.The plane, with 49 passengers and four crew members, is said to have plunged into Lake Victoria in Tanzania, 100 meters from the airport.The crash was caused by bad weather conditions, local media said.A video posted to Twitter shows the plane's fuselage - apparently intact but submerged in shallow water, with its tail sticking out of the water - and a crowd of locals watching the rescue efforts of several fishing boats.The latest plane accident in Tanzania occurred five years ago, when 11 people died in result of Safari Companys plane crash.

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https://sputniknews.com/20221106/democrats-cant-stand-free-speech-paralyzed-by-challenging-opinions-republican-campaigner-says-1103829545.html

Democrats Can't Stand Free Speech, Paralyzed by Challenging Opinions, Republican Campaigner Says

Democrats Can't Stand Free Speech, Paralyzed by Challenging Opinions, Republican Campaigner Says

As the midterm elections are approaching, Republicans believe they have a good chance of taking over the House of Representatives and boosting their position... 06.11.2022, Sputnik International

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Sputnik discussed the expectations and fears voters have ahead of the Tuesday elections with Adam de Angeli, President of the grassroots campaign Rescue Michigan Coalition on the Republican Super Rally which was held in Michigan before the election.Sputnik: Republican "super rally" was held yesterday - could you please tell more about this event - why was it held and what were its main goals?Adam de Angeli: It's pretty common for campaigns to hold rallies. The governor campaign has had many. This was a big one. The candidates for attorney general and secretary of state were there, a couple thousand people showed up and the candidates for Congress were there. They had some candidates for state Senate.So it was a pretty big event. We went because we had a good amount of campaign literature that we needed to distribute, and that would be the best way to do it, because the election is just three days from now. So we went out there and people were arriving and leaving. We gave out as much as we could, because we wanted to support the ticket. We achieved that objective and got all the literature out.Sputnik: What was the atmosphere of the event? How many people gathered?Adam de Angeli: It was a couple thousand people. Some people came from all across the state. I actually drove over in a convoy, so they made a whole day out of it. I only came from my house, which wasn't that far away, so it wasn't that long of a drive for me. But I saw some candidates that I knew that are going to be elected to the state legislature. People are very optimistic. I think they're expecting that it's going to be a very good election for the Republicans on Tuesday, which is not something I think we really thought was likely even as recently as just a few weeks ago. So a lot of people are getting very optimistic as the polls are going our way and that's kind of exactly where we want to be.Sputnik: Does the Republican establishment support your efforts?Adam de Angeli: Oh, no. The Republican establishment has actually been quite hostile to our efforts over the past year. They did not support the candidates that ultimately won for attorney general or secretary of state. And in Michigan, we had quite the upset in the race for governor, where five candidates for governor got thrown off the ballot this year. And as a result, the candidate for governor that ultimately won the nomination was someone that they didn't know and had never even heard of. They did, I think, warm up to her, but there was a lot less financial support for the Republicans in this race than there had been in ordinary years. Nonetheless, I think they really did realize they don't want to lose everything this year, including the legislature so financial support eventually came. But even still, it's been difficult this year.Sputnik: How have the people's sentiments changed since the last elections in 2020? What are people's main concerns and demands now?Adam de Angeli: I think the main attitude that people have right now is throw the bums out. And a lot of that really comes down to the COVID policies. We had the most radical deprivation of our civil liberties in our history in 2020, and I think people were even then kind of willing to put up with it because of the deadly virus that was out there and everything. Now people are realizing it was all a power play. It has nothing to do with public health. It didn't do any good. None of it did. Thousands of businesses were closed. People's lives were upended. They were interfering with people's ability to see their relatives, to go to funerals even.People's children were kept out of school for months and months; the governor lied about that, claiming she was only keeping kids out of school for three months, which everyone knew was complete nonsense. And of course there's also multiple incidents of hypocrisy. The Governor told everyone: don't leave the state, don't go to Florida in particular because Florida didn't lock down their citizens. And then she and her staff were found in Florida. In fact, the governor herself went to visit her father, who was sick, the very reason she told us we couldn't leave the state. She did the same thing. None of them believe anything they were saying, and everyone knows it. Thats the main attitude driving the election right now - that the people that were allowed to do this can't be allowed to return to power.Sputnik: In your opinion, are the on-going midterm elections transparent and fair?Adam de Angeli: We won't really know until Tuesday, but I think there will be fewer issues than there were in 2020. There's some vote fraud that happens, but it's not as pervasive as people think it is. It's not like the machines can just steal the elections. Voter fraud typically happens through absentee ballots, and there's some amount of it, but not a huge amount. And in particular, in this election, number one, Donald Trump is not on the ballot. And I think that was a big thing that motivated a lot of people to cheat in 2020.And secondly, people are a lot more aware of election fraud than they were in 2020. When I was a poll worker in 2020, one of the things that we found out they were going to do in advance of the election was to use social distancing rules to impede poll challengers, which we ended up suing the secretary of state over. And they actually got a judgment against her about that. But then they went ahead and did it anyway. But this year there is no social distancing anymore, so they can't do that. We've recruited probably close to a thousand people to be poll workers and poll challengers.So people know what to look for and they know what to expect. I think there's going to be just less of it in general. I don't think we're going to see a significant amount of fraud on Election Day. There may be some of the usual with respect to absentee ballots, but I mean, it's only going to be at worst a percentage point or two, it's not going to be enormous. Election fraud tends to be limited to blue collar areas, places like Detroit. It's not going to be happening all over the state.Sputnik: You have a Democratic governor in Michigan - what are the main complaints about her? Do you think life would be different if a Republican were in the governors office?Adam de Angeli: I think the biggest and worst thing about the governor was the lockdowns. That's certainly the thing that I think is motivating people now. That was probably the biggest thing. And the other thing, too, I would say, is the state budget increased enormously in the past four years. It went from a budget of something like $50 billion four years ago to now it's almost $80 billion. So it's been a huge growth of government. And I don't think it would have increased that quickly if we had a Republican governor. But that's probably the single biggest issue.There's other ancillary issues here and there. The big thing in Michigan right now, too, is we have some extremely radical proposals on our ballot this year. One of them is to not only grant a right to abortion up to the moment the baby would have been born. But it would also define "individual rights to all matters relating to pregnancy," which includes sterilization. And what a lot of voters don't understand is when they say all individuals, that includes children. So they create an individual right for children to commit acts of sexual self-mutilation. And that's actually on the ballot this year.So we've done as much as we possibly can to inform voters about what this is and what it would do. Because there is, bizarrely enough, a radical transgender lobby that's actually supporting this and pushing for it. The hope is that voters will realize how radical these proposals are. There's another one which would remove just about every last remaining safeguard to fair elections in Michigan. It would create a ten-day early voting period, which would make it impractical and impossible for there to be any transparency in the voting process.What we've been doing is informing voters about these things that are on the ballot and doing everything we can to inform people and mobilize them to understand that there's radical proposals that are on the ballot to put these things into our state constitution. And the governor, for her part, has been endorsing them. We can let people know that these radical policies are things that are A: things to oppose when they show up to vote, and B: things that the governor has been lying to the people about.Sputnik: You say that the radical Left and their allies in the mass media are doing everything they can to mislead and outright lie to Michigan voters - what is it that they are doing?Adam de Angeli: That's precisely the thing. They are not telling them what is in these two proposals. There's a third proposal that we don't even talk about much because the other two are so bad. But the third one relates to term limits for lawmakers and they say, oh, this is a proposal to shorten term limits. Well, it's actually a proposal to lengthen term limits, in the practical sense, because what the proposal does is that - right now, the law is, a lawmaker can serve for up to two terms in the Senate and three terms in the House, which is 14 years.The proposal says they can serve for a total of 12 years. They go, oh well that's less than 14 years. So that's a shortening of term limits. Well, most lawmakers never get to serve in the Senate because the Senate is much smaller than the House. So from a practical perspective, it means some senators can serve three terms and some members of the House will get to serve six, so their careers are actually doubled.With proposal two, about the election, they're running ads saying this will make elections more secure. They're even saying this'll make it so that people have to have ID to vote. It does the exact opposite. It says that they cannot require ID as a condition of voting. So they're trying to pass a proposal that will remove all of the safeguards against election fraud. And they're saying it's for election integrity.Then the third proposal is the one that they say is just to codify Roe versus Wade, which is the abortion Supreme Court decision that got struck down. And the reality is, this does things that are far more radical than Roe v Wade ever condoned. It would say, you have a right to abortion up to the moment of birth. And you cannot pass a law to prohibit that, if, in the sole opinion of the abortionist, the abortion is necessary for the mental health of the mother. In other words, you can't have any meaningful abortion law at all, because all the abortionist has to say is mental health of the mother! Done. So it would literally prohibit any regulation of late term abortion.And then, as I mentioned earlier, thrown in there is just the fact that it allows for child sexual self-mutilation, in there, which they're not talking about at all. And as we've been talking about it and exposing it, the Democrats on the left are saying, that's not true. That's just not true. That's not in there at all. And the problem is that a lot of voters don't understand the legal meaning of the words of the amendment, and that when it says every individual has a right to control all decisions relating to pregnancy, including sterilization, it means all individuals, including children.So it's been a challenge to explain to people what this actually does, because the average person does not understand the legal meaning of a constitutional amendment. But we've been getting the word out and a lot of people are hearing about it, and a lot more people have been talking about it recently. We made the point early on about this last constitutional amendment. There is a good number of voters for whom any argument about abortion is unavailing because they're pro-abortion. But not every person who is pro-abortion, is in favor of allowing children to have sex changes. We think that's an important point to highlight because the people that wrote this amendment knew what they were doing, and they did know what the legal meaning of those words were, and why they put them in there.Sputnik: How strong is the split in American society now?Adam de Angeli: It's pretty profound. I mean, Democrats and Republicans are different people. And Democrats in particular do not even want to talk to Republicans.That's why there's been a huge push for censorship online. Of course, the big story recently has been that Elon Musk bought Twitter and wants to bring free speech to the platform. And so the Democrats are freaking out and saying, you can't do that. You can't allow these people to express their opinions.I actually once met somebody who worked for YouTube. And we were just having a polite discussion about gun rights. And the guy gets up and storms out of the restaurant. He couldn't even talk to me about these things. They have become invested in ideas like that it's a good, positive thing to lock down the entire economy, the entire country over a disease that's slightly worse than the flu and nothing more. And they've become committed to it. And that makes it very difficult for them to accept that they're now a party that's endorsing everything from late term abortion, which in most people's mind is the murder of babies to the damage that they've done to their own families.That they've accepted lockdowns, the complete destruction of the economy, the complete destruction of civil society as some kind of fair price to pay. And we're in a position now where they have to support all this stuff. These people are completely insane and completely incompetent and destroying our country. And so we don't get along very well.Sputnik: By the way, there's no mention of your rally in Google searches (as of 5 November - ed.note) - why is it so, how biased are the mass media now?Adam de Angeli: It's pretty bad. We were distributing flyers and a friend of mine distributed a flyer at the rally. He noticed Dave Weigel was there. And Dave Weigel is a professional propagandist for The Washington Post, so he gave him one of our flyers. It's really bad. We did see NBC News was there. So there was some media covering the event. There was a guy there videoing for Reuters. By and large, a lot of people don't realize that our press has always been controlled. This is not new. The mass media has been beating the drums for wars for many, many years. And people that were hostile to those things were just not heard in the news media. The difference now is we have the Internet where people can find the news that they couldn't normally get at all. And that's why censorship of the internet has been such a big topic. And of course we've seen Google and Facebook and Twitter and these other companies colluding with the government to censor speech.But that's supposed to be completely illegal under the US Constitution. The government is not supposed to have any right to censor speech, but they've clearly been doing it and it's all in violation of case law that's been going back for years. There was a Supreme Court case that said the government even going to a bookstore and saying that they may be under investigation if they don't take a book off the shelves. That was a violation of the First Amendment. Whenever the government is directly involved in censorship, it's a First Amendment violation. There's no case law contradicting that. But they do it anyway and they get away with it.

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https://sputniknews.com/20221106/female-protester-choked-by-man-at-hochul-rally-1103838476.html

Female Protester Choked by Man at Hochul Rally

Female Protester Choked by Man at Hochul Rally

Governor Kathy Hochul is attempting to secure her first full term as Governor of New York after taking over following Andrew Cuomos resignation in late... 06.11.2022, Sputnik International

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A female protester was choked at a rally for New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Saturday night.The protester was counter-protesting the rally and held a vote them out sign featuring Hochul and other New York Democrats wearing devil horns, was seen on video being choked by a man after the two were involved in a scuffle.The twenty-four-second clip taken by an independent photographer does not show how the altercation started but begins with the man and Democratic city Councilwoman Crystal Hudson holding the protesters arms. The man then lets go of the protesters arm and grabs her by the neck, choking her. A few seconds later he lets her go and the protester can be seen shoving Hudson.Hudson addressed the incident on Twitter, saying that she was trying to break up a tussle.The protester was treated by EMS at the scene but it is unclear if she suffered any serious injuries. She told Viral News NY that the fight began when someone took her signs. She said she was protesting peacefully.The rally was held near the landmark Stonewall Inn in Manhattan. It was attended by Bravo TV Host Andy Cohen and focused on LGBTQ voters. According to the independent photographer who filmed the incident in question, the protester is a member of the LGBTQ community.Hochul is set for another rally on Sunday afternoon in Yonkers. President Biden is scheduled to be at that event. Hochul is attempting to fend off Republican Representative Lee Zeldin who, while still behind by 7.4 points according to poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight, has been gaining fast. In August, Zeldin was behind by 18 points after winning the Republican Primary.

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https://sputniknews.com/20221106/french-soldier-deployed-in-romania-as-part-of-nato-mission-found-dead-in-hotel-reports-say-1103837442.html

French Soldier Deployed in Romania as Part of NATO Mission Found Dead in Hotel, Reports Say

French Soldier Deployed in Romania as Part of NATO Mission Found Dead in Hotel, Reports Say

PARIS (Sputnik) - A French soldier was found dead in a hotel in the Romanian capital of Bucharest, where the French military contingent arrived as part of a... 06.11.2022, Sputnik International

2022-11-06T18:27+0000

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According to reports, cleaning personnel found a 41-year-old man with scissors stuck in his neck in his hotel room with no signs of forced entry visible.The media reported that along with other French soldiers, he checked into the hotel on Thursday and was supposed to stay there until January 3. The police have launched an investigation into the case.French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu visited Bucharest last week to open a new military base with 750 French soldiers in the Romanian town of Cincu, designed to strengthen NATO's eastern flank.On Friday, French newspapers reported that France has faced some difficulties in setting the base up. Some of the 750 French soldiers deployed in Cincu still live in tents, while difficulties also occurred during the transportation of military equipment to Romania.France is also responsible for commanding NATO's Mission Aigle in Romania, launched shortly after the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine. Under the mission, 500 French soldiers and 300 Belgian soldiers were sent to a military base near the city of Constanta on the Black Sea coast. Later they were joined by the military from the Netherlands. In addition, the French anti-missile complex MAMBA is deployed in Romania.

https://sputniknews.com/20221105/nato-not-planning-to-change-its-nuclear-deployments-stoltenberg-says--1103820829.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20221106/imran-khan-to-continue-long-march-towards-islamabad-amid-rising-political-tensions-in-pakistan-1103834507.html

Imran Khan to Continue Long March Towards Islamabad Amid Rising Political Tensions in Pakistan

Imran Khan to Continue Long March Towards Islamabad Amid Rising Political Tensions in Pakistan

Supporters of Pakistan's ex-Prime Minister, Imran Khan, took part in nationwide protests after the assassination attempt on him. Last week, he was leading a... 06.11.2022, Sputnik International

2022-11-06T16:23+0000

2022-11-06T16:23+0000

2022-11-06T17:03+0000

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On Sunday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief and former prime minister, Imran Khan, announced his plans to resume the long march from Tuesday. The march will continue from Wazirabad, the place where Khan's container was attacked three days ago.Khan was discharged from Shaukat Khanum hospital this afternoon, where he was being treated for bullet wounds to his shins. During the shoot out, Khan was injured and so were eleven of his party members. One person was killed. Khan has since undergone surgery on his leg in Lahore and is said to be recovering well.Following the shooting incident, the current Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said an investigation must take place to find out who was behind the attack.In response to Sharif's statement, Imran Khan said that he welcomes Sharifs decision to ask the Supreme Court to form a judicial commission on the attack, but also said that a free and fair investigation cannot take place, as those he holds responsible for the attack control all the government agencies.Earlier, Khan blamed the attack on a conspiracy between the government and Pakistans powerful military.Following the shooting, Pakistanis took to the streets. The protesters chanted Revolution! and Khan, your devotees are countless. The protests blocked major highways outside the capital, Islamabad, and in the cities of Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi.March is OnSince the attack, it was unclear whether the long march will resume. However, on Sunday, Khan announced the continuation of the long march, much to the anticipation of millions of Pakistanis who were waiting to hear about the future development of PTI and its leader.He further added that once the march reaches Rawalpindi, he would then join it and lead it himself.First Information Report It has been three days since the attack on Imran Khan took place but so far he had not been able to register a first information report (FIR) with the police. Allegedly the Punjab police are reluctant to register the complaint.According to Khan, the authorities in Punjab are refusing to file a FIR over the attack on his container unless he removes the military officials name from it.However, Imran Khan is not backing down and on Sunday, the PTI chair said that he has every right to lodge an FIR against the three men whom he believes were behind the attack in a conspiracy against him.Earlier, Asad Umar, the PTI's secretary-general, announced that the party had prior information about the attack and if those Khan holds responsible are not asked to resign, there will be nation-wide protests.The People Have SpokenMeanwhile, social media in Pakistan is raging with PTI supporters alleging that Thursdays assassination attempt was a foreign plot to further destabilize Pakistan.In efforts to do some damage control, the government of Shehbaz Sharif has repeatedly accused Khan of antagonistic behavior and false accusations.However, on social media it is visible that Pakistanis are very vocal about their support for the ousted premier Imran Khan. Also the long march had drawn thousands of people last week, prior to the attack on Khan's container. But the military, whose support was crucial to bring Khan to power in 2018, has already said that it would back Sharifs government if there was widespread unrest.That puts the political and social situation in the country under great tension.Following Khan's accusations, the Pakistani military condemned Khans remarks, describing them as baseless allegations and highly regrettable, in a written statement.In response, Khan said that he is not blaming the institution but only a few people inside it.Imran said that portraying his criticism of one army officer as a condemnation of the whole institution was akin to saying that calling out one judge or corrupt PTI worker meant blaming the whole judiciary or party.Khan and the Pakistani government have gone head to head since the PTI chief was ousted from power by Parliament in April this year. Khan blamed his ouster on a foreign plot, and in the months that followed, he bolstered his popular support by holding a series of rallies across the country, criticizing Pakistans new leadership and calling for snap elections.

https://sputniknews.com/20221105/ex-pakistani-pm-imran-khan-survives-assassination-attempt-1103798124.html

https://sputniknews.com/20221103/imran-khan-close-aides-wounded-in-shooting-at-his-container-during-long-march-1103679177.html

https://sputniknews.com/20220930/pakistans-leaked-tapes-scandal-when-prize-is-power-all-coincidences-align---political-candidate--1101374155.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20221106/leader-of-french-patriots-party-says-washington-getting-tired-of-zelenskyy-1103838634.html

Leader of French Patriots Party Says Washington Getting Tired of Zelensky

Leader of French Patriots Party Says Washington Getting Tired of Zelensky

PARIS (Sputnik) - The United States is tired of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and will stop supporting him as soon as Washington no longer needs "its... 06.11.2022, Sputnik International

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"The American government is starting to get tired of Zelensky and is asking him to negotiate with Russia! When the US no longer needs its puppet, they will get rid of him, as always!" Philippot said on Twitter.On Saturday, a US media outlet reported citing sources that the administration of US President Joe Biden was privately asking the Ukrainian leadership to demonstrate a readiness to negotiate with Moscow.The request is not intended to push Ukraine to the negotiating table, the sources said, but to ensure that the government in Kiev retains support from other countries that face citizens' concerns about the duration of the conflict in Ukraine.In early October, Zelensky signed a decree on the implementation of the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on the impossibility of holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

https://sputniknews.com/20221031/report-biden-lashed-out-at-zelensky-for-not-being-grateful-enough-for-us-aid-1102872910.html

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Kiev Planning Total Evacuation in Event of Complete Blackout, Reports Say

Kiev authorities have begun planning for an evacuation of all residents from Ukraine's capital and most populous city in the event of a complete power outage, Ameican newspaper reported on Sunday, citing municipal officials.

According to the newspaper, the city officials are bracing for "a once unthinkable" possibility of evacuating three million dwellers if a sweeping blackout occurs. The situation in the city is said to be dire, with authorities setting up 1,000 heating centers, mainly inside educational facilities, which can serve a dual purpose as bunkers.

"We understand that  we may lose our entire electricity system," Roman Tkachuk, the director of security for the Kyiv municipal government, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Officials in Kiev were reportedly told that they would be notified that the city's energy grid was on the brink of failure at a 12-hour notice. After this, the authorities would begin informing people and asking them to leave the capital.
https://sputniknews.com/20221106/mediators-propose-to-resume-talks-between-sudans-military-opposition-reports-1103829435.html

Mediators Propose to Resume Talks Between Sudan's Military, Opposition: Reports

Mediators Propose to Resume Talks Between Sudan's Military, Opposition: Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - International mediators on political resolution of the crisis in Sudan have proposed to resume the direct talks between the military in... 06.11.2022, Sputnik International

2022-11-06T11:18+0000

2022-11-06T11:18+0000

2022-11-24T11:15+0000

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In June, a political dialogue was initiated in Sudan between the military government and members of the opposition. Talks were brokered by the so-called Trilateral Mechanism that includes the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Eastern Africa. The mediators decided to postpone the talks in July after the opposition Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) withdrew from the dialogue over their disagreement with the military.The Trilateral Mechanism proposed to begin the official talks between the parties on November 15 in the hopes the negotiations between the military and the FFC will end within two weeks, according to the broadcaster.In October 2021, the Sudanese military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, overthrew the government in a military coup, declaring a state of emergency and establishing the transitional sovereign council under his leadership. Subsequent protests forced Burhan to sign a pact stipulating the reinstatement of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, releasing all political prisoners, holding elections in July 2023 and handing power to an elected civilian government. The political crisis persisted, however, and Hamdok stepped down on January 2.Weekly protests against the military rule have continued in Sudan since then, resulting in more than 100 protesters dead.

https://sputniknews.com/20221102/why-un-peacekeeping-in-africa-keeps-facing-obstacles-1102943326.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20221106/over-a-dozen-killed-in-suicide-bombing-at-military-base-in-somalias-capital-1103822103.html

Over a Dozen Killed in Suicide Bombing at Military Base in Somalia's Capital

Over a Dozen Killed in Suicide Bombing at Military Base in Somalia's Capital

The attack comes a week after two car bombings in the capital took the lives of at least 100 people. Al-Shabab, an extremist group linked to al-Qaida, claimed... 06.11.2022, Sputnik International

2022-11-06T00:27+0000

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At least 15 people were killed in Somalias capital, Mogadishu, when an explosion occurred at a military base in the south of the city, local media report. It remains unclear who is responsible for the suicide bombing, though the state-run Somali National News Agency has blamed al-Shabab for the attack, which took responsibility for two car bombings last weekend as it fights to the become ruled by Islamic law. The blast occurred on Saturday, at the General Dhagabadan militarya training facility, which is located at a former candy factory, the Garowe news portal said.At least 15 people were killed in the attack, and scores of others were wounded, Garowe reported on Saturday. Last weekend, 100 people died in the car bombings, and 300 others were injured. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who was elected this year, said last weekend that his government was "winning" in their fight against the extremists. However the attacks have exhausted Somalia's weak health care systems as first responders struggle to address casualties.

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https://sputniknews.com/20221106/russian-reconciliation-center-says-syria-destroys-militant-camp-93-terrorists-killed-1103837764.html

Russian Reconciliation Center Says Syria Destroys Militant Camp, 93 Terrorists Killed

Russian Reconciliation Center Says Syria Destroys Militant Camp, 93 Terrorists Killed

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Syrian air force, in response to an attack by militants of the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group* on positions of government forces in... 06.11.2022, Sputnik International

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"As a result of the attack, a training camp for militants and underground shelters of illegal armed groups in the area of the settlement of Ashkhani-Takhtani were destroyed. Ninety-three militants were killed, including field commanders ... 135 members of the terrorist group were seriously injured," Yegorov told a briefing.Yegorov added that the air force destroyed a drone assembly workshop, and up to 40 strike drones, preventing terrorist attacks against the Russian armed forces and Syrian government forces.He also explained that the air force strike was conducted in response to an attack by militants against Syrian government forces in the province of Latakia.In addition, over the past day, five shellings were recorded from the positions of the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group in the Idlib de-escalation zone, Yegorov notedAccording to him, the Syrian security forces killed 12 militants and detained 16 more in the province of Deraa in a week. They were reportedly involved in terrorist attacks against civilians.*Jabhat al-Nusra is a terrorist group outlawed in Russia

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https://sputniknews.com/20221106/serbia-rejects-german-french-settlement-plan-for-kosovo-1103831893.html

Serbia Rejects German-French Settlement Plan for Kosovo

Serbia Rejects German-French Settlement Plan for Kosovo

BELGRADE (Sputnik) - Serbia has rejected a peaceful settlement plan on Kosovo and Metohija proposed by France and Germany as it implies that the breakaway... 06.11.2022, Sputnik International

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The initiative suggested that Belgrade would get a fast-track to EU membership in exchange for Kosovo's accession to the UN, the report said.Tensions between Belgrade and Pristine flared up in August. The Kosovar authorities have required that local Serbs re-register their car plates, demanding that they feature the EU-standard letter code of RKS (Republic of Kosovo) instead of KM, the Serbian identifier for the disputed region of Kosovska Mitrovica on the border. The deadline for the re-registration was pushed to October 31.On Saturday, representatives of the Kosovo Serbs decided to pull out of all structures of the self-proclaimed Kosovar authorities  including the parliament, government, courts and police  due to Pristina's decision to remove the Serbian police chief for refusing to issue written warnings to local Serbs regarding car plates. Later, Kosovo Serbs scheduled a demonstration on November 6 in the North Kosovska Mitrovica municipality.

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https://sputniknews.com/20221106/us-mainstream-media-want-black-people-to-still-be-on-democratic-plantation-1103834934.html

US Mainstream Media Want Black People 'to Still Be on Democratic Plantation'

US Mainstream Media Want Black People 'to Still Be on Democratic Plantation'

Earlier this week, a US broadcaster reported that Democrats and their mainstream media had fired and demonized non-white Republicans due to the fact that they... 06.11.2022, Sputnik International

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US mainstream media (MSM) want black people to still be on that Democratic plantation, believing their every word and hanging on to their every promise, Lavern Spicer, a Republican candidate who ran for Floridas Twenty-Fourth Congressional District in the 2020 elections, has told Sputnik.She said that over the last 50 years, promises made by Democrats have completely left the black community in shambles".According to Spicer, a perception created by the mainstream media doesnt correspond with reality.It doesn't because people are now realizing that a lot of the media is fake, she said, adding that they no longer just watch them [US media programs] and believe their narratives, because we know their narratives are very biased.She also pointed to Democrats failed policies when commenting on an article by a US media outlet blaming the GOP for winning over Asian Americans and thus fueling complaints that "they are pitting racial and ethnic communities against each other.They have such a biased approach because their policies have failed this country, Spicer said, referring to open borders, the highest gas prices ever in the history of the United States as well as unemployment, peoples inability to afford housing and soaring food prices, something that she said is not Republicans's fault.The Republican candidate also accused Democrats of being the ones that have always come up with all the divisive means of separating people based on their color. According to her, black people are tired of that and are very, very supportive of our conservative values.Spicer was echoed by Elbert Lee Guillory, former Republican member of Louisiana House of Representatives and of Louisiana State Senate, who told Sputnik that the MSM has been a part of the Democratic Party as they continually portrayed Democrats policies as fair and progressive, while painting Republican policies as racist.Dwelling on the MSM, he insisted that they are very largely owned and funded by big money Democrats, and they do the bidding, adding, As I said, the harlots of the Democrat Party are the press.When asked why the MSM had built image whereby it is somehow shameful to be a conservative and how much similar commentaries polarize US society, Guillory said that This is all a part of that foolishness that is portrayed by the press, which use race to divide us.On the above-mentioned WaPo article containing allegations about the GOP pitting racial and ethnic communities against each other, Guillory lashed out at very typical divisive politics sold by the Democrat Party, [and] foisted upon America by the Democrat Party, who he claimed wants to pit Asians against blacks.Much of their enforcement of anti-discriminatory laws, like affirmative action, has harmed good quality merit scholars in the Asian community. There must be a balance. When affirmative action was created 50 years ago, it was not created as a highway into the future, as a crutch that would forever be used. It was a way of opening doors at that time, but it had become a numbers game for the nation, Guillory said.

https://sputniknews.com/20211102/republicans-believe-in-trumps-2024-success-more-than-democrats-do-in-biden-poll-shows-1090418599.html

https://sputniknews.com/20220901/poll-democrats-and-republicans-agree-us-democracy-is-in-danger-of-collapse-1100278413.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20221106/warsaw-will-no-longer-make-concessions-to-european-commission-polish-president-says--1103836518.html

Warsaw Will No Longer Make Concessions to European Commission, Polish President Says

Warsaw Will No Longer Make Concessions to European Commission, Polish President Says

WARSAW (Sputnik) - Poland will no longer make concessions to the European Commission, President Andrzej Duda said on Sunday. 06.11.2022, Sputnik International

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In June, the European Commission approved the post-COVID recovery plan for Poland, allocating over 35 billion euros ($34.9 billion) for this purpose. The Polish plan (KPO) was approved with a delay despite the EU's continued claims that Warsaw wasn't complying with the European rule of law. However, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said later that the European Union would allocate the KPO funds to Poland only if the country implemented the reforms required by the bloc."I will no longer take any response steps to proposals from that side. As far as I know, we have met all the conditions to receive money under the KPO, our spending plan has been approved. We are waiting for the payment," Duda said in an interview with Polish media.Duda said he believed that a group of "left-liberal" politicians in Brussels wanted to achieve a change of power in Poland.In November of last year, the European Commission froze 100 million euros in EU funding for Poland due to Warsaw's refusal to comply with the decision of a EU court to terminate the activities of the Polish Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court. On July 15, Warsaw adopted amendments to the law 'On the Supreme Court' and terminated the work of the disciplinary chamber.

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https://sputniknews.com/20221106/washington-wants-kiev-to-signal-openness-to-dialogue-with-russia-report-suggests-1103822796.html

Washington Wants Kiev to Signal Openness to Dialogue With Russia, Report Suggests

Washington Wants Kiev to Signal Openness to Dialogue With Russia, Report Suggests

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The administration of US President Joe Biden is privately encouraging Kiev to demonstrate a readiness to negotiate with Moscow, American... 06.11.2022, Sputnik International

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The newspaper said on Saturday that Washington does not want Ukraine to start negotiations with Russia, but, instead, aims to ensure that Kiev has the support of other countries.According to the newspaper, concerns are mounting in parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America, as food and fuel prices are rising amid Russias ongoing special operation in Ukraine.Russia-Ukraine talks began at the end of February after the start of Moscow's military operation. The last round of the negotiations concluded in Istanbul on March 29. The talks have since stalled.In late September, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow was still open to talks with Kiev and called on Ukraine to stop the hostilities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in turn, stated that Kiev was ready for dialogue with Moscow, but only if another president came to power in Russia. The Kremlin responded that Moscow would wait for a change in the stance of Ukraine's current president or his successor.

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Don Lindsey trainee Royaltys Rocket resumed a roll he's built over the last few months and nabbed his fifth consecutive victory in taking the single $17,000 Harvest Series division for sophomore trotting colts and geldings on Saturday night (Nov. 5) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Driver Dave Boughton floated the Royalty For Life gelding off the wings to race fifth while Marvin Hagler grabbed control to a :27.4 first quarter. Ricky Resolve, who fired from post 10, continued to push forward and cleared the lead from Marvin Hagler before a :56.3 half. With the action settling to the final turn, Boughton caught cover for Royaltys Rocket to race third over as Marvin Hagler popped pocket and led the two-wide tier around a tiring Ricky Resolve to three-quarters in 1:25.3. Angels Express then motored from second over to take the lead in late stretch, but could not hold off the momentum of Royaltys Rocket as she zipped up in time to win by a nose at the beam in 1:55. Marvin Hagler settled for third and Stable Genius rallied for fourth.

Royaltys Rocket now has nine wins from 25 starts and $54,795 banked for owner Paul Lindsey. He paid $8.70 to win.

Saturday's card also featured three $17,000 Harvest Series divisions for sophomore pacing colts and geldings, all of which rewarded the swift-footed.

Delicate Sound opened the card with a front-stepping 1:52 victory in the first division to deliver as the 2-5 favourite. The gelding by State Treasurer set a clip of :27.1, :55.3 and 1:24.1 before surviving a late charge from Lyons Pride to the finish to win by a neck with Howyouplay Thegame closing for third.

Marc-Andre Simoneau conditions Delicate Sound, a nine-time winner from 15 starts and earner of $39,512, for owner Aurel Harvey Et Fils Inc. Sylvain Filion steered the $2.80 winner.

A few races later, driver Paul MacDonell perched 1-5 Duane Marfisi trainee Camara Moment on the helm and held charge to post a 1:50.4 victory. MacDonell landed the Control The Moment gelding third to a :26.2 first quarter set by Tango Seelster, but soon swept Camara Moment off the pegs and to the lead before a :55.2 half. Camara Moment dictated the terms from there, posting three-quarters in 1:23.3 and striding home a 1-1/4-length winner over Bootlegger Charlie closing off cover for second. E L Gladiator tracked his move but settled for third.

Camara Moment competes for owners Brenton Harris, Mickey Sudar, James Borke and Green And Gold Ltd. The gelding added a third win to his card of nine starts and padded an account now worth $34,100. He paid $2.20 to win.

The Bettors Delight gelding Stone Carver, sent off as the 3-5 favourite, applied similar tactics in the last Harvest Series division to brush and then crush a 1:51.1 mile. After Hashtag Money tripped the quarter in :27.3, driver James MacDonald lifted Stone Carver from third and swooped to the top as the tempo slowed to a :56.4 half. He then kept a first-over challenge from Jack Panic at bay to three-quarters in 1:24.1 and all through the stretch as he coasted home a 2-3/4-length winner to the pole. Hashtag Money grabbed second from Jack Panic.

Anthony Beaton trains Stone Carver, a homebred for Robert Bridges. The gelding won his fourth race from 29 starts, has now accrued $83,182 in purses and paid $3.20 to win.

To view Saturday's harness racing results, click the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Thousands of men on horses slashed at one another with swords and were slain by gun and artillery fire in a wide-ranging struggle for life nearly 160 years ago in Culpeper Countys Brandy Station.

Ten new interpretive markers, installed Friday on the Civil War battlefield, give visitors a more accurate understanding of the battle and its terrain, pointing out key geographic features which, thanks to preservation efforts, remain almost exactly as they were on the day of the battle.

Brandy Station was the start of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lees Gettysburg campaign, his armys second invasion of the North and the largest cavalry engagement on American soil.

In a coordinated effort by the American Battlefield Trust, the multi-state Civil War Trails program, Culpeper County Department of Economic Development and Tourism and the Friends of Culpeper Battlefields, the new signs include the latest research and technology, including one virtual reality experience.

St. James Episcopal Church stood in 1863 not far from where the Culpeper Regional Airport is located today. Fighting around the small country church and the surrounding countryside  including on the airport property  was intense, with heavy casualties.

A new sign installed near the church site has a QR code people can scan with a smart phone. An archeological study completed in the 1990s identifies the exact location of the churchs foundation.

After scanning it, a visitor can walk into the woods to the site of the church and pull up the QR code, which will bring up what, to the best of our research and knowledge, the church would have looked like, said Dan Davis, senior education manager of the American Battlefield Trust.

By moving it back and forth, the entrance of the church will appear on the phone and the visitor can physically walk into the church, and see what it would have looked like inside, he said.

The new signs replace old ones that had become completely unreadable. Davis commented it is wonderful to bring interpretation back to Brandy Station.

The new signs tell not only the story of the battle but individuals related to the battlefield and Culpepers rich history, Davis added. Were so glad to make this happen.

Visiting from Louisville, Kentucky, Civil War enthusiast Hal Corwin and Brandy Station Foundation board member Rich Deardoff were the first tourists to see the new signs on Friday morning.

They look amazing, Corwin said. Im so glad we are able to see them.

Corwin said he has always wanted to see the Culpeper battlefield, and connected with Deardoff over the internet for a tour.

Deardoff, who was named some years ago as the American Battlefield Trusts Teacher of the Year for his work instructing young people at Fauquier High School, was happy to spend the day with Corwin, noting the beautiful fall day and the fortuitous timing of the sign installation.

Theres a lot of great information here that will really help visitors understand the battle better, Deardoff said.

Culpeper Civil War historian Clark Bud Hall assisted in writing the text for the new markers, and provided maps, photographs and other images from his own collection for the project.

Congratulations on getting this done, Hall said Friday on Bufords Knoll, where the group had just completed installing a marker where Union General John Buford commanded his troops during the battle. Im absolutely thrilled with this work, youve done a great job.

Earlier this year the Virginia General Assembly approved the creation of a new state park that will encompass more than 1,700 acres of land preserved by the American Battlefield Trust over the past 30-plus years, with a target opening date of July 1, 2024 under the new state ownership.

In the meantime the national nonprofit trust will continue working with local partners to pave the way for a smooth transition, including new interpretive signage. In July, 12 new markers were installed at the Cedar Mountain Battlefield, just south of the Town of Culpeper.

The Brandy Station Battlefield and its trail system are promoted through Civil War Trails maps, directional signage and other heritage tourism efforts, said Jim Campi, chief policy and communications officer for the American Battlefield Trust.

The signs are part of a longstanding partnership between the American Battlefield Trust and Civil War Trails, he added. They enhance the visitor experience and enrich the good work the Civil War Trails program is doing statewide.

Drew Gruber, executive director for Civil War Trails, said a new marker will be installed at the Graffiti House in Brandy Station in coming months, which will list the battlefield on marketing through the six-state program and directional signs guiding visitors to the site.

I hope to continue expanding the Civil War Trails program in the region to include some of the historically marginalized stories visitors are eager to see told, Gruber said, noting an example of such stories in the new CWT/Freedom Foundation markers about United States Colored Troops in Culpeper County, installed last fall near Ebenezer Baptist Church at Maddens Tavern, near Richardsville.

Since we often find scholarship and visitor expectations are constantly evolving we want the content to be equally as flexible, so our process includes our UV-resistant panels, created in a way that enables us to reuse or recycle them, he commented.

In the future, when the information on the signs need to include fresh research or new discoveries, or if a sign is damaged, rather than replacing the whole marker unit, pieces can be replaced, which saves time, money and the environment, Gruber said.

Our process is unique in the industry and has resulted in our recognition by Virginia Green and the Maryland Department of the Environment, he said. We use a more sustainable process for creating the artwork, very specific materials, construction methods and installation practices which enable us to reuse and recycle.

Gruber said many new markers are planned for Culpeper County, including the story of Civil War nurse Cornelia Hancock, who spent several months in the area.

I am excited to say some of the other stories [to be told on future markers] are equally as exciting as Cornelias, Gruber said. Culpepers Tourism and Economic Development team there continues to lead the charge when it comes to telling engaging and diverse stories from the Civil War era.
LINCOLN  The University of NebraskaLincoln officially marked construction of the Feedlot Innovation Center at the Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center near Mead during a groundbreaking ceremony Friday.

In concurrence with the groundbreaking, Greater Omaha Packing Co., a supplier of premium beef, announced a $700,000 pledged gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation to support the construction of the state-of-the-art facility. In recognition of its philanthropic support, the university will name the new centers animal handling and instructional classroom building for the company. The naming is pending approval by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents.

The center will provide new capacity to develop and evaluate emerging technology used in managing animals in feedlot settings. Featuring the latest innovations, a commercial-scale feedlot and an animal handling facility will be used in teaching, research and extension efforts by the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The project was approved by the Board of Regents on June 23. With an estimated cost of $7.5 million, it is being funded through a combination of private giving, grants and IANR program funds.

Henry Davis, CEO of Greater Omaha Packing Co., said its support of the Feedlot Innovation Center symbolizes the companys 100-plus-year commitment to the continuous improvement of the American cattle industry and the communities in which it operates. It also reflects the long-standing relationship between Greater Omaha Packing and the University of NebraskaLincoln.

We all have a stake in the long-term success of the beef industry, Davis said. In partnership with the University of Nebraska and other contributors, Greater Omaha Packing is confident that our support of the Feedlot Innovation Center will lead to groundbreaking research, technology and insights that will help advance the industry, strengthen and expand the entire supply chain and ultimately drive value back to family farms.

Mike Boehm, Harlan Vice Chancellor for IANR and University of Nebraska vice president for agriculture and natural resources, said the center will offer many opportunities for collaboration.

The Feedlot Innovation Center presents an incredible opportunity to bring together industry partners, cattle producers, and UNL researchers and students to advance sustainable beef production, Boehm said. IANR has a long-standing and productive partnership with Greater Omaha Packing, and we are thrilled with their support of this project and that of others and look forward to continued collaboration.

The center will include a complex with cattle comfort and research buildings, a feed technology facility, innovative open lots and an animal handling facility that contains instructional classrooms. It will create real-world facilities to test new precision technology, solve environmental challenges facing the feeding industry, and improve cattle performance and welfare while comparing different environments and housing systems. The project will also allow for innovation in manure collection and management that will innovate both new and possible modifications for existing operations.

The center will allow students to gain hands-on experiences while being exposed to the newest research and technology and is a key component of the universitys Beef Innovation hub, which aims to advance, support and communicate continuous improvement of beef production, economic vitality and natural resources stewardship through innovative research, education and extension.
Shes loving and gives great advice and is the sweetest person you know. Shes your grandmother. But what if your grandmother had a secret hidden within her scrapbooks? Well, thats what sparked Andrea Myers to write her first book Behind the Wire.

As the daughter of a journalist, writing was already in her DNA. She became a prolific blogger for over 20 years after she earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Wyoming. Following the departure of her youngest child to college, the empty nest left Myers wondering what she could do.

She decided to visit her parents, Rick and Suzanne Myers, in Gering. While rummaging through her late grandma Barbara Neeleys belongings, she discovered a packet of letters from soldiers written to her grandma. Myers found inspiration for her first novel. Behind the Wire is a historical fiction novel inspired by the letters sent to Myers grandmother by four American soldiers and a German prisoner of war, who was detained at Camp Scottsbluff in WWII.

Camp Scottsbluff was located near the current day dump in Scottsbluff. The prisoners detained there served a vital role in the local agriculture industry during the war. Across the country, over 400,000 Germans were imprisoned at POW camps, supplying much needed labor as the young men fought overseas.

I was just going through my grandmothers old things and discovered a packet of letters written to her by several soldiers and a few prisoners of war from the prisoner of war camp, Myers told the Star-Herald. I also found her POW work badge and trinkets that were all carved by German soldiers who were German prisoners. It just felt like a book.

The family had no idea Neeley worked at the POW camp, although she was a private person. As a young lady in her early 20s, Neeley wrote to two soldiers who served in Europe and Asia during WWII.

After reading the numerous letters, Myers began researching the history of WWII and POW camps across the country. She reviewed local news articles about the camp and used the reaction from and tone of those stories to inform her writing. With a deeper understanding of what happened, she began crafting this fictional story right after the attack on Pearl Harbor of this college-age woman, Margaret Murphy attending the University of Nebraska  Lincoln studying journalism. Murphy also writes a monthly column for the Gering Courier to help Myers create narrative. Neeley did attend UNL for two years. Then her overprotective mother forces her to return to Gering after the attacks on Pearl Harbor. Determined to be useful, Murphy works as an assistant to the quartermaster at the POW camp in Scottsbluff.

Its fiction because my grandmother shared no details, with the exception of all of the letters, except one are real, she said. There are very few changes to their content or their spelling. One of them was an atrocious speller.

The soldiers names have all been changed, along with her grandmothers name.

One of Neeleys letters about working in the camp is also featured in the book, although Myers said she did not write regularly.

With 55,000 words typed, Myers hit a slump when the 2020 pandemic hit, saying it stripped away her joy for writing. For nearly two years, the story sat unfinished in a file. Then, her passion for writing was rekindled from a personal sorrow  the death of her husband and writing his obituary.

The creativity overflowed and Myers picked up the story. She focused on the mens traumas, sharing the changes in their letters tones after rough days on the battlefront. The book concludes after the bombs are drop and the camp prepares to close.

Its a story that really focuses on each of the mens trauma, she said. Its got the prisoner of war angle; its got PTSD, which they called battle rattle; and it deals with the female friendships.

The book is available for purchase on Amazon. Myers said she also will hold an event at Gering Public Library in December and hopes to set up an event at the Legacy of the Plains Museum.

Myers hopes the book sparks discussion about POW prisoners as workers, trauma and increases knowledge about the presence of POW camps.

For more information, the public can visit AndreaMyersAuthor.com or contact Myers at 308-244-8448.
Its often later in life that successful people talk about the teachers they had growing up who impacted their lives. During the 2022 Bright Ideas Recognition Luncheon on Friday, EnergyUnited CEO Thomas Golden said the teachers they awarded grants to were the ones their students would remember.

Teachers who care about them and bring them up on the things they need to be brought up on. I know our community appreciates the efforts you all put in every single day, Thomas said. You all are the teachers people talk about. When you see them get interviewed or see someone in the news get interviewed, they ask hey, who was an influence in your life? They always talk about that teacher, that teacher that did something for me, that teacher who made a difference.

EnergyUnited did more than compliment those teachers on Friday as it goes about awarding more than $46,000 in Bright Ideas grants to 43 teachers in 11 counties this year.

Two of those locally were Tracy Skeens of Crossroads Arts & Science Early College and Adrian Bustle of North Iredell High School.

Skeens was awarded a $638 grant that she said will be used to teach digital storytelling skills to students. She said, along with her colleague Gretchyn Bedard, they will use the funds to make podcasts and video recordings in the classroom.

One of the goals of education now is to get kids up to date on 21st-century skills, which are very technology-based, Skeens said.

She said while they often may seem technologically savvy, that can be limited to the phones and devices they use daily.

Getting the microphones, the cameras, and the greenscreens will allow them to stretch their technology skills, Skeens said. And it will help their creativity, their critical thinking, and thats one of the things employers want: Students that can communicate and think critically.

Bedard, who was there with Skeens, said it opens up more ways for students to display their talents.

It also gives students a voice. Not every students ideas translate to one modality or set of communication. It gives students another way to show their understanding, Bedard said.

While Bustle was unable to attend, he will be awarded $820 to use on virtual reality headsets that can be used for virtual field trips. In his application to EnergyUntied, he said it could be used to enhance historical studies and keep students engaged.

Along with the grant from EnergyUnited, Iredell-Statesville Schools will match the grants to its teachers, according to Superintendent Jeff James.

Iredell County resident and East Alexander Middle school teacher Taylor Gallyon was awarded a $2,000 grant which will be used for a greenhouse to expand on skills students learn in the classroom.

Rewarding Bright Ideas

It was fitting that Maureen Moore, the communication manager for EnergyUnited, and Board President Max Walser were there on Friday as they said their own backgrounds in education gave them an appreciation for what the teachers, gathered for the luncheon at Twisted Oak in Statesville, hope to accomplish.

Walser knows he touched more lives as a teacher than as an administrator earlier in his life before joining EnergyUnited. He said he understands both from that perspective and from the rewards the company hands out how impactful teachers can be.

The Bright Ideas program began nearly three decades ago and Moore said EnergyUnited rewards teachers and their plans to enrich students education. The company said since 1994, EnergyUnited and the Bright Ideas program have funded more than 13,500 projects for local teachers across 19 counties in North Carolina, impacting more than 2.8 million students.

Fridays recipients are as follows:

Samantha Strathy  Alexander Central High

Ashley Miller  North Rowan Elementary

Ashley Huss  West Alexander Middle

McKenzie Dotson  Pinebrook Elementary

Taylor Gallyon  East Alexander Middle

Tracy Skeens  Crossroad Arts & Science

Christy Trapp  North Rowan Elementary

Michelle Robinson  Taylorsville Elementary

Paula Farmer  Moravian Falls Elementary

Justin Deal  Alexander Central High

Danny Lough  Central Davie Academy

Adrian Bustle  North Iredell High

EnergyUnited will continue to recognize this years winners with two other luncheons, one on Tuesday in Mooresville and Nov. 18 in Lexington.
Japan is developing a new series of wheeled armored combat vehicles to replace those built locally in the late 1990s in small quantities. Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi, which designed and built the new 8x8 26-ton wheeled Type 16 tank, wants to use the Type 16 chassis as the basis for the new wheeled IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) as well as a recon vehicle and mortar carrier. The Type 16 tank entered service in 2016 and production continues. Using a common chassis for all four (tank, IFV, recon, mortar) vehicles would reduce costs and simplify training and maintenance. This would also be an attractive export item. The government is also testing the Finnish firm Patria AMV XP for just the Japanese IFV contract. The government wont decide on the Mitsubishi proposal until 2023. Tests of all the competing vehicles are taking place in 2022. Mitsubishi has already built prototypes of the IFV, recon and mortar carrier versions for the competition.

In 2010, after more than two decades of lobbying, Japan changed its laws to allow weapons exports. There were still some restrictions that were not lifted until early 2022. The original bans were part of post-World War II reforms and reaction to the military government that got Japan into World War II, with disastrous results. The post war constitution forbade Japan from possessing offensive military forces. Japanese armed forces were called the "Self Defense Forces." It was decades before Japan could even bring itself to build major weapons itself. But by the late 1980s, Japanese companies found that they were quite good at it. At that point, an international marketing survey indicated that, if Japan were allowed to export weapons, they would eventually capture up to 45 percent of the world tank and self-propelled artillery market, 40 percent of military electronic sales, and 60 percent of warship construction. That seemed optimistic, but there was no doubt that the Japanese could produce world class weapons.

Throughout the 1990s, Japanese manufacturers produced nearly $7 billion worth of weapons and military equipment a year, just for the self-defense force. These locally manufactured weapons were more expensive because they were produced in small quantities and could not be exported. Japan noted that even tiny Israel manages to export $4 billion worth of weapons a year. Japan sees itself as well suited to grab a sizable chunk of the world arms market. After the 1990s, the escalating price of oil (driven largely by increased demand from China and India), sent international arms sales from $29 billion in 2003, to over $60 billion now. Oil rich countries, particularly those in the Persian Gulf, are eager to buy more weapons, with which to defend their assets. Neighbor Taiwan is also seeking such armored vehicles. These countries have been buying all sorts of Japanese high-tech items for decades, so it's easy for Japan to find buyers for its weapons as well.
A family concerned about their sons living conditions at a downtown hotel claims the site is plagued by rodents, insects, maintenance issues, and safety concerns.

The Smallwood Hotel, located at 1255 Commerce Avenue in Longviews downtown, is nestled between The Pet Works store and the Bigfoot Screens Printing shop. A single obscure glass door is the only visible indicator that the business exists.

After experiencing a bout of homelessness, Andrew Casciato, 36, was sent to the Smallwood Hotel through his case manager.

Andrew says he served in the Army and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and other issues. His six-month stay at Smallwood has compounded his mental health problems. This place has deepened my depression, said Casciato.

Since his arrival, he has been locked outside his room, locked inside his room, spotted roaches and rodents in the communal areas, and has been experiencing bedbug bites on his arms and legs.

A couple of days after I moved in, I started getting bedbugs. Later on I started seeing roaches... Im afraid [Im] going to get a disease or something, said Andrew.

On May 8, Andrews sister Rebecca sent an email to the Cowlitz County Health Department, saying, there is mold and rust EVERYWHERE! The walls are falling apart! and that there has been a bug issue since my brother moved in.

The apartment is more of a dorm room, consisting of a bed, a tv, and miscellaneous items. The kitchen, bathroom, and shower are all shared with other tenants.

A small gray space heater, the size of the toaster, is the only heat source for Andrew. There were times when his mother would have to rush over a blanket to him to deal with the low temperatures. He cooks with an air fryer in his room because of the poor conditions in the kitchen.

Given that hes been more vocal with his criticism, he believes he has been getting more guff from hotel management.

One of the hotels earliest appearances in The Daily News was a 2009 article in which the hotel was described as a run-down tenement, that the building is falling apart, and that the facility lacks proper heating and water, as well as fire safety measures.

The Reid family has owned the hotel since 1998. In 2009, the city closed the hotel stating the dwelling was imminently hazardous to the health, safety, morals and general welfare of the occupants, Longviews director of community development John Brickey was quoted as saying.

Donna Elam, 59, Andrews mother, told The Daily News that when she brought up the bedbug issue with Chris, he would blame Andrew: this [bedbugs] has been going on since Andrew moved in.

Christopher Reid told The Daily News, Yeah, weve had a couple [bedbugs], but we go through the rooms and take care of it.

Reid said, We have machines that take care of it. That heats the room up, 150 degrees, 140 degrees. So, we get [them] on occasion, but it is not infested. [If] thats what you want to know.

Donna was once a truck driver but now is on disability and described the hotel as inhumane.

The former Smallwood owner, Christopher Reid, who once owned and operated the Pit Shop, pleaded guilty in 2013 to selling meth to an informant, working on behalf of federal law enforcement, on two separate occasions.

Reid told the Daily News he transferred ownership of the hotel to his children years ago and that he serves as the hotels maintenance guy.

Federal prosecutors noted that Reid was renting out rooms to drug addicts while, at the same time, selling narcotics to users.

The Daily News reported that Reid was selling meth for Jesus Antonio Madrigal-Ceja, a major narcotics distributor who primarily worked in the Pacific Northwest.

According to the US Attorneys Offices press release, dated Feb 22, 2013. Reids hotel "had the reputation in the community of housing drug addicts,  Given Reids drug dealing, the fact that he ran a hotel for drug addicts is an aggravating factor that this Court should consider when sentencing Reid.

Despite calls for the hotel to be shut down by city officials, tenants complaints about health issues, and one of the owners being sentenced to federal prison for being a drug dealer, the hotel remains active and open.

The Daily News obtained a 2021 Transient Accommodations Inspection report from the Washington State Department of Health, listing Samuel Reid as the hotels owner.

The inspector wrote that he observed a mold-like substance in the communal kitchen, bathroom, and community shower. He saw damage on [the] wall next to [the] toilet in upstairs community bathroom and reported damage to the kitchens drywall.

The inspector noted that the hotels fire extinguishers were last inspected in March 2017 and wrote, This is a CRITICAL VIOLATION.

Reid said the fire extinguishers are brand new and that they were installed a few months ago.

The inspectors review didnt include any residents rooms due to them being occupied during the assessment.

Andrews father, Jay Casciato, 63, said, There has been an ongoing and continuous problem with the infestation of bedbugs, cockroaches, and, now more recently, rats.

Jay Casciato has described both Reids as slumlords. He said his son and other residents live in horrid conditions, and feels that [owners] and manager are totally taking advantage and [dont] care about nothing more than collecting the rent! said Casciato.

If I get a complaint, I get right on it, Reid said. Jay Casciato and Elam said theyve reported the hotel to state and local authorities, but Its been a couple of months, and still nothing [has] been done, Casciato said.

Reid doesnt hire an exterminator because I get more into it than they do, and the whole town is infested with them... Theyre all over Longview. Theyre in every, almost every hotel, you know, they come, and they go.

Mr. Reid said the authorities inspected the hotel a month and a half ago. However, Washington State Department of Health spokesperson Shelby Anderson told the Daily News the DOH has received a complaint against the Smallwood Hotel, but the inspector has not been able to access the facility yet.

Anderson said the DOH is also trying to conduct a follow-up inspection to document corrections following the last inspection in 2021.

DOH inspections are not pass-fail evaluations, but under state law, the Department of Health does have the authority to revoke, suspend, and even deny a license.

The current owner of the Smallwood Hotel, Samuel Reid, was asked for a comment but has yet to respond to the request.

When asked if anything would change, Andrew responded with an assertive no, he plans on moving out of the hotel as soon as possible.
Mass layoffs at Twitter came after billionaire Elon Musk's $44 billion takeover of the company.

Twitter's new owner Elon Musk has pledged the platform will not devolve into a "free-for-all hellscape," but experts warn that mass layoffs may deeply impair the social network's ability to curb misinformation.

Twitter on Friday fired roughly half of its 7,500-strong workforce, only days before next week's midterm elections in the United States, when a spike in fake content is expected across social media.

The cuts, which come after Musk's blockbuster $44 million buyout of the company, hit multiple divisions, including trust and safety teams that manage content moderation as well as engineering and machine learning, US reports said.

"I would be real careful on this platform in the coming days... about what you retweet, who you follow, and even your own sense of what's going on," said Kate Starbird, a disinformation researcher and assistant professor at the University of Washington.

Starbird warned in her own Twitter post of an increased risk of "impersonation" attempts, "coordinated disinformation by manipulators" and "hoaxes that attempt to get you to spread falsehoods."

Jessica Gonzalez, co-chief executive officer at the nonpartisan group Free Press, said she was concerned that Twitter's content-moderation efforts could potentially slacken prior to the election, "when we know social media goes off the rails to misinform, intimidate and harm voters of color."

"Twitter was already a hellscape before Musk took over, and his actions... will only make it worse," said Gonzalez.

Yoel Roth, Twitter's head of safety and integrity, sought to soothe those concerns, saying the platform's front-line moderation staff were least impacted by the cuts and combating harmful misinformation during the midterms was a "top priority."

"While we said goodbye to incredibly talented friends and colleagues... our core moderation capabilities remain in place," Roth tweeted.

'Deeply troubling'

Free Press is part of a coalition of more than 60 civil society groups that on Friday called on advertisers to boycott the platform until it committed to being a "safe place."

Members of the coalition met with Musk earlier this week after academic studies reported a dramatic increase in hate speech, Nazi memes and racist slurs after his acquisition of the company.

One study by Montclair State University found that Twitter's acquisition by Musk, a self-professed free-speech absolutist, had "created the perception by extremist users that content restrictions would be alleviated."

"We met with Elon Musk earlier this week to express our profound concerns about some of his plans and the spike in toxic content after his acquisition," said the coalition, which uses the hashtag "Stop Toxic Twitter."

"Since that time, hate and disinformation have continued to proliferate, and Musk has taken actions that make us fear that the worst is yet to come," the group said in a statement.

But Musk rejected that assessment, tweeting that "we have actually seen hateful speech at times this week decline *below* our prior norms," though he offered up no data to back up this assertion.

"To be crystal clear, Twitter's strong commitment to content moderation remains absolutely unchanged," Musk wrote on Friday.

Musk had promised to reduce Twitter's content restrictions, and since the acquisition has announced plans to create a "content moderation council" that will review company policies.

"While Musk has publicly committed to transparency, his decision to lay off the staff members dedicated to this work is deeply troubling," said Zeve Sanderson, executive director of the New York University's Center for Social Media and Politics.

Musk insisted that the layoffs were necessary as the company was losing more than $4 million per day.

Twitter has long struggled to generate profit and has failed to keep pace with Facebook, Instagram and TikTok in gaining new users.

 2022 AFP
Most companies taken private have positive cash flows, but Twitter posted losses in the first two quarters of 2022.

Elon Musk's decision to pull Twitter off the stock market allows him to make major changes quickly, but it also takes the company more heavily into debt, a risky choice for a money-losing business.

It is a long-established strategy with notable successes and failures, from computer manufacturer Dell (a success) to toy stores Toys "R" Us (a failure).

But Twitter "is very different from a traditional buyout" of a company that delists from the market, said Steven Kaplan of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Most such takeovers are of companies with positive cash flows, Kaplan said, but the social network is losing moneyhaving posted losses in the first two quarters of 2022.

The equation is further complicated by Elon Musk's $13 billion in loans, which will have to be repaid by the San Francisco company, not by the entrepreneur personally.

According to a calculation made by AFP, Twitter will have to disburse a little less than $1 billion from the first year as interest and principal, a high amount for a group whose turnover reached only $5 billion in 2021.

"That debt is tricky when you're losing money. So there'll be a lot of pressure to cut costs and increase revenue so that they can make debt payments," said Kaplan, a finance professor. Otherwise, Musk will need to find funds to avoid bankruptcy.

Will Twitter's blue bird soar under Elon Musk's ownership?

The entrepreneur on Friday laid off about half of Twitter's employees and is seeking new sources of revenue, including an optional subscription fee of $8 per month for those wanting a verified account.

Further development of Twitter may require an infusion of capital, more difficult to raise, in theory, by a unlisted company.

"I don't think you can raise any more debt," said Erik Gordon, an entrepreneurship expert at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, but in this case "there is a Musk factor... You tweet a few times and you know, bring in the money."

'Radical changes'

Another idiosyncratic element is that most such deals "are initiated either by a financial logic or an industrial logic," whereas Elon Musk "didn't have one," he said.

"He just was unhappy with the way Twitter was treating free speech" and concluded that he could "manage it better," Gordon said.

As a general rule, an exit from the market is followed by "radical changes" at a company, said Sreedhar Bharath, professor of finance at Arizona State University, and those changes may not be readily apparent because the company no longer has an obligation to communicate publicly.

Will Elon Musk be able to say, 'I told you so,' about his purchase of Twitter?

"The company is shielded from the punishment meted out by financial markets if they do not like the changes," he said. "Some might say the markets have an excessive focus on the next quarter results" and managers of newly privatized firms can "pursue long-term goals" without fretting about the short term.

"But with the high public profile of Twitter, key decisions are likely to become public," noted Jagadeesh Sivadasan of the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. "This was evident for the post-acquisition decisions regarding firing of key officers."

A study published in 2019 by two researchers at California State Polytechnic University that looked at nearly 500 deals between 1980 and 2006, found that about 20 percent of large companies undergoing leveraged buyouts filed for bankruptcy within 10 years, compared with two percent for a sample of other companies.

"Most of them have done better than public companies," said Gordon, "but they don't get a lot of publicity... The big failures get a lot of attention and create this idea that the debt kills the company."

"Most of the time, it works which is why people keep doing it," Gordon added.

"Musk is one of the most creative people on the planet," able to build three totally different companies, PayPal, Tesla and SpaceX, all of which have reached more than $100 billion in valuation, Kaplan said.

"He's a talent magnet... He's going to attract (to Twitter) real talent that hasn't been there for a while... I wouldn't bet against him."

 2022 AFP
People walk outside Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, Friday, Nov. 4, 2022. Employees were bracing for widespread layoffs at Twitter on Friday, as new owner Elon Musk overhauls the social platform. Credit: AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

Twitter has announced a subscription service for $7.99 a month that includes a blue check now given only to verified accounts as new owner Elon Musk works to overhaul the platform's verification system just ahead of U.S. midterm elections.

In an update to Apple iOS devices available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the U.K., Twitter said users who "sign up now" for the new "Twitter Blue with verification" can receive the blue check next to their names "just like the celebrities, companies and politicians you already follow."

But Twitter employee Esther Crawford tweeted Saturday that the "new Blue isn't live yetthe sprint to our launch continues but some folks may see us making updates because we are testing and pushing changes in real-time." Verified accounts did not appear to be losing their checks so far.

It was not immediately clear when the subscription would go live. Crawford told The Associated Press in a Twitter message that it is coming "soon but it hasn't launched yet." Twitter did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Anyone being able to get the blue check could lead to confusion and the rise of disinformation ahead of Tuesday's elections, but Musk tweeted Saturday in response to a question about the risk of impostors impersonating verified profilessuch as politicians and election officialsthat "Twitter will suspend the account attempting impersonation and keep the money!"

"So if scammers want to do this a million times, that's just a whole bunch of free money," he said.

But many fear widespread layoffs that began Friday could gut the guardrails of content moderation and verification on the social platform that public agencies, election boards, police departments and news outlets use to keep people reliably informed.

The change will end Twitter's current verification system, which was launched in 2009 to prevent impersonations of high-profile accounts such as celebrities and politicians. Twitter now has about 423,000 verified accounts, many of them rank-and-file journalists from around the globe that the company verified regardless of how many followers they had.

Experts have raised grave concerns about upending the platform's verification system that, while not perfect, has helped Twitter's 238 million daily users determine whether accounts they get information from are authentic. Current verified accounts include celebrities, athletes and influencers, along with government agencies and politicians worldwide, journalists and news outlets, activists, businesses and brands, and Musk himself.

"He knows the blue check has value, and he's trying to exploit it quickly," said Jennifer Grygiel, a social media expert and associate professor of communications at Syracuse University. "He needs to earn the trust of the people before he can sell them anything. Why would you buy a car from a salesman that you know has essentially proved to be chaotic?"

The update Twitter made to the iOS version of its app does not mention verification as part of the new blue check system. So far, the update is not available on Android devices.

Baron Capital Group Chairman and CEO Ron Baron interviews Tesla CEO Elon Musk at the 29th Annual Baron Investment Conference in New York City on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022. Credit: Baron Capital via AP

Musk, who had earlier said he wants to "verify all humans" on Twitter, has floated that public figures would be identified in ways other than the blue check. Currently, for instance, government officials are identified with text under names stating they are posting from an official government account.

President Joe Biden's @POTUS account, for example, says in gray letters it belongs to a "United States government official."

Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, who has 7.8 million Twitter followers, told the AP, "I could actually just delete my Twitter account, I never use it. I find it really healthy to delete social media from my phone for periods of time."

"But it's also a really powerful tool to connect with people, so I appreciate that and I try to use it as that and not as something that's veering me off course of the journey that I'm on in life," he said.

The announcement comes a day after Twitter began laying off workers to cut costs and as more companies are pausing advertising on the platform as a cautious corporate world waits to see how the platform will operate under its new owner.

About half of the company's staff of 7,500 was let go, tweeted Yoel Roth, Twitter's head of safety and integrity.

He said the company's front-line content moderation staff was the group the least affected by the job cuts and that "efforts on election integrityincluding harmful misinformation that can suppress the vote and combatting state-backed information operationsremain a top priority."

Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey took blame for the job losses.

"I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly," he tweeted Saturday. "I apologize for that."

Musk tweeted late Friday that there was no choice but to cut jobs "when the company is losing over $4M/day." He did not provide details on the daily losses at Twitter and said employees who lost their jobs were offered three months' pay as severance.

He also said Twitter has already seen "a massive drop in revenue" as advertisers face pressure from activists to get off the platform, which heavily relies on advertising to make money.

A Twitter headquarters sign is shown in San Francisco, Friday, Nov. 4, 2022. Employees were bracing for widespread layoffs at Twitter on Friday, as new owner Elon Musk overhauls the social platform. Credit: AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

United Airlines on Saturday became the latest major brand to pause advertising on Twitter, joining companies including General Motors, REI, General Mills and Audi.

Musk tried to reassure advertisers last week, saying Twitter would not become a "free-for-all hellscape" because of what he calls his commitment to free speech.

But concerns remain about whether a lighter touch on content moderation at Twitter will result in users sending out more offensive tweets. That could hurt companies' brands if their advertisements appear next to them.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Saturday urged Musk to "ensure human rights are central to the management of Twitter." In an open letter, Turk said reports that the company's whole human rights team and much of the ethical AI team were laid off was not "an encouraging start."

"Like all companies, Twitter needs to understand the harms associated with its platform and take steps to address them," Turk said. "Respect for our shared human rights should set the guardrails for the platform's use and evolution."

Meanwhile, Twitter cannot simply cut costs to grow profits, and Musk needs to find ways to raise more revenue, said Dan Ives, an analyst with Wedbush. But that may be easier said than done with the new subscription program for blue checks.

"Users have gotten this for free," Ives said. "There may be massive pushback."

He expects 20% to 25% of Twitter's verified users to sign up initially. The stakes are high for Musk and Twitter to get this right early and for signups to work smoothly, he added.

"You don't have a second chance to make a first impression," Ives said. "It's been a train-wreck first week for Musk owning the Twitter platform. Now you've cut 50% (of the workforce). There are questions about just the stability of the platform, and advertisers are watching this with a keen eye."

 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
KILLEEN  As he plied the streets of Killeen in his silver Volvo SUV on a recent Sunday, Louie Minor recalled his time as a deputy constable whose duties included arresting marijuana users.

Minor, a 43-year-old Iraq War veteran, wanted to reach as many voters as possible in a mission that might have seemed improbable during his career in law enforcement. At each stop, Minor handed out a light-blue card emblazoned with a cannabis leaf and the message, Decriminalize Marijuana Possession.

In next weeks midterm elections, voters in Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota will consider statewide initiatives that would legalize recreational marijuana use for adults. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia already have legalized recreational marijuana. Medical cannabis is legal in nearly 40 states, plus the District of Columbia.

Marijuana-related measures also will be on the ballot in dozens of municipalities in six other states, including Texas, another indication of how the nations attitudes toward marijuana are quickly evolving.

Four of the six states  Colorado, Michigan, Montana and Rhode Island  already have legalized recreational marijuana. Local voters in those states will consider whether to expand availability or, in a few cases, reduce it by overturning or curtailing previously approved types of marijuana sales, according to a compilation of upcoming ballot initiatives by The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, commonly known as NORML.

In Ohio and Texas, the question on some local ballots will be whether to decriminalize possession of small amounts of the drug.

In Ohio, which has legalized medical marijuana, seven communities will vote to eliminate penalties for misdemeanor possession of cannabis. A poll released in early October by Spectrum News in partnership with Siena College Research Institute showed that 60% of likely voters in Ohio supported legalizing adult use of cannabis while 37% opposed it.

Killeen, which sits adjacent to the sprawling Fort Hood U.S. Army base, is one of five Texas cities where voters are being asked to bar local police from making arrests or issuing citations for misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

Ultimately, proponents hope to persuade Texas lawmakers to legalize marijuana statewide. But Texas prosecutors, police departments and municipal governments already have scaled back enforcement: According to a review conducted for Stateline by the Texas Office of Court Administration, misdemeanor marijuana convictions dropped from 25,671 in fiscal 2018 to 7,531 in fiscal 2022.

The Texas initiatives in Denton, Elgin, Harker Heights, Killeen and San Marcos are the result of months of petition drives and coalition-building by Ground Game Texas, which former Democratic congressional nominees Mike Siegel and Julie Oliver founded in the spring of 2021 to build strength for progressive Democrats. Republicans have dominated state politics in Texas for more than two decades.

Ground Games first test on marijuana enforcement was in the capital city of Austin, and it succeeded overwhelmingly. In May, voters in the nations 11th most populous city, a liberal enclave in a largely red state, chose to decriminalize marijuana possession (and ban no-knock warrants) by 86% to 14%.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler said the results, in addition to setting the stage for Tuesdays upcoming elections, demonstrated the growing assertiveness of local voters in standing up for positions that may be at odds with the states Republican-dominated state leadership.

Cities are more and more taking the lead on so many different things, Adler said.

The local decriminalization efforts, which some critics condemned as thwarting state law on marijuana, could renew tensions over local control that flared in previous legislative sessions when GOP Gov. Greg Abbott and Republican leaders in Texas battled with municipalities over issues such as ride-sharing, fracking and COVID-19 policy.

Abbotts office did not immediately respond to a Stateline query for his position on the marijuana initiatives, and Adler said he has not heard from the governor.

With polls showing most Texans in support of at least some form of legalization, Siegel thinks that working at the local level offers the greatest opportunity for advances on the marijuana front.

If we had our druthers, the Texas legislature, when they meet next spring, would say, Okay, its time to legalize it, Siegel said. But if not, Ground Game intends to continue to put this on city ballots.

The five Texas ballot measures, which are virtually identical, would bar police from making arrests or issuing citations for Class A misdemeanors (possession of four ounces or less) and Class B misdemeanors (possession of two ounces or less), except when agents are investigating a felony narcotics case or a violent felony.

Moreover, police would not be allowed to consider the odor of marijuana or hemp as probable cause for any search or seizure.

Law enforcement representatives and some local leaders argue that decriminalizing marijuana would conflict with state law and erode the quality of life in affected communities.

Weve remained against this, said Jennifer Szimanski, public affairs coordinator for the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, or CLEAT, the states largest police officers union with 27,000 members. I think we have a lot of support in the Capitol  and well continue to work with them to explain how this is detrimental to public safety.

Szimanski quarreled with the description that the proposed misdemeanor limits constitute a low-level amount, pointing out that four ounces of marijuana would fill a four-gallon freezer bag. Law enforcement cannot condone the substance being legal, especially not in those amounts, she said.

Stumping for support in a low- to middle-class income neighborhood near downtown Killeen, Minor noted that a marijuana arrest can blemish a persons record for a lifetime. And, he pointed out, people of color are disproportionately affected, even though Black and White people use the drug at equal rates.

I arrested a lot of people for simple marijuana [possession], said Minor, who also is the Democratic nominee for a slot on the Bell County Commissioners Court. How many lives did I ruin, arresting someone for a joint?

Minors first stop of the day showed promise.

Elizabeth Rivera, 50, stepped out of her house to greet him as her husband changed a tire in the driveway. After Minor gave Rivera a card explaining the ballot measure, Rivera agreed that we need to put the bad guy in jail, not the casual pot smoker. I feel theres worse situations out there that people should go to jail for, she said.

But some opponents in Killeen worry about complicating the citys relationship with Fort Hood, since marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Former Killeen Mayor Jose Segarra, who still serves on the city council, worries that decriminalizing marijuana would probably be looked at as a negative check mark in future Pentagon decisions over how many troops and personnel to assign to Fort Hood, which generates an estimated $28.9 billion economic impact throughout the state. Segarra also contends that passage of the initiative could lead to an increase in crime in Killeen.

Nearly 100 miles to the south, on the other side of Austin, supporters of the ballot initiative in San Marcos have spent months staging rallies and knocking on doors in what organizer Sam Benavides describes as the biggest ballot initiative this city has ever seen. Benavides, 23, communications director for Mano Amiga, a nonprofit that focuses on the criminal justice system, says that a sizable share of support comes from the 38,000-student community at Texas State University.

The initiative heading to voters follows a decision by the city council in April 2020 that made San Marcos the first city in Texas to implement a cite-and-release ordinance that requires police to issue citations in lieu of arrests on certain nonviolent, low-level offenses, including misdemeanor marijuana possession. The Texas legislature created the cite-and-release framework in 2007 as part of a criminal justice law designed to curb arrests, depopulate jails and reduce racial disparities in policing.

San Marcos Council Member Maxfield Baker said enacting the cite-and-release ordinance was one of his main goals in running for council in 2019. A leading supporter of the initiative, Baker described it as really just this desire to take control of our government. A lot of young people are the folks standing up and pushing for these things and rebuking the way things have classically been done.

One high-profile showdown is playing out in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the states second-largest city after Denver, where voters are being asked to allow the more than 100 medical cannabis dispensaries to expand into adult-use retailers for recreational marijuana. In 2012, Colorado became one of the first two states (Washington was the other) to allow recreational marijuana sales, but it allowed municipalities to approve or decline them.

Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers and District Attorney Michael Allen, whose office serves the city, have aired television spots opposing the initiative as a health, safety and economic threat. Conversely, proponents contend that the citys current prohibition on recreational sales chokes off potential revenue to the city of nearly 500,000, as residents go to Manitou Springs or Pueblo to buy legalized pot.

In Rhode Island, which legalized recreational marijuana sales in May, 31 communities will decide whether to ban local dispensaries, mindful that a no vote would make them ineligible to receive marijuana-derived tax revenue. In Michigan, voters in Petoskey will decide whether to overturn a ban on adult-use cannabis stores, while voters in Lapeer will decide whether to shutter stores currently in business.

Paul Armentano, NORMLs deputy director, said most of the initiatives on the ballot next week significantly de-penalize the possession of marijuana at the local level or permit retail licensing in municipalities where such activity isnt permitted. To a large degree, he said, theyre a reflection of the fact that theres a disconnect that exists in many jurisdictions between where voters stand on this issue and where their elected officials stand on this issue.
LINCOLN  The University of Nebraska-Lincolns College of Business welcomed 31 first-year students into the Inclusive Business Leaders Program this fall.

The program strives to make business more inclusive for all by developing leaders focused on inclusion. The newest cohort takes a course together and receives formal mentoring, hands-on learning opportunities and student support services.

Area students who are part of the program are Emily Krupicka, business administration, and Stacey Nguyen, marketing, both of Grand Island; and Amy Kadyrova, of Kearney, finance.

In the Inclusive Business Leaders course (BSAD 191), students learn about diversity, equity and inclusion through theory, group projects and discussions. In the spring, students will research an inequitable business practice and present their findings and potential solution for their capstone project.

Inclusive Business Leaders receive a $2,000 scholarship in their first year and customized learning opportunities. The program also provides academic and career support to ensure student success.

Inclusive Business Leaders students can stay involved as paid peer mentors during their second year. Mentors serve a key role in the program, helping integrate new students into the college and onto campus through peer-to-peer relationships.

This year, the program expanded to include a new student organization called Leaders in Equity and Diversity (LEAD). Open to all students, the organization will provide the chance for students to learn about inclusivity in the workplace and benefit from some of the information Inclusive Business Leaders students receive as part of their program.

Students apply to the program when applying to the university. To be considered for the fall 2023 cohort, apply by the programs priority deadline of Feb. 1. The final deadline is March 1. To learn more about the Inclusive Business Leaders Program and its application requirements, visit https://business.unl.edu/leaders.
In the race to represent District 34 in the Nebraska Legislature, theres a large discrepancy in the amount of money raised by the two candidates.

As of this week, Loren Lippincott has spent $104,564.96 in his attempt to capture the seat, while Mike Reimers has spent close to $8,000.

Donations to Lippincotts campaign include $7,500 from Gov. Pete Ricketts.

Lippincott, 67, lives halfway between Central City and Fullerton. He was an F-16 pilot in the Air Force and had a 30-year career as a Delta Air Lines pilot.

Reimers, 63, lives in Central City. He was in the Nebraska Air National Guard for 26 years. He also served as State American Legion commander.

Both men are attempting to succeed Curt Friesen in representing an area that includes Hall, Hampton, Merrick and Nance counties.

Lippincotts latest report to the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission shows $70,760 in campaign income and $58,543.92 in expenses. That report covers the period through Oct. 24.

But Lippincott supplied the Independent with more recent information.

As of Wednesday, he has raised $108,272 and spent $104,564.96. He has loaned his campaign $15,050.

Reimers has received about $200 in donations.

Reimers individual figures are not available because his campaign has raised less than $5,000.

A look at campaign funding shows who paid for the billboards, mailers and advertising used to attract votes.

Lippincott received $500 from Phillip Torrison of Omaha, $1,000 from Brenda Rish of Grand Island, $1,000 from Daniel and Lisa Thayer of Grand Island, $1,000 from Leanne Luebbe of Central City, $1,250 from Norman and Sue Krug of Central City, $1,000 from Les Denning of Central City, $300 from Steve or Debra Mead of Aurora, $500 from Curtis or Carla Carlson of Marquette, $255 from Eric Kamler of Geneva.

Other contributions to Lippincott include $4,300 from the Nebraska Bankers State Political Action Committee, $1,000 from the Nebraska Cooperative Councils Political Action Committee, $1,500 from the Nebraska Action Committee for Rural Electrification PAC, $500 from the Independent Insurance Agents of Nebraska PAC, $500 from the Nebraska Association of Nurse Anesthetists PAC, $500 from the Nebraska Cattlemen Inc. NC State PAC, $1,000 from the Nebraska Construction Industry PAC, $1,000 from the Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation PAC, $5,500 from the Nebraska Realtors PAC and $1,500 from the Nebraska Insurance and Financial Advisors PAC.

Lippincott has received donations from the campaign funds of current or former Nebraska legislators. Friesen contributed $500 from his campaign fund. Lippincott also received $500 from Steve Halloran for Legislature, $500 from Ben Hansen for Legislature and $500 from Linehan for Legislature.

In addition, Lippincott has received $1,250 from the Nebraska Hospital Association PAC; $1,500 from the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry PAC; $1,000 from the Nebraska Insurance Federation PAC; $500 from the Nebraska Optometric Association PAC; $2,500 from the Friends of the University PAC, based in Omaha, and $500 from the Nebraska Society of Certified Public Accountants PAc.

Other donations to Lippincott include $1,000 from the Nebraska Republican Party, $500 from the Grand Island Casino PAC, $2,500 from the AGC Highway Improvement PAC., $1,000 from the BNSF Railway Co., $500 from Great Plains Communications, $500 from KAAPA Ethanol Holdings of Kearney, $1,000 from the Nebraska Equipment Dealers Association, $500 from the Nebraska Health Care Association, $500 from the Nebraska Independent Bankers Association, $500 from Peetz & Co. of Lincoln, $1,000 from Reynolds American Inc./RAI Services of Winston-Salem, N.C., $500 from Tenaska, Inc., of Omaha, $425 from T-Mobile USA, $500 from Tyson Foods, $1,000 from the Union Pacific Railroad Co., $2,500 from Charter Communications, $1,000 from American Property Casualty Insurance Association and $1,000 from Industrial Tower West of Fort Morgan, Colo.

Looking at expenses, Lippincott paid $623.70 to the Aurora News Register, $5,041.11 to Quality Press Printing of Lincoln, $486 to the Republican-Nonpareil of Central City, $3,000 to Rushmore Co. of Lincoln and $1,201.98 to the U.S. Postmaster in Lincoln.

Lippincott said his supporters are mostly just the normal, average voters here in the district.

He did have a fundraiser in Lincoln that was attended by a lot of of organizations, he said.

As part of his campaign, Lippincott has sent out mailings to potential donors, asking for support.

When they respond, I try to write thank you notes to everybody even before I deposit their money, he said.

How does a legislative candidate receive financial support from the governor?

One of his lieutenants called me and vetted me, asked me all sorts of questions, where I stood on things, Lippincott said.

After that, Lippincott was invited to a one-on-one chat with the governor, which lasted about 30 minutes. Before he went to Lincoln, Lippincott was instructed to bring along a stamped self-addressed, envelope.

So at the end of our conversation, he says, Well, do you have anything for me? Of course, Im a little bit confused because youre talking to the governor. So I give him the envelope, which is he what he was hinting for, Lippincott said.

After Lippincott gave him the envelope, the governor asked if Lippincott was going to ask for a specific amount. Lippincott had been briefed beforehand about what would be a reasonable amount, he said.

Ricketts then told me this funny little story, Lippincott said.

Ricketts said that he had recently had a Christian man come in and talk to me.

As a humble Christian man, he told Ricketts, I dont really like to ask people for money.

Ricketts told the man, Sir, there is nothing more humbling than asking someone for money.
Paris, TX (75460)

Today

Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 73F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low 33F. Winds NNW at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
BAMBERG -- Veterans, families, friends and the community are invited to the Bamberg Veterans Day program to be held Friday, Nov. 11.

The program will begin promptly at 11 a.m. at the Bamberg County Veterans Memorial Trail, located at 3023 Railroad Ave., in Bamberg.

Ten additional veterans will have the honor of being wrapped by members of the Quilts of Valor Foundation and presented with quilts that are made and designed especially for veterans during the program, Bamberg Mayor Nancy Foster said.

Those veterans are Georgina Williams, William H. Legree, Donald C. Kirby, Franklin Ward, Richard G. Varnedo, Varnedo Muhammad, Leroy Sherman, Raymond Derienzo, Lorenzo Lawson and James Smoak, she said.

Douglas and Lisa B. Stokes will serve as co-chairs for the event.

The speaker for the occasion is Secretary Will Grimsley. He is the first secretary of the new S.C. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Grimsley graduated from Davidson College in North Carolina in May 1980 with a bachelors degree in history and was commissioned in the U.S. Army as an infantry officer.

Throughout the next 33 years, he served in assignments throughout the United States, Germany, Korea, Kuwait, multiple combat tours in Iraq, and deployments to several other nations. Grimsley held command and leadership positions at every level from platoon through corps and served on staffs from small unit levels up to both the Joint Staff and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and with his last tour as chief of staff of United States Strategic Command.

Among his many awards and decorations, Grimsley earned the Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, multiple awards of the Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart for wounds received in combat.

Retiring from active duty in 2013 as a major general, Grimsley consulted in the private sector with his primary focus on training, leader development, strategic planning and operations. On March 4, 2020, he was confirmed by a unanimous vote as the first Secretary of the new S.C. Department of Veterans Affairs.

He and his wife Jan live in Beaufort. They have two sons (Ben and Luke) and a daughter-in-law (Betsy), and two grandchildren (William and Preston).

In case of inclement weather, the program will be held in the Bamberg Civic Center. For additional information, call Bamberg City Hall at 803-245-5128.
Local students

receive honors

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Southern New Hampshire University name the following students to the summer 2022 President's List and Deans List.

Full-time undergraduate students who have earned a minimum grade-point average of 3.700 and above for the reporting term are named to the President's List. Full-time undergraduate students who have earned a minimum grade-point average of 3.500 to 3.699 for the reporting term are named to the Dean's List. Full-time status is achieved by earning 12 credits over each 16-week term or paired 8-week terms grouped in fall, winter/spring, and summer.

Glennda Cain of Bamberg and Dixon Paulling of St. Matthews were named to the Presidents List. Theresa Chavis of Neeses, Kimberly Waters of North, Tiante Benjamin-McDowell of St. Matthews and Loreal Williamson of Blackville were named to the Deans List.

CCTC honors

associate degree

nursing graduates

SUMTER -- Taylor White of Orangeburg was recognized for completing the requirements for the Associate Degree Nursing program at Central Carolina Technical College.

Bochette earns

Dean's List honors

BOSTON -- Hailey Bochette of Elloree earned Dean's List honors for the spring 2022 semester at Emerson College.

The requirement to make Dean's List is a grade point average of 3.7 or higher for that semester.

Bochette is majoring in media arts production and is a member of the class of 2025.

Barra makes

Dean's List at

Roger Williams

BRISTOL, R.I. -- Sydney Barra of Ridgevile has been named to the spring 2022 Dean's List at Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I. Full-time students who complete 12 or more credits per semester and earn a grade point average of 3.4 or higher are placed on the Dean's List that semester.

Birkland honored

ADELPHI, Md. -- Jeffry Chase Birkland of Cameron was named to the Dean's List for the spring semester at the University of Marylands Global Campus.To be eligible for the honor, a student must complete at least six credits during the term, earned a grade point average of at least 3.5 for the term, and maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.5 at UMGC.

Local students

graduate Furman

GREENVILLE  Jayla Hill of Cordova and Shaelyn Rivers-Green of North were graduated from Furman University on May 7.

Hill earned a bachelors degree in economics. She is the daughter of Janice Spells.

Rivers-Green received a bachelors degree in computer science and Japanese studies. She is the daughter of Lynn M. Rivers and Signeous Green.

Honors lists

students named

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Kayla Mack of Elloree was named to the University of Alabama dean's list with an academic record of 3.5 (or above).
Brothers Bill and David Summers of Golden Kernel Pecan Co. in Cameron were recognized this year for their contributions to the National Pecan Shellers Association and the pecan industry.

Their story began in the late 1800s when Dr. S.J. Summers of Cameron brought the first pecan seedlings to be set out in South Carolina on a commercial scale. These original trees seeded pecan orchards on the Summers estate and across South Carolina.

Eager to carry on the Summers tradition, his son, David Sr., later took over management of the orchard. In 1932, business had grown so quickly that David Sr. incorporated the Golden Kernel Pecan Company in order to buy, grade and process pecans for the market.

Construction of the shelling plant finished in 1934; and by the late 1940s, the company had 25,000 trees in the nursery and could shell 6,000 pounds of pecans per day.

David Sr. and his wife Olivia ran Golden Kernel Pecan together until his passing in 1950, which left Olivia to run the business on her own. In 1968 their sons David Jr. and Bill returned to take over operation of the company. Shortly after, they joined the National Pecan Shellers Association and began their lifelong relationship with the association and the pecan industry.

David and Bill began to help change the pecan industry when they befriended Bland Quantz. Prior to that, pecan cracking was a more social activity.

People didnt have TVs back then, so Dad would drop off bags of nuts in the evening and theyd sit around and crack pecans, Bill said. The crackers being used cracked one nut at a time and were only as fast as the person operating them. At the time, Quantz was developing a prototype pecan cracker in his Columbia garage that he hoped would change the industry.

David and Bill felt that Bland was on to something great and allowed him to test his pecan cracker in their Golden Kernel plant. Hed always come in and add something to the machine, trying to make it better, Bill said.

After years of workshopping and countless smashed pecan meats, Bland perfected the Quantz x16 pecan cracker and set the new standard for cracking pecans. The new machine was able to crack upwards of 1,000 pecans per minute. This version of the machine remained the industry standard for nearly 20 years. The original prototypes are now housed at the South Carolina State Museum.

In recognition of their dedication and contribution to the pecan industry, the National Pecan Shellers Association has given Bill and David Summers its lifetime achievement award. Bill has served as the president of the association. Both he and David served on the board many times and remained active members throughout the years. Golden Kernel continues to process pecans for fundraising, specialty foods, and retail sale.

David passed away in February 2022 and Bland in 2008, but the legacy they created lives on through Bill and their impact on pecan history.
The South Carolina Supreme Court will hear oral arguments at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg on Tuesday, Nov. 15, and Wednesday, Nov. 16.

Oral arguments will be held in the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center, starting at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. each day.

Cases to be heard are listed on the Supreme Courts Roster of Cases.

After oral arguments, the Court will take time to answer questions from students.

The court invites university students, middle school and high school students, the legal community, and members of the public to observe these proceedings of the states highest court, which are typically held in Columbia.

School groups, news media representatives and student organizations who plan to attend the sessions are asked to preregister no later than Nov. 11 at https://forms.office.com/r/jSF4SNNR19.

For Chief Justice Donald W. Beatty, going to South Carolina State University will be a return to the college where he earned his bachelors degree.

I always look forward to traveling to locations around the state to hold court and interact with students, but I am particularly excited about this visit, Beatty said. I urge South Carolina State University students, as well as other students  especially those who are interested in the law, or government  to come experience the Supreme Court in person.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments at Winthrop University in Rock Hill last month. In 2019, the justices held proceedings in Sumter, Spartanburg and Conway.
(TBTCO) - Cuc Du tru Lien bang My (FED) co kha nang se tiep tuc ot tang lai suat lan tiep theo trong thang 12 toi, nhung voi muc o co the nhe hon. ieu nay se lai la mot trong nhung yeu to tac ong en thi truong tai chinh va tien te trong nuoc.
It was a conference call with Michael Flynn that inspired Jim McCollum to run for the Wyoming Legislature.

A group of people  including Flynn  were meeting over Zoom in memory of McCollums son, Rylee.

Rylee, a lance corporal in the U.S. Marines, was killed Aug. 26 of last year during the American evacuation of Afghanistan. Since then, the older McCollum has been looking for a greater way to serve his community. How can I be more like my son? he wondered.

Flynn urged him to get more involved in politics.

Flynn was a decorated former lieutenant general and former President Donald Trumps first national security adviser. In 2020, he was indicted for lying to the FBI, eventually receiving a pardon from Trump. Hes since emerged as a leader of a far-right, Christian nationalist movement, a recent investigation by the Associated Press and PBS found.

Weve got to make changes, but that starts locally, McCollum remembers Flynn saying. School board, hospital district, you know, anything that you can do  you got to get off the couch and make a change.

And it just struck me as funny, because my daughter Roice and I had continuously said we solve all the worlds problems sitting on the couch, but were not really getting anything accomplished, McCollum said.

So McCollum, a Republican, announced in May he was running for House District 16. The district includes most of downtown Jackson. Democrat Mike Yin, whos running for reelection, has held the seat since 2019.

Both Yin and McCollum ran unopposed in their respective primaries.

As with other Jackson politicians, housing is front-and-center in their platforms. Teton County is the wealthiest county in the nation; for years, climbing housing costs have forced out Jacksons working class.

McCollum has never sought an elected position before, but has always been interested in politics. Many people in the statehouse already know him, he said.

Me being from Wyoming my whole life, I just believe that my thumbs on the pulse of what the state needs, said McCollum.

As a timber foreman and craftsman, he said working class struggles are close to his heart. If elected, McCollum said his biggest priority would be addressing burdensome property taxes. He supports a 3% cap on property tax valuation increases.

Yin, a software developer originally from Georgia, relocated to Jackson in 2015. He was involved in local politics and the Wyoming Democratic Party for a few years before running for the Legislature, he said.

My goal is to ensure that Teton County and Wyoming stay a place where you can find opportunity, raise a family, he said.

Yin won with 60% of the vote in the 2018 general election, and was unopposed in 2020, earning 96% of the vote.

Yin, like McCollum, considers property tax relief a key issue.

During the 2022 legislative session, he successfully backed a county-optional property tax refund program, which went into effect this summer.

Yin is currently working on a bill that would let lawmakers lower the state residential property tax assessment rate and pave the way for other property tax exemptions.

While Yin and McCollum both want to address climbing property taxes (albeit in different ways), they diverge when it comes to other tax proposals.

Yin is an advocate of the so-called McMansion Tax bill, which would let counties tax high-end real estate transfers. The most recent iteration of the bill, which Yin drafted, failed its introductory vote on the house floor in February.

Jackson leaders have historically supported the McMansion Tax; it could give Teton County millions more dollars every year to address its housing crisis.

McCollum, who is generally tax-averse, has reservations about the proposal.

Either the buyer or seller is going to get hurt on that, he said.

Still, Jacksons dire housing situation has softened his anti-tax stance. Hes open to the idea of using lodging and tourism taxes  like taxing ski lift tickets, for instance  as a means of funding housing programs, he said.

Rileys wife and my granddaughter Levi  right now they want to be here, and it is just so unaffordable that they cant live in Jackson, McCollum said. And that breaks my heart.

Abortion is another area where Yin and McCollum disagree.

If reelected, Yin would work to repeal Wyomings trigger ban abortion law, he told the Jackson Hole News & Guide. The law is currently blocked amid a legal challenge, but if passed, it would ban abortions except under certain circumstances including incest, rape and life-threatening conditions.

According to the News & Guide, McCollum supports abortions up to 15 weeks of pregnancy, as well as in cases where it would not be good for the mother or the child to bring the pregnancy to term.

McCollum admits courting Jackson voters  by far the bluest constituency in the state  will be difficult.

But he pitches himself as someone who can bridge the political divide between Teton County and Cheyenne. As a Republican and Wyoming native, he said hed have more success building relationships with other lawmakers.

[Yin] hasnt been the voice that we need, and its hard for him being one of seven Democrats in Cheyenne, he said.

Yin pushed back against that notion.

I think if we want to talk about partisanship, Democrats actually have more power as one of seven that votes, he said. Its a pretty strong bloc.

And a statehouse with less diversity wouldnt be a good thing, Yin argued. As an Asian American, Yin is one of just a handful of lawmakers who isnt white. At 36, hes also much younger than the average legislator.

Having more diversity across the board I think is very useful, he said.
Tuesdays election for House District 44 will determine if the district will stay on a more moderate course  as it has over the past couple election cycles  or take a hard turn to the right.

Democrats have historically dominated the district, although general elections have been pretty close between Democratic and Republican nominees in the past couple years.

In 2020, the current representative of the district, Republican John Romero-Martinez, won the general election with 50.4% of the vote to Democratic nominee Sara Burlingames 48.9%. The results were practically inverse between the Democratic and Republican nominees for the 2018 election, with Burlingame taking 51.6% of the vote to Republican nominee Paul Johnsons 48.2%.

But the electorate this year has changed. During the redistricting process this past Legislative session, lawmakers added a swath of southwest Cheyenne to House District 44 that has historically voted more conservative.

The area used to be part of Republican Rep. Clarence Styvars House District 12. Styvar has been in the Legislature since 2018 and easily won the Republican primary for his district this year. He has a 100% positive ranking on the anonymous conservative website WyoRINO, which aims to root out Republicans In Name Only based on a their votes for select bills.

Perhaps in part owing to those changes, the districts electorate this year chose the deeply conservative Republican nominee Tamara Trujillo over the incumbent by roughly 11 points during the August primary election. Voters will get to choose on Tuesday between Trujillo, an office administrator at a trucking company who has also worked in the oil and gas industry, and Burlingame, the Democratic nominee and executive director of Wyoming Equality.

During Burlingames 2019-20 stint in the Wyoming Legislature, she was noted by some lawmakers as someone able to develop strong relationships on both sides of the political aisle. She described herself as a really boring candidate who doesnt always have headline takes on issues; her campaign website doesnt go into detail on a particular platform.

At the end of the day, I truly believe that its the process that matters, she said, emphasizing her desire to find common ground with people who believe wildly different things than her politically.

Burlingame was the only candidate for the Democratic primary in her House district. She garnered 166 votes this year. Thats significantly lower compared to the number of votes she won in her previous races; in 2020, 479 voters cast their ballot for her in the primaries. In 2018, 323 did so.

Some of that change, though, could be attributed to the high rate of crossover voting during Wyomings primaries this year because of the House race between Rep. Liz Cheney and challenger Harriet Hageman. Democrats crossing over in the primaries didnt risk anything in the House District 44 race since Burlingame was running unopposed.

On top of that, it remains to be seen where the 554 voters who threw their support behind Romero-Martinez, who was a candidate in the primary, and a third primary Republican challenger  Michael Reyes  will cast their votes.

Trujillo won 404 votes in the primary, beating out the other Republican candidates by a significant margin. Shes a political newcomer and has focused her campaign on fiscal responsibility. Unlike the incumbent candidate Romero-Martinez, who is actually her cousin, she doesnt support expanding Medicaid, the jointly-funded state and federal health insurance program. She thinks Wyomings public schools could use state funding more efficiently by cutting down on administrative costs. (On her campaign website, she says that she wants to reduce bureaucracy and instill more accountability at the Department of Education.) She previously told the Star-Tribune that she doesnt want extra funding from the federal government with strings attached.

Burlingame, on the other hand, has said she doesnt believe schools are being adequately funded, and she supports Medicaid expansion.

In a previous discussion with the Star-Tribune, Trujillo described herself as a lot more conservative than the incumbent.

Burlingame adamantly pushed back on that conservative label in her conversation with the Star-Tribune for this story.

My opponent is not conservative, she is alt-right, Burlingame said. The hill I will die on is reclaiming the word conservative.

(Trujillo told the Star-Tribune that she thinks Burlingames characterization of her as alt-right is just insane.)

Burlingame specifically brought up concern about lawmakers potentially voting to get rid of the exemptions to Wyomings abortion ban, which is blocked for now while a lawsuit contesting its constitutionality unfolds.

Following the U.S. Supreme Courts reversal of Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that deemed abortion access a constitutional right, several lawmakers told the Star-Tribune that they want to try and get rid of language in the abortion ban that makes exceptions for cases of rape and incest. Burlingame called the potential move Orwellian.

Trujillo clarified in a text to the Star-Tribune that if she had to vote on the exemptions, she would vote in favor of protecting the unborn because she doesnt want the influence of progressive states like California to encroach on Wyoming around the topic of abortion.

I dont believe thats an alt-right mentality, Trujillo said of guarding Wyoming from those potential influences. Thats a God mentality.

Following his loss in the primaries, Romero-Martinez threw his support behind Trujillo as the Republican nominee.

But Cowboy State Daily reported last month that Romero-Martinez was considering getting back into the race as a write-in candidate. He explained at the time that some voters had expressed dissatisfaction with both the Republican and Democratic nominees and didnt want to cast their ballot for either one.

Romero-Martinez confirmed with the Star-Tribune that he has since withdrawn his endorsement of Trujillo and launched a write-in campaign.

Trujillo said that she felt bad for Romero-Martinez, but that she wasnt worried about the potential impacts of his write-in campaign on the race.
CHEYENNE  Wyoming is once again getting national attention, this time for its new secretary of state.

Barring an earthquake or some other catastrophic event, state Rep. Chuck Gray, a Casper Republican, will be the number two state elected officer for the next four years.

Because of his public statements branding the results of the 2020 presidential election as fraudulent and illegitimate, Gray is featured in the lead story in Governing.com this week.

The gist of the story is the potential damage that can be inflicted by the newly-elected deniers  officials who refuse to accept the defeat of former president Donald Trump.

This group claims the big steal happened through manipulated votes, although numerous audits and investigations and court cases have ruled the election results in favor of President Joe Biden were accurate.

Of particular interest is the office of secretary of state, largely because those officials also serve as chief of elections.

First of all, the secretaries of state in Wyoming and other states cannot change the outcome of elections.

But, according to Governing.com, they can ingrain distrust in voters by questioning the process, demanding a lot of audits and investigations.

They also can push for much tighter voting regulations, like restricting absentee ballots, requiring more identification, ending drop boxes for ballots, demanding paper hand-counted ballots.

Wyoming elections, meanwhile have been notoriously free of problems for years.

The county clerks are the ones who run the elections and submit the final votes tallied to the secretarys office.

The last step is a meeting of the state canvassing board.

The governor and other elected officials on that board then certify the election results.

It is a pro forma meeting for the most part.

If a candidate gets enough write-in votes and a tie vote, a board member, usually the governor, picks the winner old-time style; from a name on paper pulled from a hat.

There is more to the office of secretary of state than overseeing elections.

Gray will also be one member of several five-member boards, headed by the governor.

These board have broad oversight authority over state institutions, buildings, including the capitol building; state public lands and grazing leases, state investments, grants and loans.

The new responsibility of these board is deciding petitions for charter schools, a politicized issue.

Past secretaries of state Joe Meyer and Max Mayfield, both Republicans, were noted for their work as members of the state boards.

They travelled to communities that were seeking financial help from the state to assess the proposed project and local needs.

This enabled them to report back to other board members whether a loan or grant was warranted and why. It also could help them politically but that is part of the job.

Their hands-on information was much more valuable than a summary on an meeting agenda item.

And, finally, the secretary serves as acting governor when the top chief executive is out of state.

That occasion could be an opportunity for mischief, which would be another new wrinkle to Wyoming politics.

No secretary of state, in my memory, ever tried to undercut the elected governor while in an acting role whether they were of the same political party or not.

Most of the time, the transition of power when the governor leaves the state is ignored. No one pays any attention.

Gov. Mark Gordon makes about six trips a year out-of-state including visits to Washington, D.C., Michael Pearlman, communications director, said in an e-mail.

It was no big deal to have a period when someone else was in charge of state operations including the Wyoming National Guard.

All this fretting about the new guy may be for naught.

Maybe Gray will be like his predecessors, Republican and Democrat, friendly, open to the public and press, dedicated to working hard to serve the best interests of Wyoming residents, regardless of political affiliation.

Gray did not reply to an e-mail asking for comment on the Governing.com article.
Just about everyone in Wyoming knows someone who has struggled with mental health. Mental health problems impact a wide variety of people all across the state, from all walks of life.

When people receive help and treatment for mental health, their outcomes improve significantly. But for many low-income Wyomingites who dont have health insurance, help is out of reach.

As the legislative chair for the Wyoming Psychological Association, I, as well as my colleagues, have seen this happen firsthand in the state. Thats why we support efforts by Healthy Wyoming, a coalition of statewide groups bringing more attention to this vital issue each year and advocating for Medicaid expansion.

Kudos to Gov. Mark Gordon for raising awareness about mental health issues at the recent Mental Health Summit in Casper. The governor said one of the states main goals is to improve access to timely treatment.

We need to go further than just recognizing that Wyoming has critical mental health problems. How much money someone earns shouldnt keep anyone from being treated for a mental health condition.

The state has the highest rate of suicide in the nation, with about 30 people per 100,000 taking their own lives each year. Thats more than double the national average.

The Kaiser Family Foundation, which provides health care data in every state, says 30% of Wyoming adults reported symptoms of anxiety or depression last year. Of this population, nearly one in five did not receive counseling or therapy, often because they couldnt afford it.

To reduce roadblocks to affordable mental health care in Wyoming, I wondered out loud at the summit, why wouldnt we accept federal help for a national problem? Substance use disorders and other mental health conditions are national problems, not unique to Wyoming.

We know expanding Medicaid helps reduce the number of uninsured, with positive results for their behavioral health. All we have to do is look at what happened in Montana, another rural state that expanded Medicaid in 2016.

By 2019, about 10,000 expansion enrollees in Montana had received substance use disorder treatment, and 30,206 had received outpatient mental health services. By 2020, nearly 34,000 expansion enrollees had a behavioral health diagnosis provided on a claim or received a behavioral health service and resources for substance use disorder treatment increased by over 70%. Additionally, funding for prevention services doubled, and the number of state recognized substance use disorder provider locations doubled.

Wyoming can have the same results.

The fiscal benefits of expansion are huge. With the federal government paying 90% of expenses, about $54 million in new funding was added to Montanas behavioral health care system alone.

The National Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says Montanas fiscal gains from Medicaid expansion could serve as a model for Wyoming. Montana has saved enough to cover more than two-thirds of the states 10% expansion costs.

A national think tank, the Commonwealth Fund, estimates expanding Medicaid could create nearly 2,000 Wyoming jobs and grow the states overall economic output by $1.5 billion in five years. Expansion would also save hospitals millions of dollars they now lose treating patients who cant afford to pay.

So, how can we keep saying no to this?

Wyoming is making progress in the fight to expand Medicaid. During the 2021 Wyoming General Session, the House, for the first time, passed a Medicaid expansion bill, but it died in a Senate committee. Because of the Legislatures rules that require more support during a budget session, no bill advanced this year.

A 2021 survey conducted by a well-known Republican firm found that more than two-thirds want the program expanded. A majority of Wyoming Republicans, Democrats and independents support it.

What can you do to make Medicaid expansion a reality?

The governor and the Legislature need to know that residents support Medicaid expansion. So please let them know how much Medicaid expansion will improve the mental and physical health of many of their most vulnerable constituents.
On Tuesday, it will be time again to vote. And while the general election lacks the drama of Augusts primary  and more specifically, the race between Rep. Liz Cheney and her Trump-backed opponent Harriet Hageman  there are still plenty of reasons why Wyomingites should participate.

Admittedly, there are many uncontested races, or contests in which a winner might be declared soon after the polls close. But there are scores of other races and issues that are of critical importance.

Consider all of the local races that will be decided Tuesday: city and town councils, school boards and county commissions. These contests receive relatively little fanfare, but they have the most direct impact on our lives. These are the politicians who decide what our children should learn, whether to hire more police officers for our communities, how high our garbage bills should be.

Then theres the legislative races. State lawmakers dont receive the same level of attention as their federal counterparts, but they play a more direct role in our lives. How much funding should the University of Wyoming receive? Should we raise taxes? What should be done to diversify the states economy? These are all questions that state legislators must answer.

Of course, there are the high-profile races too: governor, congressperson, state superintendent and more. Some of these races feel like the outcome is all-but-certain given the GOPs dominance in Wyoming, but its still important to help choose our next leaders.

Finally, there are several measures to consider. In Natrona County, voters will decide whether to extend the 1-cent tax for a 17th time. (This board advocated for the tax in our editorial last week.) Theres also state initiatives, including one to decide whether to do away with mandatory retirements for judges once they hit age 70.

There are a few things you might want to consider when you step into the voting booth. The first is to assess each candidate on his or her own. Weve seen a rise in the number of politicians who are running as a slate. But candidates shouldnt be rewarded simply for running as a team. Each should be judged by his or her own merits.

Second, take the time to do your homework. Research candidates. Read articles about them. Visit their websites. And be sure to visit the League of Women Voters site, which has comprehensive information about the races youll cast ballots for.

Its also critical to remember that, despite all the noise to the contrary, Wyomings elections have proven time and again to be secure and reliable. Three months ago, we completed a primary election that included a number of candidates who sought to raise concerns about the integrity of our voting system. But they havent been able to point to any instances of actual voter fraud. And not surprisingly, the people who cast doubt about Wyomings elections system arent at all concerned about the legitimacy of their own victories.

More recently, interim Secretary of State Karl Allred asked county clerks to discontinue using ballot drop boxes, which have been the subject of unfounded conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election. But even in his letter, Allred acknowledged that there have not been any actual issues with the much maligned drop boxes. If there is zero evidence of a problem, why make it a little harder for people to vote? Why raise concerns about a system that all evidence shows is working?

We hope those unfounded doubts about election integrity dont keep Wyoming citizens from performing their most important civic duty. As weve argued before, our democracy works best when the people in participate. On Tuesday, be sure to vote.
HYDERABAD: Hyderabads Narcotic Enforcement Wing (H-NEW) and Ramgopalpet police arrested a drug dealer, Edwin Nunes, 45, from Goa late Friday night. The Goa police had arrested Nunes in August in connection with the death of BJP leader Sonali Phogat, a social media influencer, who was alleged to have been drugged in his restaurant, Curlies Shack.

Hyderabad police commissioner C.V. Anand said that the police caught Nunes after a two-month operation. Nunes is an influential drug dealer who has been applying for anticipatory bail in the sessions court and High Court but opposed it. He has also submitted an anticipatory bail application in the Supreme Court, which also we have opposed. We nabbed him before the hearing, Anand said.

He said that Nunes, along with drug dealer Priteesh Narayan Borkar, whom the police had arrested earlier, had around 1,200 customers in the two Telugu states.

Nunes, who has about 100 men working for him, conducts rave parties and music festivals during the weekend and supplies different types of drugs to the customers, Anand said.

The place is widely known for its narcotics trade, so much so that the local police thanked us. He had gone underground after his last bail and showed a fake Covid-19 positive certificate to Anjuna police to evade investigation. The police found it to be forged, Anand said, adding that another shack, which was illegally being constructed by Nunes, was demolished by the local authorities with the intervention of Hyderabad police.

We are now focused on nabbing Sanjay Gowekar, another drug supplier who is absconding. We are also trying to establish the links through which drugs are being transported to hubs like Goa. We are in discussions with the Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB), Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and others to tackle the issue, the commissioner said.
Tucson Modernism Week, the annual celebration of the citys midcentury roots, will look a little different this year.

The Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation is scaling its number of events back, as it returns to an all in-person format for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

We are taking this year to redefine how we are going to continue to present this program, said Demion Clinco, CEO of the foundation. Rather than having a lot of content, weve really focused on some incredible opportunities with which the community can engage.

Highlights include:

Ignite at Night, an evening surrounded by the neon signage of Tucsons past at the Ignite Sign Art Museum, 331 S. Olsen Ave., from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10. ($15).

A free lecture on Friday, Nov. 11, on Mexican brochure design from 1940 through 1965, given by William L. Bird, curator emeritus with the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. The lecture runs from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Tucson Creative Dance Center, 3131 N. Cherry Ave. (reservations are required).

A trip to explore the architecture and design of Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, on Saturday, Nov. 12. (sold out as of press time).

We are really interested in exploring the relationship between northern Sonora and Southern Arizona in the post-WWII period, Clinco said. Nogales became such an important port for the transfer of people and goods, midcentury. The architecture of both sides began to express the growing importance of these cities in the 20th century.

Today, we really think of the border as being such a definitive wall. You have to imagine that it was far more permeable in the middle of the 20th century. The design and influence of these different ideas happening in the U.S. and Mexico were flowing back and forth in a more robust way.

A cocktail party at a home designed by architect Arthur T. Brown, recently restored in the Colonia Solana neighborhood ($150 per person). The soiree, running from 5:30 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12, will include a fashion presentation featuring the designs of Ann Edwards.

Ann had a womens fashion store in Tucson in the mid-20th century, Clinco said. Through the dispensation of her estate, many of the pieces of clothing that she sold, her best examples, were donated to the Preservation Foundation.

Clinco said all of the programming developed for Modernism Week reflects Tucsons importance as an epicenter of design thinking in the 20th century.

There were only a few places in the American Southwest that had these large concentrations of artists, designers, craftsmen, architects, he said.
James Gadsden, ambassador to Mexico, purchased the land south of the Gila River from Mexico in 1853, an area first called the Gadsden Purchase, now Southern Arizona. His name lives on today in Gadsden Peak and Gadsden, Arizona, among other places.

Here is his story:

Gadsden was born on May 15, 1788, in Charleston, South Carolina. He was the grandson of Christopher Gadsden, who was elected to the First Continental Congress, served as a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and is also the namesake of the well-known Gadsden Flag, with its yellow background, coiled rattlesnake and the Dont Tread On Me phrase.

Gadsden graduated from Yale College (now Yale University) in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1806, before returning home to the city of his birth where he was involved in business for a time.

By the War of 1812, in which the United States fought Great Britain for the second time in less than half a century, he had been appointed as lieutenant of engineers in the U.S. Army, working on defenses of the Gulf Coast which continued after the war. At one point he became aide-de-camp to General Andrew Jackson, later president of the United States.

In 1818, he first set foot in Spanish Florida accompanying Jackson during the First Seminole War in order to help reconstruct a partially destroyed fort on the Apalachicola River. When the fort was completed, Jackson named it Fort Gadsden.

By 1820, he had earned the rank of colonel in the military and the following year was put in charge of establishing military posts in what soon became known as the Florida Territory, which had recently become a part of the country.

In 1822, he left the military but remained in the service of the U.S. government possibly as a surveyor and road builder. In 1823, he was appointed commissioner in charge of removing the Seminole tribe from the northern part of the Florida Territory to a central reservation as a result of the Treaty of Moultrie Creek.

In 1824, he became a member of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida and set up a plantation in the Tallahassee area. Three years later, he returned home temporarily to marry Susan Gibbes Hort of Charleston; the coupling would produce no children.

In 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act authorizing the resettlement of Native Americans to lands west of the Mississippi River in an area called Indian Territory, which later became Oklahoma. Gadsden negotiated the Treaty of Paynes Landing with numerous Seminole leaders in 1832, which called for the tribe to move within three years.

When Chief Osceola and some other Seminoles refused to leave the Florida Territory, the Second Seminole War broke out, and Gadsden found himself once again in the U.S. military at least for a period. In time, the Seminoles and Black Seminoles, the latter of whom didnt have tribal membership, were relocated west.

Gadsden, while residing in the Florida Territory over several years, attempted to get elected as representative of the territory to the U.S. Congress several times but was defeated each time.

In 1839, he moved back to Charleston permanently and became involved in the expansion of southern trade. The following year he became president of the Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston Railroad, a project to bring trade in from the Midwest to Charleston, although this proved to be unsuccessful.

The enterprise was reincorporated as the South Carolina Rail Road three years later, with the intention of creating trade with the Midwest and also with the Pacific Coast. While an enthusiastic supporter of this business, he was ousted by shareholders of the company in 1850.

Still determined to create a transcontinental railroad to the Pacific, Gadsden planned a route along the Gila River through the Territory of New Mexico (present-day Arizona and New Mexico) to the coast. He realized that purchasing land in Sonora, Mexico, south of the Gila River, would help make this happen.

His opportunity came in May 1853, when U.S. President Franklin Pierce appointed him Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Mexico  now more commonly referred to as Ambassador to Mexico.

In this official position he negotiated with Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and Mexican Foreign Minister Manuel Diaz de Bonilla for the sale of nearly 30,000 square miles  that later became Southern Arizona and a part of southern New Mexico  in exchange for $10 million, in what was called the Gadsden Purchase or the Treaty of La Mesilla.

This treaty was signed on Dec. 30, 1853, and ratified by the U.S. Senate on June 24, 1854.

Its unknown if Gadsden ever visited Tucson, which at this point consisted of a small Spanish-speaking population that resided inside the Mexican presidio or fort with possibly a few small adobe structures outside of the fort walls. The Acedo, Burrel and Gallego families were just a few of the families that called Tucson home.

By 1856, Tucson had officially became part of Dona Ana County, Territory of New Mexico, United States. The Mexican troops that had stayed on to protect the townspeople from Apache raids left, with a part of the towns population, for Sonora, Mexico.

Gadsden remained in Mexico following the successful land purchase but was unable to have an influence in Mexican politics and eventually was recalled by the U.S. government. He returned home to Charleston, South Carolina, and died there on Dec. 26, 1858.

His dream of a transcontinental southern railroad route from California to South Carolina never happened, and it wasnt until the 1880s that the Southern Pacific Railroad built a line from California to Louisiana.

Today, several place names in the country are named for him or his famous land purchase, including Battery Gadsden on Sullivans Island, South Carolina; Gadsden County, Florida; Gadsden, Alabama; and Gadsden, Arizona.

In 1953, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Gadsden Purchase, West Twin Peak in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, southwest of Tucson near the Arizona-Sonora border, was renamed Gadsden Peak, in honor of James Gadsden and the Gadsden Purchase.
Officials at Saguaro National Park have unveiled plans for the first major upgrade to the east entrance in almost 70 years.

The National Park Service wants to reroute the road and dramatically expand the parking lot at the Rincon Mountain Visitor Center, which dates to 1953 and contains just 40 spaces.

The plans announced Nov. 1 call for improved access to the park off of Old Spanish Trail and substantial changes to the area around the visitor center to separate the entrance road and fee stations from the parking lot.

The Park Service will accept public comments on the proposal until Dec. 2.

There is not a construction start date associated with the project at this point, said Andy Fisher, the parks chief of interpretation. We are trying to get ourselves ready with a plan if or when construction funding becomes available.

Increased traffic in and around the park has led to congestion and growing safety concerns. According to planning documents for the proposed upgrades, near pedestrian-vehicular accidents happen frequently along the current entrance road, which runs through the middle of the visitor centers only parking lot.

The plans would more than double the current number of parking spots and add spots large enough for buses and recreational vehicles. There would also be new restrooms, a larger bicycle-friendly shade structure, and a designated spot for people to pose for photos next to the entrance sign.

The entrance off of Old Spanish Trail would be straightened and expanded to make it safer for vehicles coming and going from the park, while the fee station would be relocated to reduce congestion and increase pedestrian safety.

Saguaro National Park set an attendance record last year, with more than 1 million visitors.

In 1954, the year after the current parking lot was built, fewer than 78,000 people visited what was then a national monument limited only to the Rincon Mountains.

President John F. Kennedy expanded the monument to include portions of the Tucson Mountains in 1961, and Congress elevated the land to national park status in 1994.

The park service is seeking public input on the upgrades in part because the work will impact structures around the visitor center that are now considered historic.

Park officials plan to limit such impacts as much as possible and reuse construction materials from any historic features that need to be demolished. Interpretive signs will be put up to show what the entrance area used to look like.

The project will also put officials in the potentially awkward position of having to uproot some of the parks namesake cactuses.

The plans call for any saguaros and other cactuses to be transplanted from the construction zone, though Fisher said they dont yet know how many plants might need to be moved.

Being this early in the process, we cant really speak to specific relocation plans for individual saguaros, she said, but it is one of the things we are thinking about as we are developing the concept.

More information on the proposed work is available online at: parkplanning.nps.gov/SaguaroRMDParkingLot.

Comments can be submitted at the same web address until Dec. 2.

The park service is seeking general input on the project, as well as any relevant information, stories and experiences the public has to share about the east entrance to Saguaro, particularly prior to 1972.

Photos: Saguaro National Park through the years Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Ha:san Bak, Saguaro cactus fruit harvest Ha:san Bak, Saguaro cactus fruit harvest Ha:san Bak, Saguaro cactus fruit harvest Ha:san Bak, Saguaro cactus fruit harvest Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park
City officials want Tucson drivers to know what to expect when a heavily used bridge on East 22nd Street closes during major construction next year.

Transportation staffers and the project contractor will be on hand to discuss travel impacts, provide information and answer question at a series of upcoming public information sessions.

Construction is set to start in spring 2023 on the bridge between Tucson Boulevard and Kino Parkway. The existing four-lane bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks will be replaced by a six-lane version along the same route.

The existing bridge is structurally deficient and unable to handle heavy vehicles such as trucks and buses, which for years have been forced to detour around the area. The city recently received a $25 million federal infrastructure grant to help pay for the project.

The public information sessions start Nov. 16 and continue until Dec. 8.

The virtual meeting will be Wednesday, Nov. 16, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Access the meeting at bit.ly/22ndbridge

The in-person meetings are:

Thursday, Nov. 17, Parks and Recreation building, 900 S. Randolph Way, 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 6, First Assembly of God, 1749 E. Broadway, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 8, Quincie Douglas Center, 1575 E. 36th St., 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

For more information about the meetings and the project, go online at dtmprojects.tucsonaz.gov/pages/22nd-street-bridge
The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:

Brace yourself for a rough couple of weeks.

After Tuesdays election, we might end up with a governor, attorney general and secretary of state who dont know how to do their jobs; who lie about elections and sacrifice kindness and compassion in favor of being seen as strong. In other words, Arizona could have a Donald Trump-style administration if Kari Lake, Abe Hamadeh, and Mark Finchem are elected.

Over the past few months, the Stars opinion pages have been filled with discussions about how these candidates threaten democracy. It is an essential conversation to have right now, but I dont think weve talked enough about a more immediate problem: how we are going to get through the election itself.

To be clear, I dont think the world will end this week. As Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts writes in todays paper, the results of the election could threaten the future of democracy, but there wont be foreign troops in Akron and electricity will still work in Kansas City.

But its going to get nuts.

Heres what I expect will happen: Lake, Hamadeh, and Finchem will continue to follow Trumps 2020 playbook and unleash whatever lies or half-truths about fraud serve their purpose. This could start as soon as the first vote tallies are released on Tuesday, particularly if races are too close to call.

I would not be surprised if election officials make mistakes this week. We already saw a shortage of ballots in Pinal County in the primary election and a batch of incorrect ballots sent out a few weeks ago. Officials are human and elections are large, complicated operations. But rest assured, our election system has safeguards to keep elections free and fair.

If Lake, Hamadeh, and Finchem win, theyll say they overcame fraud, as Lake claimed during the primary. In this scenario, I expect the Democratic candidates, Katie Hobbs, Kris Mayes, and Adrian Fontes, would concede as soon as the outcome is clear.

If Lake, Hamadeh, and Finchem are losing on election night, they likely will claim widespread fraud and create chaos. Mainstream news outlets will try to figure out whats happening, while right-wing outlets trumpet anything that could possibly be connected to fraud. Every few minutes, another bit of news will pop up. Social media will erupt a thousand different ways. Trump will call for an investigation of votes in Arizona.

This will be a key moment. We all need to pay attention, but without burning ourselves out. Its OK to step away from your TV or computer for a while. Keep your focus on information that can be verified. Pause before sharing outrageous claims on social media. Remember that election workers are going as fast as they can, but definitive results might not be immediately available.

As the ballots are counted, we will start hearing about traffic cones outside a campaign headquarters, or a van parked next to an election office, or some other nonsense. A guy sneezing as he drops off a ballot in Casa Grande will be linked to a manila envelope on a table in Atlanta. I will start getting letters to the editor asking why the Star doesnt have a team of reporters investigating traffic cones, vans, sneezes and manila envelopes.

The conspiracy theories will scare the pants off voters. Lake, Hamadeh, and Finchem will point to that fear as evidence their lies are true. If they take their claims to court, the next few weeks will be consumed with the ins and outs of frivolous lawsuits. Keep in mind that judges threw out 60-some lawsuits filed by Trump and his supporters after the 2020 election. Many of those judges were not amused by the ridiculous claims and lack of evidence presented to them.

Democratic politicians will call out the lies, but they likely wont reach anybody who needs to hear it. I doubt more than a handful of Republican politicians will try to set the record straight.

Officials will verify the election results, but Republican legislator will call for an audit. Dont be surprised if some version of the Cyber Ninjas comes back on the scene later this week.

The worst-case scenario would be if losing candidates call for violence to somehow protect the integrity of the election. As we saw with the assault of Paul Pelosi and the attack on the Capitol, misguided individuals are ready to commit political violence. Lakes wink at the Pelosi attack during a recent campaign event, which sparked laughter from her supporters, is an ominous sign of what could happen.
Q: I booked four Lufthansa tickets from Brussels to San Francisco through Kiwi.com in 2021. Lufthansa canceled the flight. Kiwi.com offered to request a refund. We have received two automated responses so far, but no refund.

I have not yet contacted Lufthansa directly, since Kiwi.com is our online travel agency. Its been a year since Kiwi promised to help us get a refund. Can you help us get our $3,450 back, please?  Nancy Plasschaert, Antwerp, Belgium

A: You should have received a refund almost immediately. Under Lufthansas general conditions, the legal contract between you and the airline, in the event of a cancellation, rebooking or delay, a reimbursement of the fare may be possible under certain conditions. And you met those conditions, which Kiwi.com verified.

Lufthansa would not refund you directly. It would send it to Kiwi.com, which would then pass the money along to you. So, what happened?

I asked Kiwi if the holdup was on the Lufthansa side or if the agency had experienced a delay. It did not respond.

Your case illustrates one of the drawbacks of using an online travel agency. The intermediary can protect you when things go wrong. But that third party can also cause delays, which would have happened to you even if Lufthansa had refunded you immediately. Kiwi warned you that you might have to wait months for your money.

Please be patient, they said in an email. We estimate that some refunds will take approximately three months. However, many carriers are now delaying their refund processes, and in some cases, the wait time might be longer.

Why so long? Well, part of it may be related to the pandemic, although that excuse is getting a little old. By then, Lufthansa was close to two years into the pandemic and should have figured out a way to streamline its refunds.

Heres what I would have done: After a month, I would have sent a brief, polite email to one of the executive contacts for Lufthansa that I publish on my consumer advocacy site at elliott.org/company-contacts/lufthansa-airlines. Failing that, I would have filed a dispute with your credit card company (more information can be found at tucne.ws/1lrh). Your bank or credit card could have taken the money back if you had shown them the email from Kiwi.com. A dispute department would have seen that promise as a credit memo and returned your money.

I contacted Kiwi on your behalf. A representative responded immediately and promised to look into your refund. But two weeks later, there was no sign of your money. So I reached out again. This time, a representative got in touch with you and refunded your $3,450. The process got delayed due to a still unprocessed refund from the airlines side, a Kiwi representative told me.
DENVER (AP)  Colorado has turned increasingly blue over the past decade, thanks in part to an influx of college-educated voters in the expanding Denver metropolitan area. Joe Biden decisively won the 2020 presidential election in the state, and Democrats control the governors seat and the Legislature.

Colorados top race this November features Democratic Sen. Michael Bennets quest for a third term against Republican Joe ODea, a construction firm owner and first-time candidate. ODea is testing whether a Republican can win a U.S. Senate race in Colorado by supporting some abortion rights.

Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, a wealthy tech entrepreneur and former congressman, seeks a second term against Heidi Ganahl, herself an entrepreneur who as a University of Colorado regent is the only Republican holding statewide office.

Most of Colorados seats in the U.S. House are viewed as safe for the incumbents, including GOP firebrand Rep. Lauren Boebert.

Attention has focused on a new seat, the 8th district, added following the 2020 Census. In that race, GOP state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, who once opposed all abortions but now says she believes in exceptions in cases where the mothers life is endangered, faces Democratic state Rep. Yadira Caraveo, a pediatrician and defender of abortion rights. Latino voters comprise nearly 40% of the district, which stretches north of Denver.

Colorados ballot includes several tax and fiscal measures and a proposal to legalize adult therapeutic use of psilocybin and psilocin, psychoactive compounds in magic mushrooms.

Democrats hold a large majority in the state House and have a slight edge in the state Senate.

Heres a look at what to expect:

ELECTION NIGHT

Polls close at 7 p.m. local time (9 p.m. ET), but most of Colorado votes by mail. Registered voters are automatically sent a ballot and once returned they can confirm via a state-run website that its been received by the county clerks office.

While voters can cast a ballot in person on Election Day, only a small number do. In the 2020 general election, nearly 100% of all ballots cast were sent by mail or delivered to drop boxes and voting centers.

Things happen quickly after the polls close. Because ballots have been flowing into country clerk offices for weeks  and are counted as they arrive  results from a huge chunk of the total vote are released within 90 minutes of polls closing.

HOW COLORADO VOTES

The key counties are along the Front Range, from Fort Collins south to Pueblo. Its where most of the population is. Democrats dominate in Denver and Boulder counties; Republican run up their totals in El Paso, Douglas and Weld counties. For statewide Republican candidates to stay competitive, they have to limit their loss margins in Denver and try to win in the bellwether suburban counties such as Jefferson and Arapahoe. Democrats have done well there recently.

On the Western Slope, GOP candidates tend to do well in Mesa County, home of Grand Junction, as well as the sparsely populated Eastern Plains.

Colorado usually counts about 90 percent of ballots cast on election night. Mail ballots dropped off on Election Day, in drop boxes or at polling places, wont be counted until Wednesday or Thursday. That could delay race calls in the most competitive races.

DECISION NOTES

The AP will count votes and declare winners in 110 contested elections in Colorado, including five statewide races and eight U.S. House races. In the 2020 general election, the AP first reported results at 9:02 p.m. ET and 90% of results at 11:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, Nov. 5.

The AP does not make projections or name apparent or likely winners. Only when the AP is fully confident a race has been won  defined most simply as the moment a trailing candidate no longer has a path to victory  will we make a call. Should a candidate declare victory  or offer a concession  before the AP calls a race, we will cover newsworthy developments in our reporting. In doing so, we will make clear that the AP has not yet declared a winner and explain the reason why we believe the race is too early or too close to call.

The AP may call a statewide or U.S. House race in which the margin between the top two candidates is 0.5% or less, if we determine the lead is too large for a recount to change the outcome. Colorado law provides for mandatory recounts if the gap between the candidates is less than or equal to 0.5% of the leaders vote.

The AP will not call down-ballot races on election night if the margin between the top two candidates is less than 2% or if the leading candidate is within 2% of the 50% runoff threshold. The AP will revisit those races later in the week to confirm there arent enough outstanding votes left to count that could change the outcome.

Q: WHAT DID WE LEARN FROM THE PRIMARY?

A: Abortion and election security are particularly relevant in Colorado, as reflected in the Republican primaries in June, coming just days after the Supreme Courts reversal of Roe v. Wade.

In the GOP Senate primary, ODea soundly defeated state Rep. Ron Hanks, who opposes abortion in all circumstances.

Republican Tina Peters, the conspiracy-theorist Mesa County elections clerk whos been indicted on charges of tampering with voting equipment and posting data online, sought her partys nomination to run Colorados elections as secretary of state. Republican primary voters overwhelmingly chose Pam Anderson, a former county clerk who previously led the state clerks association and defends the states mail-in elections system. Anderson is now positioned to challenge Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold, whos helped lead the national fight against 2020 election deniers.

Q: WHATS CHANGED SINCE THE PANDEMIC ELECTION OF 2020?

A: Colorado has added ballot drop boxes throughout the state and a system for voters to track their ballots.

Q: WHAT DO TURNOUT AND ADVANCE VOTE LOOK LIKE?

A: Turnout has been trending up in Colorado, and its typically one of the highest turnout states in the country. In 2018 turnout was 58%; in 2020 it was 77%. Nearly all the vote is advance vote because essentially all voting is done by mail. Votes counted after Election Day trended very slightly more Republican in 2020, by about one half of one percentage point.

Q: WHAT HAPPENS AFTER TUESDAY?

A: Colorado law provides for mandatory recounts if the gap between the candidates is less than or equal to 0.5% of the leaders vote. Candidates also can request recounts within 28 days of an election, but must pay for them.

Check out https://apnews.com/hub/explaining-the-elections to learn more about the issues and factors at play in the 2022 midterm elections.

Follow APs coverage of the elections at: https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections
For more than three decades, David Sedaris has been mining his life experiences and personal foibles for the raw material out of which he has fashioned the often hilarious, and surprisingly poignant, essays and stories that make up such volumes as Me Talk Pretty One Day and Lets Explore Diabetes with Owls.

But the stories other people might tell about Sedaris and his life, he really doesnt have time for.

I always tell the people who interview me, Feel free to run wild  Im never going to read it, so youre not going to have to worry, Sedaris said, speaking from his home somewhere in rural Sussex, England, during a recent phone conversation. Its always been funny to me, the things people get bent out of shape about.

Such as  just to cite one example  publishing ones own diaries, as Sedaris did in the volumes Theft by Finding in 2017 and A Carnival of Snackery in 2021.

Apparently, some writer at the New Yorker accused me of committing self-plagiarism, because some of the material in the diaries I later used as the starting point for an essay, Sedaris said. It wasnt something I even thought about until after the books came out. People are really looking for things to be upset about.

Sedaris will be in Tulsa on Nov. 10, as one of the stops on his current lecture tour. While he published his most recent collection of essays, Happy-Go-Lucky, in May of this year, he said this sojourn through the United States is not tied to the publication.

I already did a book tour for (Happy-Go-Lucky), where I was reading mostly from that book, Sedaris said. I toured America and England, and by the end of it, I was sick of that material and started writing new stuff. So this tour, Im reading much of what Ive written since the last tour. Some of it Ive read in England maybe a dozen, 15 times, and Im not sick of it yet. Im curious to see how it will work before an American audience.

And there are, Sedaris said, definite differences between British and American audiences that he has noticed over the years. Any mention of race in one of his stories  even if it is something as seemingly innocuous as mentioning that a bus driver in a particular story in a person of color, or something a bit more overt, as in his recounting of various Christmas traditions around the world, titled Six to Eight Black Men  tends to play differently depending upon the continent upon which the story is told.

American audiences kind of freak out, he said. Its like they think, If I laugh at this, what does that mean? Is he trying to trap me in some way? No, Im just telling the story, and in this particular story, the bus driver happened to be Black. Race isnt always an important point.

I did try to address this in an essay, about when race is important in the things I write, Sedaris said. I wasnt trying to say anything bad, or accuse anybody of anything. When I read it in England, it went over very well. I tried it in America a few times, and people just freaked out. They werent listening anymore to what I was trying to say.

Sedaris first came to national attention in 1992, when National Public Radios Morning Edition featured him reading his story Santaland Diaries, recounting his experiences one Christmas shopping season playing an elf in the Santaland display at Macys in New York City, dealing with imperious Santas, obnoxious customers and frazzled co-workers.

Since then, Sedaris has published 14 collections of his semi-autobiographical stories and essays, including Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, and Me Talk Pretty One Day, which earned him the 2000 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

His most recent publications include The Best of Me  its just things that Ive enjoyed reading out loud over the years, he said  and Happy-Go-Lucky, in which Sedaris confronts in his tragicomic way the vagaries of aging.

That includes a series of essays dealing with the death of Sedaris father, with whom he had a contentious relationship to the end.

When my mom died, it was awful, he said. The grief I felt was such that Id wake up and not know how I was going to be able to get through the day. But my dad... I didnt love my dad. I never think, Oh, if I only could talk to him on the phone one more time. I dont need that. Just about every moment I spent with my father was a battle.

Sedaris recalled the moment he decided he needed to move to New York City and pursue his dream of being a writer.

I was teaching creative writing in Chicago, I had just broken up with someone, and I thought, its now or never, he said. And my father said, Youre making the biggest mistake in your life  they will eat you alive there. That was constant with him. Any time I took a chance, he said I would fail. But moving to New York was one of the best things I ever did.

In one of the essays in Happy-Go-Lucky, Sedaris writes that one of the last things his father said to him was, David... Youve accomplished so many fantastic things in your life. Youre, well... I want to tell you... you... you won.

Its a statement Sedaris has mulled over ever since. On my best days, he said, I think about how for all his life, my father bet all his chips on me being a failure. And it really must have (messed) him up when that didnt happen. But I dont really know what he meant by that statement. So I just take it for whatever I want it to mean.

Featured video:
Independent expenditures of more than $2.5 million on behalf of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Joy Hofmeister have been reported to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission since Monday.

The spending for Hofmeister by groups that do not have to report donors identities is now approaching $13 million just since Aug. 25 and is likely $20 million or more since the dark money campaign against Stitt began.

With the Nov. 8 general election days away, Hofmeister and her allies are trying to deny Republican incumbent Kevin Stitt a second term, with most polls showing a close race.

No sitting Oklahoma governor seeking re-election has been defeated since David Hall lost the 1974 Democratic primary in 1974.

The sources of the money lined up against Stitt and for Hofmeister, the sitting state superintendent of public instruction who switched from Republican to Democrat last year after a series of run-ins with the governor, are unclear, but Stitt has made quite a few people upset during his time in office.

The list includes educators, Indian tribes, medical professionals, some veterans groups and homeowners with property in the way of an ambitious turnpike-building program.

His administration is also under scrutiny for its handling of COVID relief funds, a contract to rebuild state park restaurants and cronyism claims.

The anonymous spending on Hofmeisters behalf, though, has given Stitt an opening to claim she is a frontwoman for shadowy special interests.

Perhaps ironically, the flood of untraceable funds directed at Stitt is the result of the so-called Citizens United lawsuit originally brought by Republicans to aid in high-dollar fundraising.

The latest round of independent expenditures on Hofmeisters behalf includes $832,000 from Imagine This Oklahoma, almost $710,000 from Oklahomas Children, Our Future and $482,000 from The Oklahoma Project.

All three have previously reported large expenditures on Hofmeisters behalf, including a total of almost $9.5 million last month.

The only new independent expenditure report for Stitt was $25,500 by the Republican Governors Association, which had previously reported spending $1.6 million on his behalf.

Featured video:
The BJP has taken an early lead in four seats spread across Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha and Bihar, while the ruling TRS was ahead of its rivals in Telangana's Munugode (ANI)

New Delhi: The BJP has taken an early lead in four seats spread across Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha and Bihar, while the ruling TRS was ahead of its rivals in Telangana's Munugode as counting of votes got underway on Sunday for the bypolls to seven assembly constituencies in six states.

The RJD has established a lead in Mokama constituency in Bihar, while Rutuja Latke, the candidate of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), established a comfortable lead after the first round of counting for the byelection to Andheri (East) Assembly seat in Mumbai.

In the bypoll to Munugode Assembly constituency in Telanagana, the ruling TRS was ahead of its rivals after completion of the first round of counting of votes on Sunday

While the TRS secured 6,096 votes, its nearest rival BJP got 4,904 votes in the first round. The Congress garnered 1,877 votes, official sources said.

In Haryana's Adampur assembly, BJP candidate Bhavya Bishnoi is leading by a margin of 10,228 votes over his nearest rival and Congress candidate Jai Prakash after five rounds of counting.

According to trends, BJP's Bhavya has so far polled 28,669 votes while Congress's Prakash got 18,441 votes.

In Uttar Pradesh, BJP candidate Aman Giri has taken a comfortable lead of about 25,000 votes over his nearest rival as counting of votes progressed in the Gola Gokarannath assembly bypolls.

While Giri has got 73,371 votes so far, Samajwadi Party's Vinay Tiwari got 48,739 votes, officials said after the 18th round of counting.

According to the Election Commission trends for Dhamnagar bypolls in Odisha's Bhadrak district, BJP candidate Suryabanshi Suraj registered a lead over his BJD rival Abanti Das by 3,261 votes after the initial rounds of counting of votes.

Suraj secured 18,181 votes in the first four rounds of counting, while BJD candidate Abanti Das bagged 14,920.Congress nominee Baba Harekrushna Sethi got 557 votes.

In Bihar, the RJD has established a lead in Mokama constituency, while the BJP is ahead in Gopalganj, Election Commission trends revealed. In Mokama, Neelam Devi of the RJD is ahead of BJP's Sonam Devi by 12,152 votes. Kusum Devi of the BJP has taken a lead over Mohan Prasad Gupta of the RJD by 637 votes, EC trends showed.

After the first round of counting for the byelection to Andheri (East) Assembly seat in Mumbai, Latke had established a comfortable lead.She has polled 4,277 votes out of the 5,624 votes counted so far, an official said.

The bypolls in the seven seats were held on November three.

Bhajan Lal's grandson Bhavya Bishnoi and RJD's Neelam Devi, whose husband Anant Singh's disqualification necessitated the by-election in Bihar's Mokama, are among the prominent candidates in the fray.

Among the seven seats which witnessed a stiff contest between the BJP and the regional parties, the saffron party held three and the Congress two, while the Shiv Sena and the RJD had one each.

For the bypolls in Bihar, the main contest is between the BJP and the RJD, and the saffron party's main contenders in Haryana are the Congress, INLD and the AAP.

Main contestants TRS, SP and the BJD are taking on the BJP in Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha respectively are taking on the saffron party.

The BJP is seeking to retain the Gola Gokarannath seat and Dhamnagar in the BJD-ruled Odisha, banking on sympathy votes as it has fielded the sons of sitting MLAs whose death necessitated the bypolls.

The Gola Gokarannath seat fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Arvind Giri on September 6. With the BSP and the Congress keeping away from the bypolls, there seems to be a direct fight between the BJP's Aman Giri and the SP candidate - former Gola MLA Vinay Tiwari.

The BJD has fielded Abanti Das, the lone woman among the total five candidates in Dhamnagar. BJP MLA Bishnu Charan Sethi's death necessitated the by-election. The saffron party has fielded Sethi's son Suryabanshi Suraj.

The BJP and the ruling TRS had been campaigning aggressively in Munugode in Telangana, where the Congress MLA had resigned and is fighting on the saffron party's ticket.

In Adampur, the by-election was necessitated after former chief minister Bhajan Lal's younger son Kuldeep Bishnoi resigned as MLA from the seat and switched from the Congress to the BJP in August. Bishnoi's son Bhavya is now contesting as the BJP candidate.

The Adampur seat has been held by the Bhajan Lal family since 1968, with the late ex-chief minister representing it on nine occasions, his wife Jasma Devi once, and Kuldeep on four occasions.

Bihar saw the first electoral test for the Nitish Kumar-led 'Mahagathbandhan' government, formed less than three months ago after the JD(U) parted ways with the BJP.

The Mokama and Gopalganj seats in Bihar were earlier held by the RJD and the BJP respectively.

The BJP is contesting from the Mokama constituency for the first time as the saffron party had, on previous occasions, left the seat to its allies. Both the BJP and the RJD have fielded the wives of local musclemen in the bypolls.

BJP nominee Sonam Devi is up against RJD's Neelam Devi, whose husband Anant Singh's disqualification has necessitated the by-election.

Mokama is the stronghold of Anant Singh since 2005. He won the seat twice on JD(U) tickets and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has appealed to voters to support him.

In Gopalganj, BJP fielded Kusum Devi, the wife of deceased party MLA Subhash Singh. The RJD fielded Mohan Gupta, while Indira Yadav, wife of Lalu Yadav's brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav, is contesting as Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate.

Shiv Sena's Latke is expected to comfortably win Andheri East Assembly constituency in Mumbai after the BJP withdrew from the contest which is the first after the recent split in the Shiv Sena following a rebellion by Eknath Shinde, who replaced Thackeray as the Maharashtra chief minister.

The NCP and Congress have supported her candidature.

The by-election was necessitated due to the death of Latke's husband and Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke in May.
Oklahoma voters on Tuesday hold the power to usher in a new era for the state, to chart a course for better public schools, health care, jobs and a host of other needs.

Of equal importance is the tone of leadership being voted into office. This moment of divisiveness that has gripped the nation and spilled into our communities can be turned around with the right electorate  the people we choose to represent us.

Elections reflect who we are and what priorities we set.

To help voters, news reporters have written profiles, produced Q&A videos and covered a variety of town halls, forums and debates of candidates. We encourage voters to review those stories when considering each race.

Since June, the Tulsa World editorial board has contacted about 70 candidates to consider for endorsements. Here is a list of candidates on Tuesdays ballot that the Tulsa World has endorsed:

U.S. Senate (expiring): James Lankford

U.S. Senate (unexpiring): Kendra Horn

Attorney General: Gentner Drummond

Labor Commissioner: Leslie Osborn

Corporation Commissioner: Kim David

Senate District 34: J.J. Dossett

House District 12: Kevin McDugle

House District 23: Susan Young

House District 70: Suzanne Schreiber

House District 71: Amanda Swope

House District 79: Melissa Provenzano

Tulsa County Commissioner District 1: Stan Sallee

Tulsa County Assessor: John Wright

Tulsa City Council District 5: Mykey Arthrell-Knezek

Tulsa County District Judge: Tanya Wilson

We support retention of all members of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals and Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals.

Whether you agree with our preferences or not, we urge you to vote Tuesday. In meeting candidates about endorsements, we tried always to thank them for running. Democracy only works if people are willing to enter public service and give voters choices. That is no small sacrifice.

Also, democracy only works if voters show up; voting is an act of patriotism.
Born blind, Nguyen Minh Tri has tried his hardest in the past 20 years to achieve his dream, to be a student like others his age, and he has succeeded.

After 12 years of attending elementary, middle, and high school, Tri managed to get into the Department of Music Education at Saigon University at the age of 19.

This school year, he is a freshman there.

The difficult road to school

When Tri was born to a poor family in Tay Ninh Province, a neighbor of Ho Chi Minh City in southeastern Vietnam, his parents were overjoyed.

But shortly after the happy moment, doctors informed them that their son would live forever in darkness because he was blind from birth.

"He cannot even see lights," doctors said.

It took Tri's parents more than four years to accept the truth, after taking their son anywhere they said there were possible methods to save his sight.

Hoping to give Tri a chance to study, his parents chose to send their son to a center for the care of visually-impaired children in Tay Ninh since he was five years old.

Having to live far away from his parents at the age of five, Tri cried most afternoons. Fortunately, his sadness was alleviated by many friends and teachers who surrounded him.

In class, Tri showed his enthusiasm for Braille and calculations, which could only be imagined with great concentration. In addition, he was able to memorize the routes in the center so that he could gradually walk and do many things by himself.

He shared with his roommates the tasks such as cleaning the toilet and the bathroom, doing the laundry, tidying the common room, and arranging the bookshelves.

When Tri got out of bed, he went straight to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and dripped some cleaning liquid on the floor to clean it conveniently and skillfully. He not only has an excellent memory, but also a good pair of ears.

Tri knows history very well, especially the famous Battle of Bach Dang River, where Ngo Quyen made history with his victory.

Ngo Quyen (898 - 944) was a national hero associated with his glorious victory over the Southern Han Dynasty invasion at Bach Dang River in 938.

Ngo Quyen ascended the throne in the spring of 939.

"Of course, it is normal for me to trip over the table or platform when walking within the school. Once I walked into another wrong class, only when I heard the others laughing did I realize my mistake," Tri recalled, smiling awkwardly.

So many obstacles

While Tri is better at memorization, he has many difficulties with subjects related to math, especially geometry.

To keep up with the lessons, Tri relies on 'a special kind of textbook,' in addition to Braille textbooks for the visually impaired, friendship.

Thanh, a close friend of Tri's, has helped him greatly by recording the lectures and sending them to Tri after school.

Out of great gratitude for this help, Tri sometimes gives his friend a song he recorded himself or buys Thanh a candy bar.

Despite his blindness, Tri has always been a student with good academic results thanks to his determination and hard study during 12 years of the universal education program.

When Cao Thi Thu Thanh, in charge of the education program of the Center for Visually-Impaired Children in Tay Ninh, received the news that 'the handsome student' had received a place at Saigon University, she was incredibly happy.

However, she quickly became concerned about her student's difficult financial situation.

As Tri's teacher for many years, Thanh knows that his mother already suffered many complications from a stroke.

His mother has to visit the hospital frequently to treat brain atrophy and pleural effusion at the same time.

"Minh Tri has another younger sibling who is also studying. His father, who works as a driver for others, is the family breadwinner. The family circumstances are rather needy," said Thanh, adding that there will be many more challenges for her blind student as a freshman in the new school year.

'The king of prize winners' in singing competitions Teacher Thanh shows her pride in her dear student as he can play the guitar, organ, and drum really well. Nguyen Minh Tri can be called 'the king of prizes' as he has won quite a number of admirable prizes after participating in some music competitions. His achievements include a second prize at the Red Phoenix Flower Festival in 2014; a first prize and second prize in 2016 and 2017, respectively, at the singing competition of the White-eye Festival held by the Tay Ninh Culture House; a first prize and second prize at the singing competition for the disabled in 2014 and 2019.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Fifteen ancient Greek artifacts from the private Cycladic art collection of a U.S. billionaire went on display for the first time on Wednesday in Athens, under an agreement which has stirred controversy in Greece.

The Cycladic antiquities, which Greece says are "masterpieces of unique archaeological value," traveled to Athens following a deal between Greece and New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art for the repatriation of 161 artifacts collected over the years by Leonard N. Stern, a businessman and philanthropist.

Speaking at a ceremony on the eve of the exhibition's opening to the public, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said it was "truly a special day for the cultural life of the country," describing the works as "priceless antiquities of rare beauty which are returning to their home."

After being displayed for a year at the Cycladic Museum in Athens, the 15 works - the most significant of the collection - will be displayed in New York from early 2024 for 25 years. They will gradually be returned to Greece.

The Stern collection features some 161 works made in the Cyclades cluster of islands in the Aegean Sea, primarily in the early Bronze Age. Greece's culture ministry says many of the objects in the collection, which includes figurines and vases, are considered to be "extremely rare" or unique examples of the art and technique of the Cycladic civilization.

People look at marble Cycladic females figurines, during the opening of the exhibition ''Homecoming. Cycladic treasures on their return journey'' at Museum of Cycladic Art, in Athens Greece, November 2, 2022. Photo: Reuters

The deal between Greece and The Met, which was ratified by Greek lawmakers in September, has stirred controversy in Greece, where the opposition as well as many archaeologists and conservators have called for their immediate, permanent return.

Five unions of archaeologists, conservators, and ministry employees called the agreement "a scandal" in a statement ahead of the opening.

"These objects have not been checked legally as to whether they are authentic or fake, nor how they got from the Cyclades to the collection of a multimillionaire in New York," they said in the statement.

A small group of protesters held a white banner outside the museum during the event on Wednesday reading, "They're stolen."

Mitsotakis defended the deal as "a blueprint for other solutions to come", hinting at the "Elgin Marbles", as they are often known - 75 metres of Parthenon frieze, 15 metopes and 17 sculptures - which Greece has campaigned for since they were removed by British diplomat Lord Elgin in the early 19th century when he was ambassador to the Ottoman Empire then ruling Greece.

The British Museum, custodian of the marbles, has ruled out returning them.
Here are todays leading news stories:

Politics

-- Construction of the new headquarters of the Department of Justice and the People's Procuracy of the Lao capital city Vientiane began on Saturday, the Vietnam News Agency reported, adding that the work is a gift of the Hanoi Party Committee, authorities, and people to the Lao capital city.

Society

-- An increasing number of roadside petrol sellers have appeared along multiple streets in Thu Duc City and Go Vap District in Ho Chi Minh City, posing risk of fire and explosion.

-- Police in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong confirmed on Saturday they had apprehended a commune official on suspicion of appropriating VND1.3 billion (US$52,200) from local residents during the procedures related to the issuance of land use right certificates.

-- Authorities in north-central Nghe An Province are looking for family members of a 56-year-old woman who said she had been sold to China in 1997 and does not know where her relatives are.

-- Police in Cu Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City confirmed on Saturday they were investigating a case where a 38-year-old man died after his car exploded on Friday.

-- Authorities in south-central Binh Dinh Province have sent a document to the Ministry of Transport regarding their plan to expand Phu Cat Airport and gradually turn it into an international airdrome in the future.

Business

-- Vietnam posted a trade surplus of $9.4 billion in the first ten months of 2022, the Vietnam News Agency quoted the General Statistics Office as reporting.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
The stroke incidence in men in Vietnam is 1.5 times higher than that in women, Associate Professor Mai Duy Ton, director of Bach Mai Hospitals Stroke Center, cited the largest research on multi-center stroke in the country as saying at the International Stroke Conference 2022 held in Hanoi on Saturday.

At the conference, Associate Professor Ton announced the preliminary results of the research.

The stroke prevalence in men and women in Vietnam is contrary to that in other countries, where more women suffer strokes than men.

The research was conducted in 10 stroke centers nationwide with 2,310 patients, the largest-ever number.

According to the research, the average age of stroke patients in Vietnam is 65. Of these, stroke patients aged below 45 account for 7.2 percent.

In addition, patients suffering strokes caused by cerebral infarction and intracerebral hemorrhage make up 76 and 24 percent, respectively.

Among stroke patients aged under 45, intracerebral hemorrhage strokes account for up to 46 percent.

Associate Professor Ton said, the percentage of stroke patients in Vietnam taken to hospitals in the first six hours [of the onset of the strokes] reaches 33 percent only, well below the rate in other countries.

Early hospitalization is very important for effective stroke treatment.

Being hospitalized early, patients will be treated with clot-busting drugs. Doctors can also use tools to remove clots from arteries, thereby restoring blood flow to the brain.

The results of the research are meaningful in clinical practice and education. In particular, stroke patients should be taken to hospitals or stroke centers at the earliest possible time.

The International Stroke Conference 2022 was jointly held by the University of Medicine and Pharmacy under the Vietnam National University-Hanoi and Bach Mai Hospital to improve public awareness of stroke.

The conference was attended by many scientists, experts, professionals, doctors, and researchers from domestic and foreign hospitals and medicine schools.

At the conference, the University of Medicine and Pharmacy announced the launch of the stroke and cerebral circulation subject.

According to the Ministry of Health, Vietnam has some 200,000 stroke cases per year. Like other chronic diseases, the number of strokes is on the rise.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
ABC News boss Justin Stevens has denied the Sunday night bulletin recently trimming from 40 to 30 minutes is a final surrender in covering state based politics and issues.

The claim came from Alan Sunderland, ABCs Editorial Director from 2013 to 2019, and a board director of ABC Alumni. Those with long memories will recall the expanded bulletin was born when state-based 7:30 editions were dumped from Fridays in 2014.

The 40-minute news bulletin, together with expanded online coverage, was meant to deliver the kind of in-depth coverage that state-based current affairs used to. With its demise, what are we left with? Sunderland asked.

In my view, we are left with a clear and obvious gap in the ABCs news coverage. State and territory newsrooms, talented and hard-working as they are, are simply not being given the opportunity to deliver the amount and the depth of coverage that Australians need if they want to see all levels of government closely scrutinised and held to account. While the occasional online article or podcast can be helpful, nothing has the impact or immediacy of scheduled television current affairs. Live extended television interviews with political leaders, for example, generate extensive follow up and often drive the agenda for other news media to follow.

But Justin Stevens said the broadcaster takes a multiplatform approach to its News, including the ABC News website and app, ABC iview and ABC listen.

For one, we now have ABC News channel, which on average reaches more than 3.5 million Australians each week. The pandemic, the bushfires, the floods and many other stories and events have demonstrated the integral value of ABC News channel in a digital, on-demand and streaming world where the audience wants immediate information on unfolding events.

He continued, Alan writes that reducing the Sunday night edition of the 7pm News by 10 minutes to 30 minutes, in line with the other nights, marks the final surrender in a long ABC retreat from providing regular in-depth scheduled coverage of State politics and State issues on the public broadcaster.

With this, I strongly disagree. There is no retreat and no surrender. Our coverage of state and territory issues is impactful and comprehensive  and we are delivering it to audiences on their schedule every day of the week, not just to our schedule. 

Stevens listed a long line of recent state-based stories covered by ABC.

As the ABC navigates the increasingly fragmented media environment, asking how we can afford do more scheduled TV current affairs is not the right question. Even assuming we could get the many millions of dollars it would cost, it would not serve the needs of most our audience members, given where they are today compared to a decade ago, he insisted.

While Alan argues nothing has the impact or immediacy of scheduled television current affairs, in fact journalism strategically rolled out across our platforms daily has measurably greater impact and immediacy, reaching audiences the ABC never has before. For a Four Corners episode or 7.30 story that might be seen by a million viewers on scheduled broadcast, there is another million  mostly under the age of 50  who consume the journalism via digital.

You can read more at ABC Alumni.
Were not used to seeing people on reality television in this age group. Were used to seeing 20-somethings, I suppose, all the time, says Nine executive producer John Walsh.

We see them in MAFS, Love Island, The Bachelor.

But were just not used to seeing older singles, 40  60 dating and seeing the struggles they have and the things they go through, trying to form a connection with somebody.

Enter My Mum, Your Dad, a US-based dating format from Greg Daniels (King of the Hill, The Office, Parks & Recreation, Upload, Space Force) and daughter, Haley Daniels.

Kate Langbroek hosts the series filmed mid year in Dural, NSW, in which singles aged 40 -60 pursue romance secretly watched on by their adult children through surveillance cameras.

Its kind of a whole new world from a viewers point of view

Straight away, youre seeing and hearing things that you dont regularly see in Reality shows. You cant accuse the cast of being there for Instagram followers. A 50 year old single fireman is not on there for to increase his Instagram reach. So its kind of a whole new world from a viewers point of view, watching people of this age going through the heartbreak sometimes and the joys of modern dating.

The cast were assembled in part from parents putting themselves forward, but also nominated by their children in the hope they might have a second shot at romance.

The series twist is the children had no idea they would be spying via TV cameras in a separate bunker and secretly affecting the dates through a series of their own challenges and eliminations. Instead they thought they were only expected to give interviews about their parents.

That is a part of the format which is different to the American one. The Americans lost, I think, somebody about halfway through but weve actually formatted it, so there are regular departures through the course of the series, he continues.

They have challenges in the US one to manipulate the parents dates. But its not as consequential as they are in ours. So the winner of the first challenge gets to individually get to send a parent home.

They win the challenge and hear pitches from the other kids on why their parents should stay, then send one home.

Its explained to the parents that this is done by the Dating Consultants who are their grown up children.

When influences or manipulations do happen, and someone is voted off, its explained to the parents that this is done by the Dating Consultants who are their grown up children.

Amongst the cast are parents whose marriages have dissolved but whose children are keen to see them make a new connection.

Kayla is a daughter, very bubbly, opinionated, young woman. Shes 26 and her dad is Shane. They have a very close relationship. They live together and work together. Kayla nominated Shane to be on the show, Walsh explains.

Something that struck me about the whole show is how invested the child of a single parent is, in seeing their parent happy. I think thats something that really runs right through the show will be a surprise to people. Kayla & Shane are a really good example of that. Shanes just a regular bloke  a regular looking guy with a regular sort of personality.

But they have a great relationship.

Its a terrible story. She was 28. Theyd only been married less than a year.

Petula is a psychic medium who lives in Karratha in Western Australia, a very remote mining town. Drhys is a tradie based in Perth, whose father died in a car accident when he was seven months old. Its a terrible story. She was 28. Theyd only been married less than a year. So hes very protective of his mother.

His investment in his mothers happiness is really something to see. You see him quite teary at different times, talking his mother.

Mel was married for 28 years, I think married her childhood sweetheart, but her husband cheated on her. She finally decided to put an end to the marriage. Shes never dated anybody else.

As we like to say in the show, she really has her walls up and is very hesitant about diving back into the dating world. Her son Sam is a really fun personality and really encouraged her to do this. And this is a massive break from her comfort zone to come on a show like this.

You really see her struggling with the idea of being able to trust somebody in a relationship.

You really see her struggling with the idea of being able to trust somebody in a relationship. As she tries to navigate her feelings and regain trust with men is again something you dont normally see on TV.

Screening over just 3 weeks, the show will culminate in Blessing Ceremony in which the remaining couples will seek the approval of their children to proceed beyond the television experience (it isnt clear how a disapproval would prevent further contact).

Walsh also says Kate Langbroek was the right choice as a mother with both humour and empathy.

Shes like the fun mum. The kids really respond to her because shes got kids of a similar age, he continues.

She ends up being very relatable

There are scenes when shes speaking heart to heart with the parents and also with the kids. So she ends up being very relatable. The show is funny and heartfelt, I suppose, thats what were trying to achieve with it, and Kates able to do both those things. Its really important the host is able to be empathetic.

There are no sharply drawn villains. People talk about having a villain edit -which doesnt actually happen- but theres nothing like that here.

The kids are the real surprise package of the of the show, he adds.

My Mum, Your Dad screens 7:30pm Monday and Tuesday on Nine.
Brillient CEO, Sukumar Iyer

Brillient CEO, Sukumar Iyer

RESTON, Va., Nov. 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brillient Corporation announced today that Founder and CEO Sukumar Iyer was named Greater Washington Government Contractor (GovCon) Executive of the Year, in the $75 to $300 million category, by The Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce (NOVACC) and Professional Services Council (PSC). Mr. Iyer received the award at the 20th annual GovCon Awards gala, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to advancing the mission of Government, the community, and the government contracting industry during the past year. The GovCon awards gala is "the premier event honoring the leadership, innovation, and commitment to excellence of the people and businesses in the region's government contracting community."

Upon accepting the award, Mr. Iyer said, "I accept this award on behalf of 1,400 employees who work hard every day to make us look brilliant. They are led by an even harder working team of executives and leaders ... I accept this award as the voice of an amazing team and amazing company we've built."

Mr. Iyer serves as Executive Chairman and CEO of Brillient Corporation. Actively in business since 2006, the Reston, Virginia-based full spectrum digital transformation company has grown from a small business to a premier mid-tier company that tripled in size over the last three years. For over 15 years, Brillient has worked with more than 24 Federal agency clients to improve their business processes and advance their missions through innovative technology solutions.

About Brillient

Brillient is an award-winning Full Spectrum Digital Transformation company enabling clients to transform through the continuum of analog, to digital, to analytics, leading to insight-driven decision-making and mission execution. They help clients achieve efficiencies and lower costs in their digital government and IT modernization initiatives, enabling friction-free interaction with citizens and businesses. They are always looking for brilliant people; check them out at brillient.net.

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Contact Information:

Julia Brainin

Senior Marketing Manager

julia.brainin@brillient.net

703-994-4232



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Image 1: Brillient CEO, Sukumar Iyer





Brillient CEO, Sukumar Iyer, was named Greater Washington Government Contractor (GovCon) Executive of the Year, in the $75 to $300 million category, at the 2022 GovCon Awards Gala, held November 2, 2022.









This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

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Joe Bidens climate envoy has questioned the UKs plans to expand North Sea oil and gas production dramatically, warning it will not solve the energy crisis.

John Kerry also attacked fossil fuel chiefs for exploiting the Ukraine war to convince governments they must slow down the shift to renewable energy, saying: Its just not true.

The former US vice-president said he did not know the full details of the UKs controversial plans which are set to award more than 100 licences to extract oil and gas in the North Sea.

But he said: The truth is, and this is indisputable, that wind power and solar power are cheaper energy than fossil fuel energy today.

If youre planning a new facility, and youre planning new drilling, it isnt going to make the difference today, or tomorrow, or in the next month  because its just not going to be available over that period of time.

It takes a number of years to do that. So hopefully its not a long-term projection.

The move, announced last month, has already triggered the threat of a legal challenge on the grounds it is incompatible with the UKs legal commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

It also threatens to undermine Rishi Sunaks claims to be a world leader in tackling the climate emergency, when he arrives at the crucial Cop27 summit in Egypt on Sunday.

During Liz Trusss short-lived premiership, the North Sea Transition Authority restarted the process of awarding licences, putting almost 900 locations up for exploration.

It is the first round since 2019-20, when the near-annual process was put on hold while the government carried out a climate compatibility check.

That assessment has been criticised for failing to properly assess the impact on the prospects for the UK staying within its interim carbon budgets through to 2037.

Mr Kerry, while not mentioning the UK, hit out at senior figures in the fossil fuel industry using the energy shortage provoked by Russias invasion of Ukraine as leverage.

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They are telling governments, we need to be pumping a lot more and were moving much too fast and look at what youve done to us, he warned, speaking on BBC Radio 4.

There are those who make that argument and its just not true. Its not, its not. Its not an accurate narrative, Mr Kerry insisted.

Washingtons envoy also urged rich nations to step up to commitments already made to help poorer nations transition and adapt to the traumatic impact of climate change.

Obviously those countries with greater means across the board  and that includes some developing countries that have greater means  need to also step up and help in this transition, he said.
Visakhapatnam: After the AP High Court on Friday cleared the legal hurdles for the proposed Bhogapuram International Airport, education minister Botsa Satyanarayana directed Vizianagaram district officials to speed up land acquisition for the project.

The minister issued the directions during a review with collector A. Surya Kumari and joint collector Mayur Ashok on Saturday, after the High Court paved the way for the process. He also sought officials to properly document the acquisition.

Now that all legal issues have been resolved, work on the greenfield airport needs to start immediately, the minister told the officials.

In June 2020, the GMR Group inked an agreement with the AP government to develop the Bhogapuram International Airport, with a proposed deadline of 2023. However, the project was held up due to delays in land acquisition.

In January 2015, the state government issued a notification to acquire 2,700, of which 2,200 acres were earmarked for the airport and 500 acres, for allied services. The government had announced a compensation package of Rs 678 crore for 1,959 landowners, but it could not acquire 37.15 acres of the 2,200 acres earmarked for the airport.

A group of 32 farmers from Kancheru village of Bhogapuram mandal challenged the notification, following which the High Court issued a stay on it, which was vacated on Friday.

Addressing mediapersons on Saturday, Botsa said that the foundation stone for the airport, as well as a Central Tribal University, would be laid soon. Sources, however, indicated that it was unlikely during Prime Minister Narendra Modis Visakhapatnam visit on November 11.
Rishi Sunak will urge world leaders to move further and faster in transitioning away from damaging fossil fuels as he pledges to make the UK a clean energy superpower.

The Prime Minister travels to Egypt on Sunday ahead of the Cop27 international climate change summit with a warning that tackling global warming is fundamental to future prosperity and security.

In his address on Monday, he will argue the shock to the oil and gas markets caused by Russias invasion of Ukraine underlines the need to move to cheaper, cleaner and safer sources of energy.

He will urge leaders assembled at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh not to backslide on commitments made at last years Cop26 summit in Glasgow intended to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C (2.7F) above pre-industrial levels.

In a statement ahead of his departure, Mr Sunak said: When the world came together in Glasgow last year, nations agreed an historic roadmap for preventing catastrophic global warming. It is more important than ever that we deliver on those pledges.

Fighting climate change is not just a moral good  it is fundamental to our future prosperity and security.

Russias invasion of Ukraine and contemptible manipulation of energy prices has only reinforced the importance of ending our dependence on fossil fuels.

We need to move further and faster to transition to renewable energy, and I will ensure the UK is at the forefront of this global movement as a clean energy superpower.

Mr Sunak had originally not intended to travel to Egypt, arguing his priority was to sort out the estimated 50 billion black hole in the public finances ahead of Chancellor Jeremy Hunts autumn statement on November 17.

The King speaks with Rishi Sunak during a Buckingham Palace reception ahead of the Cop27 summit (Jonathan Brady/PA)

However he was forced into what opposition parties called a screeching U-turn after coming under fire from within his own party, as well as from environmentalists questioning his commitment to the net zero agenda.

The Government was already facing criticism for approving new oil and gas licences in the North Sea when the International Energy Agency has said there can be no more new fossil fuel exploration if the 1.5C target is to be met.

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The King, meanwhile, will not be going  despite his passionate interest in environmental issues  after Buckingham Palace agreed with the previous prime minister Liz Truss that he would not attend.

Downing Street, however, suggested this week that they may well have come to a different view if Mr Sunak had been installed in No 10 earlier.

The latest round of UN climate talks takes place against a backdrop of increasingly devastating extreme weather around the world as well as an energy and cost-of-living crisis driven by President Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine.

Rishi Sunak at last years Cop26 summit in Glasgow (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

While there is evidence Russias actions have prompted an acceleration towards clean technology, the UN has warned that, based on countries latest climate action plans, there is currently no credible pathway to meet the 1.5C goal intended to avoid the worst impact of global warming.

Rich countries are also falling short in providing the finance needed to help developing nations adapt to a changing climate and develop cleanly, the UN has warned.

With vulnerable countries increasingly being hit by extreme storms, floods and droughts, such as Pakistans devastating flooding this year, how to address  and pay for  the now unavoidable loss and damage poorer countries are facing from climate change will be one of the key issues at the talks.

The Cop27 talks also mark a milestone for the UK in international climate negotiations, as once it has handed over the presidency of the talks to the Egyptian team it will be the first time Britain is negotiating on its own rather than as part of the EU bloc.

Mr Sunak is expected to chair a meeting of world leaders to drive progress on the landmark pledge signed by more than 100 countries last November in Glasgow to halt and reverse deforestation and damaging land use by 2030.

He will also attend a roundtable on energy transition partnerships, which are utilising public and private sector funds to support low and middle-income countries like South Africa to move away from fossil fuels and grow their green economies.

Greenpeace UKs head of politics Rebecca Newsom said Mr Sunaks rhetoric was not matched by the Governments policies.

If Sunak wants the UK to be a global climate leader, he needs to rule out new oil and gas drilling, invest in home insulation, and back the demands of developing nations for a loss and damage finance facility, she said.

He should increase taxes on the profits of the fossil fuel giants to help pay for it, alongside giving extra support to households struggling with their bills.
The multibillion euro East African crude oil pipeline project, being financed by France's TotalEnergies and the China National offshore Company, will produce far more carbon emissions than claimed, new data shows.

Currently under construction, the EACOP pipeline will transport oil hundreds of kilometres from Uganda to a port in Tanzania.

The US-based Climate Accountability Institute (CAI) has warned EACOP will emit 379 million tonnes of carbon over its 25-year lifespan  a so-called "mid-sized carbon bomb" that exceeds France's own national estimates for 2020.

This is far greater than estimates given by pipeline builders in their environmental impact report, signed off by both Uganda and Tanzania, which CIA said accounted for a mere 1.8 percent of the project's emissions.

This is because the report, among other things, did not take into account "downstream" emissions such as transporting oil from the pipeline to global markets.

CAI carbon analyst Richard Heede said emissions estimates needed to include the "far larger supply chain emissions (98.2 percent) from maritime transport of crude oil to European and Chinese refineries" along with emissions from refining the oil and "the emissions from the fuels being used as intended by consumers".

Project opposition

The pipeline will transport oil from Murchison Falls National Park on Lake Albert in Uganda to Tanzanias Port Tanga, 1,400 kilometres away. Tankers will transport the crude from Tanga to the ports of Shanghai, China, and Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.

And the area is an active seismic zone with regular earthquake activity.



Read more on RFI English



Read also:

Climate crisis is not for whites only--Ugandan youth activist

Stopping gorilla gluttony and saving the forest with butterfly farming  Tanzanian and Ugandan Equator prizewinners

Tanzanian farmers in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro struggle to cope with climate change
Alpine driver Fernando Alonso on the grid. Austin October 2022. Credit: Alamy

Toto Wolff described Fernando Alonso as a hothead after the Spaniards choice words about Lewis Hamilton.

Alonso insinuated that Max Verstappens titles were worth more than Hamiltons on the basis that the Dutchman had been fighting against someone other than his team-mate.

The Alpine driver later clarified his comments saying that all titles were amazing, well deserved and inspiring and that he was tired of the continuous search for headlines.

But still this was enough to irk Hamilton who took to social media to post a picture of him and Alonso when they were team-mates at McLaren, with the current Mercedes man on the top step of the podium and the thumbs up emoji.

Hamiltons current boss Wolff has been asked his opinion on the matter and described Alonso as a hothead before saying that they were both great World Champions.

Hes a hothead, Toto said, as per Spanish outlet AS. He creates headlines, and this sport is all about headlines. They are both great world champions.

Alonso is like that but I dont think hes upsetting Lewis one millimetre.

Hamilton also clarified that he was not too fazed by Alonsos comments and said that it did make me giggle a little bit.

I dont really have a lot to say about it, he said during the press conference at the United States Grand Prix.

It does make me giggle a little bit, to be honest, but I have tried to be really respectful over the years, for example when youve ever asked me whos been the best driver against me, Ive given praise.

Hamilton is not the only driver who has been irked by Alonso of late and the Spaniards own team-mate Esteban Ocon has hit back at some comments from the two-time World Champion.

Following his latest retirement in Mexico, Alosno suggested that it was only his car within the Alpine team that had issues but Ocon had the results to show it was not the case.

I broke the gearbox at Imola. My car broke down at Silverstone, I retired in Singapore You know, my car also breaks down, the Frenchman said.

Story continues

I mean, Ive also changed six engines like him, were on the same number of engines.

Im counting on my side there too. Weve both had problems.

The two Alpine drivers are P8 and P9 in the standings with Ocon 11 points ahead of Alonso.

Read more: Toto Wolff reveals admiration for hard management style of Sergio Marchionne

The article Toto Wolff dubs Fernando Alonso a hothead for Lewis Hamilton title jibe appeared first on Planetf1.com.
The bodies of the six victims were retrieved from the lake and shifted to Gandhi Hospital morgue for post-mortem. (Photo: PTI)

HYDERABAD: Five students and their teacher drowned in Jawaharnagars Malkaram lake. Police said that they were among a group of students that Abdul Rahman Jahed, manager of Masjid-e-Hanif, a madrasa at Amberpet, had invited for a function at his house. The teacher who drowned, Yahya Shahed, was Rahmans son.

Locals complained that the municipal authorities had refused to fence the lake, where unwary picnickers are known to drown. They said two brothers had drowned in the lake in May and three persons had died in March.

According to police, 27 male students and nine girls showed up Saturday morning at Rahmans residence for a housewarming ceremony. Five of the students, Jafar, 10, and Syed Ismail, Mohammed Rehan, Ayan and Mohd Sohail, all 11 years old and residents of Amberpet, decided to go to the nearby lake to play in the water, at around 11.30 am.

Once in the lake, they apparently entered deep water and began drowning. As they started shouting for help, the other students alerted the teacher. Yahya Shahed, 25, rushed to the place and jumped into the lake in an attempt to save the children. Unfortunately, he drowned along with the five students, said Jawaharnagar inspector K. Chandra Shekar, adding that the group failed to judge the depth of the lake and none of them knew how to swim.

The bodies of the six victims were retrieved from the lake and shifted to Gandhi Hospital morgue for post-mortem. Police booked a case following a complaint from Mohammed Saleem, 53, muezzin from Masjid-e-Tayyaba, CPL Amberpet.

A local resident said, The lake is spread over one acre. We have been raising the issue in the media and have asked the authorities to take up fencing around the lake but in vain. Even after several instance of drowning, the lake has been left without a fence, said Ramaiah, a local resident.
The event takes place at Van Don International Airport (Quang Ninh) and will be limited to business guests and potential customers of the two brands.

Airshow 2022 marks an important milestone in the development of high-end aviation segmentation as well as in the development of international trade and luxury tourism in Vietnam, by bringing together the world's fastest, safest and most comfortable aircraft from Gulfstream - the airline chosen by global entrepreneurs and billionaires.

Visitors will be able to see two Gulfstream legends that have won numerous aviation awards: G600 and G650ER These are two types of aircraft with exceptional performance and high-speed capabilities, capable of flying farther and faster than any other aircraft, saving more than 50 hours of flight time per year with a Mach speed of 0.90 (1,103km/h), reaching the most technically demanding destinations with superb take-off and landing capabilities within exceptional range, setting performance, safety, and comfort standards.

Gulfstream also chose this event to launch the Gulfstream G700 jet for the first time in Vietnam and Asia. According to the airline's representative, the Gulfstream G700 is currently the leading jet in the business jet market today, with the longest, widest and tallest cabin, a maximum capacity of 19 passengers and five flexible living areas, including a large room, a kitchen area and a comfortable bathroom.

Mr. Wayne Oedewalt, Gulfstream's Senior Vice President of the Asia Pacific said: Vietnam is rapidly developing and has the potential for continuous growth in the business aviation industry, as well as in aviation in general. With Gulfstream, we are constantly striving to provide the best flying experience for our customers. We are honored to be a part of Sun Air's journey to "elevate the elite" in the Vietnamese market, which is why Vietnam was chosen as the first destination in promoting the G700 to the Asian market.

Airshow 2022 is regarded as a significant event in the field of global aviation and Vietnam aviation because this is the rare time that the famous airline Gulfstream has organised a separate aircraft showcase outside the scale of regular aircraft shows.

Reiner Suess, Sun Air Operation Director, said: It was not easy for Gulfstream to agree to hold an aircraft showcase outside of its regular schedule of shows around the world. Therefore, this is a very special event, not only for Vietnam or Sun Air but also for Gulfstream."

Gulfstream's choice of Van Don as the destination for its aircraft showcase has also shown that Vietnam is a potential market for the high-end aviation industry. This showcase not only demonstrates the growing demand for high-quality flight services but also confirms that Vietnam is creating a new position in the international arena.

Airshow 2022, in particular, will create conditions to promote international commercial and trade activities, attracting foreign investors and entrepreneurs to Vietnam by connecting the Vietnamese market with one of the brands representing the world's high-end aviation industry.

For the tourism industry, this event once again confirms Vietnam's transformation from a low-cost to a luxury destination as assessed by Cruise Passenger Travel Magazine (Australia) that wrote: "Vietnam is an extremely appealing destination with a wide range of world-class luxury services."

Mr. Dang Minh Truong - Sun Groups Chairman of the Board of Directors, added: "The exhibition is not only a special milestone for Sun Air in its journey to establish the brand of Vietnam's first premium general airline, but it is also an event that confirms Vietnam is becoming the world's new luxury destination.

"We want to promote trade in the high-end market by bringing a famous global airline to reach potential customers, while also becoming a bridge to bring Vietnam to the world and the world's elite to Vietnam."

Sun Air is the first luxury general airline in Vietnam which launched in March 2022, offering personalised and specialised high-class flight services of two types: Commercial services and Private aircraft management and Charter flights, Sightseeing flight services. Six months after the launch, Sun Air was officially granted the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) on September 29th, 2022, with the scope of domestic and international operations, following verification to ensure full and absolute compliance with strict operating standards. Sun Air's first Gulfstream G650ER aircraft was officially put into service in September and October 2022 respectively, laying the foundation for the airline's outstanding speed, safety, and comfort fleet.

Along with Sun Air's solid first steps, Airshow 2022 keeps confirming Sun Group's pioneering vision, both in the field of luxury tourism and the potential general aviation segmentation, with the desire to contribute to the registration of Vietnam as a new bright spot in the global luxury market.
KON TUM  More than 1,000 school students in the Kon Tum City of the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum have participated in a festival dedicated to gongs and traditional xoang dancing.

Organised by the citys Education and Training Division, the student festival features 1,076 students in 16 teams; 304 are in gongs, and 249 are in xoang dance teams. Other students have engaged in an ethnic costume showcase.

The festival is a way for students to learn more about gongs, one of the most recognised traditional cultural features of the Central Highlands, giving them the tools and the know-how to preserve and promote the nations cultural values.

The head of the division, Thai Khac Hoa, said the festival helps raise awareness among the younger generations about the role of gongs and ethnic xoang dances, especially in traditional festivals and rituals.

Several schools in the city have encouraged students to wear ethnic costumes at the national flag-hoisting ceremony on Mondays and in extracurricular activities. In addition, students are taught to play gongs or perform xoang dances.

All 16 teams participating in the event have presented lively performances. As a result, the festival organiser awarded 46 prizes to excellent teams and individuals.

The festival is part of activities to celebrate the upcoming 40th anniversary of Vietnamese Teachers Day (20/11/1982 - 20/11/2022).  VNS
HA NOI  Some of the best writers in the country have been honoured on Friday for their work at the Young Francophones Reporters  Viet Nam 2022 Awards.

The annual contest is organised by the French language weekly newspaper Le Courrier du Vietnam (CVN) which falls under the Vietnam News Agency umbrella.

First prize was awarded to Ho Ngoc Vinh Nguyen for his article Le Village de l'espoir (The Village of Hope).

He wrote about a community in a Nang City where disadvantaged children live. Many are deaf, mute, autistic or orphans but they never give up on hope.

The reason why Nguyen chose to write this topic is that he believes many young people nowadays are trapped with too much pessimism and negativity.

I want this story to be a force of motivation for the young people, Nguyen said.

When things get tough they rise above to the challenges, and hold onto hope to get through obstacles.

CVNs award will popularise meaningful story in the Village of Hope and encourage high school students to learn French.

Nguyen, 22, from the central city of a Nang is a content writer at Techie Vietnam. The journalism graduate started learning French one year ago.

The second prize went to co-authors Truong Thi Ha Ninh and Nguyen Truong Giang for The French Language Facing Challenges. They are from Ha Noi Foreign Trade University.

From Can Tho Province, Pham Trieu Ngoc Tien and Pham Thi Thanh Truc won third prize for their article A Medicine Student's Love With La Francophonie.

Other prizes including Talent award, Peoples Choice award, Impressive Contestant, Dynamic Contestant, Romania Embassy and Moroccan Embassy Award and Encouragement Award are given to the winners.

The contest was themed La Francophonie de lavenir : les jeunes font entendre leurs voix (The Francophonie of the future: young people make their voices) aims to promote young French learners to discuss their interests, dreams and the future of Francophone.

It is a chance for participants to express their love for the French language, highlighting the richness and diversity.

The contest is supported by the Asia Pacific Regional Office (RBAP) of the International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF), the Francophone University Agency (AUF) and the embassies of France, Morocco, Romania, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada and the Wallonie-Bruxelles Delegation in Ha Noi.

The quality of the articles is heterogeneous, said Fabien Meheust, Deputy Regional Project Director of the AUF in Asia-Pacific and member of the jury.

There are very nice articles with a very good editorial quality. Young people are worried about the prospects for employment in French, which is also in line with the observation that we made in the global consultation that we carried out at the AUF in 2020.

The contest attracted attention from young French learners from the whole country, some of whom are French nationals.

Attending the award ceremony were representatives from Vietnam News Agency, REPAP, AUF, Francophone Delegations and Institute in Viet Nam, French Cultural Centre and the contestants.  VNS
Nguyen Minh Tien, Director of the Trade Promotion Centre for Agriculture under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, speaks with Viet Nam News reporter To Nhu about opportunities for Vietnamese agricultural products to enter major markets in the world.

How do trading partners in new markets that import Vietnamese agricultural products evaluate products that are regional specialities in Viet Nam?

In the past, we have participated in trade promotion activities at fairs and exhibitions held in many major global markets, such as Europe, the UK, the US, Australia, and the Middle East. Through discussions and working with partners, we realise that Viet Nam has a huge potential in exporting agricultural products, especially those under the One Commune, One Product (OCOP) programme, which promotes specialities of localities in Viet Nam. Notably, the European market and the Vietnamese and Asian communities there has great demand for traditional products and regional specialities. This is the strength of OCOP products in many localities.

Currently, Viet Nam has 8,430 OCOP products rated three stars or more. Of them, 20 products rated five stars. The OCOP products have been mainly supplied to the domestic market and are aiming for export. The specialities represent the typical cultural and culinary values of each region, meet the diverse food consumption needs of Europeans, and can penetrate deeply into major countries worldwide.

At the same time, the specialities help diversify Viet Nam's importing markets in the context that the Chinese market is implementing a tightening policy due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are better at taking advantage of signed Free Trade Agreements (FTA).

After the FTAs between Viet Nam and Europe, Viet Nam and the UK were signed, exporting goods from Viet Nam to the markets became much more convenient. European countries have reduced many procedures and permits. The import tax rate has also decreased sharply, creating favourable conditions for our agricultural products to compete with similar products from other countries in these demanding markets.

What has been done to implement the roadmap for promotion, trade promotion and export of Viet Nam's agricultural specialities?

The export of OCOP and regional agricultural products depends greatly on production and product quality. Currently, we have two main bottlenecks to solve. Firstly, the production facilities are mostly small-scale, so it isn't easy to meet the standards of assessment and certification of food safety and hygiene, sustainable forest certification or requirements relating to packaging and labelling.

On the other hand, with limited financial capacity, production units cannot hire international consultation, assessment and certification units.

Secondly, regarding trade promotion, we have yet to organise big professional events and programmes to promote OCOP products to the international markets. As a result, little information about regional specialities and Vietnamese producers has reached such markets.

For example, in the German market, Viet Nam's speciality agricultural products supply only meets about ten per cent of the demand of the Asian community there. We estimate the export potential is very large, but importers lack information about Vietnamese products made from rice, like rice paper, noodles, vermicelli or nuts like cashews or macadamia, or spice products like cinnamon and anise.

What are the solutions for those bottlenecks so Vietnamese farming products, particularly OCOP ones, could better enter international markets?

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is coordinating with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to support enterprises to exploit free trade agreements effectively. At the same time, we guide businesses and people to meet regulations on labels, traceability, and registration of packaging codes.

Viet Nam's large enterprises and corporations with financial capacity could invite international assessment and consulting firms to issue quality certificates. As a result, agricultural products and foodstuffs are easily exported to Europe. At meetings with large distribution groups worldwide, they want to see quality certificates so that the export will be convenient and fast.

For example, the international SGS certification of Switzerland evaluates quality standards, content, and pesticide residues to ensure consumer safety and health. However, it will be difficult for OCOP producers to fulfil the above requirement with limited resources. Therefore, we are studying and proposing a mechanism to support businesses in implementing the evaluation and appraisal process, which focuses on investing in agricultural products and speciality foods that meet regulatory requirements, food safety standards and hygienic environmental criteria.

It is also necessary to connect producers and distribution enterprises to create a large chain of links. For example, these distribution enterprises could invite international organisations to evaluate the products that they want to export. Following that can effectively reduce costs while it's not feasible for each production unit to manage.

Along with actively developing export strategies, enterprises need to continue to apply new and digital technologies in their production and business activities, particularly deep processing, and digital sales channels, to expand market connection. VNS
HCM CITY  ThaiBinh Seed Corporations TBR39 fragrant rice won first prize at Viet Nams best rice contest 2022 and will represent the country at the 2022 Worlds Best Rice Contest.

The second and third prizes went to an ST24 variant of Ho Quang Tri company (Soc Trang Province), and a Loc Troi 28 variant of Loc Troi Group (An Giang Province).

ThaiBinh Seeds A Sao rice also won the top spot in the competitions sticky rice category.

The second and third prizes for sticky rice were presented to OM38 and RBR78 products of Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta Rice Research Institute and ThaiBinh Seed, respectively.

The contest was organised by the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), Crops Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Nong Thon Ngay Nay (Countryside Today) Newspaper.

The competition featured 12 fragrant rice and sticky rice products from 12 renowned players in the sector such as Loc Troi Group, ThaiBinh Seed, HK Trading Co. Ltd., and the Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute.

Nguyen Ngoc Nam, chairman of the Vietnam Food Association, said Viet Nams best rice contest had been held since 2019, and aimed to promote high-quality rice varieties that can compete with other countries.

All rice products participating in the contest must be made in Viet Nam, be submitted for a national test for at least one crop, and have a minimum purity of 98 per cent.

The winner will represent Viet Nam in the 2022 Worlds Best Rice Contest under the TRT World Rice Conference to take place in Thailand from November 15-17.

The Vietnamese ST25 fragrant rice variety won the Worlds Best Rice Contest in 2019 and secured second place in 2020.

The TRT World Rice Conference is the largest annual gathering of commercial and professional rice industry participants in the world.  VNS
NELLORE: On an experimental basis, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has relaunched offline issue of free slotted sarva darshan (SSD) tokens at three places  Bhudevi and Srinivasa complexes and Govindarajaswamy Choultries  at Tirupati from November 1.

Speaking on the Dial Your EO programme on Saturday, TTD executive officer A.V. Dharma Reddy said 25,000 tokens each are being issued on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays and 15,000 tokens during other weekdays.

He pointed out that these tokens enable pilgrims to have the darshan of Srivaru on the same day. Gradually, the number of tokens issued will be increased after correcting possible lapses in issue of these tokens.

Dharma Reddy maintained that arrangements have been made for people without tokens to also have direct darshan through Vaikuntam Queue Complex-2.

The EO said with the objective of providing early Srivari Darshan to devotees, who wait nightlong in queue lines, the devasthanam intends to change the timings of VIP break darshan from December 1 to 8:00 a.m. With this, those in queue lines can have their darshan ahead of the VIP ticket holders.

Dharma Reddy said TTD will shut down the Srivari temple on Tuesday, November 8, between 8:40 a.m. to 7:20 p.m. due to lunar eclipse. Thus, no darshan tickets will be issued and only Sarva Darshan will be allowed when the temple reopens after the eclipse.

He pointed out that with an objective of promoting Hindu dharma all over the world, TTD has been conducting the Srinivasa Kalyanam fete in UK and Europe from October 15. These will continue till November 13  at Paris on Sunday, November 6, at London on November 12 and at Edinburgh in Scotland on November 13.

The EO said as per directives of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, TTD is committed to make Tirumala pollution-free. As part of it, the devasthanam has decided to operate electric buses in place of free dharma rathas in Tirumala. The devasthanam has already received 10 of these buses costing 15 crore as donation from Olectra, he added.
HA NOI  Based on the fruitful results of their cooperation in past years, the Viet Nam Women's Union and Nestle Vietnam signed a strategic cooperation agreement for the period of 2022 - 2027 to continue to implement a nationwide programme named "Nestle accompanies women" in Ha Noi on November 4.

The partnership aims to promote gender equality and womens empowerment, contributing to supporting womens comprehensive development, especially those in rural areas.

The content of cooperation focuses on three key areas, including improving the competency of women and Womens Union staff at all levels; assisting women in building a family with a safe house, a sustainable livelihood, good health, knowledge, and meeting certain sanitation criteria; and carrying out charity and social security activities.

The close cooperation between the union and Nestle in the 2020-2022 period delivered many positive outcomes in empowering women and contributing to gender equality.

As of October 2022, a total of 20 provinces and cities across the country have coordinated to implement the "Nestle accompanies women" programme, providing training on nutrition and on building a happy and healthy lifestyle to 8,000 women, helping 1.2 million households to access knowledge about nutrition and assisting 3,000 members in starting and retaining a business.

These achievements are setting a firm foundation upon which the cooperative relationship between the two sides can be further promoted in the next five years.

Ton Ngoc Hanh, vice president of Viet Nam Womens Union, said in order to promote the results achieved in the past period, the Vietnam Women's Union and Nestle Vietnam agreed to continue implementing the Nestle accompanies women" programme.

I believe that the strategic cooperation between the two sides will contribute to empower women and improve the professionalism and the effectiveness of the organisation," Hanh said.

From the very first days of our presence in Viet Nam, in parallel with promoting sustainable development, women's empowerment and gender equality is one of Nestle's top priorities, Binu Jacob, managing director of Nestle Vietnam, said. The strategic cooperation agreement with the Viet Nam Women's Union for the next five years once again affirms Nestle Vietnam's long-term commitment in joining hands to promote gender equality and empower women, and take care of health, nutrition, and safety for women and children in Viet Nam.  VNS
By Thu Anh

The IDECAF Drama Troupe of HCM City will offer new shows on Vietnamese history aimed at young audiences.

The troupe will restage a series of famous plays featuring historical events, including Bi Mat Vuon Le Chi (Secret of Le Chi Manor.) and Tien Nga (Fairy Tale)  both popular in the 2000s.

These plays highlight patriotism and loyalty and were directed by talented artists Huynh Anh Tuan and Thanh Loc, the troupes founders.

Both Tuan and Loc have played a key role in the development of the citys theatre, as they produced, directed and performed in many plays since their troupe, IDECAF Drama Troupe, opened in 1997.

The new version of Tien Nga is scheduled to be staged on November 22.

The musical depicts Viet Nams traditional moral values in a semi-feudal-colonial society.

It is about the life of Luc Van Tien, a poor student who travels to the capital to take part in a civil service examination for mandarins.

Tien rescues Kieu Nguyet Nga, a beautiful woman from a wealthy family, from armed robbers. They fall in love, but face challenges living together.

The work Tien Nga is based on Luc Van Tien (The Tale of Luc Van Tien), a popular epic of 2,076 lines in Nom, an ancient Vietnamese ideographic script, by the blind poet Nguyen inh Chieu of Gia inh (now HCM City) in the second half of the 19th century.

Chieus poem centres on the topics of love, loyalty, bravery and justice. It is used in textbooks for secondary school students.

My new version of Tien Nga will focus on female characters. I wanted to highlight the beauty of Vietnamese women through my art, said the plays director Loc, who has more than 50 years in the industry and won the title "Meritorious Artist" conferred by the Stage.

Im working to create my shows with images, sounds and music that provide young audiences with wonderful insights about the nation's history, traditional culture and theatre.

Loc spent a large sum on making costumes, light and sound effects. He used songs by well-known composer and music producer uc Tri, a graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston in the US, for the play.

Another play, Bi Mat Vuon Le Chi, will be restaged and feature stars of the IDECAF troupe, including Meritorious Artist Huu Chau and Thanh Thuy.

The two-hour show revolves around the unjust death of national hero Nguyen Trai in the Later Le dynasty, one of Viet Nams greatest politicians and poets.

It features scenes in early 1442 when King Le Thai Tong visits Nguyen Trai at his Le Chi Manor.

The king meets Trais young wife, Nguyen Thi Lo, who was known for her great learning.

He decides to stay overnight at the manor, and that night suddenly becomes ill and dies.

The court later blames Trai and his wife for the kings death, accusing them of treason. Trai and Lo, and members of three generations of both of their families, are then executed.

Twenty years later, King Le Thanh Tong officially pardons Trai, declaring that the great scholar was innocent in the death of King Le Thai Tong.

Since its debut in 2000, Bi Mat Vuon Le Chi has been restaged many times in HCM City.

For his new version, the plays director Tuan simplified the set and costume design, and retained the authentic words used by Vietnamese centuries ago.

Tuan said his young actors faced many challenges staging the historical drama, which features the tragic life and death of Trai and his wife.

The biggest challenge is how my young actors express the plays theme and its characters spirit, he said.

Theatre

The IDECAF Drama Troupe is one of the southern regions leading private theatres. It attracts 30 professional artists, along with backstage workers.

It offers many experimental shows in drama, musical, cai luong (reformed opera) and hat boi (classic drama), two genres of traditional theatre in southern and central regions, respectively.

The theatre also offers performances targeting children.

Its long-term theatre programme, called Ngay Xua Ngay Xua (Once Upon a Time), began in 2000 and has offered more than 32 plays with more than 900 free performances for several thousand young children and teenagers, including disadvantaged children who live in shelters around the city.

Through our programme, we want to provide children with new concepts and techniques in drama. We also hope to foster love of the theatre among the youth, said director-actor Loc, one of the programmes founders.

The theatres new shows are being staged at Thanh Nien Theatre, 4 Pham Ngoc Thach Street, District 1.  VNS
As work on the future Waco High School is proceeding, some of its history  in the form of many trees on the campus  is receding.

Several of the live oaks, elms and sycamores fronting the school were removed this week as construction crews continued ground work preparing the site for the new $157 million school being built across the now-closed 42nd Street.

The tree removal comes several months after a line of trees fronting New Road were cleared in a matter of days to ready the site, prompting questions about the fate of the remaining trees.

Baylor University biology professor Joseph White often drives along New Road. He said the changes he was witnessing over time were concerning.

Youre seeing very, very large trees just start to disappear, White said. When we chip away at the natural heritage of a city, which predates the establishment of the city, you devalue the place that youre in.

White teaches plant physiology and ecology at Baylor and put his experience in satellite remote sensing to work on aerial images of the school before this weeks tree removal. He found some of the trees far older than the high school, built as Richfield High School in 1961.

Of the 11 trees taken out, some were clearly above 100 years in age and one may have been more than 250 years old, he said.

That makes the tree older than Waco, giving it historical significance, White said.

Austin architect Jarrod Sterzinger, whose firm OConnell Robertson is in charge of designing the four new schools approved by Waco Independent School District voters in a $355 million bond package last year, could not be reached for comment this week. In a statement provided to the Tribune-Herald, Waco ISD assistant director of construction Kevin Hafer said consideration was made on which trees should be removed and which ones should remain.

The district has worked closely with contractors regarding decisions to remove or save trees at the Waco High School campus, Hafer wrote. It was necessary to remove some trees at the front of Waco High School to accommodate the new campus footprint. However, those that could be saved remain on site.

Some of the seven trees destined to be saved, marked with a pink ribbon, will represent the few remaining artifacts from the original Richfield High School as the current high school building will be demolished after the new high school is completed. Other trees in the construction zone that were planted as a memorial have been saved for replanting. Six trees at Waco High and G.W. Carver Middle School, also under construction, will be replanted at the new schools.

The landscaping plan for the new Waco High calls for more trees than are currently on campus, including 75 live oaks, 16 Monterey oaks, 11 red oaks, 10 chinkapin oaks, eight cedar elms and seven Mexican buckeyes, according to Hafers statement.

The city has no tree mitigation ordinance that requires trees to be saved or replaced in commercial development as some cities do, but trees are required in certain types of development, said Bobby Horner, spokesperson for the citys Development Services Department.

A developer must provide a certain number of trees for street frontage, although those trees can be grouped rather than evenly spaced. Trees are also required for large parking lots, and the city does encourage developers efforts to save existing trees when building or landscaping, particularly trees six or more inches in diameter or native species, Horner said.

Planting trees is commendable, but it is not a straight replacement for the loss of established trees and what they add in improving community well-being and helping mitigate the impact of climate change by trapping carbon, White said.

Although Waco ISD trustees have discussed the proposed designs of the three schools under construction, with Tennyson Middle School joining Waco High and Carver, consideration of the trees at those campuses has not surfaced as a focus of official public discussion.

Trustee Keith Guillory said he had been contacted about the Waco High trees being torn down and how some could be saved. He suggested writing a letter to the board as a way to bring the subject up for discussion. With Waco High trees already uprooted and removed, the Baylor biology professor said increasing community awareness could adjust priorities, leading to earlier discussion about saving trees in future projects.

Trees add value to a community.  Maybe the thing to do is set in motion a conversation, White said. As the city continues to grow and change economically, what do you set as priorities?

One might be preserving the citys natural environment, otherwise, you end up with a city full of strip malls and parking lots, he said.
Its that time of year again! Holiday shopping is in full swing and consumers throughout the country are out in droves looking for that perfect or unique item. Selecting merchandise and purchasing that special gift can take many forms. After the big Black Friday sales, make sure to check out the small, local and independent businesses participating in Small Business Saturday (SBS), a day to celebrate small businesses and all they do for their communities. This year the date is November 26, so make your list and check it twice, then visit some of your local small businesses.

Created in 2010 by American Express, Small Business Saturday  the day after Black Friday  is a perfect time to stop in and support your local independent business retailers. Better Business Bureau is pleased to support Small Business Saturday and urges people to support small businesses in their communities.

BBB offers the following tips to Shop Small on Small Business Saturday:

 Get involved. Many communities are hosting special events to celebrate and support the businesses that make your hometown unique. Find out what local events are happening in your area on the Small Business Saturday website, or visit your local chamber of commerce or merchants association.

 Sign-up for email alerts. Save a few dollars on your holiday budget by signing up for Small Business Saturday email specials offered by the merchants in your area. Keep in mind, youll probably get additional deals throughout the year, not just during the holidays.

 Research the shops nearest to you. Find out what past customers have to say by reading reviews online, such as those on BBB.org, and learn what shops are participating by going to ShopSmall.org.

 Connect with businesses on social media. Many small businesses will advertise their sales via social media. Use #ShopSmall to search for information and share activities.

 Invite your friends and family. Turn this shopping event into a friends and family extravaganza! Visit favorite local stores or explore a few new ones. Take time to get to know the business owners and local community officials, and get a head start on the holidays while enjoying time with loved ones.

 Dont just shop small, eat small! Many people think that shopping at local retail stores is the only way to participate. However, small independently owned restaurants, bakeries, and coffee shops would love to invite in new customers while theyre out and about.

 Share your experience. Take a selfie at your favorite small business. Share it on social media with the hashtags #BBB and #ShopSmall to tell the world youre a big fan of small businesses. Leave a review on BBB.org. Remember, these shops are open all year as well!
WATERLOO  A driver was arrested Sunday morning after allegedly leading police on a brief chase and trying to squeeze in between two buildings and misjudging the width, according to Sgt. Melissa Ludwig of the Waterloo Police Department.

Noah Joseph Coonradt, 18, of Waterloo was charged with operating while intoxicated, failing to yield to emergency vehicles, reckless driving and speeding.

Ludwig said police attempted to pull over the red Honda Civic at 1:46 a.m. for traveling 108 miles per hour in the area of Ansborough Avenue and West Washington Street.

He did not stop, but reduced speeds after that and led police cruisers on a chase for about 2 minutes.

Officers were able to stop the vehicle after it got stuck and eventually unstuck between the buildings at 1729 and 1733 Falls Ave., Ludwig said.

Coonradt was released after posting a $1,900 bond.

What to remember as Election Day nears Officials have several reminders to make sure peoples votes count come the Tuesday election.

At least two other passengers were in the vehicle. One of them, Jayden Jonathon Northness, 19, of Evansdale was arrested for marijuana possession.

He posted bond set at $1,000.

No one was injured during the pursuit, according to Ludwig.
CEDAR FALLS -- Debut novelist Cherie Dargan will give two book readings. The first is Wedensday at 10:30 a.m. in the third-floor conference room at Prairie Wind, part of the Western Home Communities.

Dargan will do a brief reading and presentation about the inspiration for the series, "Grandmothers Treasures," with "The Gift" as book one. Copies will be available for purchase.

The second reading is at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Waterloo Public Library. Desserts and coffee will be available. Publisher WoodCrafts Press will donate 5% of all sales to House of Hope. Dargan will contribute $5 per book sold.

Both events feature book signings and a drawing for a handcrafted quilted potholder with the name of the book on one side.

The novel is a dual timeline story about a country schoolteacher Grace and her twin sisters Violet and Vera who travel from Iowa to California to help with the war effort during WWII, and her granddaughter Gracie, who inherits a box of cassette tapes, a quilt, and the key to a family secret from Grandma Grace.

Dargan is retired from teaching at Hawkeye Community College.
CEDAR FALLS  The City Council on Monday will weigh whether to approve plans for two massive projects.

They are the reconstruction of Main Street from Sixth Street to University Avenue for an estimated $21.8 million and recreational improvements to the Cedar River from the upstream side of the Main Street bridge to the downstream side of the West First Street bridge for an estimated $5.8 million.

The 7 p.m. meeting will be held at City Hall, 220 Clay St. This is the first time the council will convene in its newly revamped chambers since a $4.5 million City Hall remodeling project began in January.

Improvements to Main Street will include a shift from four to three lanes, with one being a turn lane, and three intersections  12th and 18th streets and Seerley Boulevard  changed from having traffic signals to roundabouts. Another component will be the addition of bicycle lanes in both directions.

DOT to begin reconstructing Highway 58 and Ridgeway Avenue corridor next spring Improvements will include the addition of a second turn lane at each of the four legs of the Highway 58 and Ridgeway Avenue intersection.

The Cedar River project was put out to bid around this time last year, but bids came in significantly higher than expected. That left city staff with no choice but to tweak the plans and find other funding mechanisms, including a $1.5 million federal grant through the American Rescue Plan Act.

In-stream water features and upland improvements within and on the banks of the Cedar River are planned. Those features include kayak play areas, fishing jetties, habitat spawning pools, and water access points along with riverbank improvements.

Also up for possible discussion and a vote will be the confirmation of Mark Howard as the citys next police chief.

Hes been serving in an interim role since March when then-director Jeff Olsen retired and then-police chief Craig Berte was promoted to temporarily fill his role before being chosen to fill it permanently.

Green, Gaines, Berte recommend Howard as next Cedar Falls police chief Mark Howard's appointment is pending the approval of the City Council. He's been serving in the interim since March.

Additional items up for consideration are:

The first of three readings of an ordinance reducing the threshold from five to four members of the seven-person council to override Planning and Zoning Commission recommendations of disapproval for zoning amendments. The first discussion was delayed because of a council majority wanting to wait until all seven members were present to vote. Mayor Rob Green has said hell veto the ordinance if it passes.

The purchase of 2.5 acres for $395,000 at 2617 South Union Road related to the expansion of the Industrial Park on West Viking Road.

The second of three readings of an ordinance changing the days of allowed fireworks usage to July 3 and 4, and giving the council the option to add additional days if desired each year.

The council also convenes at 5:20 p.m. for committee meetings to hear several presentations.

One will be from the leaders of the Jump In community group fundraising for the school districts more than $20 million swimming facility, which will be constructed on the new high school campus on West 27th Street.

They will explain why theres a huge need for the facility and why the city should consider contributing $8 million to it.

Right now, the citys capital improvement plan has allotted $5.1 million, but that document is updated each year as the elected officials and city staff go about planning for the upcoming fiscal year, beginning later this month.

Another presentation will be about the Cedar Falls Economic Development Corporation, a privately and publicly funded organization.

Jim Brown, former mayor and now the corporations executive director, will update the council on its vision and its six areas of focus, including the opportunity of purchasing the College Square Mall after having met with the mall owner/broker back in March.

Other focuses relate to the ongoing housing needs assessment, the Cedar River, College Hill, and downtown, as well as building support for the economic development commission.

Hell ask the council to recommend funding to support his organizations endeavors. One possibility is $75,000 for the year. Another is a commitment of $300,000 in the citys capital improvement plan over the next three years.

Prior to those presentations, the council will interview two Library Board of Trustees candidates, hear more about the citys latest audit and review its tax increment financing and standard incentive policies.
Cedar Valley election officials have several reminders to help ensure peoples votes count Tuesday.

For those still holding on to an absentee ballot, Bremer County Auditor Shelley Wolf said its likely too late to send it in the mail. Voters ballots need to arrive at the appropriate county auditors office by the time polls close at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Drop boxes placed outside of each countys courthouse are available 24/7 to deposit ballots until that time. Voters who cant get to the courthouse with their absentee ballot can still surrender it at a polling station Tuesday and vote in-person with a new ballot.

Early in-person voting continues Monday from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. at the Black Hawk and Bremer county courthouses. Hours may vary in other counties.

Polls are open Tuesday from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Curbside voting is seemingly catching peoples attention this year, Wolf noted.

It is available at polling stations and has always been an option, but she said more people are now taking advantage of it.

Its not supposed to be a convenience (except) for those who have difficulties getting to the polling locations, she explained. Call ahead of time to arrange it with the auditors office or have someone accompany the person Tuesday and notify a poll worker at the station.

When it comes to voting, Wolf said, everyone needs to bring a form of identification like a drivers license, passport or military-issued ID. According to the secretary of states website, voters without a legal form of ID may have their identity attested to by another registered voter in the precinct or may prove identity and residence using Election Day registration documents.

Voters without the necessary ID or an attester will be offered a provisional ballot and can provide ID up until the time of the county canvass of votes (the Monday after election day).

Those who have moved and dont have an updated ID will need to prove their new address by providing documentation with the new address. Some possibilities are a residential lease, electric bill, paycheck, bank statement, vehicle registration or any government-issued form with the new address.

Also, Wolf said, be aware that redistricting changed precinct boundaries and possibly where a person can vote. Find the correct polling place by going online to sos.iowa.gov/elections/voterreg/pollingplace/search.aspx.

To register the day of the election, show up to the polling place with one of the documents proving who you are and where you live, the website advises. That can also be accomplished with a valid Iowa drivers license if it has the voters current address printed on it.

Absentee, early voters

As of the end of the day Thursday, Black Hawk County Auditor Grant Veeder said requests for absentee ballots and people voting at the auditors office or satellite voting locations totaled 14,006. Early in-person voters and those whose completed absentee ballots had already been received were just a thousand less at 13,004.

In 2018, the last midterm election, Veeder said there were 21,152 absentee ballot requests and early voters.

As of Friday, Bremer County voters had requested 2,875 absentee ballots and returned 2,732 of them. That includes those who requested one at the courthouse or a satellite station and filled it out there.

While theres still a few days left to vote early, its a significant drop-off compared to 2018, when Bremer County voters requested 4,280 ballots and returned 4,183.

I expect there will be longer lines here at the courthouse on Monday than there will be at the polling places on Election Day, said Wolf. Thats typically how it has been for the past several general elections.

Contested races

Many names will be on Cedar Valley ballots for numerous elected offices, and many are contested races.

At the state level, those include Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, Democrat Deidre DeJear and Libertarian Rick Stewart for governor; Republican Paul Pate and Democrat Joel Miller for secretary of state; Republican Brenna Bird and Democrat Tom Miller for attorney general; Republican Roby Smith and Democrat Michael Fitzgerald for state treasurer; Republican Todd Halbur and Democrat Rob Sand for state auditor; and Republican Mike Naig and Democrat John Norwood for secretary of agriculture.

At the federal level, those include Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley and Democrat Michael Franken for U.S. Senate and Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson and Democrat Liz Mathis for the 2nd Congressional District.

At the legislative level, and depending on where a voter lives, those include Republican Sen. Annette Sweeney and Democrat Sam Cox for Senate District 27; Republican Rep. Sandy Salmon and Democrat Jenn Wolff for Senate District 29; Republican Rep. Pat Grassley and Democrat Carissa Froyum for House District 57; Republican Charley Thomson and Democrat Dene Lundberg for House District 58; Democrat Rep. Timi Brown-Powers and Libertarian John Bothwell for House District 61; Republican Sen. Craig Johnson and Democrat Terry McGovern for House District 67; and Republican Derek Wulf and Democrat Kate Wyatt for House District 76.

At the county level, those include Democrats Tavis Hall and Glen Keith and Republicans Dennis Halverson and Dan Trelka (incumbent) for two Black Hawk County Board of Supervisors seats; Democrat Craig White, the other incumbent, is waging a write-in campaign. In Bremer County, those include Republican Dewey Hildebrandt and Independent Timothy Neil (both incumbents) for the District 3 Board of Supervisors seat; Republican Adam Hoffman and Democrat Erin Pratt for county treasurer; and Republican Darius Robinson and Democrat Jill Dashner for county attorney.

There will also be uncontested positions on the ballot for the Iowa Legislature and county offices along with nonpartisan county and township seats. Additionally, voters will be able to consider several judges up for retention and the state constitutional amendment on gun rights.

In the unincorporated part of Bremer County, voters will be able to weigh in on a public measure to impose a 1% sales tax in those areas.
*** OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY 11/6/22 FROM 1:00-2:00 *** Stunning Acreage!!! Highly sought after neighborhood in the Hills West of Denver! This home is basically a complete remodel and is looking for its New Owner! 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths and a 3 stall garage that sits 1.0 Acre OR 2.07 Acres (call for info) is a rare find in this school district! Much larger in person, this is a must see! You need to get inside this one to really appreciate the work that has been done! Starts by entering the living room with a grand entrance, high ceilings and a gorgeous fireplace!! Then you go over to the kitchen that is very spacious and bright! This kitchen offers tons of space and a counter top bar that is great for any occasion! Right off the kitchen is your formal dining room that over looks the deck and a great yard that has many possibilities! You can add a shop Or even sell off a good portion of it if you wanted to! The upstairs offers all 4 bedrooms with the master that has a huge walk-in closet and a master bath offering great spaces and in floor heat, an amazing tiled shower and double vanity. Then you have the common bath on the 2nd floor that also has in floor heat and a spot for 2 floor laundry!
KAKINADA: Employees of Village Secretariat are under mental stress as they are being abused and harassed by their superiors. They say that for their superiors, bossism comes first and work next.

To achieve targets and implement government schemes, the superiors are directly targeting the secretariat employees without giving them sufficient time and without taking into consideration the technical problems.

Many of these employees were profitably employed in private firms and corporate firms. They left those jobs and joined the village secretariat jobs.

We were lured by the government jobs and prospects of living with our parents and relatives. But, we are deeply confused and upset after watching the reviews by the superiors, an employee said.

Many of these employees are B.Tech, M.Tech, M.Sc, MBA graduates or post graduates and were working with corporate companies. They are a deeply distressed lot now because of the attitudes of their superiors, they say.

According to them, the superiors have no leadership qualities to take work from the employees and what they do are simply scolding, abusing and harassing.

When we worked in corporate companies, the company gave us tasks. We completed them on time and got appreciation and even incentives. In government jobs, the superiors are giving multiple tasks at a time and holding review meetings three or four times every day. In such a situation, how can an employee devote himself to his work and reach his or her targets wondered an employee of a secretariat.

He said that during the reviews, the superiors are using abusive words on us, like scoundrels, useless fellows, fools etc.

In October, a superior officer used such language on a horticulture assistant and warned him his service would be terminated. Unable to bear the humiliation, the employee Subhash Varma committed suicide, an employee said.

Ten days ago, a superior scolded an agriculture department employee and used harsh words. He also tried to end his life. But, he was saved.

The secretariat employees are young. In the present generation, even the parents are not scolding their children and educating them in private corporate schools. The superiors should give up their age-fashioned bossism and supervising methods, said an NGO leader.

The employees cited examples of their tasks. In the Agriculture department, the officials have given only limited time to them and instructed them to complete the e-crop and e-KYC registrations. But some of the farmers dont want to reveal their OTPs due to the alerts from the mobile operators and bank officials. This was a horrible task to the employees. They were not able to complete the task on time. This made the superiors angry as they had to show their targets to the government.

In Municipalities also, the ward secretariat staff are facing such problems and experiencing mental agony. Mind-experts said such employees have to be given counseling to bear with the ill-treatment of their superiors.

The agriculture extension officers union state president Venu Mahdav said the superiors should stop their harassments and threatening of the employees. Instead, these youths should be motivated and encouraged to meet targets.

Otherwise, they may get upset and try to end their lives. The government should take the issue seriously and rectify the situation, he added.
Late on Friday, May 7, the day before the running of the 2022 Kentucky Derby, a chestnut-colored colt named Rich Strike made the races lineup after, literally, another horse withdrew from the competition at the last minute.

The next day, May 8, Rich Strike struck it rich: The ridiculously long, 80-1 longshot won the Derby, the worlds premier thoroughbred horse race. The horse, bought for $30,000 the previous September, won a knee-buckling $1.86 million.

Was the win a stray bolt of lightning or a massive error by the oddsmakers?

Similarly, the odds now strongly suggest the Biden administration will not allow two grocery-selling giants, Kroger and Albertsons, to complete their recently announced $24.6-billion merger. Dont bet against it just yet, though.

Politics aside  and the Federal Trade Commission will make the call on the deal, less so the White House  Kroger and Albertsons have several strong market arguments to favor their marriage. Moreover, each is positioning itself to lengthen their favorable odds.

Foremost is the key issue the deals detractors point to, competition. Both Kroger and Albertsons correctly note that the nations biggest grocery sellers are not grocery stores but big box retailers and wholesalers. The nations biggest grocery seller, Walmart, is a retailer, and the second largest is Amazon, an online retailer.

Moreover, Walmart owns Sams, a huge food wholesaler; Amazon owns grocer Whole Foods; and the #3 on the list is another big box boy, Costco.

All outsell #4 Kroger and #5 Albertsons in groceries and none are supermarkets like the betrothed two. If the merger occurs, they argue, they will sell about 13% of all U.S. groceries while Walmart, by itself, will still sell 25% of all U.S. groceries.

If anything, they continue, the government should approve the merger as one of the last best market checks on the almost unchecked growth of Walmart (or Costo or Amazon) left in grocery retailing. Thats a powerful, effective sales pitch.

To strengthen it even more, Albertsons has promised to divest of as many as 375 stores should the deal be approved and Kroger, throwing congressional Democrats a tasty labor bone, adds that its stores will be a compelling alternative to large, non-union competitors.

All-in-all, writes Ryan Young for the National Review, A combined Kroger-Albertsons would not reduce peoples options for groceries or give those stores the market power to raise prices.

In fact, he continues, the merger will likely add competition to a still-changing grocery-selling scene, one with more online ordering, less in-person shopping, and more and bigger costly infrastructure to warehouse, fill, and deliver at-home food orders.

This evolution to a scale-intensive hybrid business model, Young explains, is just the latest stage in a century-long evolution to the grocery market.

The merger, if it happens, would be part of that ongoing process from a clerk putting your grocery order together to post-war supermarkets and frozen foods aisles to Walmart bottling its own milk and Costco contract-growing its own broiler chickens.

Perhaps the most salient point to remember, he adds, is that the merger has no guarantee of success, given both intense competition and the long history of failed mergers.

Other competition experts agree. Scale  todays badly needed size to get into the big boy grocery game with Walmart, Amazon, and Costco  is at the heart of the merger. Scale is necessary to deliver the prices and investments that consumers demand, Neil Saunders, an official at GlobalData Retail, told Reuters recently.

From a broader national perspective, he added, a combined Kroger and Albertsons does not pose any major threat to the competitive dynamics of the market.

That judgment could also be applied to us: The competitive dynamics of the market is, like it or not, what we have become in todays dollar-centered broader national perspective.

Worse, almost nothing poses any major threat to this deeply entrenched view of either our markets or our government which, often, appear to be operating from the same office.

Another reason that betting against the Kroger/Albertsons deal is a Derby-sized longshot.


Capital Raising Program

Brisbane, Nov 4, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Tombola Gold Ltd ( ASX:TBA ) is pleased to announce the successful closing of a book-build to privately place approximately 132.7 million new fully paid ordinary shares (the Private Placement Offer) at an issue price of $0.026 per share (the Placement Issue Price), to qualified institutional and sophisticated investors.



At the time of applications closing, Tombola has received approximately $3,450,000 in applications. Subject to the receipt of the relevant application monies by 11 November 2022, Tombola will have closed the Private Placement Offer for approximately $3,450,000 before costs including broker commissions.



The Private Placement shares are currently scheduled for allotment on 14 November 2022, and once allotted, will rank equally with existing fully paid ordinary shares on issue, and will be issued utilising the Company's available placement capacity under ASX Listing Rule 7.1.



Share Purchase Plan



In order to present shareholders who did not take part in the Private Placement Offer with an opportunity to invest at the Placement Issue Price, the Company will make offers under a Share Purchase Plan (SPP) to those shareholders who are registered shareholders as 7:00pm (Sydney time) on 3 November 2022 (the Record Date) with a registered address in either Australia or New Zealand (Eligible Shareholders). Eligible Shareholders will each have the right to apply for up to $30,000 worth of new shares.



The SPP will be fully underwritten to $1 million by Ilwella Pty Ltd (Underwriter). The material terms of the Underwriting Agreement are disclosed in Appendix B of this announcement. On completion of the SPP, the Company will be required to pay the Underwriter an underwriting fee of 6% of the underwritten amount and issue 10,000,000 unlisted options exercisable at $0.06 expiring 36 months after the date of issue. If required, the Company will seek shareholder approval for issue of the Options.



If demand exceeds $1,000,000 under the SPP, the Company will apply a pro rata scale back so as to ensure that all Eligible Shareholders who apply for shares under the SPP are treated equitably.



The SPP is proposed to open on 11 November 2022 and close on 2 December 2022. A full timetable in respect of the Placement and SPP is provided at Appendix A*.



The proceeds of the Private Placement and the SPP will be used by Tombola to fund the following:



- accelerated mining and processing for the Great Australian Mill Gold Production Plant (GAM);



- the cash components as required for the Lorena and True North Tenement acquisitions;



- the recommissioning of GAM and Lorena gold processing facilities; and



- overheads and working capital.



A booklet with full details will be prepared and despatched to Eligible Shareholders on the opening of the SPP. In the meantime, for further information about the capital raising program in general, shareholders can contact the Company via email.



*To view the timetable, please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/2DID9838





About Tombola Gold Ltd





Tombola Gold Ltd (ASX:TBA) is a company assembled by experienced, exceedingly well-qualified and all very well rounded team members that have previously floated exploration companies which achieved major resource discoveries and success. Between the Tombola team members, Tombola as a company have well over 100 years of accumulated experience in the mining, exploration and resource sector. Tombola principal objective is to acquire assets to explore for and develop a large IOGC or porphyry deposit funded by low-risk gold production resources. To that end, Tombola has a license covering 970 sq km prospective for gold/copper in the Mount Bryan-Red Banks-World's End area near Burra in South Australia; with strategic agreements with Queensland Mining Corporation.
Veterans Day is a fitting time to salute Americas stalwart military bases.

As a U.S. Marine Corps Vietnam combat veteran, I am alarmed to know the iconic Parris Island Recruit Depot in South Carolina is under attack by the insidious, omnipresent enemy that threatens us all: global climate change.

For more than 100 years, Parris Island has been the place where Marine recruits undergo demanding physical training to become members of one of the most elite fighting forces in the world.

The legendary boot camp sits on the Atlantic Oceans coast, leaving it vulnerable to increasingly brutal, more frequent hurricanes and intensified rising sea levels.

Now, erosive climate conditions are forcing politicians and military officials to debate the possibility of closing the fabled training camp, where so many Marines forged their national defense skills.

Parris Island is not the only military facility under siege by ravaging environmental deviations.

New Mexicos 3,200-square-mile White Sands Missile Range ranked fifth on a 2019 Department of Defense (DOD) list of stateside military bases most at risk from progressively destructive weather patterns and escalating temperatures.

Two years ago, a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GOA) report found the states Kirtland, Holloman and Cannon Air Force bases are in danger of exhausting their water supplies because New Mexicos climate is getting hotter and drier, driven by regional and global warming trends. This means earlier springs, hotter summers, and less predictable winters. Precipitation patterns in the state are also fluctuating, with more intense droughts and a greater proportion of precipitation falling as rain rather than snow.

And last year, the GOA warned, New Mexicos armed forces installations are among at least 79 other vital military bases which are currently  or will be in the next 20 years  adversely affected by climate change through recurring flooding, drought, desertification, wildfires or thawing permafrost.

It is past the time to state the obvious: The world is losing ground in its battle against global warming. Unfortunately, when it comes to fighting negative climate change, the U.S. military may be its own worst enemy.

Department of Energy data reveal that since the beginning of the Global War on Terror in 2001, the military has produced more than 1.2 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases, a major contributing cause of global warming.

But good change is in the air.

Although climate change may currently be challenging our national security, military bases are where probable pollution fixes will occur.

For instance, the army recently announced its plan to install carbon-free electricity for its installations by 2030, producing net zero emissions from army bases by 2045.

In February, the defense department announced its intention to install carbon-free electricity technology at each of the approximately 500 military bases located in the United States.

The shift includes a range of power sources, including renewable energy like solar, wind and hydropower as well as nuclear energy and fossil fuel power plants that capture and store carbon dioxide emissions, according to DODs official website.

However, current military operations must go on.

The command posts and structural facilities where Americans train and serve remain as important to national security as the brave and dedicated men and women who oversee their functions. Our military bases are the nerve centers from which the nations heroic missions are launched.

And they are more than just places to warehouse bombs, bullets, tanks and fighter jets. Their magnitude and influence stretches beyond the length and breadth of the acreage upon which they are built.

Military bases offer the much needed barracks, billets and beds that shelter our sons and daughters as they endeavor to defend us while we sleep. They provide jobs and multiple economic benefits for the communities that surround them. And perhaps more significantly, they are part of our lore, our legacy, our spirit.

The mention of Pearl Harbor still renders an extra sense of patriotism and unity among veterans, active duty soldiers and the public, even though the horrific attack against the U.S. Navy base occurred more than 80 years ago.

Most veterans swell with pride, devotion and honor when reminiscing about the military bases they once called home. My sentiment toward Parris Island  as grueling as the experience was  equals my gratitude for the training I received there, which helped me survive the most unforgiving war of my generation.

Today, I salute every military base as if they were senior officers. They make our nation great. They keep us safe.
Rural southwestern New Mexico is a special place with a storied history of mining and mineral development. The long-shuttered mines of the classic American mining district at Mogollon in Catron County once contributed greatly to the regions prosperity while producing precious metals important to New Mexico and the nation.

On Oct. 30, Bob Moore placed an op-ed in this paper that misjudges Summa Silver and our work near Mogollon. Although we respect his opinion, we welcome the opportunity to set the record straight.

Summa Silver is conducting exploratory drilling in the Mogollon area exclusively on private property where after rigorous review, permits were granted by state authorities. We have conducted the prerequisite wildlife and archaeological surveys, as well as additional scientific survey work above and beyond the regulatory requirements. Furthermore, we have posted an obligatory reclamation bond to guarantee our current 1.35-acre work area will be environmentally stewarded and reclaimed to a pre-exploration state.

To be clear, our work is conducted in a manner centered around the pillars of environmental stewardship, community engagement, meeting or exceeding the requirements of the states permitting process and maximizing economic benefits for the people of the region.

The Mogollon mining district is home to significant underground mine workings, a testament to a robust mineral resource developed into the early 1940s. As is the nature of underground mines, the silver and gold deposits in the Mogollon area have small footprints. Should our exploration work prove successful, it is anticipated underground mining with a very small footprint would be the extraction method of choice.

Moore also suggests there is a choice between either economic development or environmental protection. Thats a false choice, and mineral development is not a zero-sum proposition. Summa Silver uses modern processes and technologies that protect the environment, create opportunities for our communities, as well as provide economic benefits at the local, regional and state levels  all while advancing the development of minerals to both sustain and improve our quality of life.

Did you know silver is a vital metal in the transition to a greener economy? For example, the International Energy Agency estimates that by 2030, silver demand for solar panels could triple, potentially using roughly 300 million ounces annually, or 30% of global supply. In fact, solar is becoming the lowest-cost option for new electricity generation in most of the world.

Sadly, many of the minerals used in our smart phones, computers and cars are largely sourced from Third World countries where child labor issues are deeply troubling, local people receive little to no benefit, and environmental protections are non-existent. Conversely, in this country we have some of the worlds strongest regulations that result in health, safety and environmental protections widely respected around the world.

New Mexico is blessed with mineral resources, strong labor standards and the highest degrees of environmental protections. At Summa Silver, we look forward to continuing exploration work under these regulations at our promising project near Mogollon. Most importantly, it is our goal that one day the silver deposits we discover will help bring renewed prosperity to this extraordinary part of New Mexico.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

In January 1991, Sonya Smith was a medical technician in an Air Force Reserve unit activated in response to Iraqs invasion of Kuwait. She and other members of her team found themselves on a plane flying toward the Persian Gulf, although they did not exactly know where.

I remember how close our unit was. A lot of us were in our early 20s, said Smith, now 56 and cabinet secretary for New Mexicos Department of Veterans Services.

When their plane took off, they were flying to support Operation Desert Shield, the build up by the United States and its allies to action aimed at liberating Kuwait and defending neighboring Saudi Arabia. But while they were airborne, the operation moved into its combat stage.

Our commander came on the intercom and said we were now entering the Desert Storm phase, Smith said. It was a very solemn moment, a very real moment for us all. We were ready to do our part. But this meant I might not be coming home.

Absolutely ready

Home is Norfolk, Virginia. Smith grew up there in a close-knit family, the oldest of three children.

She comes from a line of veterans.

My maternal grandfather, Seldon Smith, served in the Navy in World War I, and my paternal grandfather, Donnell Johnson, was in the Army during World War I, she said. My stepfather, Walter Morring Jr., worked for the Army as a civilian employee. My Uncle Samuel C. Smith, my mothers brother, was an Air Force officer.

After high school, Smith attended one year of college, but then dropped out so she could earn money to continue her education. Influenced by her Uncle Samuel, she joined the Air Force Reserve. Thats when things took an unexpected turn.

I had been a political science major and was planning to go to law school, she said. But a test she took as she prepared to enter the Reserve indicated an aptitude for the medical field.

After basic training, I was trained as a medical service technician, she said. It was very rigorous, equated to training to be a LPN (licensed practical nurse). I was qualified to work in various settings in military health care. I was taking blood, doing ultrasounds, just about everything you can think of to help our military professionals  doctors and nurses.

That plane she was aboard in January 1991 landed in Oman. She was assigned to work as a medic at a military hospital there.

We were standing ready for the casualties of war, she said. Luckily, we did not have to engage in that. But we were absolutely ready.

With great pride

Following about five months of active duty, Smith did get back home. She was honorably discharged from the Air Force Reserve with the rank of technical sergeant.

Smith enrolled at Norfolk State University, earned a degree in health services management, got married and raised a son and a daughter. Shes the grandmother of a boy about 5 years old.

A divorce prompted her move to New Mexico.

I needed a change and started applying for positions, she said. I got a job offer from UNM.

She was hired as clinical compliance manager at the University of New Mexicos Truman Health Services Clinic.

I was responsible for making sure the clinic was following all the health care compliance rules and regulations, she said.

Later, she was employed as director of compliance and primary care programs at Southwest Care Center in Santa Fe and then, just as the COVID pandemic was kicking off, she worked a few months at New Mexicos Department of Health.

She served as the Health Departments coordinator of special projects, focusing on guiding the agencys COVID-19 testing team.

The governor (Michelle Lujan Grisham) started having a concern that we were not engaging our minority populations, Smith said. She asked me to head that up, and I did with great pride.

In the fall of 2020, however, Smith was tapped to fill the Cabinet position at the Department of Veterans Services.

I really was not surprised, she said. When (Lujan Grisham) was elected, my name was submitted (as a candidate) for deputy secretary of DVS. They chose someone else. But everything happens when it is supposed to happen. I appreciated that they remembered me.

Unforgotten heroes

One of the first things Smith did when she took the top job at DVS was initiate the saying Every day is Veterans Day.

We say that to remind ourselves what an honor we have because we get to serve our veterans and their families, she said. I cant think of anything more honorable.

Smith said the departments Forgotten Heroes program, which is about 13 years old, provides her with the most profound experience in her position.

This is where we remember, honor and lay to rest our veterans who have not been claimed by a family member, she said. I like to call it our Unforgotten Heroes program. We become their family.

This years program, conducted on Sept. 29, recognized 29 veterans, including three women. The veterans names are read during a ceremony in Albuquerque, and then a motorcade takes urns containing their ashes to the Santa Fe National Cemetery.

While honoring the dead is important, Smith said paying homage to living veterans is also vital.

We can be with veterans, listen to their stories if they want to share them, she said. Thank them for ensuring the freedoms we enjoy by the sacrifices they made.

Smith announced recently that she will step down from her position at DVS on Friday, Veterans Day, in order to be closer to her family back east. She is making the move with mixed emotions.

This certainly is by far one of the most important things I have done, she said. It does not seem like work. It seems like I am doing what I am supposed to be doing, and I will always be grateful to the governor for the faith she put in me. But I am looking forward to being able to be closer to family members.

And she takes comfort in the fact that she will never stop being a veteran.

The cool thing about being a veteran is that we are all here to serve, she said. We are all brothers and sisters. Its all about the red, white and blue.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

TO HAJIILEE  This is a rugged land of canyons, fantastic rock formations and spread-out stretches of arid landscape. Once known as the Canoncito Indian Reservation, it is about 32 miles west of Albuquerque and 6 miles north of I-40. It is home to the Tohajiilee Chapter of the Navajo Nation.

Its Burton Plateros home.

I grew up just over the hill, about a mile from here, said Platero, as he sits at a table in the home he shares with his daughter and son-in-law. My family was ranchers and farmers. We had cattle, sheep, goats and horses. We grew corn, melons and hay.

Platero, 98, is a Navy veteran of World War II and an Air Force veteran of the Korean War.

During World War II, he served in the South Pacific aboard the attack transport ship USS Fremont. It was disorienting duty for a Navajo teenager accustomed to this dusty, boulder-strewn place.

When the ship was not sailing, I was all right, he said. When we go out to sea, Id get sick. Took me six months to get over (seasickness).

But some things you dont get over  like the Japanese planes that dropped out of the early morning sky to spill destruction on the ships of the United States and its allies.

I dont like to talk too much about it, Platero says. Ive seen some people die.

Might get hurt

Platero, born in August 1924, grew up in a family in which he had three brothers and four sisters. He is the only surviving sibling.

He retains vivid memories of his young days here.

Now its really different, he said. Back then we had a lot of rain. We sold hay for a dollar a bale.

He recalls also the community rodeos of his youth.

We had a lot of visitors from the outside  good riders from Crownpoint. I only participate in a little roping. Once in a while, Id ride a cow.

Platero attended a Catholic school in Santa Fe and then went to schools in Crownpoint and at Fort Wingate. He said he was in the 11th grade at Wingate, just 17, when he was drafted into the Navy.

That was the end of my academic courses, he said. I was told to go in. In boot camp, we had a teacher who taught us what to expect. You might get sick, or you might get hurt and you are going to have to learn English to get along.'

Platero did know some English, but he was not comfortable with the language.

Mostly, I served with no other Indians, he said. I served with (Irish-Americans and Italian-Americans). When they talked English, a lot of times I did not understand. But I got used to the guys I was working with. I got acquainted with some of the boys. I had an Italian friend who used to share the pepperoni he got from home with me.

When those Japanese planes appeared with the dawn, the only language Platero and his shipmates needed was the incessant chatter of the ships guns.

Family reunion

Platero was a pointer on a 40 mm gun, which means he was involved in training the gun on enemy aircraft.

The bullets were this big, he said, spreading his hands about 18 inches. One time a (Japanese) plane flew close by, almost hit the ship. The noise was really bad. Several of my friends on a 5-inch gun took shrapnel. I think we got a number of our enemy. We pulled some Japanese out of the ocean.

The Fremont was involved in operations at Saipan, in the Palau Islands, Leyte Gulf and Iwo Jima, among others.

We transported a lot of Marines, Platero said. A lot of them were Navajo, and they were being taught the Navajo code (used by the Code Talkers) on the ship.

Separation from his family and culture was difficult for Platero. Unlike many other men in wartime service, he did not get letters and packages from home.

They didnt speak English, he said of his family. They could not write. The post office was a ways off.

But then one day the Fremont and the USS Gansevoort, the destroyer on which Plateros younger brother, Dillon, served, were at Hollandia, a port on the north coast of New Guinea, at the same time.

I was called to the bridge and told, Someone wants to see you. They are going to come over.'

Dillon arrived at the Fremont in a small boat.

We spent about two hours with each other, Platero said. We ate together. It was definitely good to see my brother.

Driving home

Both brothers survived the war.

I got out of the Navy and went to school at the Haskell Institute (now Haskell Indian Nations University) in Kansas, he said. They put me in as a junior. But I didnt graduate. And I didnt have any money.

He joined the Army Air Forces, which would become the U.S. Air Force in 1947, and was sent to Germany. During the operation known as the Berlin Airlift, June 1948 to May 1949, he was a crewman on an Air Force cargo plane delivering food and fuel to Allied-controlled areas of Berlin, which had been cut off from ground and water access by a Soviet blockade.

During the Korean War, he served on cargo planes flying food to people on the Korean coast. He left the Air Force with the rank of staff sergeant in 1952.

I got a car in San Francisco, he said. I got a good deal. I drove that car, I think it was a Ford, a used car, home.

Back home, Platero worked in sanitation for the Public Health Service and also in community health for the Navajo tribe.

He retired in 1990, but stays active, going for walks and fishing for trout, catfish and muskie.

There are things about his time in the military, especially during World War II, that he prefers not to remember. But he never forgets that he served and remains proud he did.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

Decades have passed since Wes Studi volunteered for the National Guard.

At just 17, he was searching for a personal challenge.

Studi, then a student at the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School in Oklahoma, needed his parents signature to sign up for the service.

After graduation in 1964, he was off to basic training at Fort Polk, Louisiana.

Arriving back in Oklahoma, he attended summer encampments for a few years before slacking off and not going as routinely.

By 1967, he was activated into the Army and off to Fort Benning in Georgia. He was now a part of A Company of the 3rd Battalion 39th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division.

He served 12 months in Vietnam  and the memories are still vibrant.

At that point I had about a year or so in my six-year obligation, Studi, now 74, recalls. They still had a draft back then. I got interested in going to Vietnam because the company was made up of returnees who were Expiration Term of Service (ETS) or stationed somewhere else. Most of them had stories to tell about Vietnam and that piqued my interest.

By April 1968, Studi and his company were in Vietnam, near Saigon.

I spent a year moving around Vietnam from fire base to fire base, he says. We worked mainly with helicopters. Roaming through the Mekong Delta, we were almost in Cambodia at times. There was a place called the Plain of Reeds and it was the space between Vietnam and Cambodia.

Changed outlook

During the 12 months spent in Vietnam, Studi felt like he was a student.

When he volunteered for service, it was due to the fact that he wanted to see how he would stack up in a war situation.

Its combat and you risk your life, Studi says. Thats something that I had to ask myself. When I was put into the thick of it all, it turned out that I learned a lot to stay alive.

Within the personal journey, Studi was able to experience war on the front lines.

This is where his outlook changed.

I think that war is absolutely the last thing that you could ever think to do in terms of conflict of any kind, he says. The war between nations and people, it totally turned me against the idea of going to war for colonization or attrition. War is a terrible situation to be in and I dont think war is ever the answer.

Vietnam also opened Studis eyes to the fact that the U.S. troops werent there to defend themselves.

We were there to further the interests of the national government and of corporations that wanted to be the aggressor, he says. Thats why I felt totally betrayed by our country and our government. We were used to the point of cannon fodder. It was an unjust war and an unjust place to be.

Studi is grateful for finding out what he wanted to learn about himself.

Im sorry for the level of damage that I did over there, he says.

Work with veterans

Decades later, the Oscar winner finds himself navigating a long-running film and TV career.

When he has a break between productions, its not rare to see him working with veterans organizations or on films.

The Santa Fe resident often works with Silver Bullet Productions on their projects.

In 2017, he appeared in and narrated the award-winning documentary, Defending the Fire.

The documentary tells the story of Native American warriors who have navigated a unique cultural and spiritual path, relying on the tenets of the warrior in ancient and modern warfare.

With a focus on the spiritual and historic journey of Native American warriors, Studi says the Silver Bullet production presents the story of the warrior, the importance of cultures in modern quests, and the lessons of war through the lens of these cultures.

The characters are elders and historians from New Mexican tribes and Native veterans of World War II, and the Korean, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Studi says films like Defending the Fire are important to Native American youth because theres not a lot of access to filmmaking for them.

Theres so few of us involved in the business, that its easy for youth to give up, he says. I want to help reach out to the youth and show them how to become part of the film industry. There were trailblazers before me, and now I get to stand there and be that inspiration for others. Anytime a young Native American sees a Native actor in a film, it gives them hope.

Uncomfortable memories

He often takes lessons learned in Vietnam to the set with him in ways of working together.

The memories will always be there.

It would be a more comfortable life to not know what I know now, he says quietly, and then pauses. I was around 22 years old at that time and I was one of the older guys there. What Id like people to really think about is what were being asked to do when in a military situation. The promotion of aggression to someone else in terms of occupying other areas is not right.

Studi uses time to reflect on the struggles of Native Americans  both past and present.

Three hundred years before Vietnam, Native Americans were battling to keep their land in what has become the United States.

These are Studis ancestors.

I stood in battle fighting with my company, he says. In many ways, I can empathize with the Cambodian people. We as Native Americans, we are allied with the U.S. under the circumstances with the world we live in today. Its easy to believe that we are protecting our country and sometimes its not what were doing. Most of the time, were protecting the interests of corporations that are profiting from war.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

Leslie Ramsey was honorably discharged from the U.S. Air Force, but it wasnt her decision.

Ramsey joined the Air Force at 18 years old, right after she graduated from high school.

I wanted to serve my country, Ramsey said. My grandfather had done it. Of course, my father didnt want me going at first. He changed his mind, though. He was pretty proud of it.

Boot camp was a grueling six weeks, not just because of the intense drills and strict scheduling, but Ramsey was unaware she was born with a fusion in her spine  which eventually led to a fractured hip during training.

She recalled, I was given the option to be washed back because you cant put a cast on it or anything. Or I could just push through. So, yeah, I pushed through the rest of the last few weeks of boot camp with a fractured hip.

She laughed before continuing, I was younger, I was able to deal with it.

Her vigor and determination helped her move forward into additional training where she became an aircraft fuel system mechanic, or a tank turtle as she was called. Ramsey worked on KC-135s and F-15s among other high-end military aircraft, replacing and repairing fuel system parts.

Nine weeks later, she was shipped off to Okinawa, Japan, for her first duty station.

I was pretty excited about it, she said. The Japanese people were very nice people, polite, not what I was expecting, but it was amazing over there.

One of the most appealing elements to enlisting in the military is that personnel are able to see the world and experience different cultures, perhaps erasing a stigma that forms within the confines of home countries and local circles of thought.

I learned quite a bit, Ramsey added.

She was only in Okinawa for two years before being honorably discharged  and it wasnt because her hip was acting up.

I had to get out

Ramsey is a lesbian.

She served in the Air Force from 1998-2001 before being discharged.

She said, It was during the dont ask, dont tell era, and  I was separated for the good of service, but it was honorable, under honorable conditions well say. I wasnt given a choice. I had to get out. I would have stayed in for years if theyd let me.

Dont ask, dont tell, was an official U.S. military policy instituted in 1993 concerning the service of homosexuals in the U.S. Armed Forces. The move by former President Bill Clinton was to end a long-standing ban on homosexuals in the military by allowing homosexual personnel to continue to serve if they did not openly declare their sexual orientation.

The law at the time stated: The presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity of intent to engage in homosexual acts would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability.

Good intention wasnt convincing enough, as many activists criticized the policy, claiming it fell short of complete acceptance.

Ramsey explained, The military didnt want to know if you were gay or lesbian, but if you were found to be, you would basically be dishonorably discharged.

Ramsey said because she saw a lawyer who was well-equipped to navigate the policy, she was able to earn an honorable discharge, but many others had slim alternatives to avoid the militarys most consequential sentence.

I saw several of them dishonorably discharged just in the year I was over there, so it was really scary, she said. Thats something you cant live down.

Congress repealed the dont ask dont tell law in 2011. In September 2021, the Department of Veteran Affairs announced that LGBTQ veterans who were given other than honorable discharges from the U.S. military due to their sexual orientation were eligible to receive full benefits.

President Joe Biden said in a Sept. 20, 2021, statement that over 100,000 American service members had been discharged because of their sexual orientation or gender identity throughout the militarys history, which included around 14,000 under dont ask, dont tell.

Ramseys application for benefits has been rejected.

For Ramsey, as it can be assumed for many others, the decision still has a lingering effect. These individuals wanted to serve their country only to be ousted over something that makes no difference, she said.

I still think about it. I think about what I could have done with my life for all those years that I would have served. When I got out I didnt know what to do with myself, she said. I just moved from place to place, little jobs here and there, never really developed any roots anywhere.

Wandering, wondering

Ramsey was born in Las Cruces, but her father was a truck driver and the family constantly relocated. She was accustomed to the mobile life, and after leaving the Air Force, she bounced around before eventually resettling in New Mexico. She and her wife, Christina, moved to Albuquerque almost two years ago.

The struggle remained, however.

It just didnt work out, Ramsey said about first moving to Albuquerque. We lost everything, and it got to the point where we were basically on the street.

Thats when Shane DOnofrio, executive director of Heroes Walk Among Us, changed her life with a simple phone call.

It was the first time I ever spoke to him, and within an hour, I had a job, I had a place to stay  and I had a purpose, Ramsey said. I have a job; I have something thats important to do.

Heroes Walk Among Us offers services to veterans in need, including housing, transportation and finding employment. Ramsey has been at the nonprofit for almost two months now and is the head of maintenance.

Shane has something that can help a lot of people here, she said. It really is amazing.

Once rejected for her identity by the country she volunteered her life to serve, she has now found acceptance and a true home  one in which she spent years wandering for and wondering if she would find.

Ramsey said, Im older now, much older, and Im in a good spot. Its taken a while, but Im in a very good spot now.

Her path was, and continues to be, an honorable journey, and no one can take that away from her.
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday attacked the Congress for ignoring Himachal Pradesh as it sends only "four MPs" to the Lok Sabha. Speaking at two rallies in the poll-bound state, he accused the Opposition party of "making false promises and giving false guarantees."

The PM urged the people to start a new tradition by voting the BJP back into power to ensure stability and progress. He said, "If you want to seek accountability and answers from the government, you should give it another chance. Together, we will take Himachal forward, start a new 'riwaaz' (custom), and bring the BJP back to power."

Modi, who sought votes for the "double engine ki sarkar", launched a scathing attack on the Congress and alleged that it never even opened its manifesto while the BJP is known for toiling day and night to fulfil what it says and referred to the abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir and building Ram Temple at Ayodhya.

Ahead of his visit to the poll-bound state, the PM reached the Radha Soami Satsang at Beas in Amritsar and met Dera head Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon. Himachal Pradesh has a large number of Dera followers.

Addressing his first rally at Sundernagar in Mandi district, the home constituency of Chief Minister Jairam Thakur, who also addressed the gathering, Modi reminded the crowd that he had promised the people of Mandi that he would address the first election rally from Mandi itself.

Attacking the Congress for not prioritising the state's development, the PM said, "Being a small state, the Congress did not consider it of significance politically with just 3 to 4 LS MPs. Because of their mindset, Congress never gave priority to Himachal's development and the state fell behind."

Listing out the failures of the previous Congress, he cited the promise of "Garibi Hatao" and said the Congress kept raising the slogan for 50 years but nothing happened. He accused the Congress of not fulfilling even a single promise they had made in the 2012 election manifesto and not implementing the "one rank, one pension" scheme.

"Making false promises, giving false guarantees has been an old trick of Congress," said the PM while comparing it with the BJP, which he claimed fulfilled its poll promises of abrogation of Article 370 and the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

Seeking votes for the "double engine" BJP government, Mr Modi said, between 2014 and 2017 only 15 houses were completed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Urban, while work started on 10,000 houses as soon as the BJP government came to power in the hill state. Out of these, more than 8,000 houses have been completed.

Modi noted how Himachal Pradesh became the first state in the country to achieve the target of 100 per cent Covid vaccination. He said because of the "double engine sarkar" the state has 9-lakh tap water connections, 4-lakh people got free treatment under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana and the Atal Tunnel was constructed.

In Solan, Modi recalled his stays in Solan and Shimla and said Himachal has always been on his mind. Batting for a stable government, Modi cited examples of BJP-ruled Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur, where the pace of development has been on the upswing. He said the area from Solan to Shimla is being developed as an educational and medical hub.

Addressing a rally in Solan, Mr Modi slammed the Congress as a "guarantee of corruption and nepotism" and targeted the AAP as "most corrupt" in the guise of 'kattar imaandaar' as he sought people's votes for stability and development under a BJP government in the state.

He spoke at length about his long association with the hill state and exhorted people to support "lotus" (BJP's election symbol), saying their votes for it will be their "blessings" to him and that they should keep in mind not the candidates but "kamal ka phool".

PM Modi also paid tribute to Shyam Saran Negi, the first voter of independent India, who voted more than 30 times in his life. The centenarian passed away in the early hours of Saturday in his native village of Kalpa.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

Since 2018 there have been more than 6,000 guns reported stolen in burglaries, auto thefts and other crimes in and around Albuquerque. In that same period only 1,000 stolen guns have been recovered by police officers in the city.

As the number of guns stolen in Albuquerque wavered between 1,400 and 1,100 annually, the number of stolen guns recovered dropped from 266 in 2018 to 135 in 2021.

So far this year, according to the Albuquerque Police Department, 887 guns have been reported stolen and 172 stolen guns have been recovered.

Albuquerque police Lt. Ryan Nelson, with the Career Criminal Section, said stolen guns are definitely used in violent crime on the citys streets.

Because of them being illegal by nature, he said, they are often passed around and its not rare for them to be used in separate crimes by multiple offenders.

Stolen guns seem to change hands a lot more frequently, Nelson said.  Theyll trade it or hand it off to somebody else who may commit another crime.

One of the larger commercial gun thefts happened in 2020 when thieves cut the alarms to a West Central gun store and broke in  making off with 115 pistols and 35 rifles. A $10,000 reward has been offered in the case, but it remains unsolved.

Some of the guns stolen over the years have been used in subsequent property and violent crimes, including robberies, carjackings, shootings and homicides.

Often people selling large quantities of drugs are found with stolen guns and, in some instances, are known to trade drugs for stolen guns.

Standalone cases can make it seem there is an endless supply of people carrying guns and thieves looking to steal them on the city streets.

Earlier this year, according to Bernalillo County sheriffs deputies, a man fatally shot another man and stole his gun before using the stolen gun to kill another man  also stealing his gun  over a month later.

Purported gun thefts by youths have also led to tragedies at Albuquerque schools in recent years.

In February a fight between West Mesa High School students over a stolen ghost gun ended when one teen allegedly fatally shot the other outside the school. Months earlier, a 13-year-old allegedly stole his fathers gun and brought it to Washington Middle School, where he fatally shot an eighth-grade classmate to death.

As stolen guns continue to seep into Albuquerque crime, Nelson said he expects ghost guns will become more prevalent. The weapons are made using 3D printers and assembled from parts ordered online, they are devoid of serial numbers and difficult to trace.

Nelson said Albuquerque police have already come across 3D-printed switches that make a pistol into a machine gun. They are being sold on social media and found in the streets.

They are coming this way, he said, and we will be dealing with manufactured guns like that.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

They came from all walks of life, and dealt  one way or another  in illegal gun sales.

A volunteer at an Albuquerque gun store who resold dozens of firearms subsequently recovered in crimes around the city.

A Kirtland airman who bought silencers from overseas and kept photos of rifle clips emblazoned with the names of mass shooters.

A woman who bought a pistol for her husband months before he used it to shoot a Las Cruces officer during a gunfight after killing a State Police officer.

Since 2015, nearly two dozen people have been federally charged with breaking various firearms sale laws in New Mexico.

The majority of those charged are alleged to have bought guns for people who are prohibited from buying a gun themselves. In some cases, the guns were bought for a violent Albuquerque street gang, cartels south of the border and people who the buyers knew were felons.

The practice is known as straw purchasing.

Up until recently the charge for straw purchasing amounted to a paper violation of lying on ATF forms that are filled out during a guns purchase. As a result, those sentenced often faced either probation or little prison time.

But that could all change following the June passage of the federal Safer Communities Act. The most significant gun legislation in decades, the bill included new statutes on straw purchasing and firearms trafficking that could have straw purchasers serving from 15 to 25 years in federal prison.

Despite New Mexicos seemingly unrelenting gun violence in recent years, where homicides have skyrocketed to record highs, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives doesnt see a high volume of straw purchasing happening here.

At least not according to the data.

Special Agent in Charge Brendan Iber of ATFs Phoenix office said Texas and Arizona have much bigger problems and are known as store states  a place with lax gun laws where people from more restrictive market states like California go to buy guns.

We dont see as high a volume, and I wish I knew what the answer was, and maybe we could replicate that in the other states, Iber said. I dont know the answers as to why that is and thats OK. Thats an OK problem to have.

Local authorities have a different perspective.

Albuquerque Police Department Lt. Ryan Nelson, with the Career Criminal Section, said he believes more than 90% of straw purchases are going undetected. It happens, by his estimation, every single day in the city of Albuquerque.

In New Mexico, gun stores are required to report to the ATF if someone buys two or more handguns or certain rifles at the same time or within five days of each other. Nelson said he believes many straw purchasers just go from store to store, one gun at a time, to avoid detection.

He said the majority of teens charged in violent crimes  like drive-by and party shootings  often use brand new guns bought for them by a relative or friend.

Theres definitely an abundance of guns in juveniles hands. And I think that is being fueled largely because of straw purchasers, Nelson said.

One woman charged in straw purchases, Alberta Trujillo, allegedly bought multiple guns for her 19-year-old grandson before he fatally shot her brother during a fight in June at the familys Albuquerque home.

Nelson said youths see it as a prestige thing to go into a store and pick out a gun before sending someone else to buy it.

You can shop for exactly what you want. Whereas if youre going to do a burglary, you kind of just get what you get, if you get it, he said.  Its a much safer route to (use a straw buyer) if youre a juvenile that wants to make the conscious effort to prepare for violence.

Nelson said, based on his observations, juvenile gun violence has risen in recent years alongside the straw purchases supplying the firearms.

Six teens have been fatally shot and eight have been arrested in Albuquerque homicides this year, according to Journal records. In 2021, there were four killed and three arrested, numbers similar to previous years.

Its sometimes staggering that 15-, 16-year-olds are committing multiple shootings. And we are seeing that a lot, Nelson said.

Time-to-crime

New Mexico has had an increase in guns recovered in crimes shortly after their purchase, known as time-to-crime, something Iber said is one of the biggest indicators of criminal activity associated with gun sales.

If an individual purchased a firearm (and) 30 days later its ending up in a crime on the streets of Albuquerque  thats a pretty good clue that somethings up, he said.

The shortest time-to-crime measurements, from under three months to under two years, more than doubled in New Mexico from 2018 to 2021.

In 2018, 136 firearms were recovered within three months of purchase and an additional 128 guns within a year  in 2021 those totals had risen to 384 and 335, respectively.

The average time-to-crime in the state in 2021 was just over six years, coming in 25th in the nation and only slightly longer than the national average.

The number of weapons recovered in violent crimes, like aggravated assault and homicide, also doubled or tripled in New Mexico from 2015 to 2021.

The majority of firearms recovered by law enforcement in the state were found in Albuquerque. The time-to-crime trends have increased as gun violation offenses have skyrocketed in the city, rising 218% since 2018  something local police have attributed to a spike in gun ownership during the pandemic.

Anybody can own firearms; as long as theyre allowed to purchase them they can buy as many as they want. When they start getting traced  as short time to crime  then thats definitely a clue. And it piques our interest, Iber said.

2 local gun stores lead

Several straw purchasers are alleged to have each bought and resold dozens of guns over several months. In Albuquerque the majority of alleged straw purchases were made at two gun stores: JCT Firearms and BMC Tactical.

The firearms that authorities say were straw purchased at those stores accounted for at least 85 of the more than 100 guns bought and illegally resold. Both store owners could not be reached for comment.

It is unclear how many of the straw purchased guns have been recovered.

Iber said there are consequences for a store that knowingly handles straw purchases, but detection, liability and enforcement by ATF can be kind of a trick bag due to the legality of buying firearms.

He said ATF does inspections every three or four years at firearms businesses, known as Federal Firearms Licensees, or FFLs, to check for compliance with policies and regulations. Iber said the agency can revoke the license of a store that is found noncompliant.

He said theres also the criminal side where owners are truly skirting the law and those will be prosecuted to the full extent. Iber said most sellers are above board.

Thats their business, thats their livelihood. Thats how they support their families, he said.  Theyre not trying to do things illegal. But, as in anything, you have bad apples in all batches.

One of those bad apples was 39-year-old Joe Velasquez.

A JCT employee told the ATF that Velasquez worked at the store in a part-time capacity and the business owner said Velasquez worked there several years in a volunteer capacity and was not an official employee on paper.'

The owner referred to Velasquez as a general helper who assisted with sales, showed guns and doled out ATF forms to customers  the same forms he is accused of lying on.

Velasquez caught the eye of ATF in July 2021, according to court records, after 13 guns recovered in suspected criminal activity were traced to him as the buyer. Ten of the guns had a short time-to-crime.

Additionally, agents said, Velasquez had 25 guns transferred to him between August 2019 and June 2021, 16 of them at JCT Firearms. Velasquez initially denied making straw purchases but eventually pleaded guilty, admitting that he was a dealer in firearms without a license.

Velasquez said he bought and resold nearly two dozen guns to people on Jasons Guns, a Craigslist-like gun market, to pay bills.

Others made straw purchases to feed a drug habit.

Martin Martinez allegedly told ATF agents he bought guns for two men, knowing they were felons, for hundreds in cash and fentanyl pills, according to court records. The 32-year-old said he had been addicted to various drugs since 2010.

Agents said Martinez walked into two Albuquerque gun stores, in February and March, and bought a gun while in the company of another man. In both instances the men looked over guns together but it was Martinez who made the purchase.

Both guns were recovered by authorities within weeks, according to court records, one in a pistol-whipping case where suspects fled police and another in a drug possession arrest. Agents said the guns were found with the men who initially went with Martinez to the store.

Two men allegedly involved in straw purchases told ATF agents they solely bought guns for criminals.

Larry Archuleta, 23, allegedly told agents he bought at least 28 guns for a San Jo gang associate named Juan between May 2020 and January 2022.

Archuleta said Juan would tell him what guns they wanted and Archuleta would buy and deliver them, according to court records. Agents said records showed Archuleta bought 18 guns over the past year and a half from BMC Tactical, essentially buying the same firearm over and over. He also reportedly had 37 guns transferred to him since May 2020, spending more than $15,000.

Archuleta told agents he was paid in pot and that he knew the consequences of my actions for me lying on this paperwork, according to court records.

The ATF zeroed in on 24-year-old John Chavez after a convicted felon sold a gun to an undercover agent that was traced back to Chavez, according to court records. The traced gun had reportedly been used in an August 2020 shooting in Albuquerque.

Records showed Chavez bought at least 25 guns from BMC Tactical and JCT firearms between November 2019 and late 2020. Agents said a JCT employee told them there would be one or two people waiting outside for Chavez when he came in to buy a gun, and Chavez always knew what he wanted and had cash in hand.

In an interview, Chavez told agents he purchased several of the guns for El Chapo, according to court records. Chavez described El Chapo as a drug dealer and gang member who he knew was violent after he robbed someone at gunpoint with Chavez in the car.

You realize people are getting shot out here with guns that you put on the streets? an agent asked Chavez in an interview. Chavez replied, That wasnt my intention.

Iber said even one gun obtained in a straw purchase is one too many.

Those are ending up on the streets and causing a lot of heartache in communities just one straw purchase is bad enough and ATF is committed to stopping all of that as we can, so we dont rest, we dont rest, he said.

Changes with new law

Many of the ATFs cases in the state are making their way through the court process, but those who have been convicted and sentenced faced a variety of punishments, depending on the circumstances.

Genovevo Alvarez, a 58-year-old green card holder, is serving more than six years in federal prison for buying nearly three dozen guns in Las Cruces and, by his own admission, reselling them in Mexico for double the price.

Meanwhile, Kirtland airman Charles Brent Justice was sentenced to just over a year and a half behind bars for buying and importing illegal weapons. The 29-year-old, according to court records, was living on base in 2020 when he had a silencer shipped to him from China.

Investigators learned he had also been shipped other banned items, like a switch that turns a pistol into a machine gun. Authorities found 17 guns, three silencers and large amounts of ammo at his on-base home.

On Justices phone investigators also found tutorials of how to use a coat hanger to turn a rifle into a machine gun, how to make explosives and photos that indicated he could pose a potential threat to the public.

Those photos included rifle clips that had the names of mass shooters written on them in white ink, like Alexandre Bissonnette and Luca Traini.

Iber said the landmark federal gun legislation passed in June  with new statutes on straw purchasing and firearms trafficking  will give punishments a little more teeth and sentences of 15 to 25 years.

Officer shot and killed

Laura Swanquist-Chavez is awaiting her sentence. She faces up to 10 years.

The 36-year-old bought a pistol in August 2020 at a Deming pawn shop at the behest of her husband Omar Cueva, 39, a convicted drug smuggler, according to a plea agreement. She said she gave the gun to Cueva and he carried it regularly.

She told investigators that on Feb. 4, 2021 Cueva had left their house unannounced and the handgun she bought him was gone. That day Cueva, on his way to a drug deal, shot and killed State Police Officer Darian Jarrott with a rifle during a traffic stop.

Federal and local authorities chased Cueva to Las Cruces  exchanging gunfire along the way  where Officer Adrian De La Garza used a pit maneuver to stop Cuevas truck. By then, Cueva had switched from the rifle to the pistol his wife bought him.

In dramatic lapel video, Cueva is seen running up to De La Garzas vehicle firing the pistol, wounding the officer in the shoulder in a close-quarter gunfight. De La Garza fell to the ground and fired beneath his vehicle at Cuevas legs until he retreated under a hail of bullets from an army of encroaching law enforcement.

When the dust settled on the debris-strewn highway, Cueva was on the ground motionless, his body riddled with bullets. The 9mm his wife bought lay beside him on the asphalt.
KYIV, Ukraine  The mayor of Kyiv, Ukraines capital, is warning residents that they must prepare for the worst this winter if Russia keeps striking the countrys energy infrastructure  and that means having no electricity, water or heat in the freezing cold cannot be ruled out.

We are doing everything to avoid this. But lets be frank, our enemies are doing everything for the city to be without heat, without electricity, without water supply, in general, so we all die. And the future of the country and the future of each of us depends on how prepared we are for different situations, Mayor Vitali Klitschko told state media.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation Sunday that about 4.5 million people were without electricity. He called on Ukrainians to endure the hardships and we must get through this winter and be even stronger in the spring than now.

Russia has focused on striking Ukraines energy infrastructure over the last month, causing power shortages and rolling outages across the country. Kyiv was having hourly rotating blackouts Sunday in parts of the city and the surrounding region.

Rolling blackouts also were planned in the Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Kharkiv and Poltava regions, Ukraines state-owned energy operator, Ukrenergo, said.

Kyiv plans to deploy about 1,000 heating points, but its unclear if that would be enough for a city of 3 million people.

As Russia intensifies its attacks on the capital, Ukrainian forces are pushing forward in the south. Residents of Ukraines Russian-occupied city of Kherson received warning messages on their phones urging them to evacuate as soon as possible, Ukraines military said Sunday. Russian soldiers warned civilians that Ukraines army was preparing for a massive attack and told people to leave for the citys right bank immediately.

Russian forces are preparing for a Ukrainian counteroffensive to seize back the southern city of Kherson, which was captured during the early days of the invasion. In September, Russia illegally annexed Kherson as well as three other regions and subsequently declared martial law in the four provinces.

The Kremlin-installed administration in Kherson already has moved tens of thousands of civilians out of the city.

Russia has been occupying and evacuating Kherson simultaneously, trying to convince Ukrainians that theyre leaving when in fact theyre digging in, Nataliya Humenyuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraines Southern Forces, told state television.

There are defense units that have dug in there quite powerfully, a certain amount of equipment has been left, firing positions have been set up, she said.

Russian forces are also digging in in a fiercely contested region in the east, worsening the already tough conditions for residents and the defending Ukrainian army following Moscows illegal annexation and declaration of martial law in Donetsk province.

The attacks have almost completely destroyed the power plants that serve the city of Bakhmut and the nearby town of Soledar, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the regions Ukrainian governor, said. Shelling killed one civilian and wounded three, he reported late Saturday.

The destruction is daily, if not hourly, Kyrylenko told state television.

Moscow-backed separatists have controlled part of Donetsk for nearly eight years before Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. Protecting the separatists self-proclaimed republic there was one of Russian President Vladimir Putins justifications for the invasion, and his troops have spent months trying to capture the entire province.

Between Saturday and Sunday, Russias launched four missiles and 19 airstrikes hitting more than 35 villages in nine regions, from Chernihiv and Kharkiv in the northeast to Kherson and Mykolaiv in the south, according to Zelenskyys office. The strikes killed two people and wounded six.

In the Donetsk city of Bakhmut, 15,000 remaining residents were living under daily shelling and without water or power, according to local media. The city has been under attack for months, but the bombardment picked up after Russian forces experienced setbacks during Ukrainian counteroffensives in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions.

The front line is now on Bakhmuts outskirts, where mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a shadowy Russian military company, are reported to be leading the charge.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the group who has typically remained under the radar, is taking a more visible role in the war. In a statement Sunday he announced the funding and creation of militia training centers in Russias Belgorod and Kursk regions in the southwest, saying that locals were best placed to fight against sabotage on Russian soil. The training centers are in addition to a military technology center the group said it was opening in St. Petersburg.

In Kharkiv, officials were working to identify bodies found in mass graves after the Russians withdrew, Dmytro Chubenko, a spokesperson for the regional prosecutors office, told local media.

DNA samples have been collected from 450 bodies discovered in a mass grave in the city of Izium, but the samples need to be matched with relatives and so far only 80 people have participated, he said.

In one sliver of good news, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was reconnected to Ukraines power grid, local media reported Sunday. Europes largest nuclear plant needs electricity to maintain vital cooling systems, but it had been running on emergency diesel generators since Russian shelling severed its outside connections.

___

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
HYDERABAD: Rahul Gandhi resumed his Bharat Jodo Yatra from Choutkur village, Andole, on Saturday. A large number of supporters joined the rally while those standing on the highway, which was dotted with the national Tricolour, cheered the walkers with Jodo Jodo, Bharat Jodo slogans.

During the noon break at Danampally, Jogipet, the Congress leader addressed a street corner meeting at Gadi Peddapur, Alladurg, where he fumed at the policies of the government because of which even rich farmers were being pushed into poverty.

Varsha Bhargavi, a Bharat Jodo Yatra participant from the state, said I wanted to experience the spirit of the yatra and develop a sense of hope, raise the issue of Kamala Nehru Polytechnic College which is being privatised and to express solidarity with Bilkis Bano.

During my interaction with Rahul, I mentioned about how more than Rs 6,000 crore were given to families for performing the marriage of their daughters but the government did not have Rs 5 crore to refurbish Kamala Nehru Polytechnic despite being an aided institution.

She added One thing that struck me was his pleasant interaction. Although Rahul was meeting several groups, NGOs, he was hearing all of us with interest and did not hesitate to ask questions during our interactions. I personally felt that for the first time a politician was actually listening to people instead of speaking.

Pratush Baba, yatri from Maharashtra, wondered, Are women safe in this country, where rapists move around freely. Each responsible citizen should join this walk and demand security for women. The country is now in the hands of businessmen, who are only interested in making profits.
HYDERABAD: Some serious strategic mistakes, among other reasons, resulted in the BJP losing its Munugode gambit against the TRS, a quick post-defeat analysis by party leaders has found.

Instead of being a Super Sunday that it was hoping for, the day turned into one where it had to cope with a defeat, something that apparently did not come as a great surprise for a few leaders in the party.

While party leaders admitted that it did lose the bragging rights that a victory in Munugode would have given the BJP, they acknowledged that more could have been done to ensure a win.

There were mistakes, some of which should not have happened, a senior leader in the party state executive said. There were some systemic failures too, which hit the party quite hard.

One of the biggest mistakes the BJP has found was cancelling party president J.P. Naddas public meeting on October 31. This sent the wrong signal to the people and the party workers that the BJP may have thrown in the towel. Even worse, to make up for the meetings cancellation, the party promised mandal-level public meetings on November 1, the last day of the campaign, which too fell by the wayside as it chose instead to go on ride-along of sorts with bike rallies and corner meetings.

These were mistakes that should not have happened, a party leader said amidst hand-wringing in the BJPs state leadership, and the constituencys leadership.

The party had also discovered, quite early into the campaign, that not everyone was seeing eye to eye, the newly minted BJP leaders and cadre in the constituency and those deployed from other parts of the state to add muscle to the campaign.

There was just not enough time for those from outside to settle there, a senior state BJP leader said.

Then there were internal systemic problems, of its own leaders failing to do their job, as was in the case of Choutuppal and Chandur mandals, the areas which the BJP hoped would pull Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy through as it was not expecting to do so well in the rest of the mandals.

The feedback from these mandal in-charges was that everything was ok, but it was not. We hoped that what we lose in other areas can be covered by the extra support in these mandals, but that did not happen as our people failed to see what was happening on the ground, the BJP leader told Deccan Chronicle.

The party also said that part of the problem was that it could not compete with the money and liquor distribution by the TRS, which definitely affected their voting share.
The gas vans that used exhaust fumes to kill thousands of Jews during transportation were designed by SS colonel Walter Rauff. He was a friend of Holocaust architect Reinhard Heydrich, and oversaw the killing of 100,000 people. Yet, a few years after World War II, the Israeli secret service hired him as a spy and helped him flee justice to South America. Rauff also worked for West Germanys intelligence agency, founded under C.I.A. supervision by another Nazi turncoat, lieutenant general Reinhard Gehlen.

The Allies swore to bring Nazi war criminals to justice, but only a few were caught and tried. In the 1960s, Israel deployed elite operatives to capture or kill Nazi war criminals. Most famously, Mossad teams spirited Adolf Eichmann from Buenos Aires to trial in Jerusalem, and assassinated Herbert Cukurs (the Butcher of Riga) near Montevideo. But in Israels early years, its existence threatened by Syria, Jordan, and Egypt, it was forced to obtain intelligence from Rauff and other Nazis who had contacts in those countries. During the Six-Day war, too, Israel benefited from intelligence provided by ex-Nazis, and it was a ex-Nazi commando, Otto Skorzeny, whom the Mossad hired to infiltrate the Egypt  s missile project, which employed German scientists, technicians, and security staff .

Fugitives: A History of Nazi Mercenaries During the Cold War , a new book by Danny Orbach, is a trove of astounding stories of how exigency and realpolitik converged with the ruses and wangles of ex-Nazis keen on saving their skins. The book pieces together a disquieting yet compelling picture of how the C.I.A., the K.G.B., and Mossad recruited Nazi mercenaries without any qualms, helping them evade war-crime trials if it served a purpose. Its based on declassified documents, including details from Mossads archives, and interviews with retired intelligence officers.

Orbach, a history professor and former intelligence officer of the Israeli army, says hes unsentimental by nature and training. He realizes how, in existential wars, both sides would use all means, fair and foul, and could not afford to be picky about their intelligence assets. For Israel, it was all about being scrappy and resourceful against the Arabs. For the West, the post-World War II reality was the Cold War. Anything that worked was welcomed. As a 2005 report, based on declassified C.I.A. documents, put it, Undoubtedly, the onset of the Cold War gave American intelligence organizations new functions, new priorities, and new foes. Settling scores with Germans or German collaborators seemed less pressing; in some cases, it even appeared counterproductive.

The list of Nazis who profited from the new conflict between Western democracy and communism runs long. Some were mass murderers. But most of them were sharp men driven by an instinct for profit and survival. They reinvented themselves to work for their former enemies, playing bluff and bluster, working multiple angles, running with the Soviets and hunting with the Americans, and vice versa. Orbach writes that the Soviets profited most from this: at one point, some double and triple agents almost crippled the West German intelligence system.

The ex-Nazis even established a chaotic network of influence and information and indulged in the dangerous fantasy of becoming the indispensable patrons of Arab revolutionaries and nationalists, funding neo-Nazi movements across Europe, and establishing a base for German national resurgence. They trafficked arms to the Algerian resistance and to governments in Asia, Africa, South Americas, and the Caribbean, including Castros Cuba.

Among those who worked for America was Klaus Barbie, the Butcher of Lyon, who used to take orders directly from Eichmann and was responsible for the death of 14,000 people. The U.S. Armys Counterintelligence Corps (CIC) recruited him for its anti-communist efforts in Europe. Thanks to the CIC, Barbie, who had been sentenced to death in absentia by France, spent 33 years as a free man and fugitive from justice.

Friedrich Schwend, former commander of an SS counterfeiting operation, helped Americans find hidden Nazi assets in Austria and Italy. Dr. Wilhelm Hortl, a former spy for the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the Nazis intelligence agency, sold information to the Americans while also working for the Soviets. The Truman administration imported German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun and his entire team. The rockets von Braun made for Hitler killed 5,000 people in Allied nations; some 20,000 concentration camp inmates had died assembling them. He was nevertheless the public face of Americas space program and later headed a NASA space center.

Providing more sustained engagement than the egregious examples, however, is the story of how West Germanys intelligence agency was virtually created by a former Nazi  Reinhard Gehlen, Hitlers head of intelligence for the Eastern Front. Its the story with which the book opens.

Gehlen, who had played a crucial role in analyzing the vulnerabilities of the U.S.S.R. for Hitlers Operation Barbarossa, had microfilmed his teams notes and cached them in Elendalm, an alpine meadow near the border between Bavaria and Austria. Using this and the services of his team as bargaining chips, he convinced the Americans to hire him. The Gehlen Org that he set up with the C.I.A. eventually became West Germanys Federal Intelligence Service (BND).

Much to his chagrin, Gehlens American supervisors were also working with his rival Hermann Baun. Gehlen was tasked with analyzing what Bauns signal eavesdropping operations gathered. But in the end, given Bauns erratic behavior, it was Gehlen who prevailed as chief. Baun was asked to establish networks in the Middle East.

Gehlens team included many dyed-in-the-wool Nazis, antisemites, and those who took part in the murder of Jews. They had served in the Nazi party, the SS, the SD, or the Gestapo. But he managed to protect them by exaggerating the Red Scare, helping Mossad infiltrate agents into the East, and springing Jews out of communist countries. Their war records were whitewashed because they hunted communists, primarily in West Germany, but also in East Germany and nearby countries. The C.I.A. came to believe that their alleged anti-communism would serve well in the ideological struggle between East and West. Their intrigues and derring-do gave factual credence to the gripping twists of Cold War fiction and films.

Between 1939 and 1945, the Nazis had recruited quite a few Arabs, Iranians, and Turks for intelligence gathering in the Middle East. To the Americans, it seemed logical to reactivate these networks for the benefit of the emerging West German state. It would also gain them leverage over Cairo and Damascus. So, a German intelligence network based on former Nazi operatives took shape in the Middle East, with the full knowledge of the Americans, who hoped to build influence in the region.

Driven by exigency, the fledgling state of Israel was forced to dip into intelligence from this network, even engage with Rauff and some of the most egregious criminals of the Nazi regime. Otherwise, the Arab alliance would have swallowed Israel before it was born. Israel also had to maintain arms shipments and financial aid from West Germany and counter East Germanys recognition of Egypt, Syria, and other Arab states. However, Israel remained committed overall to bringing war criminals to justice, though it occasionally put off Nazi-hunting to deal with its enemies of the present.

Jewish tradition and learning place immense importance on memory: Zachor  You shall remember  the scriptures admonish repeatedly. Mossad assassination teams would sign off the letter they placed on Nazi targets with: Those Who Never Forget. But governments and spies inhabit an amoral, cynical world. Enemies who become useful become friends  till they can be discarded. Both sides know this, and each tries to outmaneuver the other. Even by those standards, however, what Orbachs research has unearthed is incomprehensible. That some countries could forget the horrors of the Holocaust is a blight on the memories of the millions who perished in it.
One persistent myth in todays materialistic society is that money rules everything. Those wishing to understand why people act the way they do are told to follow the money. The lust for power and wealth trumps everything.

However, there are more important things than money -- even on Wall Street. Some liberal businessmen and investment management firms often sacrifice profits to promote their leftist ideological causes.

The case of the BlackRock index fund is one example of misplaced ideological motives. The company has used its financial muscle to browbeat others into toeing ecological, social and governance (diversity) lines. However, BlackRock is now getting a taste of its own medicine. It is paying the penalty for insisting that others bow before the gods of woke culture.

Introducing the ESG Rating System

BlackRock is a major player in the latest Wall Street craze of using a rating system to decide who receives its massive supply of investment dollars. This new social credit scheme evaluates investment possibilities based on their compliance with environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets. A state (e.g., Utah), county, city, or company with a negative ESG rating can see itself choked off credit or investment capital.

On January 15, 2020, BlackRock founder and CEO Larry Fink sent a letter to CEOs saying that he will use its power to ensure every government, company, and shareholder must confront climate change.

The plight of these targeted companies is made worse by investment managers at index funds like BlackRock, who control vast numbers of shares. They can use the ESG ratings against corporate boards by promoting shareholder resolutions to force management to advance liberal social causes, eco-climate standards, and diversity employment goals. ESG eco-activists especially target fossil-fuel companies that are slated ideologically for extinction.

BlackRock is the worlds largest asset manager, with index funds worth $10 trillion. With Vanguard and State Street -- all under woke management -- Blackrock has been using its massive financial muscle to steer Wall Street down disastrous ideological paths.

A Boomerang for Blackrock

Wall Street and investors are pushing back.

Analysts are saying that making financial decisions on ideology is a risky affair. It cannot be sustained and left unpunished.

BlackRocks energetic focus on ESG investing is affecting its bottom line. The index funds performance is deteriorating, and risks are accumulating. In the face of this situation, UBS Wealth Management recently downgraded ratings for BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) by now listing it as a Neutral recommendation rather than a Buy. The bank also cut the target stock price to $585 from $700.

The new recommendations were made based entirely on BlackRocks reckless ESG positioning. UBS says that stubborn insistence on this course could also trigger increased regulatory inspections and investor withdrawals.

Thus, the company pressuring countless firms to adopt more woke positions has suddenly found a boomerang coming in its direction. Investors and analysts are now telling BlackRock that ESG shenanigans are bad business and want it stopped.

Feeling the pressure, BlackRock has posted clarifications on its website that seek to dispel the idea that it has boycotted fossil fuel investments entirely by highlighting some special funds that feature them. Nevertheless, the firm continues offering a list of other funds that exclude fossil fuels. It still supports shareholder resolutions that promote the ESG agenda.

Abandoning ESG Efforts

It may be too late for clarification. Business executives are questioning the need for the ESG project that BlackRock pushes so hard. A recent KPMG survey of hundreds of top executives found that they have major reservations about ESG. Some 59% of CEOs admitted they plan to pause or reconsider their organizations ESG efforts in the next six months as they adjust their strategy to prepare for a recession.

Executives in the real world realize they can no longer absorb the high costs of radical activism in hard times. They need to make money to keep their workers employed and firms open. ESG efforts without returns on investment are unsustainable.

Executives are suddenly realizing that ESG is focused on controlling and forcing behaviors. It is doing through capital markets what radical activists could not do through democratic processes.

Divesting from Blackrock

Investors are also taking note and divesting from BlackRock. They properly see this degrowth mania as suicidal to their interests and those of the nation. At a time of increased energy needs, for example, it makes no sense to use other peoples money to serve ideologies hell-bent on starving energy companies of capital.

Republican officials are withdrawing state pensions and other funds from BlackRock. They say that index fund firms should maximize, not weaponize, investments. States say they can no longer put their assets in ESG funds when BlackRock targets industries that provide them with massive influxes of tax revenue. They want out.

Louisiana Treasurer John Schroder, for example, announced that the state is withdrawing approximately $800 million from BlackRock funds within three months. He says ESGs green positions clash with the states booming energy industry. BlackRock is actively engaged in destroying Louisianas economy.

Likewise, South Carolina is joining Louisiana by divesting its nearly $200 million in BlackRock holdings. South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis called upon all states to resist the pressure to simply fall into line with their leftist worldview.

ESG Bleeding Funds

Some twenty states have begun to withdraw tens of millions of dollars in state funds from BlackRock. Last August, 19 attorney generals addressed a letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink complaining of the ESG practices. Arkansas, Utah, Texas, Missouri, West Virginia and Kentucky have been quite outspoken in resisting the craze. Nebraska Treasurer John Murante recently claimed BlackRock and other asset firms have lost credibility on ESG investing.

Florida controls $186 billion in state pension funds that state officials are soon withdrawing from activist ESG banks. Kentuckys public pension authority and the state teachers retirement will be especially painful since it will involve as much as $66 billion. BlackRock is being starved of the funds it sought to deny others. Its investment ratings and stock prices are going down. Nevertheless, the woke company is doubling down in its erroneous position by expanding its ESG offerings.

The Prestige of Holding ESG Investments

Investors with good business sense know a bad deal when they see one. They are exiting while they can. Conservative state governments also recognize the warning signs that ESG funds are bad business.

However, the liberal establishment has so promoted ESG that demand remains high for these ideological index funds. Such customers are not following the money but prefer to sacrifice it to their woke divinities.

Unfortunately, liberal investment managers can count on gullible woke investors who, instead of seeking a higher ROI, are mesmerized by the totemic prestige of holding these politically correct yet financially bankrupt assets.

The ESG boomerang is a warning to BlackRock and other investment managers that their game has been understood. At least some people and important institutions realize the dangers of following this dangerous path and are willing to spread the word that ESG "wokeness" must be avoided like the plague.

Image: BlackRock
I myself, like others of my generation, was born in an age that has already perished. At my death I will look my last upon a nation which, save for some linguistic continuity, will seem increasingly alien and remote. It will be as though I peered upon my youth through misty centuries. I will not be merely old; I will be a genuine fossil embedded in onrushing man-made time before my actual death.The Invisible Pyramid by Loren Eiseley

What has been will be again. What has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun.Ecclesiastes 1:9

We must preserve for our posterity that which is best about the world as we find it during our short stay. The Bill of Rights and what it has meant for the freedom and autonomy of the individual citizen is something unique and priceless in human history. Our Constitution is one of those things worth preserving. To the best of our ability, it should be revered and protected as something that is new under the sun. At least for a time. As Ronald Reagan warned, Freedom is not passed to our children in the bloodstream.

When the pandemic washed across the planet, we accepted that it was a naturally occurring virus. Politicians and tyrants seized more power as the huddled masses sheepishly relinquished their freedoms. Those who claimed to be our heroes and protectors robbed us of our most basic human rights and only a relative few stood up against the encroachments on their liberties.

Image: American Flags (cropped). Public domain.

But there are no coincidences. Not in this brave new world.

Are we being managed? Is each new crisis part of a carefully scripted plan? Before the Trump years, this would have been tin foil hat territory. At this point, it would be a stretch to believe that were not being manipulated. The only questions are, by whom and toward what end?

People dont want to believe in conspiracies, and they usually see the advocates of those theories as more of a problem than the conspiracy itself. The vast right-wing conspiracy, which Hillary Clinton often lamented, never existed. Its reasonable to suppose that right-wingers would know of the conspiracy that they were plotting.

There is, however, a global communist movement that has been working behind the scenes for a very long time. Its adherents admit as much whenever they find an audience. They are utopians and, as such, they can only achieve their perfect society through brute force, narcotics, and various forms of diversion. They promote a culture of decadence while manufacturing endless crises that keep people distracted and looking to the government for answers. This further empowers the government which creates more crisis and dependency. The circle of communism.

The lefts exposure to scrutiny and ridicule during the Trump years has, to some extent, emboldened them to accelerate their plans for a global communist society and a new aristocracy of which they hope to be a part. The workers paradise that they push results in destitution and misery for most people and perhaps a tenuous grasp on power and fortune for a select few. This is a rare top-down revolution with the one percenters enlisting the help of the young, the naive, the alienated, and the true believers. Their biggest hurdle has always been the U.S. Constitution and the overwhelmingly prosperous middle class that it has fostered. They despise both and are endlessly searching for new ways to tear them down.

The resurgence, however, of American freedom and constitutional fidelity is starting to boil over as more people get their first close look at the nascent alternative. That terrifies the global elites. Even as they push forward with more radical ways to undercut the culture and set its citizens at each others throats, they do not have quite enough fingers to plug up all the holes in the dike. Their crumbling firewall, the mainstream media, frantically tries to repair their prestige and credibility but The Donald has left a mark.

Looking back, its painfully clear that the likes of George Bush and Paul Ryan were, in fact, working against the American people and the constitution. They were a part of the deep state though it was yet to be named as such. They still try to discredit and tamp down the conservative successes that they advocated for in their time but mysteriously never came close to enacting. Barack Obama and Joe Biden had the luxury of being less duplicitous about their beliefs.

It took Donald Trump to finally lay the groundwork for the elimination of Roe v. Wade. It was President Trump that called out the malignant corruption in the media and the administrative state. It was Trump who at long last got control of our borders and came close to closing the door on illegal immigration. It was Trump who attempted to reverse the regulatory state that was strangling the country. It was Trump who brought us cheap gasoline and the energy independence that eluded us for generations. And it was Trump who fought tooth and nail for the protection and revival of the constitution thus fulfilling his oath of office as so few have had the courage to do in the modern era.

There is indeed something new under the sun, and we should all do our part to protect and defend it. At least for a time. Even under the weight of adversity and relentless fossilization.

Frank Liberato is a pseudonym.
Does the nations socialist left expect to get away with rampant cheating once again, even though there is no longer any rationale for mass mail-in voting?

Riddle me this Batman: how does the nations socialist left plan to explain the sudden appearance of thousands of mysterious extra votes in light of all the indications of a pro-freedom tsunami?

The past few weeks have been a constant stream of bad news for the anti-liberty authoritarians of the fascist far left. We had to laugh back in September when a Democrat operative put out this infamous piece:

Midterms: The big red wave has crested and turned into a rising blue tide

Because of course, everyone is itching to be deprived of their constitutional civil rights, and pay more and more for food, gas, and everything else. Along with having the country destroyed under our feet, whats not to love?

Since then, the tide has turned against our fascist friends on the far left. In early October they started worrying that they had peaked too soon ahead of the midterms, and even then their midterm hopes faded. Democrat panic started when the New York Times showed a massive swing of independent women voters to the GOP. New York Magazine started talking about a Category 2 or 3 Hurricane headed Democrats way.

They had always struggled with their messaging on the crisis theyve caused (go figure). Going so far as to claim that we were part of the National Socialist German Workers' Party for caring about it. Democrats were so desperate, they turned to Obama to boost turnout. Telling Georgia Democrats, the always inspiring message: Resist the Temptation to Give Up.

Toward the end of October, Politico raised concerns that: Young voters were MIA. The Collectivist News Network was trying to soften the blow with this piece on the coming landslide for liberty at least in the House of Representatives.

A few days ago Donny Deutsch of the Mostly Socialist National Bolshevik Channel expressed his fear: Im really scared about a bloodbath 10 days from now. California Governor Gavin Newsom admits the Democrats have been 'destroyed' on messaging and they face a Republican red wave in the midterms. In addition to all that, it was reported that election polls were underestimating Republican margins by 5%.

Even more ominous for the left: Democrats were switching voter registrations to GOP in Pennsylvania. With lifelong Democrats in Oregon saying theyre ready to vote red. With the New York Times complaining: If Oregon turns red, whose fault will that be?

Of course, in a final desperation move, New Yorks fish wrap of choice trotted out one of the lefts oldest tactics: Republicans, Eyeing Majority, Float Changes to Social Security and Medicare.

We couldnt help but laugh at this report: Key GOP groups more fired up to vote in midterms than Democrats, NPR poll finds.

Then we had this from the Cook Political Report: In Final Push For Senate Control, Republican Momentum Grows. Its not just what they are saying, but what they are doing that is vitally important.

Instead of campaigning in swing states, they had to expend resources in far-left strongholds.

Because Democrats Are Suddenly Very Nervous Obama, both Clintons, and even Biden are trying to rescue their party from a potential rout. From CNN: New York Democrats are bracing for stunning Election Day losses, and they already have a fall guy. Everyones talking about how the GOP Will Create a Red Tsunami Across the US. We prefer landslide for liberty since its more meaningful, but we digress.

Even the New Yorker put out this interesting piece: Why Republican Insiders Think the G.O.P. Is Poised for a Blowout. Senate Forecasts Now Predict Republican TakeoverHeres Where The GOP Has Gained The Edge. Even now, Biden is in full denial of what is happening.

So how is the left going to manage a cheat-from-behind win in all of this? All the momentum is on the pro-freedom side, so how are they going to try and pull this off?

Screaming ridiculous phrases can only take you so far. The word denier means one who denies, so they want everyone to think people are denying an election took place, a lie in the phrase if there ever were one. But that is all they have, on top of the fact that they are far more guilty of the practice when they lose -- looking at you Hillary.

There have been cases of thousands of ballots being inadvertently sent out all over the country for no discernible reason. Along with Colorado 'accidentally' sending out 30,000 voter registration cards to non-citizens. But thats probably nothing, even though the severe issues of election integrity and chain of custody are blithely dismissed as cry(ing) about mail-in ballots. Because we all know how secure those are, thats why hardly anyone else interested in free and fair elections would even touch them.

They must know that the proverb Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me is very appropriate here. The momentum is clearly on the side of freedom, they must know they are playing with fire if they think that massively cheating and then dismissing it as election denial is going to have any traction this time around.

D Parker is an engineer, inventor, wordsmith, and student of history, the director of communications for a Bill of Rights organization, and a longtime contributor to conservative websites. Find him on Substack.
On October 31, 2022, The Atlantic published an opinion piece titled "Let's Declare a Pandemic Amnesty," with the subtitle, "Let's focus on the future, and fix the problems we still need to solve," penned by Brown University economist Emily Oster.

The article began by rehearsing a litany of social measures that were taken in response to the pandemic, highlighting the animosity that arose between opposing factions.

I have been reflecting on this lack of knowledge thanks to a class I'm co-teaching at Brown University on COVID. We've spent several lectures reliving the first year of the pandemic, discussing the many important choices we to make under conditions of tremendous uncertainty.

"Uncertainty" is the crux of the issue, according to the author. Since this was all new territory we were treading together, all parties should let bygones be bygones because none of us actually knew what the truth was (with the exception of those who were deliberately disseminating disinformation, whoever they are).

The exciting conclusion of the piece is as follows:

The standard saying is that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. But dwelling on the mistakes of history can lead to a repetitive doom loop as well. Let's acknowledge that we made complicated choices in the face of deep uncertainty, and then try to work together to build back and move forward.

It's unclear what "dwelling on the mistakes of history" entails, or how that leads to "a repetitive doom loop."

I could have summarized this op-ed without reading it (though I did read it). The title alone raised red flags for me. Why? Because left-leaning media sources never extend an olive branch to those on the opposing side. It's a tendency I'd noticed but couldn't articulate until I heard Sean Hannity say on his program, "Conservatives think liberals are wrong and attempt to argue with them. Liberals think conservatives are evil and attempt to destroy them."

This is obvious based on who has been canceled or silenced on social media, and who has pillaged and burned communities in the last two years. The left assumes a false position of moral supremacy, which, in their mind, vindicates the ends justifying the means. The right hamstrings itself continually by moral adherence to truth.

What brings about this uncharacteristic change of heart? Why would the screeching Karens who accused anyone hesitant to accept an experimental vaccine of exacerbating the death toll suddenly decide to turn down the volume?

I have a hypothesis: it is becoming increasingly difficult for leftists to suppress evidence that they've been wrong all along, and they know it. When you're right, you sound the trumpet. When you're wrong, it's "nothing to see here, folks, move along." If we begin to see more and more conciliatory gestures from the left, it means they're transitioning to damage control mode.

Why do I suspect this?

Steven Crowder released what I consider to be a groundbreaking video on Rumble titled "Undertaker Explains 'Mysterious' Clotting Phenomenon!" The video is an interview with British funeral director John O'Looney (unfortunate moniker), wherein he details anomalies discovered with cadavers since the pandemic.

To wit, embalmers attempting to drain cadavers that come to the funeral homes find that gravity and pumps don't suffice. There have been myriad headlines regarding speculation that the vaccines cause myocarditis or thrombosis due to blood clots, but, according to O'Looney, the blockages aren't blood clots.

When the embalmers make incisions in the arteries to remove the blockages, they extract a heretofore unknown white, rubbery mass that resembles something from a "Ridley Scott movie," that has the "texture of calamari" (squid).

When Crowder asked O'Looney if the anomalies were found exclusively in people who have been vaccinated, he deferred to material released by another funeral director, Richard Hirschman, published in the Epoch Times, stating that the only individual who hadn't been vaccinated had received a blood transfusion from someone who had.

Before interviewing O'Looney (who has been pilloried by the press for his revelations), Crowder attempted to interview numerous domestic funeral directors and embalmers. Mum. So he asked O'Looney why he was going public. He replied that if someone didn't say something, there was going to be a "biblical death rate if they keep queuing-up for these poisons."

Maybe. All I know is pattern recognition. The left is not prone to acquiescence. If we begin to see more olive branches extended by traditional media, it means that these types of revelations can't continue to be suppressed. Perhaps amnesty for the culpable is inappropriate. Kudos to the bold individuals who risk livelihoods and reputations to bring these revelations to the public sphere.

Mike VanOuse is a Factoryjack and Bible-thumper from Lafayette, Indiana. More of his rambling can be found at www.vanouse.com.

Image: Tom Hilton via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
Less than a week from a "bloodbath" midterm for Democrats, you'd think Joe BIden would be on his best behavior as he stumps for votes across the country.

Fat chance, Fat.

Joe Biden's gaffe spout has been turned to 11, vowing as he did in California to put the coal industry out of business, just as Pennsylvania goes to the polls:

"No one is building new coal plants because they cant rely on it. Even if they have all the coal guaranteed for the rest of the existence of the plant," Biden said. "So it's going to become a wind generation," Biden continued. "And all they're doing is its going to save them a hell of a lot of money and using the same transmission line that they transmitted the coal-fired electric on, we're going to be shutting these plants down all across America and having wind and solar power."

The Fox transcription, above, is delicate. What Biden really in the video was closer to: 'We'reunna be shuttin' these plants down all across 'Murica..." in a phony bid to be folksy.

That's what people heard. Especially the "we'reunna" part.

That's quite a thing to say about energy at a time when a gallon of gas is going for $6 at the pump in California, the Strategic Petroluem Reserve has been squandered, and petrotyrants have laughed in Joe's face at his pleas to them to pump more oil to bring U.S. energy prices down to get his energy-squelching party through midterms.

It's also a self-defeating proposition even from Joe's own point of view of transitioning to green energy as a substitute for coal if he actually understood how energy works.

Wind power plants rely on coal-powered plants to create and transmit their structures, and with it, their generated energy. Without the coke products from coal, which make 70% of the steel used in those non-recyclable whirring Bird Cuisinarts, the energy obtained from the wind doesn't exist because the structures don't exist. Shut down the coal plants, and no more wind generators. And while we're at it, no more electric cars either, whose always-charging batteries frequently come courtesy of coal-fired plants.

But this is fancy academic stuff well beyond Joe Biden's understanding.

What's live crocodiles to Joe's party's midterm prospects is that in his vow to shut down coal plants across the country, he was talking about inflicting monster job losses on the coal industry which come of "shuttin' these plants down across 'Murica." He had vowed to put coal plants out of business during his 2020 basement campaign, and he was repeating that campaign promise for the coal mining communities of Pennsylvania from the palmy redoubt of Southern California, once again.

Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing that comes out of the mouth of this administration's meat puppets is remotely connected to the truth in any way shape or form.

Here's the clip where Joe Biden literally says he's going to shut down coal plants.pic.twitter.com/jvsPV2OJl4 https://t.co/8kV27dfdv1  Rising serpent  (@rising_serpent) November 5, 2022

As Joe said to laid-off coal miners in 2019: Learn to code.

Anybody who can go down 3,000 feet in a mine can sure as hell learn to program as well Anybody who can throw coal into a furnace can learn how to program, for Gods sake!

Now, after a tongue-lashing by embattled coal-state West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who called Biden's remarks "outrageous," "offensive," and "disgusting," Biden's White House minions are trying to walk Biden's gaffe back:

President Biden knows that the men and women of coal country built this nation: they powered its steel mills and factories, kept its homes and schools and offices warm. They made this the most productive and powerful nation on Earth. He came to the White House to end years of big words but little action to help the coal-producing parts of our country. Working closely with Senator Manchin, a tireless advocate for his state and the hard-working men and women who live there, President Biden has helped get this part of the country back to work: the unemployment rate in West Virginia was 6.2% the last month before Joe Biden took office; now it is down to 4%. The Presidents plans are already bringing new energy and manufacturing jobs to the region, and in the years ahead, will continue to create new jobs with projects like hydrogen energy generation. In fact, through the Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities, President Biden has already delivered more than $23 billion to energy communities across the country.



The Presidents remarks yesterday have been twisted to suggest a meaning that was not intended; he regrets it if anyone hearing these remarks took offense. The President was commenting on a fact of economics and technology: as it has been from its earliest days as an energy superpower, America is once again in the midst of an energy transition. Our goal as a nation is to combat climate change and increase our energy security by producing clean and efficient American energy. Under President Biden, oil and natural gas production has increased, and we are on track to hit the highest production in our countrys history next year. He is determined to make sure that this transition helps all Americans in all parts of the country, with more jobs and better opportunities; its a commitment he has advanced since Day One. No one will be left behind.

Three things stand out in that pukey spin statement released Saturday from minions probably working overtime:

One, he falsely claims that the remarks, which were clear as a bell, were "twisted." What part of "We'reunna be shuttin' these plants down all across 'Murica..." was actually twisted?

Two, he "regrets it if anyone hearing these remarks took offense." Gack. In other words, sorry if you were offended. That's a classic non-apology that actually blames the offended person, insulting them a second time. The problem isn't me, see, the problem is you. Way to win the votes, Joe.

Three, "No one will be left behind." Perhaps he can try that line out on all the laid-off Keystone XL pipeline workers (in Pennsylvania among other places) who got thrown out of work without notice on one of his first days of office where he shut down that long-planned pipeline and were told to go learn how to make solar panels. Joe's been to that well before, and it came up dry.

It was as lousy a bid to spin the obvious plan Joe has to bankrupt coal companies through high taxes and regulations, and then blame them for not being economically viable, which were also part of his California remarks. Voters can see through this kind of bee ess and know when they are being played by a political con man. Biden's con in this case was a doozy.

So as the gaffes roll, the truth comes out about what Biden is really up to, and the White House;s inability to truly walk any bad policy idea back becomes the only story the voters are getting. What a way to win votes in Pennsylvania and all the other places where embattled Democrats are trying to stave off that bloodbath. Maybe it's time for Joe's handlers to take him back to the basement.

Image: Twitter RNC Research video screen shot
Doug Mastriano, Republican candidate for governor in Pennsylvania, is being labeled in the Jerusalem Post as an associate of antisemites, in part due to his involvement in a film related to the Holocaust. So I decided to check things out for myself by watching Operation Resist (an independent 2019 movie available on Amazon). I discovered that the actual movie shows precisely the opposite  that Mastriano is not an antisemite.

Mastriano and his wife were involved with funding this low-budget movie, and he and his wife and two of their children have roles. Mastriano plays OSS agent Peter Ortiz, who was an astonishingly effective agent on many fronts of WWII. One of his many exploits involved saving Jews who escaped the Nazis by first traveling to Spain and from Spain to the U.S. (a route that one of our family's friends took to escape the Holocaust). This is what Operation Resist covers.

Mastriano's role in the film is relatively minor. The knowledge of guns and war tactics that he displays is impressive but not surprising. He is a retired U.S. Army colonel who fought in Operation Desert Storm.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the movie is an "anti-abortion" movie, but there is only one mention of abortion  and not given by Mastriano's character. The Post is correct, however, that the film opposes gun control. It celebrates Jews who defended themselves with guns and Christians who defended them with guns.

It argues something that is indisputably true: that those who perpetuated mass slaughters, including Stalin and Hitler, began by confiscating the guns of their future victims. It is no accident that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution defends the right to own arms as being necessary for "the security of a free state."

The Jerusalem Post article also claims that Mastriano has ties to supposedly antisemitic Andrew Torba, the self-professed Christian who runs Gab, a completely uncensored alternative to Twitter. It is true that Gab permits antisemitic posts, but Twitter's alternative of heavy censorship has proven to be far more dangerous.

Operation Resist strongly opposes antisemitism. The moral of the movie is "Never Again," and it celebrates Christians, including Corrie ten Boom and Audrey Hepburn, who helped rescue Jews during the Holocaust. It specifically opposes those, including a present-day right-wing Holocaust-denier, who would erase the Holocaust from the school history curriculum.

Image: NBC News via YouTube, CC BY 3.0.
On Friday, the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee released 1050 page report detailing the claims made by myriad whistleblowers at the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the abuse of power and politicization of the nations foremost law enforcement authority.

They called it "the first comprehensive accounting of the FBI's problems to date, which undermine the FBI's fundamental law-enforcement mission."

The following are the key details of the report.

The report states that Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray are willing participants in the Biden Administrations weaponization and politicization of law enforcement

The whistleblowers describe the FBIs D.C. leadership as rotted at its core, with a systemic culture of unaccountability, and full of rampant corruption, manipulation, and abuse and that "the problem lies not with the majority of front-line agents who serve our country, but with the FBI's politicized bureaucracy."

The whistleblowers allege that the FBI prioritizes investigations and uses differing tactics based on political considerationsusing aggressive tactics against political opponents of the Biden Administration while going softer on, or outright ignoring, allegations against the Administrations political allies.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the stewardship of Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland, is broken.



Read our 1,000 page report on just how bad it is. https://t.co/fKmSYWBdLb  Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) November 4, 2022

The reports reveal that investigations into the Trump campaign and its associates were based on information from left-wing organizations. However, the nature of the sources was diluted in an official memo seeking probes, and the probe was approved by the FBI leadership.

The report slams the FBI for abusing its authority under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to spy on US citizens associated with Donald Trumps 2016 campaign.

The report also cites the DOJ and FBI conducting an unprecedented raid on President Trumps Mar-a-Lago residence as an instance of abuse of power and political bias.

There is mention of the FBI seizing the personal phone of Pro-Trump GOP Congressman Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.

Whistleblowers also allege that the FBIs political meddling is dragging the criminal side of the Bureau down as resources are pulled away from real law enforcement duties.

Whistleblowers alleged that FBI officials purposefully portrayed information related to Hunter Bidens financial and foreign business activities as disinformation.

The report reveals the FBI's resistance toward probes that are meant to initiate remedial actions.

Agents provided an unsolicited and unnecessary briefing to GOP Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson, who were investigating Bidens foreign business deals. Perhaps the goal was to misdirect the probe and render it futile. The report also reveals that details about that briefing were later leaked to the news media in an apparent effort to discredit the senators investigation.

The whistleblowers also claim the FBI is artificially inflating statistics about domestic violent extremism by pressuring agents to report irrelevant incidents as violent extremism and by categorizing Jan. 6th-related investigations as separate cases, not as related to one single incident.

The whistleblowers cite examples of the FBI abusing its counterterrorism authority to investigate parents who spoke out at school board meetings. The report states that the DOJ and FBI used counterterrorism resources to investigate parents protesting against a far-left school curriculum for their young children.

The report also reveals the FBI did little to prevent attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers and other facilities while prosecuting pro-life protesters.

There is mention of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, conceding that an FBI warning led to suppressing and censoring articles relating to Hunters infamous laptop from hell.

The report also makes a broader point of the FBIs collaboration with social media platforms to censor Americans political speech.

The report adds that there is little indication the FBI has changedor is willing to changecourse despite their abuse of power and politicization being extensively reported.

Whistleblowers also allege discrimination within the FBI toward those who dissent from its woke, leftist agenda and the suspension of the security clearances of these staff and questioning of their allegiance to the United States.

There are troubling revelations that the Bureau is seeking to purge FBI employees holding conservative views and that retaliatory actions were taken against at least one whistleblower.

The whistleblowers claimed that the FBI is taking steps toward firing employees who engaged in protected First Amendment activity on Jan. 6, 2021, according to the report.

There are other revelations that the FBI seems less focused on serious crime. One of the whistleblowers was told that child sexual abuse material investigations were no longer an FBI priority and should be referred to local law enforcement agencies.

How did the FBI react? The FBI appeared to dismiss the report in the following statement released on Friday night:

"The FBI has testified to Congress and responded to letters from legislators on numerous occasions to provide an accurate accounting of how we do our work. The men and women of the FBI devote themselves to protecting the American people from terrorism, violent crime, cyber threats, and other dangers. We follow the facts without regard for politics. While outside opinions and criticism often come with the job, we will continue to follow the facts wherever they lead, do things by the book, and speak through our work"

So what do we make of all this?

In a democracy, agencies such as the FBI have a crucial role to play. The FBIs mission is to protect citizens and uphold the Constitution of the United States, in other words, they must serve citizens by being vigilant watchdogs.

It is essential that the FBI remains objective and apolitical to ensure that the law is enforced based on the nature of the crime and unquestionably not the influence, affluence, party affiliation, and ideology of the actor.

Alas, these watchdogs have relinquished their objectivity and vigilance and have willingly become lapdogs of the deep state and the D.C. establishment. Hence, they bark at and even bite those who present a threat to the status quo in D.C. while they servilely wag their tails before the powerful.

Legal egalitarianism is a fundamental tenet of any functioning democracy. When that essential principle begins to falter, and the law is selectively applied, democracy begins to dissolve

It is essential, that the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee meticulously investigate the FBI and initiate remedial action by purging out rogue politized agents.

It will not be easy.

The politicization of the FBI didnt occur in a day, the grab was strategic and gradual such that the roots run very deep. There may have been major changes that have made the organization inherently biased. These changes won't be documented anywhere but are implicitly known. Perhaps recruitment and promotion programs ensure that individuals of a certain political proclivity make it to the top.

The FBI could retaliate by digging up personal dirt on the Republicans investigating them. The media will amplify these allegations and even fabricate them. The allegations could even be of a serious nature and devoid of any credible basis, but it won't matter. There would be demands for resignation, and the probes would be discredited. It could be similar to what happened during Brett Kavanaughs confirmation.

The GOP will have to be focused, determined, fearless and above all impervious to bogus allegations and media smear campaigns.

All of this is much easier said than done.
Bengaluru: Having set an ambitious target of winning 150 seats to retain power, the ruling BJP in Karnataka is pressing all its firepower on 60-odd constituencies, where it is weak or has never won an election.

The party has adopted a multipronged approach, which includes extensive touring of its top leadership in these constituencies, assigning of special tasks to the cadre on the ground, identifying fresh faces within or inducting winnable candidates from outside.

"We are working on all the seats together categorising them into A,B and C. (A means seats where victory is assured, B is where there is some difficulty, but can be won, and C means seats that are difficult)," state BJP General Secretary Mahesh Tenginakai told PTI.

Leaders are already travelling across the state with one team headed by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and BJP strongman B S Yediyurappa, while the other under party president Nalin Kumar Kateel, he said.

Elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly is due by May.

"There are about sixty odd seats where BJP is weak or has never won and majority of them are in the Mysuru or old Mysuru region (Vokkaliga heartland dominated by Congress and JDS), we are concentrating more on them...... We are working and by December we may have a figure as to how many of these seats we will be able to win," Tenginakai further said.

The Old Mysuru region, where 89 seats are up for grabs, is spread across 11 districts in south Karnataka including Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajnagar, Hassan and Kolar, and it is here that the BJP is sharply focusing on.

Meetings of booth presidents, BLAs (Booth Level Agents), and party workers are being held across the region, aimed at mobilising them for the elections; especially in areas where the BJP doesn't have much dominance, strategies are being developed and implemented through mass contact programmes, he added.

According to a party functionary, aimed at garnering support in favour of the party and converting them into votes in these 60 odd constituencies, where BJP is weak or has never won, booth level workers will be holding mass public contact drives, banking on the beneficiaries of central and state government schemes.

BJP has been making consistent efforts to make inroads into constituencies or regions where it is not strong, especially in the old Mysuru region, aimed at reaping political dividends.

In the 2018 polls, the BJP managed to win one seat in Hassan; later in a high-voltage 2019 bypolls, it managed to win the K R Pet seat, its first victory in Mandya district, and also won Chikkballapur, another first.

Creating history of sorts, the party bagged the Sira assembly segment in Tumakuru district for the first time in November, 2020 by polls.

Another party functionary said, to manage a win in these "difficult constituencies", the party is looking at finding new winnable faces from within or from other parties, and induction of some leaders into BJP recently, is part of that effort.

Former Congress leader S P Muddahanumegowda, actor-turned politician Shashi Kumar, and retired IAS officer Anil Kumar B H among others joined the BJP last week.

Of them, Kunigal and Koratagere assembly seats from where Muddahanumegowda and Anil Kumar are expecting tickets respectively, are among the constituencies where BJP has never won in the past.

The party also hopes to convert the majority of the 25-30 seats that the BJP has won only once in the last four assembly polls into a winnable segments this time, along with an eye on nearly 65 seats in which it ended as runner-up, during the last (2018) assembly election.

In 2018 polls, BJP won 104 seats in the 224-member legislative assembly; however, its tally increased during the subsequent bypolls held following multiple defections.
In the wokester era, New York City has gone downhill.

Even if we haven't been there in a while, just the random murders of Columbia University students -- such as these two bright, innocent kids -- has to be some kind of signal. It sure as heck wasn't like that when I attended that place even back when David Dinkins was mayor and the locals got so fed up with his inaction on crime they elected Rudolph Giuliani the next mayor in 1993.

It's worse, way worse, now that wokesters run the show, where drugs are basically legal, drug use is open-air now, predators who should never be paroled are paroled, bail "reform" puts criminals back on the streets, wokester D.A.s refuse to bust criminals, and naked socialists are being elected to Congress.

And upwind of Columbia's environs is East Harlem, where things are so bad, such a "zombieland" that even the local lefties are praying for Lee Zeldin to win the governorship.

Kid you not. I used to stay with a friend in East Harlem, and it wasn't bad at the time, but she has since sold her co-op on Madison and 125th and moved away. The Clinton Foundation, also on 125th, fled the place years ago.

The New York Post did some street reporting on what East Harlem has become, and boy, did they get an earful from the local talent among the area's activists and Democrat politicians:

Here's a Democrat pol:

Gov. Hochul opened up the floodgates to the ruination of the state when she signed laws allowing for open-drug use on our streets and subways, said Councilman Robert Holden, a moderate Queens Democrat. Instead of focusing on drug addicts getting the help they desperately need, she allowed them to feed their addictions while destroying the quality of life for New Yorkers. Whether its this, cashless bail, Raise the Age [juvenile justice law], the [Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement] Act, congestion pricing, and others, Kathy Hochul must be held accountable for the 14 months of destruction she caused New York, added Holden, who is backing Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin in Tuesdays gubernatorial election.

Here's a "community developer" the Post interviewed:

I almost hope a Republican governor wins, so that way they come and knock this all out, said community developer Derrick Taitt, referring to Tuesdays general election. The Democrats have done nothing for us. Nothing!

Here's a local artist:

Im a lefty liberal from way back when  and Im so fed up, said local artist Jenny Scobel, 67, who has recorded several videos along Park Avenue near 116th Street of men passed out while others inject themselves in broad daylight.

The problem seems to be entirely fixable, once they get Zeldin in there.

What is that problem?

Well, cash has been shoveled to a local NGO called OnPointNYC, which runs "overdose prevention centers" in the area which it hopes to expand.

According to the Post:

The centers provide users with paraphernalia to snort or shoot up drugs within its walls and have staff to monitor clients in case of an overdose and to advise on best injection techniques. It claims to have saved more than 500 peoples lives from fatal overdoses in the past year. But the East 126th Street injection site has been a magnet for attracting drug dealers, who brazenly sell dope and other narcotics to addicts, including those who are running across the street to shoot up under OnPoints supervision, residents said. The staff dont supply the drugs for them, so they have to go out and get the drugs, said Jim Ratti, 70, who lives across the street with his 18-year-old son. So where are they coming to buy the stuff? In my building.

In other words, its role in East Harlem is approximately equivalent to that of the Department of Homeland Security on illegal immigration, effectively serving as a handmaid and enabler to organized criminal cartels, rather than a problem-solver. Drug sellers reap big dollars from having OnPoint NYC around, just as Mexico's drug cartels do, now that Homeland Security serves as the cartels' transport agency for their illegal human cargo.

Yank the funding from these bounders, or hold them fully responsible and personally sue-able for every crime connected with their junkie "center," and watch the problem go away.

That's something a governor can do, but New York's governor, Kathy Hochul, a hectoring harridan who wonders why anyone should be so concerned about crime, has no intention of doing so -- she's the one who shoveled the cash, after all.

Now we are hearing from the locals, who've got to be the bluest locals in America, and they're going red.

If you've got this kind of talk and endorsing going on in deepest East Harlem, what must the rest of the state, with its lower tolerance threshold for chaos and violence, be thinking? The ruling Democrats in Albany and Washington at this point are amazingly out of touch and with no intention of reforming. They are in for a surprise on Tuesday.

Image: Petri Krohn/English Wikipedia, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0
Colonizers. Usurpers.

That's us. That is how the left looks at those who settled in the United States. At least the paler ones.

Though we are told the Vikings made it to America first, they apparently inexplicably forgot to terrorize and enslave the indigenous peoples before leaving...almost without a trace. (We do have the Kensington Runestone!)

Then Columbus "discovered" America, and things quickly went to hell in a handbasket. Soon colonists would demand things like representative government; the right to freedom of assembly, religion, and speech; equal justice under the law; and protection from unwarranted searches and seizures.

The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in a free-market, capitalist system and a limited government, of, by, and for the people soon begat a long sequence of racist products of the white, Christian, patriarchal society. Such soul-  and Earth-  destroying inventions as electricity, the light bulb, the telephone, the radio, the computer, and eventually the internet joined with space exploration and rapid medical advances in essentially colluding to oppress peoples of color and other minorities.

So, say leftists and progressives, it would have been better for everybody if those damned Europeans had stayed in Europe, where they belong! Although I guess they originally came from somewhere else, too, which probably upset the established locals/indigenous Europeans. Will they never stop colonizing, enslaving, and oppressing?

Come to think of it, though, the so-called "Native Americans" also came from elsewhere, whether across the Bering Land Bridge from Siberia or from some other direction, possibly displacing the then-natives.

Moreover, if civilization actually did originate in the Fertile Crescent, and people spread out from there, could the first group to get to any given place then claim that others deigning to move there were naught but wannabe evil colonizers who should stay where they were for eternity?

And how come "progressives" and other leftist whackos believe that Europeans migrating to a vast, nearly unpopulated wilderness rife with natural resources many years ago was an inexcusable "original sin," yet they simultaneously believe that the millions of illegal aliens currently pouring over the border into a now heavily settled nation rife with numerous social problems should be welcomed with open arms?

How is it that progressives consider those who came to America and built the freest and most prosperous nation on Earth between 1492 and, say, the mid-1900s the only "bad" immigrants? Particularly while simultaneously deeming "Native Americans" exemplary humans, as they do those currently yearning to come to this systemically racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic nation?

Why do they afford "tolerance, acceptance, and inclusivity" only to certain groups? By definition, that isn't tolerance, acceptance, and inclusivity...it's discrimination.

I'm sure it's only coincidence that those happen to be the groups they believe will help them attain and retain power in the future. Right?

Image via Pxhere.
I will always be grateful for the presidency of Donald Trump and, if he is the GOP nominee for president in 2024, I will support him. But I am very disturbed that yesterday, at an airport rally in Pennsylvania, he attacked Ron DeSantis...with one of his derisive nicknames, except that this one doesnt even make any sense:

Trump mocks DeSantis as "Ron DeSanctimonious" at a rally tonight in Pennsylvania. pic.twitter.com/efTl2vNQRB  The Bias (@thebias_news) November 6, 2022

President Reagan of blessed memory left us with a very useful 11th commandment: Thou shalt not attack another Republican."

In todays political environment, with the Democrat party in the hands of the radical left, and wrecking our economy, society and ability to defend ourselves, defeating them and taking control of the Oval Office and both houses of Congress (with substantial majorities) is more important than any individuals political career. So, Reagans rule is even more important than when he enunciated it himself.

Notice that the crowd didnt respond very forcefully to Trumps insult. I suspect that most of them have at least some respect for what DeSantis has accomplished in Florida. He kept that state from fully engaging with the Covid lockdown madness that has so severely harmed us and our children. Perhaps Trumps biggest failure in office was his inability to do what DeSantis did, which was to see through the tainted advice of experts like Dr. Fauci, and, instead, to stand up for common sense. Trump, to put it starkly, was duped and DeSantis was not.

Thats a hard truth that must rankle Trump and may account for some of his hostility toward Floridas governor.

Another source of envy and hostility may be the probability (if you believe the polls) that DeSantis is going to turn his squeaker victory last time into a landslide triumph in his re-election. The Real Clear Politics average of polls has him 11.5 points ahead of former Governor Charlie Crist, a man who does not lack name identification in Florida. The trend has been in DeSantiss direction so his actual margin could be even more eye-popping.

I worry that Trump would not be nearly as strong a candidate in 2024 as DeSantis would be for four big reasons:

A Trump candidacy would unite the Democrats and galvanize the many people who suffer from TDS into donating, activism, and turning out. Without Trump as a demon to fight, the Democrats would be left with trying to unite around their pathetic bench. DeSantis, while also being demonized by the media and other Democrats, doesnt offer nearly as much material as Trump. He doesnt engage in the loose talk that Trump favors. He speaks with even but forceful language. And the last word Id use for him is sanctimonious. I guess Trump and his advisors looked for negative words that begin with the letters s and a, and that was the best idea they came up with. Thanks to Bidens obvious infirmity, age will be a major consideration for many people. Even though Trump doesnt seem to have aged much and is in remarkable shape for a man his age, he is rather overweight, which is a factor in mortality prospects, and he would be well into his eighties in a second term. Trump could only serve one more term. DeSantis could serve two, and the sort of major changes we need will take time to implement.

I see Trumps attack as a mistake. Its not going to diminish any of DeSantiss support, and it will drive some Trump supporters to question his judgment.

Photo credit: Twitter video screengrab
The sister of detained writer Alaa Abd El-Fattah fears the Foreign Office is setting up the Prime Minister to fail on his Cop27 trip to Egypt because her brother may die there while on hunger strike during the conference.

Rishi Sunak told the family of the British-Egyptian activist in a letter that he will raise their plight with the Egyptian president  but would be updating the family after the climate summit is over, which they say could be too late.

Mr Abd El-Fattah has been imprisoned in Cairo since 2006 over his pro-democracy writing.

He has been on hunger strike in prison, eating only 100 daily calories for the past 200 days, and will stop drinking water as the summit begins to escalate his protest.

Mr Sunak wrote to his family on Saturday saying he was totally committed to resolving the case, which he described as a priority for the British Government both as a human rights defender and as a British national.

He described Cop27 as another opportunity to raise your brothers case with the Egyptian leadership and said Middle East minister Lord Ahmad would update the family on negotiations after the summit  which finishes on November 18.

My brother just had his last glass of water in prison. Please keep his story alive, it's not over. He can be saved.This afternoon I'm flying to Sharm, I have a civil society pass. The Egyptian regime claims civic space exists in #COP27 , I'll be testing that.#FreeAlaa pic.twitter.com/e2FsfRGmft  Sanaa (@sana2) November 6, 2022

Mr Abd El-Fattahs sister, Sanaa Seif, said she was worried her brother, who looked very, very frail with sunken eyes last time she saw him in August, would die before the end of Cop27.

She told Skys Sophy Ridge on Sunday: Its good that we have a commitment from the Prime Ministers office, but what worried me is he said we would get confirmation after the conference.

I feel like the Prime Minister needs to understand the urgency  after the conference it could be too late.

I know its not the Prime Ministers mistake, but the Foreign Office, the embassy, they have been working on this for a very long time, and I feel like they are setting up the Prime Minister to fail in this trip.

Im worried that he could die while the conference is happening and while the Prime Minister is over there, she added.

We dont have a way to know, so I would urge the Prime Minister and the British Government to be responsible for getting us proof of life.

Sanaa (left) and Mona Seif (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Ms Seif said she hoped the Prime Minister would not merely be paying lip service to their cause, adding that since Britain has a very strong relationship with Egypt, it should be easy to secure the release.

Speaking about her brothers hunger strike, Ms Seif said: He is putting his body on the line not because he wants to die but because he wants to live and he wants his life back, and hes really tired of this.

Alaa has a 10-year-old boy and he has spent the last nine years in prison. He hasnt had time with his kid.

Ms Seif said she will be travelling to Cop27 as a civil observer.

Shadow climate secretary Ed Miliband is also attending the summit, and he told the BBCs Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme he will be raising the issue with the Egyptian authorities while he is there.

In his last letter to his family, Mr Abd El-Fattah said he has chosen to begin his water strike on the eve of Cop27 to escalate at a time I see as fitting for my struggle for my freedom and the freedom of prisoners of a conflict theyve no part in.

Mona Seif (left), another sister of Mr Abd el-Fattah, at a protest outside the Foreign Office in London (Victoria Jones/PA)

Former British ambassador to Egypt, John Casson, described Mr Abd El-Fattah as like a young Mandela, and said Egypt was blocking visits from British Embassy officials.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Mr Casson said: Abd el-Fattah is not the typical prisoner languishing abroad.

Like a young Mandela, the 40-year-old British-Egyptian writer has a global voice and moral stature forged by years of imprisonment.

Today he will give up water, after 200 days of a hunger strike.

His demand is for his basic right to a visit from British Embassy officials.

In most cases visits happen in two days, but Egypt has blocked our access to Abd El-Fattah for a year.

Sanaa (left) and Mona Seif outside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in central London (Stefan Rousseau/PA).

The Foreign Office said ministers are deeply concerned about the incarceration of Mr Abd El-Fattah and they are working hard to secure his release.

A spokesperson for the department said: We are deeply concerned about the continued detention of Alaa Abd El-Fattah, a British citizen and human rights defender.

The Government is working hard to secure his release and continues to raise his case at the highest levels of the Egyptian Government.

We recognise how difficult this is for both Alaa and his family.

The Foreign Secretary has spoken to the family this week to assure them we are doing everything we can, and the Prime Minister intends to push for progress when he visits Egypt for Cop27.
Sadiq Khan has hailed the huge success of the Elizabeth Line as Sunday services and more direct routes were opened.

The Mayor of London joined transport leaders to ride the 19 billion railway from Stratford to Paddington on Sunday morning.

The trip marked the opening of direct routes across the line as well as a seven-day service for the first time since the line opened in May.

The railway has so far operated in three separate sections, requiring passengers to walk for several minutes to change trains at Liverpool Street and Paddington.

As of Sunday morning, passengers can travel across the entire line stretching from Reading in Berkshire and Heathrow Airport in south-west London, to Abbey Wood in south-east London and Shenfield in Essex without changing platforms.

Good news  Elizabeth line services from Reading, Heathrow and Shenfield will connect with the central tunnels from 6 November 2022 Find more details on our website https://t.co/j4O4rpMNBa pic.twitter.com/xArCEY6eRN  Transport for London (@TfL) November 5, 2022

Sunday services are also now operating after they were suspended in the London tunnels almost every weekend since the line opened on May 24 to allow more testing to take place.

Speaking to the PA news agency at Paddington, Mr Khan said: Todays fantastic news and not just for the Elizabeth but also for the south of our country.

London benefits but also if you live in the west in Reading or in the Shenfield, if you live in Essex or in Windsor you benefit as well.

Transport for London commissioner, Andy Lord (left) talks to the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan (centre) on the Elizabeth line (PA)

Mr Khan met several transport leaders, including Transport for Londons acting commissioner Andy Lord and transport minister Richard Holden, at Stratford Station on Sunday morning.

The group boarded the 10.16am train, which took just over 18 minutes to reach Paddington after the removal of the interchange at Liverpool Street.

They could be heard discussing the complex signal system, size of platforms and the confusion around the Elizabeth line not being part of the Tube network.

At Paddington, the group was greeted by two apprentice railway workers and posed for photos.

Mr Khan called the Elizabeth line a huge, huge success but also urged the Government to invest more in London infrastructure, including projects like Crossrail 2, which has been halted indefinitely.

The route now means passengers do not have to walk between the three sections (Suzan Moore/PA)

I think what the Elizabeth line shows is that if you invest, people will use, he told PA, adding that 60 million journeys have been made on the railway since it opened in May.

That shows the difference good public transport can make but the really great news is that we as a global city have a new piece of infrastructure  but we cant stand still because when I speak to colleagues in Singapore, in Hong Kong, in Paris, New York, they are investing in infrastructure.

So my message to the Government is if you invest in London the whole country benefits.

He added: We need to now start investing in Crossrail 2, we need to start investing now in the southern extension of the Bakerloo line, we need a new tram in Croydon, we cant stand still as a global city.

Asked about the prospect of further investment amid the 50 billion hole in public finances, Mr Holden told PA: I think what weve got to do is wait for the financial statement, see exactly where we are in two weeks time.

Projects like @Crossrail take many years from conception to delivery Today marks the start of the key element: through-running as well as the start of 7-days-a-week #ElizabethLine Honoured to represent @transportgovuk there alongside @MayorofLondon & TfL Commissioner Andy Lord pic.twitter.com/86Agvj5bfN  Richard Holden MP (@RicHolden) November 6, 2022

The transport minister said the Government is already putting huge amounts of investment in transport across the country, including HS2 and the Trans-Pennine A66 road.

Id like to see more but we need to do it in a balanced responsible way, delivering as much growth as possible, he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Lord said TfL is in talks with the Government about projects like Crossrail 2 and the southern extension to the Bakerloo line.

He said they hope to demonstrate through the Elizabeth line what that investment does for the city and the wider UK economy.

Its very difficult economic times at the moment but I think this shows the benefits are there when you make the long-term investment decisions, he added.

The lines central section between Paddington and Abbey Wood will also now stay open later, with the last daily departure from Paddington at 12.22am, instead of 10.58pm previously.

The frequency of services in the central section between Paddington and Whitechapel will increase from 12 trains per hour to up to 22 trains per hour in peak times and 16 trains per hour during off-peak.
As Movember returns, the team hope that its iconic moustache will continue to serve as a powerful catalyst for change and conversations about mens mental health.

Movember, which is synonymous with people either donning or shaving off a moustache, takes places in November annually and seeks to raise awareness of mens mental health issues.

The moustache starts a conversation, its a really powerful catalyst for change, Sarah Coghlan, the global director of mens health promotion at Movember, told the PA news agency.

Sarah Coghlan (Movember/PA)

That conversation and awareness is so important, and it continues to prove itself in its effectiveness.

Men might come to us because they think it would be fun to grow a moustache, but actually along the way they learn a little bit more about the health risks, they might ask their dad about prostate cancer in the family, they might notice a friend whose behaviour has changed and have the skills and confidence to reach out and be there for them.

The 48-year-old who lives in Bromley, in London, added that as silly and ironic as it is, it is a symbol of change for men.

It really does put men in that vulnerable position of looking in the mirror every day and grooming their moustache and asking themselves what they can do to improve their health and the health of those around them.

Some moustached specimens have even used their tash to try and gain favour in job interviews.

We hear fabulous stories of people going into job interviews with a moustache and it kinds of breaks the ice and sets them apart as a candidate, and has that lovely bonding ability, she added.

Aside from the glorious facial hair, Ms Coghlan said that if she were to sum up the cause in three words, she would say: Walking, talking, billboard to highlight that any challenges can be taken on to raise awareness for the cause.

Ms Coghlan, who has been with the charity for 15 years, said she wanted to bring the hairy moustache to the northern hemisphere from Queensland, Australia, and has been pleased to see the campaign go from strength to strength.

The UK is leading the world today in our registrations, in participation and fundraising, which is always wonderful to see, she added.

Sarah Coghlan said that she hopes Movembers iconic moustache will continue to spark conversations about mental health (Movember/PA)

Data from Movember revealed that in the UK, the 2021-22 campaign, which ran until April 2022, raised 26.1 million Australian dollars, which equates to over 14 million, with 88,650 registered participants.

Since 2003, the charity has funded more than 1,250 mens health projects globally.

She added that Movember creates a sense of community among participants.

I feel constantly connected to the community because of the stories that we hear, what Movember means to the people who grow and find other like-minded people who want to do something about the state of mens health, she said.

Frankly, its still the case that men are dying younger than women for largely preventable reasons, and we can all play a role in ensuring that the men in our lives live a long and happy life.

Many members of the public have taken on a variety of different challenges from climbing mountains and crossing oceans to making pizzas shaped like moustaches this year.

It doesnt have to be huge  it just has to be that visual symbol or that gesture that says I know theres something going on here for men and I want to be part of that conversation and that movement for change, she added.
A road was blockaded with fire and motorbikes raced through part of the Scottish capital amid scenes of Bonfire Night chaos.

Specialist officers descended on the Niddrie area of Edinburgh on Saturday night after a serious disturbance, which echoed scenes seen in Dundee earlier this week, with police urging people to stay indoors.

Footage shared online showed a motorbike gang racing through the streets with fireworks being launched along the ground, seemingly aimed at people and vehicles.

Niddrie Mains Road was closed by police officers (Dan Barker/PA)

Police closed Niddrie Mains Road to traffic, where earlier in the night a fire had been lit to block the road to passing vehicles. There was also the remains of a temporary bus stopped strewn in the street.

A police vehicle had also been struck with a Molotov cocktail, officers said, but nobody had been injured.

Police Scotland said specialist officers had been deployed to the area of the city as part of the forces Operation Moonbeam, and said there had been reports of various incidents including anti-social use of fireworks, a break-in to a shop and road blockages.

Specialist officers were deployed to the Niddrie area of Edinburgh on Saturday (Dan Barker/PA)

A Police Scotland spokesman said members of the public should avoid that part of the city amid the youth-related disorder linked to Bonfire Night.

The force spokesman added: A police vehicle has also been struck with a bottle containing a flammable substance  however, no damage was sustained and no injuries were reported.

Local officers and specialist resources are currently dealing with numerous reports of fireworks-related youth disorder in Niddrie. The public are asked to avoid the area for the time-being and local residents should stay within their properties.#OpCrackle #OpMoonbeam  Edinburgh North East Police (@EdinPolNE) November 5, 2022

A robust police presence will be in place to address the ongoing issues and keep the public safe.

Residents within Niddrie are asked to remain indoors and not hinder the ongoing emergency service response.

And a spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: Please avoid the Niddrie area of Edinburgh and locals please stay inside your properties.
As Cop27 gets under way in Egypt, here are answers to some of the key questions about the climate conference.

 What is Cop27?

It is the latest set of UN climate negotiations which take place every year, and this year is taking place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, following last years conference, Cop26, which the UK hosted in Glasgow.

 What will be discussed?

One of the central issues is that action is needed to cut fossil fuels and the greenhouse gases driving climate change, as we are currently on course for 2.4-2.6C of warming  which the UN warns would be catastrophic.

Developed countries are also under pressure to deliver the levels of finance promised  and needed  to help poorer nations adapt to climate change and to invest in clean technology.

And a key issue up for debate is addressing loss and damage  the now unavoidable consequences of climate change such as the destruction of crops, homes and infrastructure, which are being felt worst by vulnerable countries who did least to contribute to the crisis.

Alok Sharma President of the Cop26 climate summit (Jane Barlow/PA)

 These issues feel familiar. Havent we made any progress since Glasgow?

There has been some progress, with countries including Australia bringing in new climate plans, as all countries pledged to at Cop26.

But the latest assessments from the UN show climate action plans fall far short of what is needed to limit dangerous climate change, bringing down emissions by only 5-10% by 2030, compared to the 45% cut needed to keep temperatures rises to the 1.5C threshold countries have signed up to.

Greenhouse gases continue to rise, and there is no credible pathway in place to meeting the 1.5C goal, the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) warns.

Levels of finance for adapting to climate change are also falling far short of what is needed, UN analysis shows, and loss and damage must be addressed.

Progress on climate adaptation so far has been too little, too slow. UNEPs 2022 #AdaptationGap Report highlights the urgency to develop national adaptation plans to help the most vulnerable communities cope with the accelerating impacts of #ClimateChange. https://t.co/yyBKAm0RZN  UN Environment Programme (@UNEP) November 3, 2022

 What can be done to tackle loss and damage?

Many vulnerable countries and campaigners want an international loss and damage finance facility to help developing countries with the loss and damage they suffer.

A polluter pays principle would require developed countries  most responsible for the pollution driving climate change  to pay into the fund.

Developed countries have historically been reluctant to agree to such a mechanism, but as the impacts of extreme weather worsen around the world  most vividly with the devastating floods in Pakistan this year  the pressure is rising to deliver finance for loss and damage.

 What about the UK?

Once Alok Sharma, who presided over the Cop26 talks last year in a neutral chairing role, hands over the gavel to the Egyptian Cop27 presidency, it will be the first time the UK has negotiated at climate talks on its own, rather than as part of the EU.

While the UK aims for a global leadership role on climate and is urging action at Cop27 to cut emissions and address loss and damage, the Government is facing criticism for pushing ahead with new offshore oil and gas licences, late payment to climate funds and gaps in policies to tackle the crisis.

The decision the King, a long time campaigner for the environment, should not attend the climate summit, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks initial decision to skip the talks before a last-minute U-turn have also prompted criticism.

 How can we negotiate on climate when the world is facing an energy crisis fuelled by Russias invasion of Ukraine?

Russias invasion of Ukraine  while leading to a short term increase in the use of coal  has prompted an acceleration in countries taking up clean tech, with the International Energy Agency suggesting it could prove to be a historic turning point for the world.

But when it comes to the international negotiations on climate, where decisions are made by consensus, it seems inevitable the international dispute provoked by the war will cast a shadow.

That will prove another challenge for making progress on the climate crisis, just as the increasingly severe floods, droughts, storms, melting ice and rising seas make it clear that there is no time to lose.
This is growing up! Talan Torriero was known as one of the resident heartthrobs of Laguna Beach, so he thinks fans might be surprised to learn what hes doing now.

Read article

Theyre gonna be pretty shocked to know I live in Nebraska, the former MTV star, 36, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, November 2, ahead of Laguna Beach coming to Netflix. Quite a change. I could never imagine myself being an 18-year-old kid filming a reality show on the beach in Orange County living in Nebraska, let alone even knowing where Nebraska was on a map. But Im loving my life.

The California native shares son Bronson, 5, and daughter Hudson, 23 months, with wife Danielle Torriero, whom he wed in June 2014.

Courtesy of Talan Torriero/Instagram

Were building our dream house, which Im super excited to show more people that, Talan told Us. But yeah, life is good. Life is normal.

The former reality star explained that he and his family decided to settle down in Nebraska because his wife grew up there. It was my idea, though, to move here, Talan told Us. When we started dating, I think it was in her plan to live in California maybe, or maybe one day move back. But as we started thinking more about kids and our lifestyles, Nebraska just made more sense.

Read article

Though the Cornhusker State is miles and miles away from Orange County, Talans eldest child still knows about his dads Laguna Beach past  kind of.

He knows what TikTok is because people are mentioning to him, You know, your dads on TikTok,' he explained. From there it went to, Well, why do people follow you on TikTok? And we watched an episode of the show, and he just thought it was, like, kind of weird. But I dont think he fully [grasps] it yet.

Laguna Beach wrapped up in 2006, but the show has been making headlines recently in part thanks to Kristin Cavallari and Stephen Collettis podcast, Back to the Beach. The duo have been rewatching old episodes and discussing them with their former castmates, including Talan.

Read article

Thats been kind of cool, just to reconnect, he told Us, adding that he frequently communicates with Lauren Conrad via Instagram and sees Colletti, 36, about once a year. Since the shows aired, I still keep in contact with Jason Wahler, Talan added. He and I have been in close contact about once a month. We talk on the phone just about boring dad stuff.

Laguna Beach is poised to gain a new audience when it arrives on Netflix, and Talan thinks its pretty fascinating that viewers still want to watch. Now that Im older and Im a dad, I think its kind of cool, he told Us. I dont glamorize [being on the show], but I embrace it, right? Like, if someone stops me at the grocery store, Ill say, Oh, hey, hows it going?'

Laguna Beach debuts on Netflix Friday, November 11.

With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
VIJAYAWADA: The NTR district police on Saturday constituted special investigation teams (SITs) to probe the stone-pelting at TD chief N. Chandrababu Naidus roadshow in Nandigama.

According to a preliminary probe, the police said that the stones were thrown from atop tall buildings near the site of the incident, originally earmarked for showering the procession with flowers.

Police commissioner Kanti Rana Tata said that the SITs will work under the supervision of deputy commissioner of police Vishal Gunni.

Tata said that the police are investigating a wide array of possibilities, in and around the scene of the incident and questioning suspicious persons in the vicinity. He assured of stringent action against those responsible for the attack.

The top cop said that after the Nandigama programme and the subsequent attack, Naidu conducted a roadshow and public meeting at Jaggayyapet, and that the same went off peacefully, without an untoward incident.

He said that the police deployed teams from the Prakasam Barrage in Vijayawada to Jaggayyapet for ensuring the TD chiefs safety.

Further, Tata said that the police are in touch with Naidus security personnel to solve the case soon.

Meanwhile, TDs Nandigama incharge Tangirala Sowmya, a former MLA, lodged a police complaint alleging a conspiracy to carry out a severe attack on Naidu. She said that there was a political conspiracy behind the stone-pelting incident and sought strict action against the culprits.
Governor Gavin Newsom speaks at a rally endorsing ballot Proposition 1. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Californias top Democrats rallied in Long Beach on Sunday morning to urge voters to support Proposition 1, a state constitutional amendment that would block the state from passing any measures restricting access to abortion or contraception.

Gov. Gavin Newsom told a raucous gathering at Long Beach City College that the fight is part of a larger battle in the state and across the country to sustain not only reproductive freedom, but other rights, including voting and free speech.

This is our opportunity to send a powerful message back to people all across America that we have their back, Newsom said. That its not just about 40 million of us in California; that we have their back. We believe in reproductive freedom. We believe in a womans right to choose. We believe in these fundamental freedoms and we are not going to take this moment for granted. We're going to meet this moment.

Newsom cited a report from the American Library Assn., which said attempts to ban books across the country had hit a high in 2022, with a total of 1,651 separate titles targeted as of mid-September, with more than three months still left in the year.

"You can't make that up," Newsom said, noting that some of the challenged authors and topics have included Maya Angelou, Nelson Mandela, Cesar Chavez and Mahatma Gandhi, as well as "books that celebrate all of our interesting differences." He concluded: "We need to wake up to what is going on in America!"

Newsom was joined at the event by U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, Secretary of State Shirley Weber, Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) and a host of other Democrats.

Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California President and CEO Jodi Hicks said California's aggressive action in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down Roe vs. Wade was having a real impact for residents and women from other states. She said the state's $200-million expenditure will help "to ensure that people can get the reproductive healthcare  including abortion, including contraception  that they need, no matter where they call home."

Party leaders have cast Proposition 1 as a way of guaranteeing abortion rights, reaffirming protections already spelled out in state law and by the California Supreme Court. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-1 decision overturned Roe vs. Wade, the landmark ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion in the U.S. in 1973.

Opponents have argued that Prop. 1 is not clear enough about restrictions on late-term abortions and also that the measure is redundant, because of the earlier actions by the Legislature and state Supreme Court. Some advocates of a No vote depict Prop. 1 as a measure to push Democratic voters to cast ballots in the election, which ends Tuesday with in-person voting.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Georgia GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker on Sunday called President Biden being in the White House the biggest threat to democracy days after the president warned in a speech last week that the notion was on the ballot in the midterms.

When you have a president talking about the biggest threat to democracy, it [seems to be] electing a Republican. But I want everyone that is listening to me, the biggest threat to democracy is to have him at the White House, Walker told host Maria Bartiromo on Fox Newss Sunday Morning Futures, after the network rolled a clip of Biden giving an address last week that underscored threats to democracy ahead of Tuesdays elections.

Walker, who has been endorsed by former President Trump, also took a hit at incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock (D), listing the senators voting record on the Keystone pipeline and putting men in womens sports being among the threats to democracy.

The biggest threat to democracy is have the people that  the Democrats right now leading this country, because they seem to be taking this country in the wrong direction. And I think America sees that and they know that, Walker said.

Biden in last weeks speech had a different definition of those threats to democracy, and called out Trump and those who continue to tout his claims of election fraud in the 2020 race.

American democracy is under attack because the defeated former president of the United States refused to accept the results of the 2020 election. He refuses to accept the will of the people, he refuses to accept the fact that he lost. He has abused his power and put the loyalty to himself before loyalty to the Constitution. And hes made a big lie an article of faith of the MAGA Republican Party, the minority of that party, Biden said at a Democratic National Committee event near the Capitol.

Recent polling has shown Walker and Warnock deadlocked in the states Senate race, though a survey from Emerson College Polling and The Hill released Thursday found the Democrat up 2 points.

The tight race has garnered national attention as both parties vie for control of the upper chamber, and as Walker faces a smattering of controversies over his stance against abortion.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Iran's foreign minister on Saturday acknowledged for the first time that his country has supplied Russia with drones, insisting the transfer came before Moscow's war on Ukraine that has seen the Iranian-made drones divebombing Kyiv.

The comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian come after months of confusing messaging from Iran about the weapons shipment, as Russia sends the drones slamming into Ukrainian energy infrastructure and civilian targets.

We gave a limited number of drones to Russia months before the Ukraine war, Amirabdollahian told reporters after a meeting in Tehran.

Previously, Iranian officials had denied arming Russia in its war on Ukraine. Just earlier this week, Iran's Ambassador to the U.N. Amir Saeid Iravani called the allegations totally unfounded" and reiterated Iran's position of neutrality in the war. The U.S. and its Western allies on the Security Council have called on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to investigate if Russia has used Iranian drones to attack civilians in Ukraine.

Even so, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has vaguely boasted of providing drones to the worlds top powers. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has extolled the efficacy of the drones and mocked Western hand-wringing over their danger. During state-backed demonstrations to mark the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover on Friday, crowds waved placards of the triangle-shaped drones as a point of national pride.

As he acknowledged the shipment, Amirabdollahian claimed on Saturday that Iran was oblivious to the use of its drones in Ukraine. He said Iran remained committed to stopping the conflict.

If (Ukraine) has any documents in their possession that Russia used Iranian drones in Ukraine, they should provide them to us, he said. If it is proven to us that Russia used Iranian drones in the war against Ukraine, we will not be indifferent to this issue."
Former President Obama on Saturday said that the makeup of the Supreme Court would be very different if Democrats had held onto the Senate in the 2014 midterms, laying out the importance of this midterm cycle, particularly on the future of reproductive rights.

If we had kept the Senate in 2014, wed have a very different Supreme Court making decisions about our most basic rights. So, midterms are no joke, Obama said at a Democratic rally at Temple University in Philadelphia.

The 2014 midterms were held during Obamas second term and Republicans flipped the Senate and retained control of the House.

Obama in 2016 nominated now-Attorney General Merrick Garland to serve on the Supreme Court to replace the late Antonin Scalia, a conservative justice. Senate Republicans refused to consider Garland and left the seat vacant until the Trump administration, when conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch filled the vacancy. The current conservative majority on the high court overturned Roe v. Wade this summer.

I can tell you from experience that midterms matter, a lot, Obama said. Some of you are too young but let me refresh your memories or give you a history lesson. When I was president, I got my butt whooped in midterm elections.

The former president talked about abortion rights throughout his remarks, while rallying for Pennsylvanias Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman and gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro.

He bashed Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz for saying during a debate that health care decisions should be made between women, doctors and local political leaders.

Really? Are you going to petition the mayor? Are you calling the sheriff? City council members? School board? Who exactly should tell you when to start a family? You should make that decision, Obama said. And if thats not worth 15 minutes of your time  the amount of time it takes to vote  I dont know what is.

He also said that Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano has said women who get an abortion and the doctors who provide abortions should be prosecuted.

You deserve leaders who will stand up for a womans right to control her own body and make her own health care decisions, he said.

Obama joined President Biden for the rally in Philadelphia on Saturday evening, bringing his star power to the Keystone State, where the Senate race could decide control of the upper chamber.

The rally, just three days before the election, comes as Oz was leading Fetterman 48 percent to 46 percent among very likely voters in a recent poll.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Contentious races for Texas governor and Tarrant County judge will be decided Tuesday as voters head to the polls to make their picks for the top leadership roles.

In the governors race, two-term incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, is facing Democrat Beto ORourke, the former El Paso congressman who rose to national fame in 2018 during his bid against Sen. Ted Cruz. Locally, longtime County Judge Glen Whitley isnt running again, opening the door for either Republican Tim OHare or Democrat Deborah Peoples to replace him.

They may be of different scopes, but both races are playing out in Tarrant County  where the judges race is at the top of the local ballot and where candidates for governor have been trying to win over pivotal voters in the battleground county.

Texans will also pick who they want to serve as Texas lieutenant governor, attorney general, railroad commissioner and other statewide leaders. Locally, the race for Tarrant County district attorney and county commissioner precinct 2 are being closely watched.

Headed to the polls? Heres what to know.

Where and when to vote

Polls are open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voters can go to whichever vote center is most convenient. Those who are in line by 7 p.m. should stay in line.

Am I registered?

Voter registration status can be checked online through the Texas Secretary of States office.

Find your sample ballot

Voters can find their personalized sample ballot for a full list of whos on the ballot on the Tarrant County Election Administration website.

What to bring to the polls

Voters should have a form of photo ID with them when they go to vote. The seven accepted forms of identification are:

Texas drivers license

Texas election identification certificate

Texas personal identification card

Handgun license

U.S. military ID card that includes your photo

U.S. citizen certificate with your photo on it

U.S. passport

Eligible voters lacking photo ID can submit a Reasonable Impediment Declaration and a supporting form of ID, such as a:

Government document that includes the voters name and address. (This includes a voter registration certificate.)

Current utility bill

Bank statement

Government check

Paycheck

Birth certificate

How do the voting machines work?

Voters will be given a paper ballot that theyll enter into a machine where candidate selections are made. There will be a chance to review selections on the screen before printing the ballot. Printed ballots should also be reviewed. The paper ballot is then put into a separate machine for tabulation.

When is the deadline to vote by mail?

Election Day is the deadline to vote by mail if the envelope is not postmarked. Ballots postmarked by 7 p.m. on Election Day must be received by 5 p.m. on Nov. 9. Mail-in ballots can also be returned in person to the Tarrant County Elections Office between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Election Day. The person voting must return their own ballot and will be asked to show ID when delivering it.

Assistance for voters with disabilities

Local governments must make sure people with disabilities have equal access to the ballot box. In Tarrant County, voters who are blind or have limited vision can use the InterCivic Verity Touch Writer Duo Voting System with the Verity Access to vote at any polling place.

Voters with mobility problems can request they be moved to the front of the line to vote. Voters who cannot physically enter a polling place can vote curbside.

More information on accommodations for voters with special needs are available on the Texas Secretary of State website and the Tarrant County Election Administration website. Voters can also call the countys election office at 817-831-8683.

How close can campaigns get to the polls?

Electioneering isnt allowed within 100 feet of a polling places entrance. That includes the distribution of campaign materials like fliers.

Whats a poll watcher, and what can they do?

Poll watchers, often partisan, are allowed at Texas voting locations to observe the election process and report any suspected violations of Texas election law. A law passed in 2021 requires they go through training.

Poll watchers can sit or stand by election workers to observe the process, but they cannot converse with voters or be a voting station as a person votes. They must wear a name tag.

They may be removed from a polling place if the breach the peace or break the law.

Whats not allowed at polling places?

Heres what you cant bring to the ballot box on Election Day:

Cell phones: Voters should not use their cell phones, tablets or laptops within 100 feet of a polling place.

Cameras: Cameras and the recording of video and sound arent allowed at the polling place

Campaign apparel: Campaign and political party apparel related to a candidate, political party or measure on the ballot in the election cannot be worn.

Firearms: Its illegal to bring a gun to the polling place.

How to file an election complaint

Election complaints can be filed with the Texas Secretary of States office using a form available online.

Useful contacts

Tarrant County Election Administration:

817-831-8683

Vote by mail: votebymail@tarrantcounty.com

Register to vote: voterregistration@tarrantcounty.com

Texas Secretary of State:
NANA PONDHA (GUJARAT): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the forces that indulged in spreading hatred and defamed Gujarat will be swept out of the state again in the next month's Assembly polls which he said BJP would win with a record margin.

Addressing his first election rally in his home state after the announcement of the poll schedule, Modi came up with a new slogan in Gujarati - Aa Gujarat, mai banavyu chhe (I have made this Gujarat), and also made people chant it several times during his 25-minute-long speech.

Those divisive forces that have indulged in spreading hatred, those who have tried to defame and insult Gujarat have been swept out of Gujarat. The people of Gujarat never accept those who spread hate.

Whoever had tried to defame and insult Gujarat in the past have been wiped out of Gujarat by the people. In this election too, such people will meet the same fate, the prime minister said while launching the Bharatiya Janata Party's poll campaign from tribal-dominated Nana Pondha village in Kaprada taluka in Valsad district.

Without taking any names, Modi said the people of Gujarat have identified a gang working against Gujarat which always tries to defame the state.

He added that though such people have been trying hard for the last two decades, the people of Gujarat never believed them.

Those who try to defame Gujarat are surprised why people of Gujarat are not believing their false propaganda. This is because the people of this state have made Gujarat with hard work and they will never allow someone to harm the state, said Modi.

Modi said he was getting inputs that the BJP will win the elections in Gujarat with a record margin. Gujarat will vote in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.

Sitting in Delhi, I am getting inputs that BJP will win Gujarat with a record margin this time. I have come here to beat my past records. I have told Gujarat BJP that I am ready to give as much time as possible to you (for campaigning), said Modi, who had served as the chief minister of the state before he became the prime minister for the first time in 2014.

The BJP's peak performance in Gujarat came in December 2002 elections under Modi, when the party had bagged 127 of the total 182 seats. In the 2017 polls, the BJP's tally shrunk to 99 while Congress improved its previous tally by 16 to bag 77 seats.

Modi also asked the people to remember that it was 'Kamal' (BJP's poll symbol- lotus) which brought prosperity to the region and it is like BJP's candidate.

Every Gujarati, be it an adivasi or a fisherman, be it a villager or an urban dweller, is full of confidence today. That is why every Gujarati says 'I have made this Gujarat'. People have built this state with their hard work, said Modi.

He further said, As every Gujarati is full of confidence, that is the reason every Gujarat speaks the voice of the inner soul. Every sound comes from the heart of Gujarat (saying) 'I have made this Gujarat'.

The prime minister said not a single science school existed in the tribal belt (of Gujarat) a couple of decades ago, but today, tribals have access to science colleges and universities which are built in the region.

He added the entire tribal belt stretching from Umargam in south Gujarat to Ambaji in the north now has five medical colleges. Today, people are getting 24-hour electricity and I am also informed that 100 per cent of households in the state get tap water, said the PM.
by Giorgio Bernardelli

The network brings together various experiences in order to raise awareness that the two continents face the same environmental challenges together. Its message to the COP27 that opens today in Sharm el Sheik is to heed small local communities since negotiations between governments have failed.

Bangkok (AsiaNews)  Environmental issues are among Asias greatest emerging challenges, a topic that has a prominent place in the encyclical Laudato Si as well as at the General Conference of Asias Catholic Churches, which ended last Sunday in Bangkok.

Many regions of Asia are already experiencing the effects of climate change. Just a few weeks ago, unprecedented floods hit Pakistan, killing more than 2,000 people and affecting millions more.

Caused by a devastating combination of exceptional rains and melting glaciers from high temperatures, that event was but the most visible example of what is going on. But climate change sows desolation in other, less visible ways, like drought and famine.

The exploitation of raw materials, which disfigures Asias forests and the lives of many tribal communities, is another aspect. The River Above Asia and Oceania Ecclesial Network (RAOEN) addressed the bishops' meeting in Bangkok, laying out its own experience.

Created by various groups in the two continents bordering the Pacific Ocean, the network is modelled after Latin Americas Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network (Red Eclesial Panamazonica, REPAM), part of a wider network that includes Africas Congo River Basin Ecclesial Network (Reseau Ecclesial pour le Bassin du Fleuve Congo, REBAC), and the Central American Ecological Ecclesial Network (Red Eclesial Ecologica Mesoamericana, REMAM).

Why Asia and Oceania together? Because the climate in Asia depends on the Pacific Ocean and understanding it is part of the challenge," says Fr Pedro Walpole, currently RAOEN coordinator. For years, the Irish Jesuit served indigenous communities in Bukidnon, in the mountains of the island of Mindanao, southern Philippines.

"Polluting activities are the start of the problem, but then they quickly affect the atmosphere and from there, the oceans. The Pacific Ocean covers a third of the world and is experiencing a great transformation in terms of temperatures. The extreme events that we are experiencing in Asia come from there.

For the Church, this is also a challenge. We must understand that we are linked to the populations living in Oceania, that we are part of a common journey. Although numerically small, they face bigger problems, Fr Walpole explains.

We must support their cry in seeing the sea level rising in their islands, speak out against the loss of their cultures because they are forced to move somewhere on the mainland. The large populations of Asia must also support them. After all, the Philippines may not be politically part of Oceania, but thats where the typhoons that devastate our country come from.

Today COP27, the UN conference on climate change, opens in Sharm el Sheik (Egypt), but expectations are not high. In fact, for Fr Walpole, "That path is now inadequate because it does not include social realities; they are only negotiations between governments.

What negotiations can we expect in Egypt, where you can't even demonstrate outside the conference venue? Already Glasgow, last year, completely failed to make an impact. The same commitment to reducing coal mining has been swept away by the war in Ukraine."

Even Asias giants have their responsibilities. "China contributes 30 per cent to coal mining; critics counter that the West has benefited for centuries from it. How can we achieve a balance? wonders Fr. Walpole.

For the RAOEN coordinator, there is another crucial issue that must be taken into account, namely human rights, which are an essential part of this process. The way in which negotiations are being conducted now excludes them; it is only a question of power relations. But how many more disasters do we need to understand that the role of small local communities in safeguarding creation is essential?

"We must return to the idea of stewardship and that is what we as a Church must remember. We must Sweep away the idea that there can only be technological solutions to the environmental crisis that do not deal with injustice and imbalances in the distribution of wealth. We need answers that put people at the centre.

Fr Walpole cites a very concrete example. "Let's stop planting tens of thousands of trees. Instead, we should support those who can really make them grow, namely farming populations. Let us support them for 25 years in caring for the earth, instead of destroying it through mining or chemical fertilisers. Lets involve them in recreating the balance of natural forests.

Let us put away our illusions. A few years ago a middle-class family spent 50 per cent of its income on food, now we are at 40 per cent. But these prices  lowered to stimulate the purchase of other consumer goods  are the result of systems that increasingly take people out of agricultural production processes at a cost that we all pay, and with consequences for the environment.

ECCLESIA IN ASIA IS THE ASIANEWS NEWSLETTER DEDICATED TO CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES IN ASIA. WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE IT EVERY SUNDAY VIA E-MAIL? TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER, CLICK HERE.
The state of Texas, in particular, has some rather strict laws that brands like Lucid say are anti-competitive and anti-consumer. And for that reason, the Newark, California-based automaker has recently filed a federal lawsuit against the state.According to the case document , Texas law allows vehicle manufacturers like Lucid to do everything that motor-vehicle dealers doincluding selling motor vehicles to Texas consumerswith one single, narrow exception: selling new motor vehicles from an established and permanent physical location in the state.And that single exception is exactly what Lucid is trying to do with its direct sales and service model, which includes selling vehicles directly to customers online and at the brands studio locations.Being the only dealer of its vehicles, the company says it has no intention of ever using a franchised independent dealership model since it would slow down operations and would be detrimental to both itself and its customers.Moreover, the company uses uniform and transparent prices to sell its vehicles. Therefore its current model eliminates hidden fees, artificial price bumps, and even pushy behavior from dealers who are incentivized to sell extra add-ons or simply high volumes.Lucid has determined that the direct-sales model is the only viable way for it to bring its new vehicles to market. As a startup still building production capacity and consumer awareness, Lucids sales at this time are limited and would not support a network of independent franchised dealers, the company also said.According to an October statement, Lucid has managed to produce 2,282 vehicles in Q3 this year, which is more than triple its Q2 production and on track to meet its yearly goals of 6,000 to 7,000 vehicles.
HYDERABAD: TRS working president and IT minister K.T. Rama Rao described the partys victory in Munugode bypoll as a 'slap on the face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah' and a 'victory for democracy'.

Speaking to the media here on Sunday, Rao said that the people of Munugode have chosen 'self-respect' over the 'money politics' of BJP and its candidate K. Rajgopal Reddy.

"By giving a comfortable majority to the TRS, the people of Munugode have shown that development and self-respect matter to them more than money. Though this bypoll appears to be a fight between TRS and BJP's Rajgopal, it was actually a fight between TRS on the one side and Modi and Shah on the other. They were behind Rajgopal who forced the unnecessary with an arrogance that they can win this election by luring voters with money, liquor and other freebies," Rama Rao remarked.

He thanked voters of undivided Nalgonda district for electing TRS candidates in three bypolls that were held in the district since 2018 Assembly polls in Huzurnagar, Nagarjunasagar and now Munugode. "With the support of voters, TRS has achieved the rare feat of bagging all the 12 Assembly seats in the district."

He thanked the party cadre as well as the Left leadership for their support. He came down heavily against the BJP for turning the byelection into a matter of money. He reminded that major cash seizures by the election authorities were done from the close aides of BJP Telangana leaders, while G. Vivek had officially and also through the hawala network, pumped in more than Rs 75 crore.

Even though the TRS complained to the EC about Rajgopal Reddys family-owned company Sushi Infra transferring Rs 5.22 crore directly into the bank accounts of some local BJP leaders and individuals in Munugode constituency, the EC did not act as it was under pressure from BJP, he alleged.

"If the TRS (BRS) was distributing cash and liquor, wouldnt 15 CRPF companies and 40 IT teams (deployed by the Centre) get a whiff of it? Why were only BJP associates caught with huge cash?" he asked.

Pointing out that the BJP succeeded to some extent only in denting the TRS majority with all its tricks, he said the BJP was unable to digest defeat and was making baseless allegations.

"We too can blame the EC for allowing the road roller and other symbols similar to our Car symbol as they polled nearly 6,000 votes, thereby reducing our majority, he added.

On continuing the alliance with Left parties, he said that would be decided by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and the top leaders of the Left parties soon. He added that the action plan of BRS would be decided after the EC accords approval to renaming the TRS as the BRS.
HP

In just two years, prices for vehicles like this skyrocketed. While in 2020, someone bought a red Lamborghini Diablo VT Roadster for $141,000, this year, a similar vehicle sold for more than $450,000. True, you might say that the former might have had higher mileage than the latter. Still, at the end of the day, you can't deny the price spike. This is why this car is so special.Lamborghini was already working on the Diablo project when Chrysler bought the Italian carmaker in 1987. Back then, it was known as Project 132, and the exterior design was signed by Marcello Gandini . But the new owner considered that the car needed some adjustments and finalized the project in the U.S. Finally, in 1990, the Diablo broke cover and was an instant hit. The VT version surprised the world three years later thanks to its all-wheel drive system. But wait, there's more!In 1992, Lamborghini showed a concept of a Roadster version of the Diablo , and customers went wild asking the automaker to produce it, and it finally made it in 1996. The automaker introduced the Diablo VT Roadster by combining the VT with the open-top version. Thanks to its 5.7-liter V12 that offers 523(530 PS), the car could hit the 100 kph (62 mph) barrier from a standstill in four seconds flat! That was three decades ago!The car you see here is one of the less than 200 units imported into the U.S. and was built in 1998. It will go under the hammer at Mecum's auction from Las Vegas. The event will take place between November 10 and 12. The odometer shows only 26,422 miles (ca. 42,500 km) on the clock, and this beast has a new battery, and all the fluids and filters have been refreshed recently. So all you have to do is to show up, pay the hefty price and drive it home. Or to your birthday party, why not!Finished in a bright red color with a tan, leather-clad interior, this Diablo VT Roadster features a factory front lift suspension system to handle speed bumps better. Last but not least, the seller added a car cover for it included in the price. So, if you want to see the car in person before placing your bid, you'll have to wait just a little bit. Still, you have enough time to book your flight to Vegas.
This year marks the 180th anniversary of the Italian shipyard , which now functions as a subsidiary of the Ferretti Group. To celebrate the milestone, Riva is launching a special Anniversario limited-edition speedboat and hosting live and online events, while also highlighting some of the most memorable products in its impressive catalog. And impressive it is, by all means: with such a long and profitable history, Riva is now the most famous and well-established builder of luxury boats.The Rivarama 44, celebrated by the company in the most recent post on its social media channels, is the closest thing to the personification of sophistication , artistry and incredible attention to details. Its a floating suite that bridges the gap between European-styled dayboats and U.S.-made power boats, delivering unprecedented comfort and luxury, at no compromise in terms of functionality and impressive performance.The Rivarama 44 was first introduced in 2002 and spanned the upgraded Super variant. To this day, it is a very popular charter vessel and, in this day and age in which trends tend to live and die by the day, remains as elegant as ever Measuring 44 feet (13.4 meters), the Rivarama is smaller than the Aquariva and offers sleeping for two people and a small crew of two in a separate cabin. Considering its styled as a dayboat, the addition of a crew quarters seems surprising, but in reality, the cabin can just as well serve as a childrens room, especially since it includes its own head (or, as we regular folk call it, a bathroom).The Kevlar-enforced hull has a thick teak deck covered with no less than 22 coats of varnish and polished to perfection. Furniture onboard is either solid mahogany or a combination of wood with stainless steel coating, and each piece is described by reviewers and happy owners as a piece of art  even though, by all means, the higher appeal of the artwork is dependent on its one-off condition.This is a series product, but each item is labored over in such a way as to warrant that one-off-like status . The Rivarama is a sportsboat for the sophisticated, one that stands out for its minimalism  one specifically tailored to be luxurious and welcoming. Below deck is the master cabin (the night area, as Riva called it) and galley, which includes a dinette. The double berth seems to levitate from the ground and creates the feeling of a different area from the fully-equipped galley and dinette, while the master bathroom is, again, a gorgeous combination of stylish and functional.The main deck offers a beach club aft with two sun loungers, a small lounge with a fold-out mahogany table and its own wet bar (which, yes, includes a BBQ grill), and the state-of-the-art cockpit. Access to the secondary and much smaller cabin is done through the cockpit.Standard features on the Rivarama included a retractable awning, a wine chiller in the wet bar, custom porcelain china and silver-plated cutlery, glasses, and monogrammed linens. The Riva experience is one that is clearly not limited just to the boat, but encompasses everything else you might need while onboard, as well.Twin 700 hp diesel MAN engines (later upgraded to 800 hp each in the Super variant) and the lightweight construction take the Rivarama to a cruising speed of 30 knots (34.5 mph / 55.5 kph) and top speeds in the 45 knots (51.8 mph / 83.3 kph) area. Riva loves comparisons to automobile design so much it often invites them unprompted, and the Rivarama is a good occasion to dish them: driving is intuitive and the ride is smooth, with this elegant floating suite handling like a well-behaved supercar.Riva Rivarama 44 boats were initially offered with a price on request note, but can now be had for prices ranging between $400,000 and $1 million on the specialized market.
The thirst-generation Volkswagen Type 2 needs no introduction, being one of the most iconic car models in American history. The Bus has started a revolution and is now one of the most sought-after models on the classic car market. Many examples sell for six-figure amounts, putting the Volkswagen Bus among the most valuable collector cars.These are only a few reasons somebody wanted to go to SEMA with a modern interpretation of the Bus . But to have two of them on display requires boldness, the kind that Kenny Pfitzer Designs has become famous for. The team started working on two early 1960s Volkswagen Buses, a 1963 Single Cab and a 1961 15-Window Deluxe in August. Both were completely stripped down and scanned in 3D to design the different body panels, which included front and rear fender flares, roof wing, front splitter, rear roll pan, and rocker panels.All body panels were designed and machined using special composite material, enabling Kenny to create body panels that perfectly match the buses classic body shape. All interior parts were removed, and the team designed and built custom interiors from scratch. They included upholstery and CNC machined components for the gage clusters, pedals, switches, and other key interior elements. Each Bus was modified according to its own theme, inspired by the premier clothing brands FB County and The Original Cascade, respectively. FB County rose to fame by appearing in several Hollywood films, including The Fast and the Furious and Straight Outta Compton. The Original Cascade is the rebirth of the 1933 legendary clothing company and is now designing mens and womens flannels inspired by its passion for cars.
The dealership posted images and videos on its official Facebook page, with the first 2023 Z06 Corvette to see the light of day being VIN #002, a 70th Anniversary Edition package-rocking beauty donning the all-new White Pearl Metallic paint and Satin Gray twin stripes.Apparently, it was the only white car of the batch and was soon followed by VIN #1, another Z06 with the Anniversary package, only this time the car was rocking a black (aka Carbon Flash Metallic) coat of paint. Both cars proudly showed off their 70th Anniversary Edition exterior badges, along with the Edge Red wheel stripe and brake calipers.So far, so good, but the last car to get out was the most special. Thats because it was the famous Vin 001, a black Z06, that the founder of the Hendrick Automotive Group won at an auction back in January this year for a whopping $3.6 million.The staggering hammer price (which turned into $3.7 million with additional help from another long-time friend of Barrett-Jackson) benefited military families via Operation Homefront. Later on, in April of this year, the same Rick Hendrick (who was once the youngest Chevrolet dealer in the United States) also bought the first convertible Z06 at another auction , this time for $1 million.As noted on the dealerships Facebook page, after taking some photos and moving the cars inside, the NASCAR Hall of Famer even took the white Z06 out for a spin.Since 2023 marks the 70th anniversary of Corvette, the model year Stingrays and Z06s can be equipped with a special package for the occasion. This includes the aforementioned exterior details, as well as a celebratory logo on the seats, steering wheel and sill plates, a rear bumper protector and trunk cover, plus a custom luggage set.
Some of that work included giving the car a healthy 6.2-liter LS3 V8 engine and a 4L65E four-speed automatic transmission, which moves the rear wheels along with a Positraction differential.Additionally, the body of the car was removed and received a fresh coat of black paint, while the bright red interior was retrimmed. Still, while looking great from afar, the hood and driver-side fender have some minor paint blemishes, which can be observed up close, according to the Bring a Trailer listing.The current owner bought the car this year and dyno-tuned it at the American Gasser Hotrod Shop in Saginaw, Michigan. A Holley mid-mount LS accessory system was also added, which includes a replacement water pump, an alternator, an air conditioning compressor, and a power steering pump.Some of the cars notable exterior features include the 15 turbine-style wheels with faux knock-off spinners, the split chrome bumpers, side exhausts, and the LED headlights. Moving inside, the low-back bucket seats upholstered in red leather are paired with a color-coordinated dash, headliner, door panels, carpets, and a three-spoke steering wheel.The latter frames a Banks iDash monitor and the Classic Instruments gauges. The speedometer says this Corvette can run at speeds of up to 160 mph (257 km/h), while the six-digit mechanical odometer displays 2,311 miles (around 3,719 km), but who knows what the real mileage might be? Well, not the seller.The good news is, the car doesnt cost $3.6 million like other black Corvettes, but only a tiny fraction of that. The highest bid out of 14 at the time of writing places an $87,000 value on this car. Bidders and onlookers alike have around 5 more days to check it out.
EV

A Level 1 (L1) charger is good for charging at home by simply using any socket available, and it adds a few miles of range per hour. A Level 2 (L2) charger is better at putting electrons in your battery  it can add a maximum of 30 mi (48 km) of range per hour. Just like phones, EVs should at least come with an L1 charger since the L2 option requires a 240-volt plug.But some carmakers choose to not include the L1 charger with the vehicle any longer. Tesla did so first, and now Volkswagen is following in its footsteps. But unlike the Americanmaker, the German brand is sending ID.4 owners an email in which they are notified about the change. Furthermore, the affected customers receive a prepaid loyalty card that can be used for various charging options, including the installation of an L2 charger.That's how you do things, Tesla!Because you may not have realized prior to your purchase that the Model Year 2023 ID.4 EV does not come with a Level 1 charging cable, were sending you a $200 prepaid loyalty card to use towards the charging option that works best for you and your home set-up. You should receive your card within the next two to three weeks via US Mail, says VW in the email published by one of its customers on a dedicated forum . The loyalty card is valid for one year after it was issued.Finally, if you have bought an EV made by VW and it came without a charger, then you should contact the company and ask them about the loyalty card. That is, of course, if you have not been notified beforehand about not having an L1 or L2 charger included anymore with the car.